Braun, Rodriguez, and a ray of hope

So Ryan Braun is gone for the season and Alex Rodriguez is next under the gun. Normally I’d be horrified at that. But after all the other stuff that’s come out about the steroids era, I’m almost too tired to be horrified. I do find one little ray of hope out of all this. It involves the Player’s Association.

Ever notice how the union has, in almost every case, done everything they can to help the offenders and hamper the commissioner’s office. OK, I know it’s the job of a union to protect its members, but it seems to me that the player’s association went overboard in throwing up roadblocks. As usual, they failed to consult the players who weren’t using steroids (or other PEDs) about the course of action. It reminds me of when MLB tried to suspend Albert Belle for almost killing Fernando Vina on the base paths. When MLB decided to do something, the union sided with Belle and left Vina high and dry.

This time it appears to be different. I’m hearing the player’s association beginning to soften its “our guys never do anything wrong” stand. They seem to be saying that “we’re listening to our other players and those players are saying ‘enough already’ to steroids.” That, to me, is a hopeful sign. Maybe it will go a long way toward stopping some of this mess if the offenders realize that their formerly most staunch supporters are no longer willing to stand side-by-side with them. (I won’t hold my breath).

BTW—name the royal baby Leroy.

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Here We Go Again

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It seems that the steroid era isn’t really over. Baseball claimed, and many of us hoped, that the steroid era was behind us. We could get back to games that were played by real people, not steroid-filled monsters. Apparently the “many of us” were wrong.

Initially I was outraged, but not this time. This time there’s more of  a  sad resignation and realization that we’re going to go through the entire mess again. I’m kind of sorry I feel that way, but I’ve just gotten beyond moral outrage and anger. Of course they’re still doing it. The incentives are too great. Baseball doesn’t care. A lot of fans don’t care. Why should the players care? Makes sense doesn’t it? At least kinda.

Frankly I hope they ban the lot of them. Make the teams start over. So what if we lose some fine players. We’ve lost fine players before, some to war, some to injury, some to out-and-out racial prejudice. Why should we weep more for this latest round of louts?

I don’t expect “purity” in baseball. It’s a business for God’s sake and businesses have never been overly “pure” in their dealings with each other or the public. But I do expect at least a small amount of respect for the game. I’ve learned to not expect respect for the fans, but sure asking for respect for the game isn’t too much. Or is it? Considering most of these guys don’t know a damned thing about the history of the game (Quick, ask one of these dope heads who won the 1948 World Series and see how many “Cleveland” answers show up.) I guess I’m asking too much.

I’ll still watch. It’s a great game and even these jokers can’t ruin it; so I’ll still watch and root for my team. But I’ll also know that there’s an awful lot of fiction in what I see.