Baseball Matters
Peter Foley/Reuters
The Mitchell report comes as no suprise to most. It's is being down played by many sports writers today and tonight as I type. We all knew, either as hardcore fans or the most casual fan, that this would all "come out in the wash". But did it truly? There were of course the players that we had hunch were "juiced" up, but there were also players that we had no idea would be mentioned. Living here in the St.Louis area this topic is particularly poignant, as this pandora's box was opened here in the Gateway City, with the discovery of "Andro", a performance enhancing drug in McGwire's locker. This discovery was ironically during the heated 98' season and during the historic home run race between McGwire and Sosa. "Andro" was legal at the time but raised many eyebrows and also dampened the spirit of the home run race for the traditionalist Baseball fan.
What truly did the Mitchell Report accomplish? It all depends on the aftermath and actions taken by the given information. McGwire was not directly mentioned on the long list of players, but he was mentioned in the report as not cooperating at all with Mitchell. See List Of Players Mentioned In Report
Those who watched that great home run race in 98' remember the excitement brought by what could possibly be the best year in baseball history. You can imagine what it was like for St. Louis Cardinal fans that already eat and breathe baseball? Nevermind the $300 dollar encased Mark McGwire baseball bat that hangs over my sons bed....or in my own experience, being in awe standing ten feet from McGwire during batting practice.... So what does this mean? What does the report mean??????
To many, not much. To the players it is for right now just public humiliation. Some players will shrug it off as a faulty report and fight and lie to the very end. Other players will break down and come to the realization that what they do really does influence aspiring big leaguers. We could have a media onslaught of players every week coming to the media with a press conference and a tearful apology. Or? We could have fan detached ball players just ride the storm out and stay nestled in their millions. I mean after all it's just a business, nothing personal right???
Sure, it's nothing personal, tell those who played their tails off and worked towards their accomplishments and their dreams through hardwork, team work, adversity, and love of the game. Tell the generation of ball players before that who went off to war and held another job other than a ball player just to make ends meet. Tell them that it's "just a business" and nothing personal.
There are dreams involved here. Dreams of ball players in the past that earned their records the right way. Dreams of today's little leaguers who look up to many of these guys on the list and are being jilted and misled and crushed. The dreams of the baseball fan who relies on a just few hours tuned into the game to escape the world's troubles. Now, baseball is about to get just as ugly as the world we try to escape. This report is the beginning of the return of good old American baseball or the affirmation of selfish players and owners and their dollars..... and their "business".
Baseball Matters.......Thx LT................
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