When Theo Epstein said he was going to get 'creative', I didn't know that secretly he was about to lop his ear off while painting a masterpiece. It has come to my attention that he inquired upon two players that never even crossed my mind: Dan Uggla and Joey Votto. Yes, Dan Uggla has only played 2nd base in his Major League career. But the Red Sox were interested on the 29-year-old bopper for a cost efficient left field option (5-mil). He played there a very little bit in the minors and since his defense at second base is average at best anyway, why not put him in Left Field, where you don't really need the range of a middle infielder. Joey Votto, completely threw me for a loop. I wouldn't have though he was available, but Cincinnati is trying to cut their payroll and with one of their HIGHLY touted prospects (Yonder Alonso) is ready for the 'Bigs'. While potentially adding quality players it also seems as if they are trying to cut costs. This could prove to be a great strategy for some of the teams, trying to dump their high priced players for some financial freedom.
I realize that Jason Varitek has been the warrior, the stalwart, the insert-any-brazen-sounding-word here for the duration of his tenure in Boston, but I absolutely don't agree with him picking up his option for anything more than a money standpoint. Hell, if they wanted me to sit on the bench for 3 mil a year I'd do it. But I'm not sure that he could really contribute anything more than knowledge to Victor Martinez. His hands are slow getting through the zone, his toe tapping is so fidgety that it resembles that of Michael J. Fox, and his pop-time to 2nd base is almost as mind numbing as a retard playing in pudding. There is nothing else that he needs to accomplish as a Major League baseball player, and there is nothing that he has to offer physically to this ballclub. Varitek I loved you (circa 2000-2004) but you've got to hang it up, I've never wanted to punch myself in the ball sack so much as when I watch numerous rally killing at bats or watching the metaphorical quarter get put in the merry-go-round every time someone reaches first base. But, he's here; I guess I have to deal.
Something I have yet to tackle here on BOTN is the announcement that Mark McGwire has been named the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is a .263 career hitter but one of the most prolific sluggers in Baseball history, synthetic or not. But something that he is going to have to face head on is being thrust back into the limelight of baseball. He used steroids, he has all but said it, his brother came out and said it, and Jose Canseco has written a book about it. Was it unethical, immoral, and wrong in every sense of the word integrity? Absolutely. But what a lot of people are forgetting is how captivated all of us were, in that summer of '99. I remember playing in an All-Star game under a bridge in Portsmouth, talking with my friends and fellow All-Stars about how we all think he could hit a ball to that bridge. In all accounts he couldn't have being that the bridge was a solid 2 miles away, but the point stands true. No one player has EVER been bigger than the game, but when baseball was failing to enamor most of the kids in the United States, he brought it back from the pits of despair, and put it on the front burner. It hasn't been the same since.
Big Mac was a cultural icon, a perennial good guy, and someone that America felt like they could trust. Let's face it baseball fans, we were hoodwinked, but were we? Was there really any other reason that his neck was the size of an old Buick, or that his Biceps were comparable to Schwarzenegger's. We all subconsciously knew it, but the fairy tale that each home run was representing was mesmerizing us so that it gave us a false sense of reality. But the real issue is what is he to do now? What is he to do after shanghaiing us in front of Congress? He needs to come clean, he needs to hold one press conference, one chance to clear the air. Since he is no longer playing he doesn't need to be cryptic or anything of that nature. There is no need to name names, but he needs to say I stuck myself in the ass with Deca Durabolin every day as a side dish to my 8-Egg omelet, ½ a pigs worth of Bacon, and 6 cows' worth of milk.
If he does it, and does it right, it will NO LONGER be an issue. His job from then on, is to make the St. Louis Cardinals a better hitting ballclub. But this move is not just a marketing move for baseball; it is also a way to self-promote Mark McGwire. Steroids or not, he may deserve a spot in the Hall of Fame, and the only way he does that is by coming clean. If he doesn't get in, then other players implicated by steroids will not get in either. You have a full 6-7 year window where no one will be getting into the Hall of Fame. Maybe you're OK with that, but these are the superstars of my childhood, and in comparison how would you feel if Mickey Mantle didn't get in because he was a lush, or Hank Aaron didn't get in because he was popping 'greenies', or Darryl Strawberry didn't because his track marks were deeper than Monster Truck Tires. OK the last one was a bad example, but my point remains true.
Stay Tuned
Ryan
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