Lots to discuss as of late. Let me begin with:
-- Winter Weather --
Two days ago it was 50 and sunny. And yesterday I woke up to heavy snow that lasted for the entire day. Come again? In my 3+ years of being here, the storm of December 13th was at least the second worse Boston has seen. The Institute shut down at 2pm, Massachusetts Ave was backed up from Harvard to Back Bay until midnight, and a few Zetes made a sleigh out of skis and a chair. Is winter finally here?
Oh, and apparently more is coming tomorrow. Awesome.
-- Arod Deal Official --
Like a calm before the storm, the Yankees announced that Alex Rodriquez's 10-year, $275M deal was finally completed. But of course, we knew that was happening and the news in itself wasn't too exciting. The interesting stuff came out of Alex's conference call. He more or less apologized, saying:
"The whole thing was a mistake. It was a huge debacle. It was very stressful, and to me it was a very humbling experience. I made a huge mistake."
"It seemed like the whole thing was a roller coaster. It was very emotional. It was very stressful. All along the line, I knew that I wanted to be a Yankee, and somewhere along the line, I took a couple wrong turns."
He also noted that he never expected Boras to make the announcement during the World Series, and implied that he himself was angered and embarrassed by the move. As for the fate of his agent? Rodriguez says he won't necessarily need him anymore since this will be his final contract, but he hasn't fired him yet.
Well done, Alex...perhaps? He both apologized and called Boras out--those were the two things he needed to do in order to begin to regain respect as a person. But at the same time, his claim that he thought the Yankees never wanted him back doesn't make sense; we all know they tried to contact him multiple times before the opt-out. Oh well.
Regardless of the soap opera, it's always nice to have the greatest hitter in the game stay in pinstripes. Hopefully this whole situation cleansed Alex's mind of his demons, and he won't be such a headcase anymore.
-- Mitchell Report --
Despite the snow and 10-year contract, the biggest bomb of yesterday came when Senator George Mitchell officially released the fruits of his 21-month investigation of steroids in baseball. The rumor mill during the morning issued reports about Jeter, Arod, and Varitek being amongst the named in this "witch hunt." The good news is that the rumor mill was spitting our garbage, as usual. The bad news is that Mitchell presented evidence on the following players (and many more) taking performance-enhancing substances during their careers:
- Barry Bonds
- Jason Giambi
- Brian Roberts
- Rondell White
- Roger Clemens
- Andy Pettitte
- Gregg Zaun
- Ron Villone
- Miguel Tejada
- Mike Stanton
- Paul Lo Duca
- Kevin Brown
- Eric Gagne
- Brendan Donnelly
- Rick Ankiel
- Paul Byrd
- Troy Glaus
- Jose Guillen
Roger Clemens may very soon be the Barry Bonds of pitching, and due to that comparison, we'll have to adhere to precedent. The public has set Barry's fate for him: his entry into Cooperstown should be held in serious question due to his use of PEDs. Thus, Clemens deserves the same treatment himself. No more is Mr. Strikeout King a shoo-in for baseball immortality, because, like his buddy Barry, most of those Ks may have been assisted.
(Roger! I wanted to believe that you did have an intense workout regiment and that you were that special pitcher who comes once every 100 years. Just like Bonds, you were on your way to baseball supremacy before you starting juicing! Why did you do it?)
As for Andy, I want to look into this a lot more than it may be worth:
"From April 21 to June 14, 2002, Pettitte was on the disabled list with elbow tendonitis. McNamee said that Pettitte called him while Pettitte was rehabilitating his elbow in Tampa, where the Yankees have a facility, and asked again about human growth hormone. Pettitte stated that he wanted to speed his recovery and help his team. [...] According to McNamee, around the time in 2003 that the BALCO searches became public, Pettitte asked what he should say if a reporter asked Pettitte whether he ever used performance enhancing substances."
I want to say that his use of HGH was to quicken recovery in order to help his team, and not for personal gain. In fact, he wanted to come out and admit his mistake when steroids became a game-wide issue. But alas, I have to put my biases aside and realize that 1) I may be thinking too highly of him, and 2) cheating is cheating is cheating. Granted, given the evidence, Pettitte's use is nothing compared to that of Bonds or Roger. I do like the fact that his public statement is that he will wait to speak; that shows more of a conscience than all out denying it all like most players are doing at the moment.
Et tu, Miguel Tejada? Hmm, didn't Raf Palmiero warn us of this a few years ago? I wonder how the Astros are going to handle this.
Why do we care if players do steroids? As long as the ends are to entertain us, the means are irrelevant, right? Wrong. Yes, I watch sports for entertainment, but part of that includes being awed by what the players can do. The fun in it is seeing them perform physical feats that most people will never come close to achieving. So what's the point of watching them cheat their ways to success? Hell, if everyone took PEDs, we'd see more players in the game, the allure would die, and the sport would become meaningless. I pay to see athletes, not fakers.
Also, think of it this way. I'm willing (well, sort of willing) to dish out lots of cash to go to school at MIT because I know the professors are the best in their fields and therefore deserve some sort of compensation for their life of rigorous academic study. I would not pay the same to be instructed by people with only high school diplomas, and you can bet I'd be furious if I found out that any faculty member lied about his or her credentials (*coughMarileeJonescough*) in order to be employed; she'd be essentially stealing my money and belittling those who worked for their rewards. A similar argument can be drawn for athletes. I'll pay for seats in Yankee Stadium season after season because the team deserves it for their hard work. But I refuse to give attention or money to cheaters--there's nothing special about that, and it ruins the integrity of the entire game.
*Sigh* Hopefully, this whole disaster puts an end to baseball's Steroid Era. Let MLB work to implement some of Mitchell's suggestions to bring respect back to the sport.
-- Other Baseball News --
Although the Mitchell Report seems to be clogging every news outlet in the country (and, unfortunately, Arod was too early to interrupt it this time ;-P), the offseason is still moving forwards. For example:
- On Wednesday, the Astros sent OF Luke Scott, 3B Michael Costanzo, LHP Troy Patton, and RHP Matt Albers and Dennis Sarfate for Baltimore in exchange for Miguel Tejada. Says the former Oriole:
"I'm just happy to hear I got traded. I have a lot of memories [from that All-Star Game]. I remember the fans cheering for Berkman. I hope they're happy when I come to Houston."
Yes, he's happy he got traded because he knew the Orioles would drop him in one day's time with the Mitchell news. What he didn't anticipate was that the fans in Minute Maid don't take too kindly to cheaters, either. Oops. - And this just in: check out this move. The D-backs received pitchers Dan Haren and Connor Robertson from the A's in exchange for six prospects, and then followed it up by sending closer Jose Valverde to the Astros for pitchers Chad Qualls and Juan Gutierrez, and infielder/outfielder Chris Burke. Holy whoa. Nice move for Arizona. And there goes Billy Beane once again, doing that Moneyball thing that hasn't quite worked ever.
That was a long post, so I'll save the rest for a later date. Be on the lookout for reviews of FFXII and Super Mario Galaxy, and learn why I have the entire At World's End soundtrack stuck in my head!
