Tigers Minor League Baseball Blog

So recently a report was released, as I am sure everyone is aware of thanks to ESPN’s 24 hour coverage on the matter, that two more top MLB superstars are on a piece of paper with other guys names who’ve reportedly done “bad things.” I won’t mention names, at this point in my career I’m not sure what exactly I’m permitted by the unwritten rules of baseball to say. If one day I go broke and have nothing left, look for memoir on bookshelves where I tear everything down and hopefully hit some kind of reality TV star, quasi-author jackpot. However, seeing as how much attention this matter seems to get every time it’s brought up, I felt like I had to talk about it, even if it is only just scratching the surface. And by the way, if anyone is confused at this point as to the topic I am discussing, then maybe the game of baseball hasn’t quite reared its evil twin to you yet, or you just aren’t a big fan of sports broadcasting. But just to say, this is steroids, PEDs, or whatever other names have surfaced regarding any substance that makes you run faster, hit further and throw harder. The question on every fans’ mind is, why? If you are good enough to be at that level, why then would you take steroids? Here’s where I get to be flakey so I don’t have to eat my words later. To me, I get to see both sides of the spectrum, the fan as well as the player. As stated previously I don’t want to lean towards one side or the other but the only, what I hope isn’t too controversial, thing I will say is that either way, and either side you look at the answer is most likely the same. Money. As a player thinking like a businessman, I get it. It’s a simple risk-reward decision to set yourself and your family up for life. I will end here on that statement, because I could rant all day, trust me I wrote a thirty page paper my senior year of college making the argument for the use of PEDs in sports (don’t judge me yet, everyone else wrote about the other side of the issue so I had to do something that stands out. Which got me an A by the way). But going back to the other side now, as a player who cares about the game of baseball and doing things the right way, it’s hard think about compromising everything you stand for just for a shot at it all. Really this is all a big, complicated, real life version of the classic, you are sitting around bored with friends game, would you rather. Except the consequences are real and even though you may still be a ballplayer, and you may be a great ballplayer, maybe even an All Star, things cannot remain the same. I have always come from the school of thought where the greatest thing you can leave behind is a legacy. So if i cheated and made it to the show, will I be remembered for living my dream and playing at the ultimate level. No. I would go down as a cheater, and no matter how hard I try, that tag is too hard to get lifted. But, you made that money to set you up for other things outside the game. So again back to those who simply don’t care about any of that legacy stuff; the decision is purely financial. But I hold no ill will towards anyone who feels this way because I get it, and I tip my hat and hope for the best, but it’s not a road I think is worth going down. I am a fan of baseball, I always have been and always will be. And I want to see everything that is good about the game come out. Wouldn’t that be a fun report for Baseball Tonight to tackle. Not as eye popping, but over time it may phase all this, for lack of a better word, crap out. I guarantee this will not be the last episode of a baseball “scandal” media blitz. The fact is that this was a period in the game where these things happened and it was how players tried to stay ahead. It’s a phase, like growing up. Eventually you stop wearing that Superman cape you’ve had on for a month straight and your mom washes it and it goes in a box you don’t see for twenty or so years, and you move on towards bigger and better things. This is what I think we all need to do with this, take it in, know what’s going on, know what is truth and what is fiction, and just move on.