World class hitter and Hall of Fame Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt voiced an interesting take on whether Pete Rose should be elected to Cooperstown. On ESPN's Sports Center's Hot Seat, he said Rose's career accomplishments should be recognized by the HOF, but that no mention should be made of Rose's managerial career. I presume that this is because Rose did his illegal gambling on baseball while managing.
However, Schmidt seems to have forgotten that Rose was for a time a player-manager. While I initially thought Schmidt's argument had some merit, upon reflection I am forced to say it doesn't wash. You cannot separate Rose the player from Rose the manager. I think, as any of you who have read any of my previous baseball rantings know, that Rose should NEVER be voted into Cooperstown.
Schmidt did have the presence of mind to say that before any of this happened, Rose would have to be reinstated by baseball. He also implied that this was not likely to happen. He added that he'd have no problem having his HOF accomplishments displayed next to Rose's should Rose get voted in--as a player. I disagree with Mike Schmidt about this, but I have to admire the fact that he obviously has thought carefully about it. That is more than I can say for some of the booze-heads who cry and pitch fits at every opportunity that Rose should be voted in. (I will change my mind on this subject IF--and only if--Shoeless Joe Jackson is voted in first. Neither will happen. Cooperstown values its credibility and its role as guardian of All That's Worthy in the game too much to risk it over the likes of Pete Rose.)
Schmidt further observed that had he played during the "steroids era" (as he called it), he cannot in honesty say he would not have used steroids himself. He noted that he'd like to think he would not, but had the integrity to admit that under the pressure to perform at the major league level, if he knew others were using, he cannot say absolutely that he would not have resorted to chemical assistance. Note that all this is predicated on the understanding that using steroids was not illegal under baseball's rules at the time. I have always liked and admired Mike Schmidt; I have to confess that I cannot see him breaking the rules or the law just to get an edge. It does not seem consistent with his overall character.
Other baseball items of note . . . and of character:
The last pertinent news reports I saw about it (in February) said that Sammy Sosa had rejected a one-year contract with the Washington Nationals and perhaps was about to retire. Sammy has since fallen off the radar. I hope we have not seen the last of his electric smile and his considerable talent. The summer of 1998, when he and Mark McGwire chased and surpassed Roger Maris's season home run record, was magical. Still, both he and McGwire since have been touched by the steroids scandal . . . and while no proof is in, the rumors have flown farther and faster than any of the prodigious homers either of them hit.
I cannot help but be saddened by Sammy's absence. He was already close to getting 600 career home runs (a rare and HOF quality accomplishment), and his pure joie de vivre at playing the game was infectious. He is a good man, too. In the spirit of one of his (and my) baseball heroes, Roberto Clemente, he was first in line to help people in the Caribbean/Latin America who'd been greviously harmed by hurricanes and other natural disasters. Hey, he's from the Dominican Republic, after all. I am impressed no end that he used the fruits of his major league success to help the less fortunate whence he came.
But his absence makes me keep thinking of T.S. Eliot: "This is the way the world will end, this is the way the world will end, this is the way the world will end . . . Not with a bang, but a whimper." If this is indeed the end of Sosa's baseball career, it is a very, very sad end. Sammy, we'll miss you! [Shane! Come back, Shane!--Ed.]
Barry Bonds, on the other hand, I usually have little or no use for. He, too, has prodigious talent, but he always has struck me as not giving a damn about it and not having sufficient respect for the game. That's why his breaking McGwire's home run record and upping the seasonal ante to 73 meant little to me. Besides, I find it incredible to believe that he did not "knowingly" partake of steroids or any other illegal substances, considering his connections to Balco and other figures in that mess. [Besides, some of us are not knee-jerk opposed to what investigative journalists report, as in the new book Game of Shadows.--Ed.]
However: I cannot stand it that people in this day and age are sending him hate mail, hate emails, hate phone calls, and other such crap as he chases Babe Ruth's career home run record and tries to move into second place all-time behind only Hank Aaron. What is the matter with people who would do that? Why would anyone do that?
And that gets me right back to what Mike Schmidt said about the pressures to perform at the major league level. Who knows what any of us would do under such circumstances? I'll also give Barry Bonds credit for saying people can do or say anything they want about him--his concern is to take care of his family, financially and otherwise.
Baseball is a beautiful game. It is the American game (thank you, Susan Sarandon). It's popularity worldwide has exploded, if the general reaction to the recently played World Baseball Classic is any indication. And that leads me to the non-story of the day, to wit: Roger Clemens's remarks about some of the WBC games played in Anaheim and Arizona. He told a story about how he wanted to get some dry cleaning done, but that the lady at the dry cleaner's told him he couldn't have it done by when he wanted "because we'll all be at the game." And then Clemens talked about how packed the stadium was for the Japan-Korea game and how the Japanese and Koreans supported their teams and obviously loved the game.
Some bozo decided to complain about what Clemens said, claiming it was derogatory to Japanese and Korean people. Puh-leeze! If you listen to what Clemens said, and heard the entire thing in context, it was a glowing appreciation of everyone with ties to Japan and Korea. There was absolutely NOTHING derogatory about it. The lady at the dry cleaner's said what she said. That is a fact. And Clemens did not talk about it as though it were an insult to him. Rather, he was impressed with the level of fan support the Japan-Korea game was drawing in Anaheim. Besides, she asked Clemens for his autograph right after she said what she said about the delay in getting his cleaning done, and he signed several things for her with kindness and grace, and not a shred of a hint of an iota of acrimony.
To think that the season is in only its third day. What in the world will come next?
No comments:
Post a Comment