So new we learn that one more player was willing to do whatever it took to win, one more player who took the mantra that winning isn’t just everything, it’s the only thing as seriously as a heart attack.
One more reason for all of the talking heads to wring their hands, declare themselves the last bastions of decency and all that’s good, to remind us that while Manny Ramirez doesn’t care about saving the children, they sure do. One more overwrought response to an overblown issue, by one after another overweight and underpaid hacks.
The NY Daily News has nine articles related to Ramirez, this from a paper that considers itself the anti-steroids locus operandi of the sports world, but is, in reality, a joke; running one more innuendo-filled smear after another. Or, if smear jobs aren’t enough, the News will run flat out attack pieces, with enough anonymous quotes to make Selena Roberts blush. Here’s John Harper:
…. Unless you think that cheating the game shouldn’t matter, you continue to cross the names off the list of future Hall of Famers. Not that deleting Manny Ramirez’s name from consideration is particularly painful.
It was always going to be hard to vote for someone who quit on his team as transparently as Ramirez did with the Red Sox last year, when he forced his way out of Boston. So in this case, Ramirez’s suspension for using a banned substance just makes it easier to say no.
Or the poster boy for calling everyone a cheater, Lupica:
…. Ramirez talks about some doctor doing this to him. What doctor? He doesn’t give us a name on his doctor any more than A-Rod gave us the name of that Nurse Betty-cousin of his. Manny and Boras also fail to mention that there is a hotline ballplayers can call, one that tells them exactly what drugs they can and can’t use.
So, in a one-paragraph statement, Ramirez manages to give us a story as full of holes as the one Rodriguez gave in Tampa before he choked himself up.
Again, baseball officials and sportswriters know, FOR A FACT, that virtually every baseball player for the last fifty years has used performance enhancing drugs of some kind during his career.
Let me write that again, so you understand how disgraceful all of this posturing and hand-wringing really is:
BASEBALL PLAYERS HAVE BEEN USING PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS FOR THE LAST FIVE DECADES:
…. Here’s what Gilbert wrote FORTY YEARS AGO!!!!
…. “A few pills—I take all kinds—and the pain’s gone,” says Dennis McLain of the Detroit Tigers. McLain also takes shots, or at least took a shot of cortisone and Xylocaine (anti-inflammant and painkiller) in his throwing shoulder prior to the sixth game of the 1968 World Series—the only game he won in three tries. In the same Series, which at times seemed to be a matchup between Detroit and St. Louis druggists, Cardinal Bob Gibson was gobbling muscle-relaxing pills, trying chemically to keep his arm loose. The Tigers’ Series hero, Mickey Lolich, was on antibiotics.
Bob Gibson? He’s one of the heroes these guys keep going on and on about. He’s one of those guys who would never, ever have used steroids, right, Lupica?
…. “We occasionally use Dexamyl and Dexedrine [amphetamines]…. We also use barbiturates, Seconal, Tuinal, Nembutal…. We also use some anti-depressants, Triavil, Tofranil, Valium…. But I don’t think the use of drugs is as prevalent in the Midwest as it is on the East and West coasts,” said Dr. I. C. Middleman, who, until his death last September, was team surgeon for the St. Louis baseball Cardinals.
Tim McCarver was Gibson’s catcher, wasn’t he? When is McCarver gonna come out and tell the truth? When is McCarver gonna be asked a tough question? He and Joe Morgan can sit there during games and drone on and on about how horrible it is that this player or that player is cheating…. WHEN WILL THEY COME CLEAN?
Think about that when you listen to these guys talk about their heroes being so full of love for the kids, so true and honorable that they saved people from burning buildings before hitting the game winning home run. We know, KNOW that all of these guys, Reggie Jackson and Cal Ripken and Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays and Tom Seaver and Joe-fucking-Morgan ….. all of these Hall of Fame players absolutely, positively used speed to play baseball. And we know, for a fact, that the only reason they didn’t use steroids is because they weren’t readily available.
And we know that the sportswriters and broadcasters knew as well.
Instead of another article quoting Cal Ripken as being disappointed or shocked, I’d love to read an article in which Ripken lists, in detail, every single thing he ever took to play in 2130 games in a row.
…. “I don’t know what people would think. You stand for what you stand for. If you’re asking me whether I juiced, the answer is no.
When different people are suspected or popped, there’s a kind of shock that runs through your system. This falls in the shocking category.
You can only control what you can control. You have to live your life and live it as consistently as you can, the way you believe.
Instead of looking at it from a pessimistic point and saying it’s dragging the game down, I still would like to believe most players are making the right choice and right decision based on who they are. That’s how I choose to look at it. Whether it’s going to prove out to be wrong, time will tell. The truth will come out.
Yeah, don’t ask him a real question, like, what did you take, at any point during your career, to take the field? Or better yet, did you ever use speed, or anything stronger than ibuprofen, EVER?
This is all bullshit. It’s all lowest common denominator, pander to the idiots, race to press and make sure everyone knows that you stand for honor. And it’s all a lie.
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Excellent work, as usual John. More insightful comments from readers. This is why I keep coming back to this site.
I’m not sure when this happened, but somewhere along the way the media decided that this generation of players is somehow different than any other generation of baseball players. Somehow, while this generation knows right from wrong the same way every other generation has, the media beileves this group of players has chosen the “wrong”, where previous generations would have chosen the “right”. Bullshit. The only difference between this generation and previous generations is opportunity.
When greenies were at their most readily available in the ’60′s, everyone was doing them. When cocaine was the drug of choice in the 80′s, ballplayers were choosing to do that. History is littered with examples, from the Black Sox to greenies to cocaine to spitballs to steroids, what players (and people as a whole) do is a reflection of opportunity. Hell, Tom House admitted steroids were in baseball as far back as the ’70′s, but we’re made to believe that somehow THIS group of players is different.
There are doctors who argue testosterone use in adult males can actually be a good thing. But oh god, what about the children?! Well if you can’t watch over your kids and make them realize the dangers these drugs pose to them at their age, maybe you need to improve your parenting, or maybe you were unfit to have a child to begin with. Furthermore, what about football? You mean to tell me that while baseball players actively chose to go down the morally offensive PED path, the NFL, where the benefits of steroids are painfully obvious and significant, had a much smaller problem than baseball? Shawn Merriman tests positive for steroids and is suspend for FOUR GAMES, then voted to the pro-bowl that same season. The NFL is the most popular sport in America, but god let us save the children from the evil baseball players.
What about everyone besides the players invovled in this “scandal”? The media turned this into a firestorm to increase page hits, television ratings, and try to salvage the sinking fleet of newspaper (maybe if they realized newspapers don’t even provide real journalism anymore they’d realize why we don’t want to pay for their product). Should we demand these same media members outraged over PED’s return the money they’re making on the story? Or how about Bud Selig and the owners who pocketed more than most professional athletes could ever dream of? According to former Marlins trainer Larry Starr:
““Here’s the thing that really bothers me,” Starr said in a recent interview with FLORIDA TODAY. “They sit there, meaning the commissioner’s office, Bud Selig and that group, and the players’ association, Don Fehr and that group . . . they sit there and say, ‘Well, now that we know that this happened we’re going to do something about it.’
“I have notes from the Winter Meetings where the owners group and the players’ association sat in meetings with the team physicians and team trainers. I was there. And team physicians stood up and said, ‘Look, we need to do something about this. We’ve got a problem here if we don’t do something about it.’ That was in 1988.””
If this is such a moral outrage, should we demand they return the money they pocketed from players choosing to possibly put their own health at risk to perform better, to IMPROVE THE PRODUCT THE SAME OWNERS MADE MONEY OFF? With regards to Manny Ramirez, this is from a front page ESPN story today: “[Dodgers owner Frank] McCourt was furious with Ramirez and was demanding that the star slugger speak to his teammates about the failed drug test that led to his suspension”. Frank McCourt is actually saving upwards of $7 million from this suspension. Where’s the outrage over that?
From Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/mannys-suspension-less-a-crisis-than-an-opportunity/
“Let’s face the facts: Many, many ballplayers have used PEDs in recent years. So many, that the allegation that any one user had an unfair advantage is at risk of becoming obsolete. As I’ve said time and time again, rather than demonizing these guys, calling for bans and locking the doors of the Hall of Fame, perhaps we should simply acknowledge that PEDs are best thought of as a generation’s unique playing conditions like dead balls, segregated leagues, and giant strike zones. We have no problem acknowledging that 18 wins and a 2.50 ERA didn’t make a guy anything special in 1904, so why is it so hard to come to grips with and adjust to the fact that 400 or 500 home runs don’t necessarily make anyone special today?
Have PEDs thrown us so off our game that we can’t tell the difference between a Hall of Famer and and a non-Hall of Famer? I don’t believe so, and I think that eventually the writers and historians will realize this too.”
Excellent Bill James quote from Joe Posnanski:
http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/05/08/rage/
“You give me the opportunity to earn $22 million a year by taking steroids, I’ll shoot the pharmacist if I have to. I’m not saying it’s right. I’m not saying I shouldn’t be punished for shooting the pharmacist. I am saying it is self-righteous to pretend that I don’t have the same human failings that these guys do, and further, if you are insisting that you don’t have them, I don’t believe you.”
John, you wrote a while ago that many people upset about the issue are trying to protect their childhood memories of their heroes – guys like Hank Aaron and Willie Mays that they remember with their “childhood innocence”. I think that was spot on, and it makes me sad that the emotional connection to their childhood memories can simply overrule a rational response when presented with an overwhelming amount of evidence that this outrage is absurd. It also is frustrating that the very people defending the moral highground – that is, the writers and owners “outraged” over PED use – are the ones influencing the public that they should care. And these same writers and owners are personally benefitting from the athletes who used PED’s. The bottom line is the only difference between the athletes now and the “innocent” athletes of the past opportunity.
You just keep hoping that as this continues to happen, people will become aware of the complicity of teams, team executives, team owners, league officials, and the press. You hope that at some point, people roll their eyes when a Mike Lupica expresses his shock and disappointment at another steroid scandal, because even though he and his peers spend hour after hour in big league clubhouses and speaking to an endless stream of sources, they didn’t suspect a thing. You keep hoping that one day, someone will ask the Mike Lupicas of the world to stop BSing us, either reveal what you know or keep it to yourself, but stop with the sanctimonious blather every time another steroid user is outed.
You knew. Bud Selig. Team owners. Trainers. Players. Agents. So-called reporters. You knew, and you know. So until you’re willing to tell us the truth, just shut up.
Great column. It is great to have you come out and highlight how ridiculous the reaction has been from the “respected” writers.
I have long been trying to point out to my friends that going on a witch hunt against these players is a fucking joke but unfortunately most of them take the same hollier than thou attitude that is being taken by the headline making hacks.
How can anyone be “shocked” anymore by this? The bullshit needs to end.
This is the NY Daily News “related article” box from the article written by St. John Harper, the patron saint of sanctimonious institutions.
• MLB hits Manny with 50-game ban
• Lupica: Don’t listen to this dope, Manny’s a cheat
• Smith: Manny the best move Omar never made
• Raissman: Ripken in state of shock over Manny
• Damon hopes Manny suspension doesn’t put black eye on 2004 Sox
• Canseco was busted for same drug as Manny
• The Boras factor: Many linked to performance-enhancing drugs
• Manny Ramirez stays on All-Star ballot
• Washington Heights reacts to Manny’s ban
Look. We all understand that newspapers, magazines and their related brethren in the ether, have to peddle their products, and that sensationalism works. The printed and internet “sports sites” are essentially supermarket tabloids about celebrity jocks. The EXTRA-EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT mentality. Nobody writes about Marvin Bernard or Yorvit Torrealba. Why? Because nobody gets to feel superior or have their envy gene fed when guys like this with low “Q” ratings test positive for something or other. No. The only time these phonies get upset, is when its somebody they have a grind against, that gets caught. Or is alleged to have “done something”.
Suppose the police chief in your small town gets caught parking in a handicap zone. Because he is the chief of police, he is in a position of influence and high recognition in the community. And for whatever reason, you just have a dislike for him, or his occupation, or his attitude or even for no particular reason. And because of that infraction, you now have the opportunity to run around and pontificate about saving the handicapped zones and setting examples for children and all the rest of the self-righteous buffoonery that has very little to do with his preventing and solving crime. This is what. we see when people embark on molehill to mountain conversions. Perspective and context are lost. The infraction is now being promoted as a crime against humanity. In the public mind, the Chief is now an abuser of the physically challenged. “What kind of a society are we when we tolerate such behavior from our chief law enforcement officer? “Obviously this is a hate crime!” “String the bastard up!” .Never mind that it was 3 am and he was parking in front of a walk up ATM machine.
But if the Chief in a small town 3000 miles away gets popped for the same thing, does anyone spend more than 10 seconds concerning themselves? Of course not. The wrongdoing is kept in perspective. Parking in a handicap zone is being lazy and selfish at worst, and maybe a little careless at best. Pay the ticket. Don’t do it again. The infraction is kept in perspective and context in the public mind, meaning nobody cares. Because there is a proportionate process for dealing with this is in place, there is no reason for anybody to care.
Frankly, I would be pretty embarrassed to mince around all breathless about Manny Ramirez like these twerps, regardless of the merits of the accusations. What we have here is what we have elsewhere in our media. A Bunch of Alices, Judys and Nancys, running around in circles with their hands flapping in the breeze, with feigned indignation and mortification over the most innocuous of perceived wrongdoings. Transgressions that in a prior era, as pointed out above, were kept in perspective by all parties concerned, and reported and written about with proper context.
Professional sports by their nature are risky. An individual, engaged in a risky endeavor will do what it takes to ensure survival. And if anybody thinks professional sports at the highest levels is not a hourly and daily struggle for economic, mental, physical and emotional survival needs to come out of the cellar.
P-38 Fighter pilots, in North Africa were given injections of amphetamines while strapped in their cockpits during refueling on desperate turn-around missions. It was the only way to fend off the physical, mental and emotional exhaustion that resulted from life and death combat. To succumb to the exhaustion was to die violently. If we are to take The Lupicas and Harpers of this world seriously, maybe we should go back and forfeit World War II. Then we could say: “At least we fought the war the right way”.
The sad part really is that we have the majority of people in this culture who will cede their opinion shaping to these mincing hand flappers. Why? I have no idea. Maybe its for the same reason that a lot of these same people think a guy who publishes two personal diaries but never a book on policy would make a great president. Because an obscenely rich fat middle aged narcissistic woman who gives away free cars and thinks Dr. Phil is the bomb, says so. What a fucking joke.
+mia,
Your’re spot on. This is what I’ve come to expect from a dumbed down America….where reality shows rule the networks. Most people have this inexplicable need to adore and worship celebrities…and hang on every word and clip dished out by the MSM. Of course reality show junkies say the same thing about sports fanatics. A friend of mine has been saying for years…”you know your marriage is on the rocks or over when you come home and find your wife watching Dr. Phil and The Big O.
We all know that nadless Bud knew and supported the steroid usage. Put fans in the stands and helped erase memories of a tarnished sport beacuse of the strike. Wouldn’t be surprised if he organized the distribution network. Bud has his hands in every jar. WE ALL KNOW….so it’s time to let it go. MOVE ON.
On another note….another series win by the Gigantes. They have tied or won eight series in a row…not bad for the line-up in place. I still say the NL Worst can be had…and the wild card is attainable. I realize much of this is the fan in me…but I watch enough other teams to know that the Gigantes(as boring as they may be) have the pitching and defense to get it done.
Good column, John. Total truth.
Part of me wants 479 players implicated from before 1990, including all Hall of Famers, the rest wants everyone to STFU.
It absolutely AMAZES me that the McLain quote could be found straight from the mouths of many many players, right out in the open and you could fill columns here with them, yet we’re supposed to be shocked in 2009. When were amphetamines invented? Ancient Egyptians or something? Just wait until they all find out that the Babe was frothing at the mouth every day. God love him, but he’d be out there on absinthe if it made it more fun.
And, indeed… sure Cal. 2,130 games, never felt a little weary. Ever. Uh-huh.
John,
One of your best efforts. Nice.
McCarver & Lupica…now there are a couple fine stand up individuals. I’d pay good money to take a shot at McCarver….and Lupica is too big a pussy to go after. Another overweight hack who never played sports in his life.
I cannot wait for +mia’s take on this.
Oh God this is refreshing to read!