Rare News Desk
It’s time yet again for the Fall Classic. The end of another baseball season sees the Boys of Summer throwing their stats to the wind at the chance for just one more game. Fans rush to the blogs each morning to read the latest developments, and the water cooler talk by enthusiasts is all about America’s pastime. Names like Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays are dropped like fly balls in Shea Stadium.
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Unfortunately, we’re not gathering to talk about the World Series. I’m referring to the case of Alexander Emmanuel Rodrigues v. Major League Baseball, et al.
Yes, sports fans, performance enhancing drugs are once again front-and-center in Major League Baseball.
It seems thst the personal failings of rich ego-maniacs attempting to extend their playing careers beyond the natural lifespans granted to them by their bodies are – like the World Series – becoming annual events. In recent years, stories about players using PEDs grab our attention much quicker and last longer than stories about the on-field heroics of non-juiced players.
It is sad that many sports fans have a stronger opinion about the root cause of Barry Bonds ever-expanding noggin than they do who should be this year’s AL MVP – Mike Trout or Melky Cabrera. And, at a time when all focus should be on the playoffs and World Series, baseball fans are one again being forced to examine the effect of PEDs on the integrity of the game.
Worse yet, fans are conducting the examination via a court action involving two people who may go down in the record books as truly despicable – Alex Rodriguez and Bud Selig. This law suit may well become known as A-Rod v. A-Hole.
The Complaint
In a rambling, opinion-based document the case can be summed up in a very short statement: A-Rod is losing all his endorsement contracts over this PED nonsense and he’s mad enough to take his case to court.
The Complaint filed by Rodriguez in New York Supreme Court could easily be retitled the “State of Baseball According to A-Rod.”
In the first paragraph, A-Rod alleges that he is “one of the most accomplished Major League Baseball Players of all time” and the actions taken against him by Commissioner Bud Selig were “an attempt to secure his (Selig’s) legacy as the ‘savior’ of America’s pastime.” The first part of the Complaint is the “Statement of Facts” wherein the Yankee star compares himself to the afore-mentioned Foxx, Ruth and Mays, tossing in his near-saintly charitable and civic demeanor just for good measure. The second portion of the Complaint is about the “scandal-ridden” tenure of Commissioner Selig.
Interestingly, a judge will have to read through twenty-seven (27) pages of self-supporting statements before reaching the thrust of A-Rod’s claims alleging that Selig and MLB interfered with Rodriguez’ business relationships and contracts.
But there is one glaring omission in A-Rod’s Complaint. Alexander Emmanuel Rodrigues never alleges that the PED charges brought against him by Major League Baseball are, in fact, untrue.
Numerical Paragraph One in A-Rod’s should have read, “The charges brought against me by Major League Baseball are false.”
I am no fan of Bud Selig. In fact, I believe that the Judge could take judicial notice that Selig is as contemptible as A-Rod describes. Still, unless Rodriguez is ready to defend himself on the underlying charge of PED use, he lacks credibility in the court of popular opinion to even open his mouth.
The Lizard for Commissioner
Selig has recently stated that he will step down at the end of the 2014 baseball season. Speculation as to his replacement has been popping up all over the baseball blogosphere. Here’s a new one – Hall of Fame pitcher and retired United States Senator Jim Bunning.
Known in his baseball days as the Lizard, Jim Bunning helped reenergize the players’ union and was instrumental in hiring its first executive director, Marvin Miller. In his playing days, he was a team representative to the union. In his days in Washington, he was an outspoken critic on the use of performance enhancing drugs.
The baseball owners should hire Bunning on an interim basis to negotiate a new agreement between the owners and players over PEDs – one that has the underlying intention of protecting the integrity of the game.
Now, about the Trout/Cabrera question …
Rick Robinson is an award winning novelist (and former staffer to Congressman Jim Bunning – KY-04). His books (like Sniper Bid – a fictional account of a DC steroid investigation) can be found on Amazon, Nook and at bookstores everywhere. Like him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter @authorRick.
