There IS crying…FOR baseball!!!

In deference to the famous line from “A League of Their Own” I am crying for baseball, and I want to find a way to stop my crying and restore some of the respect due America’s game. I believe there is a way to stop major leaguers from taking performance enhancing substances (PES’s), and it needs to be seriously considered before absolutely no one cares about this sport and its rich history.

I loved baseball as a child, even though I grew up in Cleveland, home of Beer Night and inspiration for the film Major League, training ground for countless All-Stars for other teams, and host for the only All-Star game used to restart a season. I could go on, but I shall spare you. I could also list the agony of growing up a Browns fan, but let’s not go there either. I would rather digress to the bigger picture.

Baseball has had its share of labor unrest. Strikes or another form of work stoppage in 1972, 1973, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1990, and 1994. Yes, those awesome 1994 Indians never had a chance to become world champions because there was no post-season.

Baseball has suffered its share of other, shall we call them, embarrassments. Pete Rose. The home run record races in 1998 (McGuire and Sosa) and 2001 (Bonds) being tainted by PES allegations. The Congressional hearings in March, 2005. Ken Caminitti. Jose Conseco, multiple times. The Mitchell Report. Balco.

While it could be argued that the labor situation needed heroes like Curt Flood, Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally to help establish free agency, it cannot be argued that we needed PES’s to tarnish the game. One can make a case that both of these situations arose from a single human flaw, common to even our current economic disaster: GREED.

Had the owners had a shred of compassion and a sense of fairness for the players, all of the strikes could have been avoided. The players union was formed for the very same reason as all unions were formed: to provide a mechanism to give workers a voice in gaining a fair wage and acceptable working conditions. Had business been a little less greedy, these disputes could have been solved without work stoppages. But many believe that “Greed is good!” Perhaps for the drive it provides in a capitalistic world, but not when it becomes THE single driver of decision making.

Bud Selig. Does anyone else’s name engender such a broad range of negative emotions? This man is being paid over $15 million per year to run Major League Baseball. Why? What is he leaving for the next generation? And we thought that George W. Bush was struggling for a legacy?!?!?! Mr. Selig is not leaving a legacy. He is leaving a tragedy! We all suspected, if not knew, that something was not right when 60 homers were being hit before Labor Day 10 or so years ago. There was proof that the ball was not hot. There was proof that the bats were not hot. Didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out! But let’s do nothing. Why? The turnstiles were humming!!! Fans were showing up in record numbers!!! Merchandise was moving!!! TV was paying big bucks for Bud’s game!!!

Then it started. The Congressional hearing. Palmeiro. McGuire. Conseco. Sosa forgetting how to speak English. Clemens. And on and on. Now the A-Rod revelations. And most recently Manny. Manny Ramirez. Not our Manny, the disciplined hitting student? Cleveland’s Manny? LA’s Manny? Yes! That Manny!!! Why?

I no longer care why!!! My hopes have been dashed for the last time. My heart has been broken too many times. I pray that the game will be clean someday. Not for me, but for the kids. The generations to come who need to know the intricate dance that is baseball. The strategy. The dance between pitcher and hitter. The reams of records. Which can no longer be compared to today’s statistics. Ooops! Still, there is no other game like it. But what can we do???

I’ll tell you what we can do!!! Remember GREED? That motivator of all men when it comes to financial matters? We need to cure greed! Greed is what makes these guys look for the edge. I have better numbers in my contract year and I get PAID!!! Well, let’s imagine that when you get caught with a positive test for PES’s your salary gets cut by 50%! That’s right, in half! And let’s imagine that in your future contracts, you can make no more than you are making after that 50% cut. Yes, the $2 million man becomes a $1 million man, but not for that year, but for the rest of his career! Will that make these guys think twice about filling the syringe and injecting themselves with this crap? Will that guy hanging on for the minimum salary risk losing half that salary? Seems to me that this has a chance at working. What do you think, Mr. Selig???

It certainly gives us something to think about. All of us who are sitting out here wondering where the next mortgage payment is going to come from because our job was downsized out of existence are thinking: “I wonder if I will ever plunk down my good money to reward a game that has so disappointed me and millions of others. Maybe I’ll get my fix at the local Little League field. What? They play soccer there now?” I wonder why???

Until Next Time!
Julius