For all the big fans of the Quikstop Blog, I apologize for my sporadic blogging since the beginning of the school year. 12 credits of graduate work plus an overseer of a boss. Furthermore, there really hasn't been much that I've felt I needed to write about. That being said, the release last week of the much-anticipated Mitchell Report really grinded my gears.Former United States Senator and Northern Ireland peace broker George Mitchell released his report last Thursday. The report stated that steroid use in baseball was wide-spread and that the League and the Commissioner should take immediate action. Furthermore, the report named dozens of current and former baseball players accused of using steroids and/or HGH.
Who cares?
Even the most casual of baseball fans knows that plenty of ball players have been juicing for years. Why wouldn't they? Hitting 40 homers with 120 RBIs in a season means millions for these guys with few other skills. How many among us wouldn't inject ourselves with something if it meant the chance of financial security for ourselves and our families for the rest of our lives? Professional sports are just that, a profession. The whole point of a profession is to make money. Begging, stealing and cheating are all part of the game. Hell, it's the American way. No one ever called Rockefeller or Carnegie a cheater. The Mitchell Report, through evidence which is hearsay at best, has told baseball fans nothing knew and muddied the good names of current and former baseball players. David Justice, "Mr. Playoffs" was named in the report and all he did is inquire about how to get steroids; he never took them. Regardless, his career achievements are brought into question just because a locker room attendant was trying to avoid jail time for selling steroids.
All sorts of baseball writers and commentators always talk about baseball as part of America and its history. Then why are we, as Americans and as baseball fans, so shocked when scandal arises? Scandal, cheating and corruption have always existed in American life, so why should America's sport be any different from the rest of American society? 100 years from now, the steroid era will be nothing but a minor period in baseball and America's history. It is arrogant of us to think that this is the biggest scandal ever to hit baseball simply because it is in our time. Individual players may have gained an unfair advantage but umpires weren't fixing games or anything like that (i.e. soccer in Italy).
Considering that the major focus of Mitchell's report was to "move forward and look towards the future", it is pointless and damaging that he has ruined the reputations of many a good player in an effort to tell Major League Baseball, its owners, players and fans nothing they didn't already know. Did we really need to spend $20 million to learn that Roger Clemens took steroids? Umm, no. I would have done the same thing for a pair of bleacher seats and a hot dog at a Yankees v. Royals game. The whole report is just pointless. I'm going to watch baseball next year no matter what. The whole point of people watching baseball is for entertainment. Watching baseball makes us forget about all the other crap going on in our lives for a few hours. If nothing else, steroids made the game more entertaining. We must all ask ourselves as Maximus the Gladiator asked us, "Are you not entertained?!" We were all entertained in 1998 with the McGwire/Sosa chase for 61; they were both on steroids. To condemn all these players to baseball hell is hypocritical and un-American. I am still going to love and follow baseball with a deep passion. Derek Jeter is still the man and I still hate the Red Sox (but god dammit do I respect them). Those things will never change. Sen. Mitchell, thanks for peace in Northern Ireland and thanks for wasting my time.
