Thursday, January 3, 2008

Why Torre And Jeter Are Part Of The Steroids Problem

So Torre was cornered by the media and refused to comment on Roger Clemens, saying in effect "You're not going to get me in that jackpot." As my friend who first saw the quote said, "What else could he say?" Uh, actually, a lot.

Torre and Jeter and all the presumably clean players are the biggest part of the problem right now, as I see it. Cheats like Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens and Gary Sheffield know that their teammates will "man up" and get their back and defend them to the hilt, no matter how overwhelming the evidence against them may be. Heck, even Barry Bonds is welcome at ballclubs by the players. So why should the third of pro players who cheat worry about getting caught? They know their teammates want them to cheat, just don't care or maybe care a little but will darn well not ever get caught saying anything bad about them.

Why couldn't Torre say, "Hey, I worked with Roger Clemens. I like him and I respect him and want to take him at his word. I would be very disappointed if he was cheating. I think cheating is wrong and I don't want any player on any team I'm managing to think otherwise. If you want to stop cheating, I'll help you. If your'e caught, I want you gone. I don't think players should break the law and risk their health just to win a ballgame. Cheating definitely taints the championships we won with the Yankees and the sooner players realize they're cheating themselves and stop once and for all, the better we'll be."

Torre is a million miles away from saying that and so is Jeter. As long as they provide cover for the cheats, the game will never clean up.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I did not provide Brian McNamee with any drugs to inject into my body." (1:05 from his YouTube Response)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD0GHx980CU

Now he's admitting that McNamee injected him with B12 and lidocaine. That didn't take long for his story to change.

All of his appologists are right though. We should really take his word as an athlete facing a PR nightmare over a man cutting a deal with the feds. Roger doesn't have any reason to lie... no not at all. Just admit it and we can all move on.

Anonymous said...

I smell a daytime Emmy.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7636824?MSNHPHMA

Clemons, Pettitte, and McNamee asked to appear before Congress.

Michael in New York said...

Why not a Peabody award?

Anonymous said...

Are soap operas elligble for a Peabody?