Do I have an opinion? You betcha!
To begin with, we will start with an easy one--while it is not popular with some segments of the media, Bud Selig has granted amnesty to players named in the report.
Bravo.
It means that “The Bud” of my weekly Pujols Award segment at THT is kaput. It also means it will be reincarnated and rededicated “The Samsons.” The criteria will be as follows:
“To nominate someone for “The Samson,” the submitter has to explain why the nominee has demonstrated short-sightedness, small thinking, diminutive moral standing, undersized intellectual capacity, stunted mental and emotional development and has stooped so low that he could get his nose hairs caught in his own fly. This isn’t for garden-variety chuckleheadedness—it’s for just-opened exhumed-casket levels of stenchy putrescence. Nominations for this distinction are not automatic—you have to make your case why they deserve this distinktion. ”
I will search high and (ahem) low to find just the right image upon which to superimpose a picture of the Marlins’ president to use as the new trophy.
Right now, some in the media are bemoaning that the greedy, immoral players are getting off scot-free. Well, they should never forget that in a perfectly just world, the owners, managers, general managers, team executives, owners and (some of) the media would also face sanction for their complicity in the scandal.
I’m guessing that were it press-passes being revoked for media personnel who knew, or were in a position to know, and didn’t do their job there would be much wailing and gnashing of teeth. There would be cries of freedom of the press and lack of due process etc. Well, players named in the report may have been guilty but they too were denied due process, a chance to face their accusers and cross-examine both they and any witnesses before an impartial jury.
Don’t place a yoke that you’re unwilling to bear upon another.
To state the obvious, while some of it will doubtlessly help, it falls short of a gold standard of testing despite the propaganda emanating from MLB. As Maury Brown noted: “3. The program adds 600 tests per year (making the total number of tests 3600), an average of three per player per year. The Independent Program Administrator is authorized to conduct up to 375 off-season tests over his three-year initial term, which will, on average, more than double the amount of off-season testing.”
This sounds impressive, but that leaves a lot of margin for error. When you consider how many players are employed on MLB 40-man rosters (1200 players), 375 off-season tests over three years is far from earth shattering.
The thing that struck me is that the top 200 prospects are subject for testing as well. This strikes me as more of a way to reduce bonus demands of the top picks in a given year. A drafted player who is demanding an a deal that exceeds the recommended bonus for that particular slot will likely be tested and if he tests positive for anything, it will be used to drive down his demands.
How are the top 200 determined that are subject for testing? Who determines who the top 200 prospects are? When is the evaluation made and how will the affected players be notified and how much lead time do they have before being tested?
I neither can see this not being challenged by Scott Boras (or another agent) because these are covered by the collective bargaining agreement, nor are contractually tied to any club within MLB. He’ll argue that any testing will have to done after the player has signed on the dotted line. Whether such a challenge will succeed will be seen in time. I just wonder if this includes posted players from Japan and undrafted free agents (Alfonso Soriano being an example) such as Cuban defectors.
A final note…
Please follow this link When sports becomes a small matter: A child and autism. Maury is a good friend and we both are proud fathers. My children, now grown, have been spared this but it is becoming more prevalent and even if you haven’t been personally affected--chances someone you care about is dealing with this issue within their family. Maury is one of several friends who face the challenges of an autistic child. I can tell you that when the hormones of adolescence set in it can become a nightmare for the entire family.
Moreover, it’s expensive.
Parents of autistic children are, in my opinion, heroes. We live in a world where children are all too often abused, exploited, ignored, abandoned or shuttled off for others to care for. We are taught through the mass-media to look out for Number One and to put self interest and personal gratification above all else.
These parents (of autistic children) ignore all these influences and pressures and stand up to love, nurture, look after and raise children under the most stressful of circumstances imaginable. One friend of mine has an autistic teenager, a wife with cancer and is close to bankrupt because of these issues. He faces every day like a man and does everything in his power to look after his responsibilities.
We often erect statues and glorify those who lay down their lives for various causes. What is often forgotten is living and sacrificing for a cause day-by-day is far, far more difficult than dying for one. A dead person, however brave in life, no longer faces stress, pressures, physical, emotional and psychological pain where the next day bodes no better than the current one. They don't look ahead to days, weeks, months, years and decades of the same challenges and never flinch.
However, parents of autistic children do just that.
We can only praise the dead and they’re likely not even aware of it --we can do much more for the living and they do appreciate it.
Best Regards
John