Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? (And how much further would you have gone with a little “help”?)
Baseball is in big, big trouble. While everyone has been patiently waiting to boo Barry Bonds on his drawn-out quest to hit his first clean 40 homers in eight years, America’s pasttime is about to come crashing down. Not at the hands of a titan, nor a fallen hero. Just a journeyman named Jason Grimsley.
Fans have been forgiving for far too long. As embarrassing as last year was for Mark McGuire and Rafael Palmiero and Jason Giambi, at least there was no “smoking gun.” Rampant rumors were not accompanied by reams of positive drug tests stacked on Bud Selig’s table. Any excuse was enough to make season-ticket holders and a syncophant press wink before looking the other way.
Party’s over. A no-name known as Jason Grimsley has not only been raided and questioned over illegal procurement of HGH, but he’s turned state’s evidence by supplying names of other players to investigators. Turns out there is no good test for HGH abuse, even though doping it is against the rules.
Once this floodgate opens, there is no plausible deniability. There is no savior on the horizon — like Cal Ripken salving the wounds of a season-killing strike, or Sosa and McGuire whipping up a home run frenzy in 1998. Oh yeah. That’s a lie too.
This may go down as one of the greatest “reputation management” jobs of all time. Years of promises and spin about maintaining a clean sport are ready to fall on baseball’s noggin, like too many secrets stashed on the top shelf of a crowded closet. It’s too big now to pin on individual players.
To make matters worse, the very nature of the American love affair with baseball is at stake: those geeky statistics that supposedly stand the test of time are now in jeopardy. (Stock tip: find the company that manufactures asterisks and invest now!)
So, let me hear from you:
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I don’t think baseball can be saved, and I’m not sure anyone cares anymore. I personally never did, I’m a football man myself. The continual crying and boo-hooing these “professional” players do, and the constant negative press these idiots generate will continue to make a boring game even less appealing.
-Joel
Comment by Joel — June 8, 2006 @ 7:30 am
What can save baseball? Now that’s a tough one. My suggestion would be this: have Bud Selig call for mandatory testing of everyone right now – as in today, no warnings or anything else. Just have the lab rats show with the cups and the analyzers. Those who test positive can get on the 8:10 Greyhound to Nowhere! Next he needs to amend the records of McGuire, Sosa, Palmero, Giambi AND Mr. Bonds (and anyone else I’ve forgotten – maybe Larry Jones of the Atlanta Braves perhaps?) to reflect their use of steriods. Mr. Bonds a.k.a. The Juice needs to leave baseball right now. Hank Aaron earned his record legitimately. The Juice cannot say the same thing. After that Mr. Selig in a show of good faith needs to accept responsibility for the fiasco and resign. He needs to take the Nixonian fall, so to speak, and a new commissioner, someone trustworthy and willing to uphold the standards needs to come in and clean house. Perhaps a soon to be ex-President could do the job. I’m sure my suggestions will never work but they’re out there for what they’re worth.
Comment by Richard — June 12, 2006 @ 1:39 pm
You’d have to define “saved” for me. Baseball has long lost its place as America’s Pastime. Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak on a Thursday night ESPN telecast. One of baseball’s signature moments in the last 50 years drew slightly more than half the viewers that the Thursday night NFL game on TNT got.
Whatever hit the game takes in this scandal, ESPN will prop baseball up. Even as it reports all the bad news, it leads the cheers for the game. When Roger Clemens made a start for the Class-A Lexington Legends, ESPN rearranged its programming to carry his entire outling live. It has a nightly show dedicated to showing highlights and analysis of games. It carries complete game broadcasts several nights a week. ESPN even gave the disgraced Barry Bonds his own show!
If I’m Bud Selig I kiss up to whomever I must to stay on ESPN’s good side even if he knows how much ESPN relies on baseball for programming.
Do I care? Not really. But I’m outside the target demo now anyway so they don’t care about me, either.
Comment by John — June 12, 2006 @ 5:26 pm