December 3, 2004
Black Friday
By "The Skinner"
The leaks spilling out of the bay area the last few days are the last thing baseball needs right now. After such a great season, it's really sad to see so many of our 'stars' finally admitting what everyone knew. If only they had been more forthcoming when the mess hit the fan. If only they would tell the truth now.
Jason Giambi didn't have a tapeworm it turns out. Amazingly, steroids make you stronger. When you quit using them you aren't as strong. Oh yeah, they have some nasty side effects as well. If the league routinely hands down lifetime bans for things like gambling this guy needs to be excommunicated. Kids don't say "I want to be like Pete Rose, broke and despised", they say "I want to be like Giambi or Bonds, rich and huge".
However, it's quickly becoming the case that our friend Mr. Bonds is even more reviled than Rose. As if his lifetime of poor attitude toward the sport and its fans wasn't enough I'd like to share some of the recent gems he's let fly since the fingers of blame started pointing in his way.
When asked if the substances he took were known to be legal...
"It was in the ballpark ... in front of everybody. I mean, all the reporters, my teammates. I mean, they all saw it. I didn't hide it."
When asked why he never consulted with team doctors about said substances....
"No way ... we don't trust the ball team. We don't trust baseball. ... Believe me, it's a business. I don't trust their doctors or nothing."
When asked why the great guru trainer that provided these potions was living on the edge of poverty in spite of magically morphing Bonds into Goliath, thus enabling all of the records and awards....
"I'm black, and I'm keeping my money. And there's not too many rich black people in this world. There's more wealthy Asian people and Caucasian and white. And I ain't giving my money up."
Thats great, Barry. You've tried to make this all about race since the story broke. If anyone tries to call you out we're supposed to be part of some great white conspiracy against you. Forget about anything else--I don't care if you're black, white, green, or polka dotted. You make the choice to put something into your body that's illegal and you're still a criminal.
Bonds says he thought he was using legal substances in spite of not consulting with team doctors. He also says his personal trainer "lives in his car half the time". If I'm the biggest star in all the baseball world and rely entirely upon my body to make my millions, I sure as hell wouldn't be guzzling concoctions from the trunk of an old Fiero. Even people who buy moonshine test it before they drink it to make sure it's not been run through an old truck radiator. Bonds is either lying to us or dumber than we all imagined.
But about that conspiracy thing...let's turn to Michael Rains, Bonds' attorney.
"My view has always been this case has been the U.S. vs. Bonds..."
This shouldn't really surprise you, Mr. Rains. If your client repeatedly tells the media where to stick it, refuses to be a part of the merchandising the rest of the league is involved in, and sounds arrogant and unconvincing when questioned about his dietary supplements people are not really going to like him. He doesn't care what anyone thinks as long as noone says anything bad about him. The army of attorneys in the BALCO mess whine incessantly about the media exposure making a fair trial impossible but let Victor Conte rap on 20/20. Conte and Giambi seem to be intent on saving their own hides at this point--the odds are good Bonds will be seeing more of those fingers pointing at him once the plea bargains are finalized.
Most importantly it's time for baseball to get serious about steroids. The players are highly visible role models for a lot of people. If any of them turn out to be liable in this situation, let's hold them accountable. Giambi's admission warrants an asterisk next to all of his stats since he started using, and the league should strip every award it's ever issued him. Don't even let the guy near a ballpark for a very long time. Why not do what we do with other people who break the law--stick him in jail?
Unless we as fans want our league to turn into the NBA it's time to send a message. So many track athletes get booted by anti-doping agencies because it became OK to juice up, especially with newer and harder to detect drugs. Do we really want to have a couple steroid scandals every year? I for one would prefer to follow a division race than a federal grand jury.
Just as a final thought: If I were caught with a kilo of pure Columbian white in my suitcase I doubt I'd be able to convince anyone I thought it was confectioner's sugar.
Thanks to foxsports.com, from which I culled some of the quotes. By the way, their hot stove report has the Cardinals now leading the Randy Johnson race. Finally some good news.
