Remember when A-Rod was supposed to be the diversion from the super-fun-for-everyone lead-up to Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron’s home run record? For Rodriguez, we were willing to look the other way when exposed to the tough-looking strippers, Madonna and his Maybach because, hey, at least he was clean. And he would someday break the record Bonds was infamously setting, making the whole asterisk thing a quaint little memory for reflection and debate over a glass of cognac.

Seriously, we would have forgiven almost anything for this dream to come true.

But now we know that he was not clean, that he lied, that the culture was so ‘loosey goosey’ that apparently there were needles and pills and uppers and downers just flying across clubhouses everywhere at the turn of the century and beyond.

But that’s not the real concern, though it is certainly a concern. The real issue is why all the other players are so quiet. When someone achieves such rock star status as ‘the best the game has to offer’ and is then found to be a cheat, it seems natural that the other competitors would be anxious to tear him down. But no. Quick, name 5 people who have vehemently spoken out against steroid abuse in baseball! Ok, hmmm, Jamie Moyer, David Ortiz….give me a minute to check Google and I’ll get back to you.

I am getting the same vibe from this situation as I got from the Catholic church when it was discovered that pedophile priests were being shipped from parish to parish - essentially cheating people’s trust in the faith. There was no hue and cry from within and the behavior was tolerated for years. Even as those in power knew that the crimes of this minority was pervasive, ugly and deep, it was kept under wraps because it was also the very thing that could most easily destroy the integrity of the church and cripple its future. As it very nearly has.

There was a fear of losing everything: lucrative financial backing, stature, community support, trust and the power of being an entity that people revered. Plus, the specter of legal action loomed large, along with the intense scrutiny of an aggressive and angry media out for blood.

Sound familiar doesn’t it?

Why are so many people afraid to come clean about themselves or the players that are (and were) so obviously taking PEDs and diminishing parity on the playing field? Has there been a deal struck with the devil here? Did the MLBPA threaten life, limb and salary if there was a mutiny of the non-performance enhancers?

It makes you wonder who was A-Rod’s runner-up for MVP honors in 2003 and why we haven’t really heard from him. In case you didn’t know (and who would, really?) it was Carlos Delgado, then the Blue Jays’ first baseman. If the MVP Award was governed by the Olympic committee Delgado would have it in hand by now.

Delgado’s reaction to A-Rod’s big news of two weeks ago?

“It is what it is. I can’t change what happened. I thought I had a pretty good chance to win before this all came out. I wasn’t going to let that overshadow the year I had. Five years later, I’m not going to let that bother me.”

Um. Where is the righteous indignation? Why is there zero animosity? Maybe because the playing field was level already. Perhaps Delgado doesn’t want to make any waves for fear that his name is next on the release-as-necessary list of 103 remaining.

Of course this could not come at a worse time for the MLB. The thought of skyrocketing prices, PSA lock-ins and arena food costing a king’s ransom do not jive with a game that is getting closer and closer to ‘MLB-WWE Edition’. But maybe that’s good. Maybe the fans will do what the players seem to be helpless to carry off: they will speak up and let baseball know that they want the game played by equals. They want the real thing.

Then there can be peace, love and free puppies for all.

And it would be so easy to get there. All you need is a real consequence when a perp is caught cheating the game.

I don’t think it’s fair to punish A-Rod for admitting the use of steroids in 2003. Actually, we should laud him for breaking the ice. Yet, if he is found to have cheated the game by using PEDs after his highly managed heartfelt statement from Spring Training, bombs away by all means.

Real consequences means real testing. No more catching the cheaters through the IRS and questionable statements from ex-girlfriends. Donald Fehr and the MLB need to grow some prunes and make it a requirement to submit to random blood tests. And by ‘random’, I mean that Donald Fehr cannot alert the clubhouse when the man in the white lab coat is set to arrive. Otherwise, Fehr will be dancing on deck hearing only the happy party music as the Titanic slips beneath the water.

Many people submit to random blood tests to get and keep a job. It happens all over this country. And if you can’t figure out a way to hold people accountable in a job where they are making millions and millions of dollars, well then let the backlash begin.

And while we’re at it, let’s just let the Black Sox of 1929 and Pete Rose into the Hall - because that’s just about how meaningful it is today.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009 at 4:22 pm and is filed under Fantoo Blog Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.