Amnesty is the answer to PED use
Posted: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 1:38 PM
On forgiveness and madness...
I had a conversation over the weekend with one of my respected advisors, a man with over three decades of baseball experience, and boundless common sense and decency?
For the first time, I heard angst and passion in his voice when the subject arose of performance enhancing drug use. I shared my view that Major League Baseball, and its commissioner, Bud Selig in particular, gain nothing from a punitive stance against a player at each new admission/revelation of PED use.
My friend then used the word I had never considered when giving thought to PED use: amnesty. His point: Denial is useless. Punishment is pointless. Just admit what happened, acknowledge the regret universally held towards these events, and move forward.
Of course, amnesty is a powerful word in recent American history, and it resonates with many who are in baseball's buying demographic. Amnesty. It’s a concept that could more than anything else truly help move baseball beyond an undeniable part of its history.
Turning from baseball to basketball, March Madness has arrived while the World Baseball Classic is in full swing. The WBC is in the second round and ESPN, baseball's cable partner, barely pays attention to it amidst a blizzard of conference championship games.
Japan played Cuba Sunday. Daisuke Matsuzaka facing the heralded and mysterious baseball power, and the game barely registered on the U.S. sports radar. Now my love for international baseball has been documented here. I called Olympic baseball in Sydney, and experienced the national fervor when Japan and Korea played for a bronze medal. I watched in disbelief as the Netherlands (coached by Arizona State's Pat Murphy) shocked Cuba, and saw the unbridled joy unleashed by a seminal moment in Dutch sports history. And I saw hardened pros with tear-stained cheeks as the American flag and anthem played for the gold-medal winners.
There is a place and time for the WBC. It just isn't during spring training. March Madness is too ingrained as a truly national event. Need a baseball fix in March, and you're more likely to catch your team in a spring game. If you catch the WBC, and note the amazing passion in Puerto Rico or with the Venezuelans and Dominicans, you think this could be special. But then come the pitch counts, mercy rules, and an insane extra-inning policy (thankfully yet to be employed). And any illusion of legitimacy is destroyed by this nonsense.
There is a saying carried on by Princeton alums: If we choose to participate, then we do so to excel.
Nothing better fits the WBC. Billed as a world classic, it is played as if it is a glorified exhibition. For one second, can you fathom the World Cup played with any restrictions on the use of players? Or even Olympic baseball, may it rest in peace?
We are told the WBC is a smash hit in Latin America and Asia. Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association have found common ground, a much-needed advance, on this event.
But that advance is rooted in money, something that pales to the risk absorbed by individual teams. And each time we hear of a Robinson Cano coming back from the WBC nursing an injury, the opposition from teams to having their players take part will grow.
There is no easy answer. There is no time to hold the WBC without sacrifice from some entity. But doesn't Olympic hockey offer the most sensible solution -- an in-season competition of 10-14 days with players in peak condition. Risk of injury exists, but at least the WBC would qualify under the Princeton criteria -- a championship event held with no handicaps, just the best players trying to excel and become champions.
FIVE SWINGS:
1. BARRY ZITO, as I was frequently reminded, should have been in my blog on the 10 players to watch this spring. Giants owners and their families watched him in person Sunday against the Royals, and he was smoked for six runs in five innings.
Stories this winter have focused on a newly dedicated Zito, who took part in a fierce workout program with Giants closer Brian Wilson. No physical workout, though, can compensate for "lack of stuff." The Giants would love to offload Zito's onerous contract, but if he can't turn his career around pitching in the spacious San Francisco ballpark, then where?
2. AARON ROWAND’S offense has been smothered by pitcher-friendly AT&T Park, and he highlights the Giants’ organizational dilemma. They are the anti-Rockies. They have to overpay to get hitters, who know AT&T Park hinders offense. Thus, they must develop position players through their system, countering their decade-long emphasis on drafting pitchers.
3. JUSTIN DUCHSHERER is unlikely to be ready for opening day so watch the A's accelerate the push of their trio of talented young arms (Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, and Vin Mazzero). Great line from Matt Holliday in the San Francisco Chronicle when he wondered why the A's had traded for him in his walk year. One trip to the bullpen to watch the A's young arms throw, Holliday said, and he knew why Oakland made the move. These arms have the potential to create an AL West challenger.
4. THE ANGELS plan to open the season with Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar on the DL. The intent is to have both ready in May and for them to accept today's measure of "durability" -- 20-25 starts of six innings and keeping their team in the game.
Neither Vlad Guerrero nor Gary Matthews Jr. have played in a game yet, but both have nearly three weeks to prepare for opening day, another instance of the absurd length of this spring training.
5. JASON SCHMIDT faced the A’s Trevor Cahill Monday in the Cactus League. Schmidt threw two scoreless innings, a small but needed step towards his winning the fifth spot in the rotation. Schmidt's performances have garnered Dodgers manager Joe Torre's full attention as the team hopes he can emerge from Arizona as a healthy fifth starter.
