I went to my first baseball game.

"Most people would think of the legacies of Joe Girardi and Terry Francona as scrappy players turned successful managers for two of the most influential franchises in baseball history."

That would be accurate.

"But the Biogensis bombshell this past week, where as many as 20 big leaguers could face suspension as a result of their link to the performance-enhancing-drug lab, has exposed the two skippers for what they truly are:
Frauds."

Not mutually exclusive things.  They may be frauds, but they're still scrappy players turned successful managers for two of the most influential franchises in baseball history.

"Case 1: On Wednesday, Girardi, when asked about Alex Rodriguez’s alleged PED use and looming 100-game ban, said he was only going to talk about baseball.

'This is in MLB’s hands. For me to speculate doesn’t make a lot of sense.' "

 "No comment" is the only proper answer in this situation.


"Really? What could be more about baseball than a guy taking illegal drugs to improve his performance to the point that he hits the fifth-most home runs (647) in history, drives in the seventh-most runs (1,950) and wins three MVP Awards?"

Betcha didn't know Alex Rodriguez was a productive baseball player.  Well, now you know.  Thanks for the minimal research.

"Hypocrisy oozes from Girardi’s dismissal of the discussion as a distraction, nothing more than a persistent gnat buzzing around the brim of his interlocking N and Y on an otherwise peachy spring day."

Metaphor Man is on a roll today.



"Here is a guy who, as a player, stood shoulder to shoulder with steroid cheats ranging from Sammy Sosa to Chuck Knoblauch, then went on to manage the likes of A-Rod and admitted HGH user Andy Pettitte."

You missed dozens of cheaters with whom Girardi stood shoulder to shoulder, but you don't seem to know much about this topic in the first place. It actually sounds like you entered a pro sports locker room for the first time ever and were shocked that the manager didn't answer your provocative questions.  That's not what happened, that's just what it sounds like.  An outsider who is just learning about PEDS, locker room etiquette, human's tendency towards self-preservation, etc.


You also don't seem to know the meaning of the world "hypocrisy."  If Girardi made a living chastising the teammates of PED users, and then he refused to rat out PED users himself, then he would be a hypocrite.
 

"So, let’s get this straight, Joe: while you were earning close to $30 million as a player and/or coach over the past 24 years, it was OK for you to benefit from all of those players’ pumped-up performances, but when someone wants your thoughts on how they went about executing and maintaining that level of play, you say it doesn’t make a lot of sense for you to speculate?
Stunning."
 
Girardi was a player and then he was a coach.  He earned that money as a player and a coach.  He was never a player "and/or" a coach ... what is that use of "and/or" supposed to do? Utilize pseudo-legal language to give a BS article a veneer of credibility?

You absolutely got it straight, by the way.  It does not make a lot of sense for Girardi to speculate, regardless of how much money has has earned in professional baseball.

"Case 2: Cleveland manager Terry Francona also said Wednesday 'as an industry we kind of buried our heads in the sand a little bit.'

While, on its surface, Francona’s indictment is refreshing, where was his searing self-assessment when busted steroid cheats Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were blasting a combined 289 home runs while leading Boston to two World Series over the eight years that Francona was manager?

Francona won an average of 93 games a season and made the playoffs five times on the inflated backs of Ramirez and Ortiz, but did you ever hear a word of suspicion from him as he was hoisting his World Series trophies and being lauded as one of the best managers in the game?"

I'm not quite understanding the logic here.  Francona deserved to be lauded as one of the best managers in the game.  His steroid cheats were defeating the steroid cheats on other teams.

"Francona and Girardi certainly have had plenty of company in allowing this fraud on the game and its fans to exist, but there have been very few who have basked more in its tainted glow."

Off the top of my head, I can list 500 people who have "basked more in the tainted glow" of this fraud.

Do frauds even glow?

I guess this particular fraud glowed.  A tainted glow, but, still ... a tainted, glowing fraud ... in which few people basked more than scrappy players Terry Francona and Joe Girardi.