RealGMBaseball has an editorial pondering why '2nd generation' MLB players (Bonds, Matthews, Jr., Bell etc.) use steroids, and anabolics. Interesting stuff.
This article is well researched and well written.
From a male child’s first steps, he is always trying to walk in his father’s footsteps. A son idolizes his father from the very onset of childhood. At a young age, a son wants so much to please his father and receive his approval and acceptance...
The author recounts how many sons follow in their father's footsteps from George W. Bush to Keifer Sutherland. Then, the MLB sons:
Barry Bonds, Jerry Hairston Jr., David Bell, and Gary Matthews Jr. have all thrived at one point in their major league career. They all also have grown up watching their fathers play. And they all have been involved in performance enhancing scandals...
For centuries past, present, and future, sons will always look up to their fathers. However, sometimes extreme adulation can lead to desperate measures by those sons who are committed to supplanting their father’s past successes. In this case, four MLB players have grown up surrounded by the game and felt it was necessary to follow in their fathers’ footsteps, yearning to prosper and reach heights higher than their procreators had ever achieved. However, when bumps in the road occurred and it seemed as if they were on the precipice of failure, they turned to performance enhancing drugs rather than pure blood, sweat and tears. By toiling in this ever-growing illegal saga, their legacies will be forever jaded, and perhaps so will those of their fathers. So, rather than making their dads proud, they have done nothing but tarnish the reputation and the integrity not only of the game, but also of their family name.
The original article is much longer, and well worth a read. Many more details than we include here. Check it out.
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