"There's the big question of, 'Is Jason coming back?' "
Torre said. "If he does come back, he'll be welcomed with open arms."
Puhhhlease. Of course you'll welcome him back since you're all CLASSLESS!
Jason Giambi is set to give a press conference at 2 PM today to discuss his use of steroids, or so we think. Don't expect much considering the Yankees and his agent, Arn Tellem, are not about to flush $81 Million down the drain, presumably where his needles are.
Is he going to throw other players under the bus? No chance. Should he? Well, that's a question more for
the ethicist, but in reality, no. What other players did is not his responsibility. He's responsible only to himself (and being an athlete, his "maker"). However, if he truly cared about the game and it's history, and not just himself and his cash, he would spill some beans, but I guess his book will tell all. Afterall, this is America's Pastime, so you have to grab as much money as you can anyway you can.
Note: I mean baseball is America's Pastime, not robbery and lying. Although, I can see where one could get confused.
Many things bother me about the steroid issue, and I didn't just arrive to these thoughts recently.
When Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were 'Roiding' homeruns over fences, one after another, throughout 1998 and on, my emotions were tempered. Being a Cubs fan it was easy to get excited, and on some days I was very much so. Hey, if someone was going to break the record it may as well be my guy. However, I was never not bothered by the reality that
Roger Maris would soon be forgotten. Thankfully Billy Crystal kept him memory alive for a few more weeks with his film
"61", for that was a story.
In the end, baseball did not care about it's history, and what is baseball without history? The entire sport is based on statistics and legends. Whether it was Ruth, Williams, Mantle, Mays, Aaron, or even Bonds, baseball has always been about the past, and the greatness of those players. Not anymore. Baseball was more than fine watching it's current stars surpass the greats by allowing the balls and players to be 'juiced.' In fact, not only did MLB not care about the past, but neither did some of the networks. For it was FOX who told their announcers to no longer mention names like Ruth, Mantle, Mayes, etc. because they wanted their audience to focus only on the current players, hopefully getting them to watch more, forget the past, and buy new merchandise, since that is really America. Right?
Aside from not caring about history, MLB never exercised a clause in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that allowed the league to randomly test any player they suspected of being on steroids. Are you kidding me? Did you not expect ANY PLAYER to be on steroids? Hello?!?! Have you seen Luis Gonzalez? This guy hit about 10 homeruns in Wrigley Field, and then went on to Arizona to be a prolific power hitter. MLB just never cared, as long as the registers were ringing.
What about the Yankees, are they responsible for Giambi's actions, or is it just the player? I'm sure there are many Yankees fans who are very worked up toward Giambi, but do not hold the team responsible. Please, get down off the horse.
The Yankees, just like MLB, could have called out a player for using juice, but chose not to. Now they engage in the PR campaign to get this thing out of the way before Spring Training begins in a week. I don't blame them for trying to protect their investment, but they're probably more to blame than any other team since the Yankees have profited more by baseball's recent success than any other franchise.
The Yankees continue to dump money and force other teams to do the same. The money has enticed so many of these players to do everything possible to get to the top, and along the way so many of them have cheated, and one, Ken Caminiti, has even died. I really wonder how a salary cap would have affected cheating. It's tough to say, but I could make an argument laying out how a cap would create less greed, less cheating, and fewer problems.
Seriously, they are all to blame.
So what have we, the fans, been doing the last 7-10 years about all of this? Uhh, nothing. We goto the games, we buy beers, pickup a jersey, and of course, when the kids are around, we tell them how bad it is to do drugs. Seriously, we don't care for sports is a vehicle to make us happy. If they die, cheat, whatever, we're not concerned, as long as we're happy. If we cared we wouldn't take the children to see these games, and buy them merchandise. We wouldn't talk about these players like they're gods. What we would do is tell kids what is right, and what is wrong. Of course when we don't have those discussions we become shocked down the road to find out that Jimmy uses steroids in the 11th grade so he can get a scholarship, and that Bobby drinks as much as Jimmy's as Derek Jeter does at Lot 61. We're shocked!!! We're outraged!!! We feign.
Honestly, I don't care if Giambi spills his guts, for I hope he does. Don't expect that since he's not a complete idiot, nor is his agent, or his boss. They are all the same. Play the system, fight the rules, make as much cash as they can now, and then apologize in a closed door press conference on a 36 degree afternoon in February. Eventually, Giambi will write a book just like Jose Canseco just did.
I'll stop there for the conference has begun.
In the end, everyone mentioned is responsible for this, and it's just another reason why baseball is the weakest sport of modern times.