Sunday’s debut of ESPN’s “Long Gone Summer” stirred many fun memories of the 1998 home run race while confirming three undeniable truths of the steroid era’s apex.
1. Steroid use was rampant during this chapter of baseball’s history, and the players who kept it clean suffered as a result.
2. The league’s caretakers were not interested in monitoring steroid use, let alone punishing players who were juicing. Steroids had been on baseball’s banned substance list since 1991, but the league did not start testing major leaguers until 2003, and many steroid-like substances were simply ignored.
3.