Pitchers and catchers have officially reported to MLB camps across Florida & Arizona and position players are almost all in as well. The annual rite of passage known as Spring Training is once again upon us. Usually this brings joy and renewed hope of a championship season. It's probably the only time of the year when a fan of any of the 30 MLB clubs can actually feel as though his or her team has a shot at winning it all. Spring Training takes us all back to a simpler time...a time when players were accessible and the game was far more woven into the fabric of this country.
But for the first time in my life, I can honestly tell you that I am just not excited for Spring Training this year. The Grapefruit & Cactus League action has always been riveting in the past. No professional sport has a preseason quite like that of Major League Baseball. The past, present, and future are combined so flawlessly at big league camps. I'll use the Mets as an example. You've got Johan Santana (the present) throwing off a mound for the first time since surgery. Next to him is Hall of Famer Tom Seaver (the past) spreading some words of wisdom. Then on the next field over you've got 2008 first-round draft pick Bradley Holt (the future) getting some work in as he prepares for his first full minor league season. Usually, this is all enough to get the emotions flowing and the anticipation for April building.
However, I'm just not feeling the usual nostalgic glow that Spring Training provides anymore. Baseball is a game in disarray. Commissioner Bud Selig gets $18 million a year from owners and hasn't shown himself to be any sort of the authority figure a professional sports commissioner should be. Competitive balance doesn't exist. It seems like the same teams are in the playoffs every year with the exception of one upstart. Yes, the Rays & Phillies made for quite the surprise this year but if you take that away, there's not much left. Games drag on to the point of exhaustion and World Series games start so late that everyone is asleep by the bottom of the 5th inning. Free agents everywhere are out of work and completely unrealistic (That means you, Manny.) about how much they're actually worth. The game is focused on one rivlary (Yankees-Red Sox) and has no other marketable contests as a result. I won't even start in on this one.
And then of course there's the whole steroids issue. I'm really sick of turning on the TV, grabbing the newspaper, or opening my internet browser to find some sob story of another baseball player issuing a half-hearted apology for taking performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). I would love to see one player take the podium and say something like, "I knew exactly what I was doing. These are the substances I took. I knew the proper cycles to avoid testing positive. I'm sorry but I felt the pressure to perform so I did what I had to do to get ahead. I truly apologize to my teammates, my employers, and the fans, for duping every single one of them that believed in me." Wouldn't that be nice?
Now we all now that will never happen. Take Alex Rodriguez's pathetic press conference...or Mark McGwire's...or Rafael Palmeiro's...or Sammy Sosa's. I find it extremely hard to believe that A-Rod, who has long had a sterling reputation for knowing the ins and outs of his workout and diet, had no clue what he was doing to himself. Just like it's impossible to believe Sammy Sosa, who was quite charismatic during the great home run chase of '98, suddenly forgot how to speak English one day.
And no one is immune to this. It's not just the big-name hitters. Miguel Tejada got everything he needed from former Oakland teammate Adam Piatt, not exactly a Bash Brother. Andy Pettite admitted using HGH last spring. Pettite is very religious and a down-home Texan. He was portrayed as one of those Yankee for life types who would have a place in Monument Park when his career was over. He claims to have only used it in injury recovery on one or two instances but does anyone remember how tight he was with Roger Clemens in both New York & Houston???
The cold hard reality is that baseball, which is still a beautiful game, will never be seen the same way again. There has always been poetic beauty in many aspects of the game from a great catch to spotting the perfect pitch to turning the picturesque 4-6-3 double play. But now we have to question everything...every pitch, every hit, every catch, every homerun, everything. Any player who had great stats during the height of the so-called Steroid Era must be under review.
It's an absolute shame that it's come to this but is anyone clean anymore? Has any All-Star performance we've seen in the last decade been legit? So what do we do now? Should the other 103 names on that list of positive tests be released? Should PED users be left out of the Hall of Fame?
As always, there will be plenty of great storylines in baseball this year but the cold reality is they just don't matter. Until the game is cleaned up steroids will be the only story that matters in the minds of many. The only way for the game to come clean at this point is to be brutally honest, with both the fans and itself. The current testing program is pathetic and needs to be overhauled and tightened. A salary cap may be a necessity at this point. Should we revisit contraction?
Really I just want someone in baseball to be honest with us, the fans. Admit you were wrong. Admit there was a bigger drug culture than we'd ever know. Make some changes to the economic structure of the game. Make testing mandatory and let us in on the results. Stop covering things up like the CIA. It took the NHL an entire lost season to realize it needed to change for the fans. The NHL may not be winning the hearts of everyone but it has picked up new fans, attendance is up (except in Phoenix), and TV ratings (despite not being through the roof) are higher than they've ever been. It's a slow process but the NHL is taking steps in the right direction.
The NBA has to be thrilled. I'm still not a big NBA (or David Stern) fan but the league has had back-to-back awesome weekends. With the All-Star festivities last week and matchups of the league's best four teams the week before, the NBA has gotten plenty of publicity...and for all the right reasons. The NFL is a ratings and money-making machine. The league is on year-round now with the Scouting Combine, Draft, and minicamps. And college football is headed in that direction as well, with the airing of several Spring Games.
Despite it all, there are still two baseball events I'm excited about: The World Baseball Classic and the College World Series. With Olympic-style drug testing in the WBC and NCAA testing in Omaha at least I'll know those events are truly pure baseball. After the WBC in March I'll have plenty of better things to watch than the mundane first three months of MLB action: Stanley Cup Playoffs, NFL Draft, Spring Football on campuses across the country, NCAA Tournament, WrestleMania.
Maybe the names behind the positive tests will be released. Maybe "A-Fraud" will get hurt so we can write about something (and someone) else. Maybe the sheer beauty of the game will take over once more. So I'm going to do my part. My resolution for the 2009 season is to not write any more about steriods & PEDs. Any baseball notes or stories in "Coach Meech's Highlight Reel" from here on out will have no mention of any banned substances.
This will help us all see if ignorance truly is bliss. I hope you're paying attention, Mr. Selig.
Some other news & notes:
- The topsy-turvy world of the NFL offseason is in high gear. The Patriots have franchised QB Matt Cassel. The Giants have franchised RB Brandon Jacobs. Fred Taylor & Deuce McAllister, historic running backs for their franchises, were cut by the Jaguars & Saints respectively. The Denver Broncos have cut half of their starting defense. Brett Favre retired...again. The scouting combine is upon us. If you crave football in mid-February, turn on the NFL Network and take a look at football's version of a meat market. Take joy in the individual position drills and be amazed by the freakish athleticism of some of these future NFL stars.
- The NHL is so thrilled by the success of the Winter Classic that the league is contemplating adding a second outdoor game. The Winter Classic would remain the centerpiece of the league's New Year's Day lineup and would be played in the U.S. The league would then play a second outdoor regular-season game in Canada. The NHL has long had an inferior marketing department but it's nice to see they're finally getting one right. Perhaps the game is on the right track after all.
- Congrats to Matt Kenseth on winning a rain-shortened Daytona 500. Kenseth, the 2003 champion, hasn't been on the radar lately, falling victim to a winless streak of nearly 40 races. But Kenseth, now 36, is back with a revamped team and approach. Long the most consistent driver in NASCAR, Kenseth has put his name back on the map and should be considered a threat to take down the reign of Jimmie Johnson.
- Will the solution to the Phoenix Suns' woes be the firing of head coach Terry Porter? General Manager Steve Kerr seems to think so. Porter was canned earlier this week and replaced by assistant Alvin Gentry, a former Mike D'Antoni aide. The Suns pounded the Clippers by 40 in Gentry's first game at the helm so, naturally, everyone was praising the move. Let's remember, the Suns were playing the Clippers. The Clippers. When the Suns fail to make any waves in the playoffs, again, maybe Kerr should take his own advice and get out of town.
- Way to go, Mike Green. The Washington Capitals defenceman became the first defenceman in league history to score at least one goal in eight straight games. Green leads all defencemen with 51 points (22 goals, 29 assists) and has really been a catalyst on the Caps' power play. 15 of his 22 goals have come via the man advantage.
- Will this be the year Florida State finally breaks through and makes the NCAA Tournament? The 'Noles are part of a four-team logjam in second place in the ACC with a 7-4 conference record. They are 20-6 overall with wins over Florida, Clemson, Cincinnati, and Cal. Their last five regular-season contests will tell us all we need to now about the team's makeup: Duke, Clemson, Boston College, and Virginia Tech (twice).
- We all know I've never been a fan of Lane Kiffin. An article about his first few months on the job in last week's Sports Illustrated only continues to confirm my feelings that he is a brash, arrogant idiot. And Tennessee is supporting this moron by paying a combined $5.3 million to his assistant coaches. In contrast, Alabama, who had the highest-paid assistant coaching staff last year, spent $2.4 million. Kiffin is already in trouble with the good ol' southern boy establishment of the SEC, ruffling feathers with his comments about Urban Meyer and Florida. There are some who like that Kiffin shaking it up. I'm sure the Big Ten would love a Kiffin infusion. But the SEC is the class of college football right now with the strongest programs, smartest coaches, best athletes, and greatest traditions. Kiffin can say all he wants and although he certainly has the resources to win at UT, I for one am hoping he falls flat on his face...and that Urban Meyer and the Gators smoke him when the Vols visit "The Swamp" on September 19th.
- Kudos to the WWE for finally blowing the lid off the worst-kept secret in professional wrestling. After Randy Orton laid out Stephanie McMahon with an RKO on RAW this past Monday, the WWE Champion Triple H (her real-life husband and my all-time favorite wrestler) came to the rescue. Any wrestling fan with a half a brain has long known of their real-life connection since their on-screen marriage angle nearly a decade ago. Since then there have always been thinly-veiled references to their union but never an all-out admission. The WWE has taken steps in that direction now and let's just hope they don't screw it up. The main events for WrestleMania appear to be shaping up as Orton/Trips for the WWE Championship and Edge/Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship. Lots of potential here.
Until next time.
-Meech
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