The Problem with Baseball, Steroids, Barry Bonds and Greed

So Barry Bonds may have failed a drug test for amphetamines, as reported by The New York Daily News.  IF this is true, it makes you wonder where his brain is.  The guy is already the most scrutinized and suspected player in the league.  Testing just began for amphetamines but yet again (IF he took something), how could someone take a pill without knowing what it was.  We all suspect that baseball has always had some percentage of it’s players taking amphetamines, ‘greenies’ or whatever they want to call them.  Yea, yea, it’s a long season.  Yada yada.  If I’m the guy under the microscope, I don’t take anything without having it run through a testing lab, a metal detector, an airport x-ray machine, and anything else I can think of.  But maybe Barry just lives in Barry World.

If this report is true, it’s time (long past time actually) for Bud Selig to step up and use the ‘best interests of the game’ clause in his powers and send a message.  As Bonds approaches Aaron’s record, it’s going to be a media circus, without the elephants or any of the fun.  It will just be the clowns.

The fans need to step up as well and quit enabling this industry to get it’s next higher high of the salary and luxury box drug.  Congress needs to strip the anti-trust exemption.  Baseball is not what it used to be.  Listen to some old guys wax nostalgic about the good old days.  It wasn’t perfect but the money in today’s game has lead to the rampant cheating.

The foolish fans that continue to feed money into this industry only perpetuate the greed machine that it has become.  Since the strike, I have probably averaged less than 1 game per season and if I go, it’s only when I’m given tickets.  Yes, I have spent a few dollars on beer at the games. :)  But in general, I opt not to support this industry of greed, cheats, and thugs.  Losing teams raise ticket prices.  Even the so-called good guys of the sport are indicted in this because every time they go to arbitration or come up for a new contract, the greed is too much to stomach.   Guys say stupid things like ‘I have to support my family’ while they are making multi-millions per year.  When is a guy in his upper 30′s (several come to mind), possibly on his 3rd multi-year contract and having already made over 100 million dollars during his career, financially sound enough so that his family can eat?  You also hear guys say ‘It’s not about the money.  I really wanted to stay in (fill in the city name).’  Yet time and again, these guys take the higher contract and move on to a different team/city.  Maybe they were disrespected by their old team, whatever that means. 

Let’s compare a 5 million per year deal with a 6 million per year deal – 20% more on the 2nd deal.  Now using some numbers outside the realm of the baseball stratosphere, let’s say 100k vs. 120k.  If it’s me and I love my city and where I live and work, 20% is not going get me to move to some far away place.  Let’s take that another step and weigh the fact that most of these guys are already financially set so they can probably pick and choose where they want to work and STILL make millions.  Yet 99 times out of 100, they take the higher contract.

Bottom line – it IS about the money.

Rant away.