Shame

I'm in late with my two cents, and forgive me if this post rambles, but here are some of my thoughts on the Mitchell report.

And so the steroid era ends, with punctuation provided by the Mitchell Report. But the underlying problem with PEDs has not been buried yet. HGH, the Creme and the Clear may actually be old news to some of the accused; many have probably moved on to more sophisticated enhancers. Somebody here brought up saving samples until the means to detect become available. That would be a great deterrent if so called designer PEDs were also somehow illegal.

I am in agreement with PG and others here; had the Mitchell report held back on releasing names it could have had a much greater impact on cleaning up the game. Bud Selig and his fellow owners wasted a great opportunity to gain huge negotiating advantages with the players union on this issue. It looks to me that they want to deflect blame as much as do anything to clean up the game. So what happens now?

Honestly, I don’t for a second believe any of this pseudo-apologetic C R A P we’re hearing, and I cannot in my mind allow for the ridiculous distinction to be argued between steroids and HGH. There is none. What I see is a whole lot of idols scrambling to salvage their names and/or legacies. Most using the same, lame talking points to appease the faithful. Sound familiar?

In the end I don’t care to see any players singled out or punished in a legal court for any of this. I just want the game back. But these guys should be ashamed, and they should be made to feel dishonored as they once were adored, at least by the fans. The only ones that I feel bad for are the kids whose idols are falling. I’m a little too old myself for baseball heros, although I still hold the ones from my youth dear. But it’s hard to watch a child become disillusioned. Baseball legends are a big part of what makes the game so great, the legends have to be legit.

As concerned parents, players, or citizens with perhaps much more at stake than the average fan, can we realistically hope that our opinions really matter more? Probably not. The only votes that MLB gives us are sold to us in the form of seats. So are the strains of discontent destined to become so much white noise? And just how long will the legs of this story last with the weight of 6 billion dollars on its back?

Shame is an interesting concept. It is in many ways the opposite of what many of these players thrive on, fame. Shame is also what the owners fear, as shame could hurt them at all the gate. They know that, and maybe that’s why they’ve apparently opted for the blame game instead.

We are but jurists in a court of public opinion. Somehow I want to believe that still matters. So, what should we really be looking for here? Are we supposed to wait for all the facts to come in before rendering a verdict? It doesn’t seem likely that we’ll ever get the God honest truth. What is admissible, and what is not in opinion court? We get to decide. Is a crafted apology as good as a heart-felt one? Our call, but what makes us want to believe (or disbelieve) a guy who stands accused? And finally, since shame and dishonor are the only consequences allowed in this court, how much do we dole out in a sentence? Maybe our vote really does matter. Remember "say it ain't so Joe?"