Let me just start off by saying that baseball has an image problem. It’s not steroids, or PEDs or amphetamines. It is the “purists” who believe in the hallowed records and numbers from bygone eras. The prophetic and revered experts who hypocritically arrest anything new or different, but stand firmly behind the designated hitter rule. These pretentious pundits love to romanticize the purity of “their” game, while turning a blind eye when it serves them.

As someone who typically writes/comments on hockey and the clown car that is the NHL administration, I find that the MLB is not so different. Bud Selig and his band of merry owners want their cake, and they would also like you to know that they will be eating it too. Speaking of the commish, why doesn’t anyone else have a problem with a baseball commissioner and his clearly vested interest in the team he used to own? Just putting that out there.

I may find myself on a small under populated island, but I tend to agree with part of what John Rocker stated when he said baseball was more entertaining in the steroid era. I think that Rocker is generally a bigoted, homophobic, racist, moronic buffoon, but he might be right about that. We know that a ton of players were cheating, but they were cheating against each other. And you know what? It was fantastic.

We still had the great pitchers, and of course the players that sat above the “cess pool” of recalcitrants who made us “Oooh” and “Aaaah” at their now-tainted achievements. The asterisk key on MLB keyboards had never been discussed so much, now we look down upon the era as if this generation is so much better. Wake up folks, it’s absolutely the same.

Now, my point. Baseball is a game, nothing more, nothing less. It is there for our entertainment and should be treated as such. The moronic pretense that the “Mid Summer Classic” counts for something gets thrown out the window when fan balloting and Internet voting is involved. The most deserving players should be awarded and the game should mean absolutely nothing. As it stands, the exact opposite takes place.

Yasiel Puig has been crammed down the throats of anyone and everyone who has happened across the four letters of ESPN. In a fashion similar to Tim Tebow, Puig became the next big thing, except for one huge difference. Puig can ball. I mean, he can really, REALLY ball.

This isn’t just a hot streak kids. This is a player that can play the game and does it the right way. He hustles on infield ground outs, sprints for every line drive in the gap, murders the ball when he makes contact (which by the way is 40% of the time) and plays the game the same way that any of us (say we) would if we were given the chance. He is a hungry 22-year old kid from Cuba who is lucky to be alive. Puig may not be Hank Aaron or Ken Griffey Jr. or even Sr., but he IS baseball right now.

Sure there are other stories in the game. The Oakland A’s continue to amaze with their low-budget Billy Beaneball. The Pittsburgh Pirates are contending at the half way point again, with the best pitching in baseball. The Boston Red Sox are looking like contenders again, and of course, my beloved Baltimore Orioles are still mathematically alive and well for a second consecutive playoff appearance.

But have you seen this guy Puig? Not you reader, I mean Major League Baseball. No offense to Freddie Freeman and the great year that the Atlanta Braves are having, but how are we not embracing such a polarizing player? Find a way to get him in the game Bud Selig. You let Ryan Braun of the hook last year, I know you have some more tricks up your sleeve.

There were comparisons to Bo Jackson as Puig began his assault on major league pitching. For those of you old enough to remember, Bo Jackson was a career .250 hitter who was as famous for snapping bats over his knees as he was for his monstrous (and non-PED aided??) home runs. He had a cannon for an arm with world-class speed, but was an absolute physical specimen before his unfortunate injury.

No one is asking for Puig to put on a Raiders uniform, though I can imagine that they may have inquired about his services given Darren McFadden’s brittle nature. What baseball needs to do is get someone injured, suspend someone or declare someone academically ineligible to get Puig in the game. Backlash and haters be damned, Yasiel Puig is an All-Star whether Major League Baseball acknowledges it or not.

It doesn’t matter what level of baseball fandom you consider yourself, you have to acknowledge that you want to see talent and that you want to be entertained. When home runs were flying out of ballparks at a record pace 15 years ago, no one cared why, they just loved it. They still do.

Now I certainly don’t mean to link Yasiel Puig to PEDs though some anti-Puig sentiment is out there. I just want people, namely Major League Baseball to recognize exactly what puts butts in the seats. We all tune in to see him hit a ball 500 feet, make an amazing catch or gun a runner down at the next base.

Or we tune in to watch him strike out (mightily) or draw the ire of opponents by ignoring the “code” and hustling and giving 100% every night. Try not to lose sight of the fact that he is 22, or that he’s only a couple dozen months removed from living in Cuba playing for pennies and a dream. Guess what folks, he’s a rookie. He’s going to get smarter and he will also get better. A lot better.

If you think that today’s game is clean, you are just as naïve as everyone was in 1998. But no one cared then and you shouldn’t care now. EDraft's Benjamin Christensen touched on this in his piece about PEDs and the MLB. Get off of the ridiculous moral high ground and appreciate the beauty and simplicity of the game people. The head to head competition, power versus power versus guile and strategy. The true baseball fan is lured in by the small stuff, and if you are truly a baseball fan, you have to love Yasiel Puig.

Embrace his love and appreciation for the game that has quite literally given him everything. Once upon a time the “purists” hated that Ken Griffey Jr. used to flip his hat backwards. He didn’t take the game seriously and looked like he was actually having too much fun. He didn’t respect the game. Shame on him. Spare Yasiel Puig the same condemnation and just enjoy the show. He’ll make mistakes along the way, and may end up only being an above average player. However, I promise you this, you will be entertained.