Baseball has a major problem, and it has nothing to do with pace of play or labor discord or discouraging demographics.
How many players must accidentally ingest/inject illegal performance-enhancing drugs before someone stands up for them?!
Sarcasm alert, in the wake of Tuesday’s news that Pirates center fielder Starling Marte, one of the game’s underrated stars, drew an 80-game suspension after testing positive for illegal PEDs.
The finger-wagging moralists and many of the players themselves can get worked up over the never-changing reality that players continue to do this stuff. Me, I get worked up over the statements released immediately by the players. Marte’s proved to be par for this course:
“I have been informed that I have tested positive in one of the tests that are regularly done in my job. In this very difficult moment I apologize to my family, the Pittsburgh Pirates, my teammates, my fans, and baseball in general. Neglect and lack of knowledge have led me to this mistake with the high price to pay of being away from the field that I enjoy and love so much. With much embarrassment and helplessness, I ask for forgiveness for unintentionally disrespecting so many people who have trusted in my work and have supported me so much. I promise to learn the lesson that this ordeal has left me. God bless you.”
It reminded me of an exchange from “The West Wing”:
Sam Seaborn: About a week ago, I accidentally slept with a prostitute.
Toby Ziegler: [pause] Really?
Sam Seaborn: Yes.
Toby Ziegler: You accidentally slept with a prostitute?
Sam Seaborn: A call girl.
Toby Ziegler: Accidentally?
Sam Seaborn: Yes.
Toby Ziegler: I don’t understand. Did you trip over something?
Since Major League Baseball instituted a discipline-based testing program for illegal PEDs in 2004, there have been 85 suspensions issued to major league players. Some, like those to Alex Rodriguez, came from investigations rather than testing. To the best of my recollection — and I will amend this if I’m alerted of others — exactly one player from those 85 cases (including multiple penalties for a few players, like old pal Jenrry Mejia) owned up to his transgression right out of the chute.
Any guesses?
The answer is Matt Lawton, a Yankees free agent in 2005 when he got caught. He said, simply, “I made a terrible and foolish mistake that I will regret for the rest of my life. I take full responsibility for my actions and did not appeal my suspension. I apologize to the fans, the game, my family and all those people that I let down. I am truly sorry and deeply regret my terrible lapse in judgment.”
(UPDATE: Add long-ago Mets reliever Guillermo Mota and Giants bit player Eliezer Alfonzo to the modest list.)
A few others, like A-Rod and Francisco Cervelli, eventually came around, but only after much hemming and hawing (and, in A-Rod’s case, multiple lawsuits).
So, new rule: If you can’t say anything honest, you can’t say anything at all. Better to issue no statement than to feign ignorance. The time to plead your case is behind closed doors through the collectively bargained appeal process, not through lame statements that benefit no one.
Maybe one of those 85 actually made an honest mistake. Doesn’t matter. Intent is not part of the equation and ignorance is not a defense. We don’t want to hear it. There’s too much other stuff going on in the world.
OK, now back to discussing pace of play (and how lame that new intentional walk rule is …).
Let’s catch up on Pop Quiz questions. Both come from Gary Mintz of South Huntington:
1. In the 2016 film “Sully,” a ferry boat is named after a Hall of Fame player. Name the player.
2. A 1988 episode of “The Twilight Zone” features a baseball player for an actual MLB team. Name the team.
The answers:
1. Yogi Berra
2. The Detroit Tigers