Against Boston this weekend, PED cheat and bullpen-phone destroyer David Ortiz hit a double off Hiroki Kuroda. The hometown fans cheered and none of the NY Daily News editorial staff wrote one word about the sanctity of the game.
In the same inning, ARod tagged out a Boston baserunner who was five feet from third base. The runner was called safe, no instant replay to consult ... the integrity of the game ruined daily by these useless old men with bad eyesight.
The next day, we all witnessed Ryan Dempster's amateurish actions.
Best part was the Boston manager lying to everyone right there on national TV: "Dempster was trying to throw inside." That kind of suppression will give you a heart attack, pal. For baseball managers, lying to the press is simply habitual.
Besides, rooting against ARod means rooting for the Red Sox. A fundamental tenet of sports fandom is that Yankee fans root for the Yankees:
"There are plenty of Yankee fans, I’m sure, who only want to believe in A-Rod’s dream scenario, the one in which he is the victim in all of this — victim of baseball’s vendetta against him and the Yankees’ treachery with him — but that he nevertheless is able to fend off all his attackers, rise to the occasion and become an inspiration to all as he leads the Yankees to the postseason. They do not care that he has cheated the game, lied to them, allegedly libeled the organization and even allegedly ratted out his fellow players and own teammate to take the steroids onus off himself, just like San Francisco Giants fans didn’t care that a bloated Barry Bonds was using steroids and lying to them when he made a mockery of baseball’s hallowed home run records. There are fans everywhere who don’t give a hoot about steroids and what they’ve done to the integrity of the game and the sanctity of its records — even though the players themselves obviously now do."
It is still very easy to separate ARod's on-field actions from his off-field actions. He's not Aaron Hernandez or Chad Curtis. As far as I know, ARod has never beaten a women, cheated on his taxes, snorted cocaine, refused to play with blacks, or driven a car while drunk ... which makes him easier to root for than about half the players in the Hall of Fame ... and makes him easier to root for than the current AL MVP.
MLB can do its own thing. It's not up to Selig to prosecute drunk drivers in America. I'd gladly welcome Miguel Cabrera on my team, just like I welcomed Steve Howe and Dwight Gooden.
But Selig looks silly sitting on a high horse looking down on ARod, pontificating about the character and integrity of the game.
Why does Selig look silly? Besides the fact that he's a millionaire who buys his suits at Sears?
Selig looks silly because, when he comes down off that high horse, he hands the AL MVP trophy to a drunk and he hands the AL Championship trophy to a junkie.
Madden and Selig have a personal problem with ARod.
Selig uses his powers as MLB Commissioner to carry out his vendetta, Madden uses his baseball column.
It's lame and they both deserve to be called on it.
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