Friday, February 13, 2009

Backpedalling

I hate flip-flopping, but in this case, I have to do it. I don't mind changing my mind, so much, but when I feel strongly about something and give voice to it in strong words, like I did with my A-Rod post a couple of days ago, I like to stick to it. But this time Bud Selig has gone too far.

A-Rod "shamed the game" of baseball? Maybe so--but no more so than the other 103 players who tested positive in that supposedly anonymous test. I'm pissed at A-Rod--and not so much pissed at as disappointed in--because he was supposed to be the Great Clean Hope, who would reclaim baseball's home run records from the evil, tainted clutches of Barry Bonds. His record and legacy are just as tainted as Bonds, McGwire, Canseco, and others from MLB's Steroid Era, but he was within the rules of the game (if not the rule of law). About 14% of the league tested positive along with him, not an insignificant number. And that's just the ones who got caught. Serious juicers know all sorts of tricks to avoid being caught by simple urine tests. For that reason alone, I'm against Curt Schilling's call to publish the names of all those who failed the anonymous tests. It could falsely exonerate a cheater who managed to game the system by chemical means.

But I digress. A couple of days removed from Alex's confession, and with some time to think with some balance about what's best for both baseball and for my favorite team, I just don't feel as harshly about A-Rod as I did a few days ago. And I certainly don't feel as harshly about A-Rod as Selig does. I'm disappointed, and certainly won't root for A-Rod with the same intensity as I did in past seasons, but for the good of the Yankees, I'm going to move on and focus on the present. Bud Selig needs to do the same.

1 comment:

  1. A-Rod love and forgiveness?

    You're fired.

    ReplyDelete