Posted on 12/14/2007 8:37:33 AM PST by jazusamo
Friday, December 14, 2007
Shoeless Joe Jackson was the only man to bat .382 in his last season in the major leagues. After that he was banned for life for his role in the "black sox scandal," the deliberate throwing of the 1919 World Series.
It was to Jackson that a youngster was supposed to have said, "Say it ain't so, Joe."
Maybe we are too sophisticated today to react that way to the news that many major league star players have been taking steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. But maybe we have gotten too sophisticated for our own good.
Some people are questioning whether there should now be asterisks alongside the records of Barry Bonds or other star players. That is the least of the problems -- and the least of the solutions.
Steroids are dangerous and sometimes fatal. Yet, if some players use them, others will feel the pressure to use them as well, in order to compete.
Most important of all, many young people will imitate their sports heroes -- and pay the price. Those young people are far more important than asterisks.
You might think that athletes who are making a million dollars -- not per year, but sometimes per month -- could spare some concern for the kids who look up to them.
But too many think only of themselves, and not always wisely, even for themselves.
Football star Michael Vick's downfall was dog-fighting, rather than steroids, but it was the same reckless disregard of rules, jeopardizing a career that would have earned him more in a few years than most people make in a lifetime.
Even those of us who are not Michael Vick fans have to find it painful to see a young man self-destruct this way. If anything good comes out of this, it might be that his fate may deter others.
The bottom line question for those in authority, whether in the courts or in professional sports is, "What are you going to do about it?"
The law has already spoken in the case of Michael Vick. It is too early to say what the law will do in the case of Barry Bonds and others involved in the steroid controversy.
But it is not too early to point out that what the law does or does not do is separate from what the people in charge of professional sports do.
In a court of law, the accused is presumed to be "innocent until proven guilty" beyond a reasonable doubt. But too many people mindlessly repeat that phrase for things outside of courts.
All the ballplayers accused of throwing the 1919 World Series were acquitted in a court of law -- and all were nevertheless banned from baseball for life anyway by the commissioner of baseball.
In a sense, that ban applied not only for life but beyond death. None of those players has been put in the Baseball Hall of Fame, even though Shoeless Joe Jackson hit .408 at his peak and left a lifetime batting average of .356.
That was long before we became so sophisticated that we learned to come up with excuses for those who violate rules and additional excuses for those who refuse to impose penalties.
Today there are those who lament Pete Rose's exclusion from the Baseball Hall of Fame, despite a record on the field that would certainly have put him there, except for breaking rules.
But Shoeless Joe Jackson's even more impressive record would certainly have put him in Cooperstown, if he had not broken the rules.
There is still some lingering hope of sanity in the baseball writers' refusal to vote Mark McGwire into the Baseball Hall of Fame, despite his tremendous career achievements.
Keeping known rule-breakers out of Cooperstown would be a lot more effective deterrent than putting asterisks alongside their records, to be disregarded by those who are "non-judgmental."
Unfortunately Senator George Mitchell's report on steroid use in the major leagues and its recommendations are of the let-bygones-be-bygones approach that has spread the disregard of rules throughout the whole society, from student cheaters to career criminals.
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy.
The only reason that Rose and Jackson aren’t in the Hall of Fame is because they aren’t eligible; I think if either player were eligible, he’d be voted in.
Today’s players would need to be banned from baseball before they would be ineligible for the Hall of Fame, and with the power of the Players’ Union, I don’t see that happening.
‘Keeping known rule-breakers out of Cooperstown would be a lot more effective deterrent than putting asterisks alongside their records, to be disregarded by those who are “non-judgmental.” ‘
I agree with everything in this column but this assertion.
No Thomas, its no more ‘effective a deterrent’ than Bud Selig’s ‘see no evil’ approach to Steroids has been.
Its about 100 million dollar contracts for banjo hitters, and twice as much for regular season ‘stars’ that choke in the playoffs.
Its about MONEY, Mr Sowell. Today’s players could really care less about Baseball’s Hall of Fame...because today’s owners don’t care about it, nor does the Commissioner.
If they did, they wouldn’t have created the Designated Hitter and THEN ignored Steroid Abuse since the 1970’s.
That they pretend this is ‘a new problem’ that began in the 1980’s, and escalated in the 1999’s through today demonstrates my point.
The Hall of Fame was rendered meaningless three decades ago.
I believe you are correct with many of your points but I do think the egos of these guys are fed by the fans and Cooperstown means a lot to them and they’ll cheat to get there.
That's an excellent point that most people may not understand. Major League Baseball and the Baseball Hall of Fame are two different entities. MLB cannot keep a playor out of the Hall of Fame on its own, except for the fact that the bylaws of the Hall of Fame prohibit anyone who is not in good standing in Major League Baseball from being inducted.
Let us not forget Ted Williams (the last 400 hitter) who in the prime of his career served his country in the USMC. In my opinion, the best player ever.
I read an article about Williams. He was at a party not too long before his death and had occasion to pick up a baseball bat. The author of the article said that the entire party went silent - it was about like watching Michelangelo pick up a paintbrush or a chisel.
An apt comparison, in my opinion. I only wonder what Williams would have done with what, 5 extra years? of prime playing time.
Time has a tendency to heal all wounds, and you only need to convince 75% of baseball writers of a player’s eligibility. A good test case will be McGwire; we’ll see how many were first-year “protest” votes. I suspect McGwire will get in from the baseball writers, but we’ll see.
Don’t forget, though, that players can also be voted in by the veteran’s committee, which tends to be more generous in its admission standards.
I’d like to see some of the “bubble players” get a second look by the sportswriters before the steroid-enhanced crop gets in. We all have our favorites from the ‘60 - ‘80 who seem to come just short.
And now the rest of the story. Williams hired a lawyer to try and avoid service during WW-II and only gave up that fight when he started catching a lot of heat from the people in Boston. He was also extremely unhappy when he was called to active duty during the Korean War and was overjoyed when he was sent home early.
He served in two major wars and you’r denigrating him like he was Bill Clinton.
“The Hall of Fame was rendered meaningless three decades ago.”
Ah, you’re a baseball purist who objects to the DH. I liked it at the time, because I liked offense and I thought it was a waste of time for pitchers to bat. Now that I’m older, I appreciate what a change in the rules of baseball it was. I’d probably oppose it now.
None the less, hitting is as hard as it has ever been. Baseball is unique in that it has changed the least of the major sports and its statistics are comparable for over a hundred years.
Regardless of the DH, I still think banning the players from Cooperstown who broke the rules would be effective. What isn’t clear to me, is how much occurred after sterioids were banned and how much before. I know steriods weren’t banned until AFTER Mark Maguire retired. I think punishing players for steriod use when they were legal is unjust.
“Its about 100 million dollar contracts for banjo hitters, and twice as much for regular season ‘stars’ that choke in the playoffs.”
This is simply the free market at work. If I, the owner, think a player will help me win a pennant or a world championship, I’ll bid up the contract for him. The high top wage ripples down and lifts the contracts of the banjo hitters.
Bottom line is I loved baseball growing up, and I’ve attended three world series, multiple playoffs, all star games.
And I haven’t walked into a major league stadium in two decades.
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