quote:
There are two questions to entertain:
1) What is the game of baseball willing to tolerate? If baseball is going to tolerate enhancement drugs, which they obviously did to create this monster, what then?
2) Now it comes down to what the fans will tolerate. I hear a lot of complaining by the fans, but I don't see them turning away from the MLB ballparks. That in itself, is all the acceptance of the situation MLB needs.
I'm not being pro or con in the situation. I'm just trying to deal in reality. Personally I'd like to see a one year suspension for the first offense and a lifetime ban for the second offense. Nail one star and you'll see the problem end (assuming MLB really consideres it a problem). Stars retire all the time. Baseball will go on. The game is bigger than any one player or players.
TG, in nearly every place where you reference the "game" of baseball, I think it needs to be changed to the "business" of baseball.
To give you an example: if this were the "game" of baseball, the SF Giants would have jettisoned Bonds after their last place finish in 2006, gone younger, and taken the fact that AT&T would be drawing maybe 20,000 per game while they rebuilt, instead of 41,000 per game.
Because it is a "business," they chose to keep Bonds, fill the place every game until he got to 756 and field one of the worst teams in MLB this year.
The business of baseball is entertainment. ESPN and Fox are going to pay to televise Bonds, A'Rod and are not going to pay large $$$ to televise Kevin Frandsen and Dan Ortmeir(sorry Mom).
I have doubts that MLB and the player's association would be willing to do what was done in the Tour de France this year. It seems like cycling recognized the current issue and bit the bullet financially with a view of the longer term integrity of that sport. If the Giants would pay Bonds $16,000,000 and field a non competitive team around him in order to keep fans coming to games and filling their park, that is stark evidence the owners do not feel the "game" is bigger than the stars and evidence the owners will protect their stars over winning, to put fans in the stands.