I know these guys have been vilified lately and somewhat rightfully so, but man was it fun to watch them play. Except when they beat the Giants in the '89 World Series. That was not fun at all. And the whole forearm bashing thing was pretty lame. But come on, they were in Oaktown 357 so odd behavior was somewhat guaranteed.
I was born and raised a Giants fan but I had an elementary school teacher named Mr. Zander that used to give A's tickets away during recess football games so I saw these guys play a lot. I was young but I think everyone knew back then that these dudes were doing something fishy but nobody cared. They were such a fun and exciting team to watch and Canseco and McGwire were like super heroes. Except when Jose kept getting busted for driving his Lamborghini down the highway at 135mph and beating his wife. That part wasn't so super...but he could still hit the ball a long way and play mediocre right field when necessary so most people loved him.
All I know is that the recent demise of both mens reputations has not affected the many pleasant memories I have of watching them crush balls into the bleachers at Al Davis Field or whatever the heck it's called now. They may be labeled as bad guys currently but it's impossible to erase all the smiles they put on a lot of peoples faces back in the day. Except when they beat the Giants, of course. That did not make me smile at all.
But neither does watching them (especially McGwire) get torn to shreds in the media when the general public virtually condoned it and supported it for their entire careers. Something is wrong here. Why the hatred now?
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