Is Jose Bautista a Fraud???

  
  Earlier I read an article asking whether or not Jose Bautista is the best player in baseball.  The answer to that question is immaterial, the relevant question to ask is whether or not Jose Bautista is a fraud.  As a fan I want to believe we are now in the post steriods era of baseball not in the steriods era of baseball yet when I see numbers like that of Bautista I truly wonder how clean the game is today in 2011.  I remember seeing Brady Anderson change from a singles and doubles hitter with a high average into a guy with a 50 homerun season.  I knew then something was wrong and I know now something is wrong. 
     We are in May of the 2011 season and Jose Bautista's 19 homeruns is the already the second most in his career.  Before the 2010 season his 6 year career high was 16 homeruns in one season.  He was anything but a franchise player, playing for 5 teams in his career.  Jose Bautista had hit 59 homeruns for his career before he hit 54 in 2010.  You may argue that Bautista simply changed his swing into a power swing, yet his season average has never been higher than .260.  He also is striking out in a similar frequency, 116 times in 2010 and 110 times in 2004.  Its hard to believe someone so average got so good in one offseason. 
     I want to think its a result of hours of batting practice and video.  I want to believe the players respect the game as much as I do and no longer intend to insult the long history of the game.  I am not one to compare players of different eras because the game has changed throughout the years yet I will argue that the game of baseball must be respected.  Sure I know many players from the golden era played drunk and probably high on other drugs, that in itself is disrespectful to the game but not to the level of performance enhancers.  If you want to takes substances that make you a worse player thats your choice and the result will most likely be a short career.  Baseball is more than a game, its a symbol for the American way of life.  The game is played every day, its based on talent, intelligence, and luck.  Its the ultimate team game where at times the guy just called up from the minors strikes out the future hall of famer.  Its a game that proves that with hard work and dedication you can succeed.  If Jose Bautista took the short cut like Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Manny Ramirez, etc, he is proliferating the mentality that you can succeed by cheating so long as you don't get caught.  Thats the biggest fraud of all.