I was just fingering through the internet this afternoon and this story popped up and grabbed my attention.
You really should read it!
And since I was one of the MANY fools in the journalism business who believed guys could gain 30 pounds of solid, bulging muscle over a three-month offseason, I thought you’d enjoy this piece from ESPN.com.
Honestly, I can’t believe it took this long for one of the “lesser lights” in the baseball underworld to threaten to sing like a canary.
On many levels, I really hope we start hearing names and seeing more than just Mark McGwire go down with the ship. As we inch closer to Hank Aaron having his life’s work taken away by Barry Bonds — he’s now 12 homers away — it’s the PERFECT time to start finding out the truth about what happened during those years and why hundreds of guys like Brady Anderson, Bret Boone and Sammy Sosa started to blow up like beach balls.
And the money they stole from the fans.
And the abuse they might have caused their bodies.
Maybe we should know for the dignity of the game (if there’s any left)?
Maybe for the many heroes of our childhood — guys like Brooks and Palmer — and their records and work of distinction in the sport?
For the record, I was the biggest fool of them all, being in those locker rooms virtually every night, knowing those players and never even being mildly suspicious.
But then again, I never, ever even HEARD the word steroids in all my time in locker rooms. Not even in a joking way. And if I would’ve known and blown the whistle myself, who the hell would’ve believed me. I honestly think half of the people who read any of my FREE THE BIRDS stuff think I’m making it up!
I believe in the truth and in facts and in accountability, and I’ve never lied about anything in any of my work.
I do think that MLB — much like the Orioles — has done EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to hide any facts, shame, stories or evidence.
The story above describes the code best when it talks about the “battle cry” of the baseball player pysche: “What you see here and what you hear here STAYS here!”
We’ll see how long that lasts once prison terms start getting discussed and plea bargaining begins for this kid from the Mets.
And, hopefully — if this thing goes back to Congress — I’m gonna need some popcorn for the proceedings because that St. Patty’s Day ambush two years ago was the best live theatre I’ve ever seen in my life. Watching OBVIOUS liars lie their asses off on national television was quite the drama!
They all deserve to pay for the way they cheated the game, cheated the fans and cheated the men who built the game that they so richly profited from.
I’m still wondering what’s gonna happen in a couple of weeks when Bonds is staring down Aaron and ALL of MLB will be running for the hills and Bud Selig will pretend the Giants aren’t even in the MLB family.
Maybe we won’t even need to wait for the next round of Congressional hearings…
