Did you read, or hear about, this?
Holy hypocrisy, Batman!
In some ways, Reinsdorf, the venerable White Sox owner, is to be admired. He's renown for being a loyal, fair boss, and in employing African-American general manager Kenny Williams and Venezuelan manager Ozzie Guillen (pictured, above, with Reinsdorf and coach Harold Baines), he ranks as one of the game's most progressive executives.
But Good Lord, on this quote from the story above:
''We would have loved to have done more, but Don Fehr wouldn't do it. People should start to realize that we could have been testing for steroids years and years ago, but Don Fehr wouldn't do it because he said it was an invasion of privacy, and the result of that is that Don Fehr is going to cost players entry into the Hall of Fame because if we could have been testing for steroids years ago, some of these guys who are now on the bubble who got themselves in trouble would have gotten off steroids. ... Steroids is strictly a Don Fehr problem and creation.''
Give me a break. Look, Fehr and the Players Association deserve a nice, healthy share of the blame for baseball's steroids era. Fehr will tell you as much, particularly if you are a member of Congress.
But to say that the owners were not complicit in what happened? It's nothing short of laughable.
If the owners were so concerned about the lack of testing for illegal performance-enhancing drugs, then they should have gone to the media and complained. They didn't, of course, because they were profiting too much from the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run chase of 1998.
So if the crusty Reinsdorf isn't willing to take his share of accountability for what happened, then he should step off, and reserve comment on this issue.
One a Day and Major League Baseball Properties will donate $10 to the Prostate Cancer Foundation for each strikeout in MLB regular season and postseason action. So, as one wiseguy reporter noted at a news conference yesterday, A-Rod's golden sombrero from Tuesday has some benefit.
If a pitcher strikes out 21 batters in a game, breaking the record of 20 shared by Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson and Kerry Wood, then One A Day will donate $1 million to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
It's easy (and important, IMHO) to call out MLB when its leadership commits a wrongdoing. But I also think it's worthwhile to distribute credit when the industry comes up with creative, philanthropic projects like this one.
UPDATE: Thanks to Jim Clark for pointing out that Tom Cheney struck out 21 batters, over 16 innings, in 1962. I re-read the MLB press release and it specifies, "nine-inning game."
Comments (13)
I can't believe Adam West is 80 years old! My God.
Jerry Reinsdorf, despite his lower profile in the past 10-15 years, is still one of the clown princes of baseball. His statement about steroids and Don Fehr are almost too ludicrous to comment on. The fact the owners kept quiet about steroids is absolutely about money and always was. I am reminded of what Gordon Gekko said in "Wall Street": "It's all about the bucks kid, the rest is conversation."
Whenever the CBA is set to expire, count on Reinsdorf to start making ridiculous comments. The thing is, those are the comments that get printed. He's probably making the same dumb comments every day of the week.
The union and MLB negotiated a drug program in the mid-eighties after the cocaine scandal. It had probable cause testing included. Commissioner Ueberroth abrogated the agreement on national TV, destroying a year's hard work because he was contemplating running for public office after his MLB gig.
The owners then started their salary collusion and poisoned the well even further. This legal process (the owners lost and had to pay $ 280 million) carried us up to the 1994-95 strike.
And in the meantime, a drug sting called Operation Equine happened, and MLB security was told about it - their security did zero.
MLB is responsible for the lost decade - not the players.
Steroids were created by Don Fehr? LOL.
"If a pitcher strikes out 21 batters in a game, breaking the record of 20 shared by Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson and Kerry Wood, then One A Day will donate $1 million to the Prostate Cancer Foundation."
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If Jake Peavy could pitch against his own lineup, One A Day might actually have to pony up the cash.
Ken, Farnsworth stinks. The Yankees should cut him and eat his salary. The same with Hawkins. Other than Rivera and Joba, the Yanks have no else who can throw strikes with consistantly. Heck Goose Gossage said the Yanks should keep Joba in the bullpen.
Hey, Reindsorf deserves all the credit he can get. He singlehandedly ended the lockout in 95 (it wasn't a strike anymore for some reason) when he signed Albert Belle. (I think thats right)
But as for Fehr...he never could get enough blame in my book...though my true feelings are give me a break. But anytime someone bashes Fehr...Richie G. from Lynbrook smiles!!
"Other than Rivera and Joba, the Yanks have no else who can throw strikes with consistantly."
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You mean besides Ohlendorf, Bruney and Traber?
The strikeoutrecord already at 21. Set by Tom Cheney of th Washington Senators in 1962. Of course he needed 16 innings to do it. Which is more unlikely: striking out 21 hitters or pitching 16 innings? If we are going to denounce Ford Frick (as many do nowadays) for being in favor of an asterix in 1961, should we decide "a game is a game'?
There are a lot of people who share the blame for steroids..not just baseball but other sports turn a blind eye because it may cost them money. Reinsdorf, who has done good things giving opportunities to Williams, Guillen, Jerry Manuel and Phil Jackson in the NBA, really sounds stupid. Accept your share of the blame, Jerry, and promise to do better.
Let me see Ohlendorf, Bruney, and Traber pitch in pressure situations throwing strikes first, especially Burney.
Okay, so first they didn't throw strikes with consistency, and now they don't throw them in pressure situations. Gotcha. The bottom line is that saying Joba and Mo is all the bullpen has is a simple overreaction. Traber has been death on lefties, Ohlendorf has been great (including pitching three innings after Phil got knocked out early), and Bruney has been overpowering. Farnsworth and Hawkins suck. No question. I have NO idea what Hawkins is doing on this team while guys like Patterson and Rarmirez are in AAA. But if anything, the bullpen has been a strength -- you have two dominating guys to close the game, and three others who do their job well. Farnsworth and Hawkins will be mopup guys and/or off the team pretty soon. Have no worries.
Hawkins is on the team because Cashman thought he had to do something and threw some Yankees money down another rat hole. Patterson definitely belongs on the team right now. Hawkins might turn in some good performances, but how can he ever be counted upon? Farnsworth has been completely useless for his entire Yankee career and not even Houdini could work any magic with him. He can't pitch in NY and probably can't be consistent anywhere. Farnsworth should definitely be designated for assignment and Hawkins should follow shortly thereafter unless he can prove he is still of MLB ability.
Cashman's thinking on Hawkins was, "He's a lot cheaper than Linebrink/Dotel/Vizcaino. If he stinks, we can get rid of him at relatively low cost." It wasn't a horrible thought, except for the fact that Hawkins indeed stinks.
I think Farnsworth has been Cashman's worst acquisition since he gained full power in '05.
It must be kind of fun to live in a world free of irony as Jerry Reinsdorf does. This is a guy who demanded total fealty from the other owners and his stooge, Bud Selig on the collective bargaining agreement in 1995, and then turn around and signed obvious steroid abuser Albert Belle to one of the largest contracts at the time. The guy was right in the middle of the collusion scandal in the 1980s..
His jab at Fehr is kind of funny, given how desperate the owners were to get back fans after the strike, and totally ignore the Mark McGuires and Brady Andersons of MLB..... However, Fehr should be faulted for the Players Association's reluctance for IOC standards for performance enhancement drug testing.