It Ain't Over 'Til Grimsley Sings
By now, I'm sure you're all aware of the latest and most significant chapter in the saga that is drugs in baseball. While it's startling now, this Jason Grimsley business is the best thing that could possibly happen to baseball. Here's why:
(1) It will wake up the fans. Guess what, everyone? It's not just Barry Bonds using illegal performance enhancing drugs. And it's not just sluggers. And it's not just hitters. PITCHERS ARE DOING IT TOO, PEOPLE! And not just good pitchers, but journeyman pitchers like Jason Grimsley. And once the feds follow up on all the juicy gossip they got from Grimsley, the fans will have to face reality. Most players in baseball are on something. It's not a small group of bad people...it's a big group of people and a bad system. This isn't about Jason Grimsley, or Barry Bonds, or Jose Canseco. It's about baseball.
(2) It will force Bud Selig's hand. It will send the message that something real needs to be done. You can't put a band-aid on a mortal wound. Guess what, Bud Selig? Doing one worthless investigation and focusing it all on Barry Bonds, and testing for a few of the drugs you know all the players are using but not testing for the other drugs you know all the players are using...that's not going to cut it. It might fool some of the people some of the time, but it's time to stop focusing on perception and start focusing on reality. This problem will not go away until Major League Baseball makes it go away.
(3) It will shake up the players. Who knows? Maybe some players might voluntarily stop using HGH and amphetamines before baseball starts testing for it, for fear that they might have to face the same legal consequences for using and possessing controlled substances as the rest of the population. Guess what, baseball players? Just because you are famous and make a lot of money doesn't mean the law doesn't apply to you.
Most of all, hopefully the message will get out to high school and college kids that despite appearances, performance enhancing drugs are illegal, harmful, and wrong. Maybe the next generation of atheletes will be on the level. Let's hope so, for their sake and for the sake of the game.
People are going to start pointing to Jason Grimsley as a rat and a coward, who sold out his friends in baseball to get away with what he did. Maybe that's all true. Even if it is, he will have done more for baseball than anyone since Jackie Robinson.
Maybe there's hope after all.
(1) It will wake up the fans. Guess what, everyone? It's not just Barry Bonds using illegal performance enhancing drugs. And it's not just sluggers. And it's not just hitters. PITCHERS ARE DOING IT TOO, PEOPLE! And not just good pitchers, but journeyman pitchers like Jason Grimsley. And once the feds follow up on all the juicy gossip they got from Grimsley, the fans will have to face reality. Most players in baseball are on something. It's not a small group of bad people...it's a big group of people and a bad system. This isn't about Jason Grimsley, or Barry Bonds, or Jose Canseco. It's about baseball.
(2) It will force Bud Selig's hand. It will send the message that something real needs to be done. You can't put a band-aid on a mortal wound. Guess what, Bud Selig? Doing one worthless investigation and focusing it all on Barry Bonds, and testing for a few of the drugs you know all the players are using but not testing for the other drugs you know all the players are using...that's not going to cut it. It might fool some of the people some of the time, but it's time to stop focusing on perception and start focusing on reality. This problem will not go away until Major League Baseball makes it go away.
(3) It will shake up the players. Who knows? Maybe some players might voluntarily stop using HGH and amphetamines before baseball starts testing for it, for fear that they might have to face the same legal consequences for using and possessing controlled substances as the rest of the population. Guess what, baseball players? Just because you are famous and make a lot of money doesn't mean the law doesn't apply to you.
Most of all, hopefully the message will get out to high school and college kids that despite appearances, performance enhancing drugs are illegal, harmful, and wrong. Maybe the next generation of atheletes will be on the level. Let's hope so, for their sake and for the sake of the game.
People are going to start pointing to Jason Grimsley as a rat and a coward, who sold out his friends in baseball to get away with what he did. Maybe that's all true. Even if it is, he will have done more for baseball than anyone since Jackie Robinson.
Maybe there's hope after all.
posted by AdmiralLando at 10:12 PM
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