Any halfway competent baseball statistician can identify when two abominations to the game happened in the '90s. The first was the league introducing a livelier ball while ever since claiming straight faced that it didn't happen. The other was steroid use. Several stars from that era became eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame this year, all were rejected because their hitting performances are meaningless. It was the smart move. It was the only move. Anyone who says different, and there is no shortage of them, can't see that the game is more important than any one crop of players.
From 'A Field of Dreams': "The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."