Should there be any sympathy for Big Leaguers that used Performance Enhancing Drugs? Should we see them as victims in any way, shape of form? They are, by and large, multi-millionaires. They are treated like Superheroes in most respects. They get to be kids for an extended period of time, while most of the rest of us are told to. “GROW UP!” But still, can we see past all the bells and whistles to forgive them for breaking the rules?
I am in no way condoning the use of PEDs. I believe that if you use them you should be penalized severely…and if you try it again, you should be shown the door. It’s not just because said violators are cheating the game, it’s because they are cheating themselves, their teammates/opponents and the kids that look up to them.
Now here’s where I open my mind up a bit. You don’t have to see my point and you certainly don’t have to agree with me…many don’t. All I ask is that you hear me out.
Let’s say the day you came into this world “The Big Man Upstairs” slapped a Howitzer on your right shoulder. As you grew up you were able to throw a baseball like very few people on the planet. Or you could time a pitch with a seemingly bionic eye that allowed you to hit anything. You were faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive... a Six Million Dollar man if you will.
By the time you were in High School, Major League scouts made your hometown a regular stop on their tour of the country. You’re name was known by every college coach in the U.S. and you had fans at the age of 17…imagine that. And let’s say your wildest dreams came true. You were signed to a Big League contract. You won CY Young’s or MVP awards. Let’s say you were a living legend and you even heard your name announced by “The Voice of God” at Yankee Stadium. Not too shabby huh?
And then one morning you wake up…only this in not just any other morning. On this particular day Father Time knocked on the door and shut your arm off or slowed your bionics down. You are no longer the greatest. It happened in an instant. You can’t make your slider bite. You can’t reach back and find that 97 mph heater. Instead you throw a very hittable 90, or you fan at a splitter you absolutely lost and watch your average dip to .268. It is a part of life right? It will happen to all of us in one way or another, deal with it.
But what if someone then told you, “Hey, I can give you another few years of Ace stuff. I can give you that pop back.” What would you do? I know I’d LOVE to tell you that I’d tell that person offering youth and fame in a bottle to get lost. I sit here hoping I’d be able to say, “What are you out of your mind?! Take a walk chief. I’ll go down swinging with what I have left in the tank.” I want to be able to say that, but if I was once the best pitcher in the game or could hit anything to any field…would I? Would any of us?
My folks raised me to give it all I have with what I was given. They taught me to work harder than the next guy and not to quit. Despite an Irish temper that would make Paul O’Neill say, “Mikey, count to 10”, I have always tried to do my best to compete with class and a good work ethic. If I lose, then at least I go out with nothing left in the tank…in all walks of life.
I guess what I am saying is I can understand why an MLB player would consider using something to keep them on top. I don’t believe it’s right, but I won’t pretend to know what it feels like to have walked a mile in their spikes…because I don’t.
We are living in a strange time in my opinion. We will watch as people say awful things about Alex Rodriguez and think, “Well, he deserves it.” I agree to an extent. ARod should be out of the game if he has done all he has been accused of…but that’s where it should end. I don’t hate Alex, nobody should. He is not the even close to the larger issue. It’s the culture that’s really the problem and it’s getting worse. We give kids participation ribbons so they don’t have to lose. Or we heap a mountain of pressure on them to succeed to the point that the fun of sport is snatched away. When and if they reach the professional level, owners, agents, sponsors and even the leagues themselves push and pull them in every direction, and then turn a blind eye to the corruption. It really is sad. It’s tragic to think that the man that was asked to watch over the game of baseball would rather take care of his shallow legacy than the game itself. In the race to be baseball’s biggest villain ARod is running a dead heat with Bud Selig in my opinion.
I am hoping for a change in the tide starting on the playgrounds in this country. Let the kids know that if you play you might lose…and that’s ok. You learn more from a loss than a win. It teaches you to get up and try again. It teaches you that the breaks don’t always go your way. It teaches you how to win.
Baseball has a human side like no other major sport in my opinion. I think if we understand the player and see the bigger problem the game can change for the better. It can go back to the basics and maybe it can start with the fall of Alex Rodriguez. Maybe seeing his failure will help the next kid born with a gift use it for all it’s worth. And when it’s time to go, he can smile knowing he left it all on the field. After all the feeling you get from losing will dissipate, but the pain of regret can linger for a lifetime.
--Mike O'Hara, MLB Fan Cave Host, Season 1
Twitter: @mikeyoh21
"Paulie was always my favorite player."
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