Say It Ain't So Papi

The endless obsession with roids is back. A list of players testing positive for PED dropped David Ortiz’s name along with Manny Ramirez’s. Ramirez is coming back from a 50 game suspension so this call didn’t prompt the same outcry as Ortiz.

Looking at twitter feeds and facebook status updates, a lot of people, particularly in the Rochester area are in a joyous cheer for the announcement. The calls were filled with Pro-Yankee attitude:

“Manny and Papi, looks like someone has two tainted rings!!!”

“Ha, I knew it, how could Ortiz go from a nobody in Minn and then become a power hitter in Boston”

Home bias aside, this is just a sad sight for baseball. This game is at its peak as each season this century we have been treated to a wide open game, free of dynasties and boring games. Many young big names are entering The Show and new heroes are developing. The mere mention of Mark Buehrle’s perfect game showcases that. Two teams (Boston and Chicago) breaking painful championship droughts have reenergized the greatest game. But we see this world where people are excited to see new big names be dropped as “dopers”.

It’s sad because children watch baseball games, collect baseball cards and ask parents for jerseys of their heroes. Then to have these heroes torn down, ironically as many youngsters grew up admiring players such as Pete Rose and Mickey Mantle, two men who were far from perfect humans.

One of the greatest things about covering a college summer baseball team is the ability to get inside the game and ask current players, some with the possibility to be drafted their thoughts.

Yesterday as the Geneva Red Wings were looking for win to clinch a playoff spot, I asked players about the steroid issue and Ortiz’s dilemma.

One player, an infielder, said that the need to drop big names in the game is horrible. “It’s so hard to understand the situation a player is in,” said the infielder. “Some of these guys come from Puerto Rico with nothing and the ability to make a million dollars here and send it home. A million in these countries is double its worth here.”

Even the use of steroids is not out of the question if you think of it hypothetically. If you were a minor leaguer and you just needed a little push and one of it was steroids, would you take it? The responses are amazing.

A relief pitcher said, “If I was losing something on my fastball or I needed something for my change, I would take it if I didn’t get caught.”

“You can take the stuff but you still have to hit the ball!” Barked one outfielder, who has hit some homers this season.

That’s one thing overlooked by most people. Baseball is an extremely hard game to be great at. The game has not seen a .400 hitter in over sixty years. The best hitters hover around a .300 average lifetime. It’s great to have a 20 game hitting streak, it’s amazing at 30 games and anything beyond that is unreal. Home run hitters have only hit the dinger in 8 straight games and that’s a very lucky few.

A first baseman for the Red Wings takes cuts off a tee, and then takes batting practice after games and every day at 10:00 in the morning. He’s only had thirty at bats and no home runs. Not to sell this player short but even if he took steroids, would he still be able to hit bombs without the extra cuts he takes everyday?

When you talk to some journalists, especially sports writers, one thing to ask them is, “did you play baseball growing up?” After they answer that question yes or no, and if they say yes, ask them, “how far did you get?” Chances are most of them never played past little league.

See some sports writers become amazing at writing and with words because they were awful athletes growing up. They either had no skill, no ambition to practice for hours on end or were not well liked. As soon as they were done with the game, they develop this, “if I can’t play then I’ll write and write MY WAY! If you have a problem with that tough!” I knew guys like this in college. These guys are always biting and short on players’ reasons for failure in their articles and columns.

That’s when there is a new confession from Jose Canseco or the Mitchell Report (the biggest waste of time and tax payer money) comes out these writers are dying to get their two cents. These guys take their failure as a child and poor relations with someone and make it personal like sharks in the water. They smell blood so they know its dinnertime.

As a fan of baseball, that’s the only bias I will give, it pains me to see this desire to find out who is on steroids. The public wants to know so badly. They feel they “need” to know, like it’s a fourth estate issue. Professional baseball players are in the business of the game. The more home runs they hit or the more wins they tally the more money they are paid. It’s simple as that.

I wanted to be a sports journalist for one reason, I love the game. I love them all, no matter what the sport. One of man’s greatest achievements was the four minute mile. The human body is an amazing thing and its ability to throw 100 MPH or leap up a ten foot wall or steal 100 bases is a thing of beauty. We need to move past the steroids. It’s something the league has dealt with. These players were using it before it was banned. Let bygones be bygones and let Ortiz, Manny, Barry, Roger and A-Rod go.


ROC SPORTS NET 2009