IT’S TIME TO WEIGH IN

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Alex Rodriquez

As I write this, it is August 7^th, and the circus that surrounds Alex Rodriquez (A-Rod) continues. Even TLW (The Little Woman) a non-baseball fan, has an opinion on the man, as I do also.

If you thought that the editors of DelBloggolo would avoid the subject matter, you are mistaken. As a fan of my readers, I will present to you the real facts that have led up to the disaster that has befallen Major League Baseball, whose fault it is and why.

Way back in 1991, when the bad things began with the use of marijuana and drugs, Major League Baseball found itself being warned and not thinking it was an issue. It began to ban drugs but there was a feeling that no one could enforce it. But the issue was not the drugs, and 1991 was not the beginning of the mess.

If you look closely, you will see another culprit, a man who was intent on winning no matter the cost. He owned the most storied franchise in the history of baseball, and  it is that history that he helped destroy.

George Steinbrenner

I’m talking of course about George Steinbrenner, the maniacal owner of the New York Yankees, and the beginnings of the long multi-millionaire contracts.

If you take a job for any amount of money that requires a talent, you are expected to live up to the promise of the talent while accepting the money. If for some reason you cannot live up to the promise you should step aside and go away. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. A man like George Steinbrenner comes along, hires you away from a team and offers to pay you an obscene amount of money, you take it. You sign, get all the publicity and suddenly the pressures come to bear, all on your shoulders. If you are playing below your capabilities or the expectations of those who are paying you, the screaming and ridicule begins by the Steinbrenner types and you get desperate and look for help in your own quiet desperation. Suddenly biochemistry becomes an answer.

What we have with the likes of Alex Rodriquez was a man with all the talent in the world, and trying to insure success! Bonds, McGwire and Sosa with the superhuman feats and now these past dozen or so players desperately trying to get to and stay on top then stay competitive on a superhuman level so as to be worth the money all working out of fear and desperation.

That money is then a catalyst for fans to determine just how well the ballplayer is performing, is he worth the millions he gets? How does the ballplayer save himself from public ridicule of the press, owner and fans, let alone his fellow ballplayers?

That money that the cheat gets, is parlayed into more profits for the owners, because they could sell their product with higher ticket prices, merchandise and post-season play, building up TV and media contracts!

Andy Petitte

The fan was willing to pay.

What has happened now is the history of the game is worthless from the last 40 years, an over-priced market, and the fans cheated. Can you throw out the stats that were accumulated in that time period? No, because there were good, clean players that affected the stats, while they struck out a Bobby Bonds, or an A-Rod, or homered off a Andy Petitte. How can you purify it, it is impossible! A major reason why the game is so wonderful is the history, the record books and the comparisons. Now those records reflect who were the biggest cheaters in baseball, not the greatest players!