Outrage and Self-righteousness over steroids

I’ve been sitting on this article for a couple days now, but here’s the idea: Kurt Streeter is angry that more fans aren’t outraged over Manny’s steroid use like he is.  Needless to say, I don’t share his outrage.

Am I out of touch? Am I too angry, too outraged about Manny Ramirez and his dope-induced exile to baseball purgatory?

Yes, you certainly are.

In the last few days, talking to fans during Dodgers games and perusing my e-mail inbox, it’s been striking how many people feel that angry indignation is uncouth, unrealistic and absurd. Striking how many are willing to treat their favorite player as if he’s just gone off on a nice holiday. All will be forgiven, as long as No. 99 comes back swinging a fat bat.

First off, Dodger fans aren’t really too concerned about anything. Win or lose, it’s nice outside where they are, so whatever.

Secondly, how ridiculous would it be for them to hold some kind of grudge against a player who plays for their favorite team? It’s in the best interest of the Dodgers, who are paying him big money, for Manny to come back and hit so therefore it is in the best interest of fans that he do so. Fans root for the laundry. That’s how it works. Who should be angry at Manny? Other players. Manny got $45 million in a recession where some players couldn’t get a contract. Was that because he took steroids? Maybe. Does that effect a fan in any tangible way? Absolutely not.

“Hey, he cheated, everyone has their crutch, it’s not that big a deal,” said Mike Calame, 45, sitting near the left-field foul pole at Dodgers Stadium the other day. He shrugged a shrug I’d end up seeing time and again. “All I know is that he’ll be back, and he’ll be rested. That’ll be great for the Dodgers. . . . I can’t wait.”
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“Save the moral panic,” read another. “Most of your readers under the age of 70 have done the same long ago. . . . Is taking steroids cheating? Sure, maybe.”

Sure, maybe? Ho-hum, la-di-da , who cares . . .

How sad.

How sad? Those are some rational fans. They realize it’s stupid to pass self-righteous moral judgment on someone who plays a game to entertain them and who’s infraction they don’t really understand.

So, sitting here in the press box during the Dodgers’ Saturday win against the Giants, the question comes. Am I, along with the other journalists who are breathing fire about this sordid story, simply out of touch with a huge slice of our audience, the who-cares-who-takes-what crowd?

You bet I’m out of touch, and that’s the very reason it’s important everyone in the media keep laying the wood to the rule-breakers and ne’er-do-wells. Someone has to draw the line. Someone has to keep hold of standards. Someone has to give voice to those who know there’s more to life than winning. How you win, how you prepare, the ethics you bring to the ballpark and yes, to life . . . guess what? That matters.

Wow. Get over yourself. You write about sports for a living – you’re not out saving lives. There is more to life than winning; there are family and friends and holidays and crisp autumn days. But for a baseball fan watching their favorite team? There is only entertainment, a gigantic portion of which is dictated by winning and ability.

It’s when we lose track of this, when we as a society are willing to cut too much slack, when we in the press stop drawing a hard line, that deep trouble comes. You get the last eight years, probably longer: a fool’s paradise, not just in sports and entertainment, but in politics and the economy.

Right. Because if only we had stopped these damn steroid users we wouldn’t be in a recession. We wouldn’t have invaded Iraq. Heck, we could have eradicated AIDS, hunger, and war as well. We’d be unstoppable.

The past eight years? That’s an obvious George W. Bush reference, but what does he have to do with this? Part of what made W’s presidency so troublesome is he spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get Americans worried about things that didn’t matter. Prime example number 1? Steroids. Or have you already forgotten Bush giving a long lecture on steroids during his state of the union address? And everyone being flummoxed afterwards because steroids are so insignificant considering the troubles of the world? And surely you don’t forget all the time and money congress wasted talking to blowhards like Palmeiro and Schilling right?

I know the arguments. Who cares what Ramirez or Barry Bonds or A-Rod put in their bodies? So long as my team is on top, so long as I get to drive around with a “World Champs” bumper sticker, it doesn’t really matter.

Really? My wife teaches third grade at a school a mile from Dodger Stadium. Is this what she should tell her kids, a group that has adored Ramirez since he arrived in town? “Kids, it doesn’t matter if you cheat.”

I teach kids, too. Here’s what you tell them: baseball is a great game to watch. It’s 162 games. There are ups and downs; it’s a great drama that keeps you guessing. You cheer for your team when they win and even when times are bad you remember the good times your team gave you.

How baseball players train doesn’t come into the equation. You tell kids that they should be concerned with their health and know what they put in their body. We, as educators, don’t even understand how steroids affect baseball players. We don’t know how much it helps them, if at all, or how it could hurt them, if at all. So why would we even attempt to enter such judgment into what it means to be a baseball fan?

I’m not going to quote anymore of this absurd article, but Streeter does go on to quote some doctor saying taking steroids is like smoking four packs of cigarettes a day, which is not even remotely true.

Please, just stick to covering baseball – you know, on the field where they actually play it. And if you want to be a life-saver, choose another profession.

What will Manny have to say?

It appears, according to an ESPN report, that Manny Ramirez’s exprience with steroids is not a one time thing or an accident.  He triggered the test because of high levels of synthetic testosterone.  The drug he got caught with doesn’t cause that.  Apparently Boras had a plan already in place to claim that Manny was using a legal andro-like substance until they realized it was impossible based on the test results.

So clearly, we are talking about multiple drugs here.  What I am most curious about now, is what will be demanded of Manny by the media?  What will he say?  It’s all kind of worthless because Manny will likely lie and no one will believe him even if he doesn’t lie.  But surely Manny will have to do something to pacify the outraged masses, no?  Or does he just see what happened to A-Rod and realize it’s a can’t win situation?

Peter Gammons claims that Manny is now the Dodger’s problem, without mentioning the countless articles he wrote about Manny and his tireless work ethic at the gym.  Gammons also implies in his article that Manny’s steroids use is isolated to his recent L.A. days, without giving any real proof.  The drugs that Manny got caught with are indicitive of sustained use.  I don’t get worked up over steroids, but that still warrants mentioning.  So maybe Manny is the problem of Dodger’s own Frank McCourt now, but he could have just as easily have been John Henry’s problem.

Next up: Manny Ramirez

I’ve been waiting to comment on Manny Ramirez’s positive steroid test until all the details come out.  Well, maybe all the details aren’t out, but I think I’m ready.

First, make no mistake about it: my stance on Manny using steroids is no different than A-Rod, Bonds, Giambi, Clemens, etc. 

What I do find somewhat humorous about this is that pretty much no one is “safe.”  Sure, the BALCO guys used steroids, but Clemens didn’t – he just worked his butt off.  Okay well maybe Clemens used, but A-Rod is clean even if everyone hates him.  Well, sure maybe A-Rod used steroids, we think he’s a phony anyways, but at least we have goofy Manny who’s too dumb to use steroids.  Oh, wait.

If you dig into the past of any player, there are likely to be skeletons in their closet.  Sure, as a Yankee fan it’s nice to be able to give back some of the crap to righteous Red Sox fans.  So here’s my rant to Red Sox fans, just to get it out of the way: Enough with steroids.  For every A-Rod, Giambi, Sheffield, etc, you have your own questionable players.  You lucked out and George Mitchell was in charge of the Mitchell Report so he focused on NY, not Boston, but every team had its drug culture.

I know Manny is a Dodger now, but he tested positive for a drug that is used to regenerate testosterone after years of steroid use.  If you think this is an isolated thing, you’re being naive. 

David Ortiz can’t catch up with the fastball all of a sudden?  If I didn’t know better, I’d say he looks a lot like how a certain 1B/DH of the Yankees looked back in 2004.  Hopefully for Boston’s sake, Ortiz can come to grips with the player he now is and rebound like Giambi did, though it might not be as easy because Giambi is a better athlete (amazingly enough) and has a better eye.     

What happened to the budding careers of Trot Nixon, Bill Mueller, and of course Nomar?  Keith Foulke had quite a run in 2004 before his arm fell off.  Curt Schilling had an amazing late career resurgence – or is it just a coincidence that his best years came in his mid-to-late 30s?

Did all these guys use steroids?  Who knows.  But it’s certainly time for Red Sox Nation to get off its pedestal. 

Because you know what this should teach us?  That it doesn’t really matter.  Just look at the reasons that I chose as to why someone might be a steroid user; aren’t the negatives just as great as the positives?  Taking steroids is a big risk – the bill eventually comes due.  It’s up to the players to say, “hey we want this stuff to be illegal because we think it gives a potential advantage and no one should feel pressured to use it.”  That’s the bottom line.  This isn’t really a fan issue at all. 

So no, I don’t want asteriks on any records or championships or anything stupid like that.  We can’t say something didn’t happen after the fact because we decide we now have a different code of ethics.  If so, then we should forget about everything that ever happened while baseball was segregated, because I am willing to state for the record: racial segregation is a much more heinous crime than PED use. 

Meanwhile, this development is great for A-Rod and the Yankees, in terms of media scrutiny.  A-Rod will have enough pressure on him without the constant steroid talk.  And as for Serena Roberts’ book?  Well, looks like moving up the release date isn’t going to help.  Serves her right for trying to make a monster of a public figure for her own personal gain.  (Random aside on that: I know if you’re a public figure, you’re fair game.  But just think about it – if someone was writing a book on you, couldn’t they speculate and interview the right anonymous sources to make you look bad?  A-Rod isn’t a dictator, he’s a baseball player.  Everyone needs to calm down. Oh, and read this tremendous article about Robert’s book by Murray Chass.)

In the end, I don’t think this Manny thing is bad for baseball because the games biggest stars have already been disgraced in the public eye.  Manny gives us some perspective on the issue.  We shouldn’t sit around and judge one way or the other because the whole truth is impossible to know.  The media certainly doesn’t know what is going on.  Rather than just waiting to be told who the next pariah should be, like some twisted witch hunt, let’s just focus on enjoying the game.  There aren’t fake players and real players, fake stats and real stats.  It is not up to us to gauge what amount of a player is “authentic.”

This is just entertainment that is provided by people.  Maybe Selena Roberts should go and cover the NFL for awhile and we’ll see what happens.  No one complains about football – we just enjoy it.  The players should be working together to protect their own health, because they are the ones who this affects.  Not us. 

So we’ll see you in 50 games, Manny.  This will likely blow over soon enough but I think it will be awhile before you see any more Peter Gammons articles about how Manny is working extra hard at the gym. 

   

Does anyone care about Clemens anymore?

Seems like every few days ESPN runs a steroid related headline regarding Roger Clemens. I don’t usually bother clicking on them, because I don’t care. But are there really people out there who are still concerned with this tired storyline? I did read today’s installment, however, more out of curiosity than concern.

Same old story – McNamee says he injected Clemens. But this quote from McNamee I found kind of disturbing:

“That day, he laid out the drugs, dropped his trousers and I did as he asked, that is, inject him with steroids. Afterwards, he told me to get rid of the needle. I went into the kitchen and found an empty Miller Lite can in a wastebasket under the sink. I put the used needle into the can because it was actually hazardous material at that point and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt by sticking themselves. He told me to throw it away but I kept it instead.”

I have to say, and this is not really an attempt to defend Clemens, because, again, I don’t care, but are we really supposed to believe a trainer saved used needles for 8 years? In beer cans? Where did he keep them and why? Did he know he’d one day be ratting out Clemens or perhaps blackmailing him?

Just a weird story that should go away.

A-Rod bashing reaches new low

Just when I think the efforts to discredit Alex Rodriguez can’t get any worse, there comes this article from Bob Klapisch. In what should be a nice account of how Jason Giambi used Derek Jeter’s support to survive his days in pinstripes, Klapisch cannot avoid the temptation to drag A-Rod into it:

One other factor worked in Giambi’s favor, as well. Unlike A-Rod, who’s had two chances to come clean (and still hasn’t), Giambi called a news conference before the start of spring training in 2005 and confessed. His words were measured — he never used the term “steroids” — but at least there was no blame assigned to a mysterious third party.

I can’t even believe the stupidity of this comment. Just to be clear, during his apology press conference, that happened ONLY after his story got leaked (exactly like A-Rod), Giambi said he was sorry but would not even say WHAT HE WAS APOLOGIZING FOR. Sorry for the caps, but come on. Who in their right mind could say Giambi confessed while A-Rod didn’t? A-Rod named the drug he used, gave an explanation as to how he got it, and gave a time frame (even if he wasn’t willing to go into every specific). Giambi didn’t even say he used steroids! He just said he was sorry!

Both players had good reasons for obscuring certain things. Giambi didn’t want to get his contract voided. A-Rod doesn’t want to get into naming names for legal reasons. I have no problem with either apology.

I am just stunned however, that Giambi “confessed” while A-Rod didn’t. Chalk another one up on the “A-Rod can’t win” tally count.

Steroids nothing new

This will hopefully be the last steroid related post for awhile, but I had to link to this Peter Gammons article. Gammons can be a bit of a Red Sox homer, but here he makes a great point (while quoting some other sites). Essentially, we know that athletes, as least as far back as the 50s, were experimenting with drugs to improve their performance. He brings up reverential names like Bob Gibson.

Obviously, this just shows what I’ve been saying all along: players are going to try everything they can to improve themselves. That is part of what it means to compete. Sure, the issue is coming to a head now, but PED-use started LONG before what we call the “steroid era,” and in fact, labeling the era as such is really just a lazy way to justify certain statistical trends that were really the product of a myriad of other things. The baseballs were tighter, the ballparks were smaller, the league expanded – all part of baseball’s plan to bring fans back via offense and home runs. It’s hard to criticize those decisions too much since they certainly worked. But for the media and even baseball itself to now attribute these changes in the game simply to steroids is shortsighted and lazy.

Jamie Moyer is not a Hall of Famer

This one was a news story a good week back, but I’m going to comment anyways: Jamie Moyer has a lot of opinions on A-Rod. Some of them:

Those were the days when Rodriguez appeared to be on his way to the Hall of Fame.

Now?

“I don’t see how he has a chance,” Moyer said yesterday. “Who in their right mind would vote for anyone who got caught taking that stuff?”

Anyone who actually wants to vote for the best baseball players to make the Hall of Fame. Isn’t that what this is about? Since when has the Hall of Fame been about voting in the most ethical players? Ty Cobb is in there, right?

Asked if his sons, now teenagers, were disappointed in Rodriguez, Moyer said: “I’m sure they are. We’ve talked a little about it. It’s also a lesson. One day he’s a Hall of Famer, and in a 24-hour period he’s not because of a poor decision. That’s a shame.”

This is exactly the point: it’s impossible for a player to be a Hall of Famer and then 24 hours later not be – and quite frankly, ridiculous.

In addition to 553 career homers, Rodriguez has won three MVP awards.

Are those numbers tainted?

“Of course they are,” Moyer said. “This changes everything – the way people look at him, the way people act toward him. It’s a shame. What does he have to play for now?”

What does he have to play for now? Even if we assume the stupid and illogical notion that A-Rod is no longer capable of being a Hall of Fame player no matter what he does, he still has plenty to play for. How about the MILLIONS of dollars he stands to make? How about the World Series he could win?

Come to think of it, using this logic, what do YOU have to play for Jamie Moyer? You aren’t going to the Hall of Fame. Not because of any sort of pseudo-ethical witch hunt but because you’re not that good of a baseball player.

Selig should take responsibility

By now, I’ve made it pretty clear that I don’t really care about steroid use in baseball. But what I do care about is the game moving past it so we can actually focus on… well, baseball. That’s why I think Bud Selig is most culpable for this entire mess.

This is what Selig should say:

“Blame for the steroid problem falls squarely on me. This is baseball’s problem and therefore as the MLB commissioner, I failed in my job to steer the game away from issues that could potentially damage fans appreciation of the sport. By ignoring this developing situation for years, not only did it spin out of control, but it changed the culture of the game. It is hard to make the players culpable when many were forced to turn to PEDs to keep up with the competition and ultimately keep their jobs. Consequently, finding out who exactly did what in the past is irrelevant. What is important is that we do everything in our power now to rectify these past transgressions so there will be no ethical questions regarding player’s performances in the future.”

Does it matter if Selig really is to blame or even thinks he is to blame? No, not at all. But he is the head of baseball and by passing the blame on to others he allows the situation to linger. Saying things like “I warned about this back in 1995″ is not only incredibly misleading (mainly because it’s false) but incredibly hurtful to the game, because the media will continue to hunt out people to blame. Nothing, I repeat – NOTHING, is gained by attempting to dig up more steroid dirt from baseball’s past. The only way to move past it is to have the face of baseball itself (and no, not A-Rod) take responsibility.

Time for A-Rod to stop trying

Yesterday, I predicted that no matter what A-Rod said, his press conference would be poorly received. And I was right, as most media sources are still finding fault in his story (I’m not going to link or address them all, because I don’t have that kind of time). At some point, people just need to ask: what could he possibly say that would make everyone happy? Pettitte was MUCH more vague in his answer, yet everyone accepted it and moved on.

So obviously this story is not about steroids, it’s about A-Rod. The media trails him like a pack of wild dogs. They want him destroyed. If it’s not steroids, it will be something else. At some point, fans need to realize that this senseless witch hunt has obscured the fact that we’re talking about a GAME. The point of baseball is to entertain us. If it doesn’t entertain you because of some crazy moral outrage you feel towards the participants, then don’t watch.

I thought A-Rod was about has forthcoming as anyone could reasonably expect. He is not going to name names and give up other people. It simply can’t happen. So he said what he did wrong and that should be the end of it. I’m sure it won’t be, but it should. After all, what more does anyone have to gain at this point? What has anyone ever stood to gain from all this?

This is what The Big Lead wrote after the newsconference:

Did A-Rod really think that he’d throw off everyone’s scent with a little misdirection? Injecting himself for three years with something he wasn’t even sure was working (even though his stats gave a definitive answer)? Hahahahaha. Like the aggressive New York media’s just going to roll over and let that one slide.

Oops. Forgot. Sheep Fans don’t care. No need to report things out. Just give the baseball public homers and wins and VORP and forget the best player in the game was ‘roiding up for three years. What’s the end game? How far to take this? It took awhile for the media to crack the Bonds case … and the guys who did wrote a book that sold well and one of them was scooped up by ESPN. Next week or next month or next year, somebody will get the cousin (or expose the lie), and we’ll do this dance again.

Sheep fans? Sheep fans are the ones who still care about this steroid story simply because it’s forced down their throat. And let’s not act like the “baseball public” is somehow more naive than other sports. Drug use in the NFL is overlooked, and has always been overlooked, and no one even cares. Former NFL players have drastically reduced life spans due to what they have to do to their bodies to stay competitive, and no one cares. A team was caught video taping another team and no one cared. NBA games were fixed by the refs. Guess what? No one really cared.

There are two things that steroids risk: the health of the players and the competitive balance of the league. Yet, both the NFL and NBA have had (and still have) significantly larger issues with these two things. AND NO ONE CARES. So maybe we should calm down with all this A-Rod stuff, huh?

Questions for A-Rod

Well, let’s face it, this probably won’t go well (and by this, I mean A-Rod’s press conference). When Andy Pettitte held his press conference last spring training, it caused a buzz, was well received by the media, and everyone moved on. However, there is a big difference between Pettitte and Rodriguez – people want to believe Andy.

With everyone trying to find fault in, well, pretty much everything A-Rod says, it’s hard to imagine this press conference stopping all the A-Rod/steroids talk. But who knows, there is still hope – I’m an optimist, after all.

So what would I ask Alex?

1. Why did you bring up Selena Roberts so much in your Gammons interview if you truly didn’t have the proper information?

2. Why did you agree to give an exclusive interview with Gammons and ESPN when ESPN attempts to ruin you every chance they get?

3. Do you realize the silver lining to this situation – that your steroid distraction has kept idiot reporters from writing stories about Joba going to the bullpen, CC Sabathia not coming through in the postseason, and the Yankees not trading for Johan Santana?

Yeah, that’s pretty much all I’ve got.