Guillermo Mota was warmly received by his teammates this afternoon when he arrived in the Tradition Field clubhouse and it seems the Mets generally agree that he should be forgiven for his mistake. Even if that mistake is violating MLB's drug policy by testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Mota will serve his 50-game suspension as a first-time offender once the season starts, and the process of repairing his public image began today when he faced the media.
"I've come out and said I apologized for what I did," Mota said. "I want people to forgive me and I'm sorry about it."
The fact that Mota admitted his wrongdoing and apologized seemed to go a long way with his teammates. Paul Lo Duca, who acknowledged that he is a close friend of Mota's, was among his biggest supporters
"You name me one profession where there ain’t something -- where everything is hunky dory and cushy and I’ll give you a zillion dollars," Lo Duca said. " It’s over with. There’s nothing we can do about it. Guys have taken it, guys have admitted to it, guys haven’t admitted to it. You’re innocent until you’re proven guilty and you go on with life. You go on with it. There’s guys in jail that probably didn’t commit crimes. There’s also guys on the street who’ve committed crimes. Life ain’t perfect. Deal with it."
Comments (4)
Mota's emergence during last year's World Series bid and its correlation to his performance-enhancing substance abuse has yet to be addressed in any newspaper, magazine, or blog that I've encountered. What are your thoughts on Mota's potential out of the bullpen for this year, now that he's off the juice?
Matt, that issue was addressed.
---In this blog, Dude.
Look at the links to the right....and you will see the comments from previous months.
Also, Guillermo Mota's suspension was addressed by all New York media outlets.
However, there was one exception to Guillermo Mota and say, a Jason Giambi. Guillermo Mota made no attempt at making a "lame excuse" or a denial to using steroids. He was forthright, contrite, and stepped up to make a self evaluation of the likes not too many athletes make nowadays. A complete confession. Basically, he was forgiven because of that. There was no story or hidden background to uncover. So the story had no ground to it. He was forgiven, move on.
If I were you I would be more concerned about him throwing at Mike Piazza, who was a New York icon, and now being embraced by Met management. That to me would be a more compelling argument to take. An argument with a more legitimate emotion behind it. I think 50 games is enough to make a Major League pitcher learn a lesson. That is a lot of money to lose.
i think that's roberto hernandez you've got pictured...
nice catch gozer.