Cheater's Proof

Well the Mitchell report has finally come out, and guess what? Yes there is cheating in baseball after all. Also Barry Bonds didn't cheat in a vacuum, he was just better at it then other players were.

Of course Barry's legal problems stem from the fact he allegedly lied to a Federal Grand Jury when they were trying to close down illegal labs like BALCO, not just from his use of the substances. There is a big difference between that and if he was just a steroid user. But enough time, energy and bandwidth has been wasted on this cretin so that's all I'll say about him for now.

The juicy part of the report has to deal with the other big names mentioned. There was Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Miguel Tejada (maybe Rafael Palmerio was telling the truth when he said he got the stuff from Tejada after all) amongst the active players. I man wow, who would have guessed it? Except of course rumors have been floating around earlier this summer about these three, so I guess the old saying “Wheres there's smoke there's fire”, rings true in this case.

Of course all the players on the list who would have been considered for the Hall of Fame, need to get the same treatment as Barry Bonds, and Mark McGuire are getting now. If there is an asterisk besides Barry's home run record, there there should be one next to Clemen's win and strikeout totals as well. If Barry's MVP's are tainted, then so is Clemen's Cy Young awards. Fair is fair and we all want to be fair.

The reason for the lack of outcry for these other players is mainly because they don't act like cretins to the public and press. Yes there will be gnashing of teeth and rending of garments for a week or so, but it will go away and become background noise until Spring Training. Then of course the media will storm the camps and besiege these players with ridiculous questions and try to trip them up. Then of course it will die down and the regular season will go along until June/July when the boring part of the season is upon us and a little mention will be made, then go away for the stretch runs.

Baring of course any major busts or a rash of failed tests show up.

The whole problem with this scenario is that it all hinges on the testimony of one person, an ex Club House worker from Shea Stadium. He was caught dealing in HGH and steroids, and part of his plea agreement was to give evidence to the Mitchell panel. It is known that players give money to club house personnel to run errands for them, (washing cars, filling up gas tanks, getting food and drink, etc.) and pay them with cash and checks. The canceled checks are one of the main pieces of evidence he has produced against the players. But one can never really know what he really got the money for, (and of course there is the chance that he is telling the truth).

The next few days are going to be fun and the “Talking Heads” are going to be wagging their tongues and making excuses for some players while trashing others. Ah yes these “Holier than thou” commentators really crack me up and I get a good laugh at them trying to justify their bogus indignation, bias and bigotry (especially ESPN anchors and talk show hosts both on TV and Radio).

Let's all sit back and enjoy the ride and join me for a laugh.

Mahalo.