Daily News:
Alex Rodriguez will meet with Major League Baseball's investigators in Tampa Sunday, and when he does, he had better be prepared to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.I assume MLB officials will be "allowed" to ask follow-up questions, so for Slappy's sake, I hope he used the 11 days since the press conference wisely -- and figured out how to explain the contradictions and inconsistencies in his various versions of the truth.
The meeting didn't take place Friday as many had expected it might. MLB VP of labor relations Rob Manfred ... wouldn't speak specifically about Rodriguez's case, but he made it clear that this type of meeting is a whole lot more than window dressing. ...
During his Feb. 17 press conference, Rodriguez admitted that he was injected by his cousin for three years, although his comment that "we knew we weren't taking Tic Tacs" has raised questions about his use of oral drugs as well ...
A-Rod will also be asked to discuss his relationship with tainted trainer Angel Presinal, who joined Rodriguez on every road trip during his MVP season in 2007.
This is why MLB (read: Bud Selig) sucks.
ReplyDeleteListen, I'm a Red Sox fan, I hate A-Rod, but this is just crap. Guy's name gets leaked off of an anonymous test (let's not absolve the reporter here, as the media loves to do), he admits to some use, and now we have a witch hunt on our hands. Besides the fact that he used BEFORE the drugs were even illegal in MLB. Geesh, on that note, lets go on ahead and ban Hank Aaron, Nolan Ryan, and Pete Rose (oh wait, we already did) for using greenies....
Let's just get it over with. While you're at it Bud, call in Manny, Ortiz, Tex, Pujols, Peavy, Hanley Ramirez, Scott Kazmir, etc.... Heck, just call in the All-Star rosters of the last 15 years. 80-90% were probably using. Even if it's only 50%, Bud, you're still catching a lot of them! Let's give them all asterisks! Ban them all from the Hall!
Or wait, would this ruin our "clean" game?
I'm sick of hearing about A-Rod, I'm sick of all the fans and commissioners who think we can somehow catch them all. If A-Rod had joined the Sox in 2004, how would we be reacting? I think most Sox fans would defend him. It's ridiculous. Don't think Boston was somehow all pure and good, we weren't. Why aren't we witch hunting our own players, many of whom we could easily accuse of using?
Beside the fact that the legality of punishing someone for a crime that wasn't illegal at the time which was leaked during an anonymous test/statement isn't even sketchy enough to be called dubious. It's just flat out wrong!
/rant over
I know -- and if A-Roid wasn't a Yankee, I wouldn't be making such a fuss.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the term witch hunt. Everyone uses it and it's more of a general expression, but witches don't exist. Steroid-using baseball players do exist.
Selig letting Bonds, Fat Billy and Slappy bear the public brunt of this mess is quite in keeping with baseball history.
During the 1910s and early 20s, game-fixing was rampant. But Landis came in and "cleaned up" the game by punishing eight White Sox players. And this was at a time when The Sporting News reported that every team had at least 3-4 players who were on the payroll of professional gamblers.
Having a fall guy or guys makes hiding the full extent of the problem very easy. Because, just like 90 years ago, the media will go along with the owners of the game.
redsock,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the historical background to this issue... sadly, it makes sense. I never knew that about the "Black Sox"!
Stouts said...
ReplyDeleteBeside the fact that the legality of punishing someone for a crime that wasn't illegal at the time which was leaked during an anonymous test/statement isn't even sketchy enough to be called dubious. It's just flat out wrong!
As I read this I wondered does MLB have an actual code of conduct? I did a quick search and didn't really find anything..I know some people have mentioned they are in contracts, but we never see those and they are never really talked about.....Players can be banned for using PED's, but what out breaking other rules, is that just up to the teams ?
And the crime has been illegal in the US for some time, but as we know athletes have a different set of rules.....
I appreciate the reality check re the expression "witch hunt", but I do think this qualifies.
ReplyDeleteFrom Dictionary.com: "an intensive effort to discover and expose disloyalty, subversion, dishonesty, or the like, usually based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence."
From Wikipedia: "The term "witch-hunt" is often used to refer to similarly panic-induced searches for perceived wrong-doers other than witches." It uses the McCarthy hearings as an example.
I appreciate the difference Allan is pointing out, but I think the current moral panic over steroid is a form of a witch hunt.