Why should Major League Baseball (MLB) be immune to the cultural depravity
that has touched every area of public life - from politics to religion, from
corporate life to personal relationships?
In a report for MLB by former Sen. George Mitchell, America's "pastime" has
been revealed to contain its share of cheaters like most other professions.
The Mitchell Report alleges that 89 active and retired players used
performance-enhancing drugs, giving them an edge over those who used nothing
but their natural born abilities and hard-earned skills.
Is anyone surprised by these allegations? If so, they haven't been paying
attention.
Even to the untrained eye it is obvious that the physical characteristics of
many of these players could not be attained solely through weight lifting
and a high protein diet. But it apparently didn't matter to team owners who
needed something to put fans in the stadium seats and attract eyeballs to
television screens following the disastrous players' strike in 1994. The
consecutive game streak by the Baltimore Orioles' "Iron Man," Cal Ripken Jr.
(a Mr. Clean in baseball if ever there was one), would not be enough. Many
blind management eyes were turned away from what was going on in the
clubhouse and elsewhere, as some players bulked up in order to be able to
hit more home runs, which are the gold standard of baseball.
Will the fans care about these things? Probably not. Their expectation that
professional athletes be "role models" for their children ended sometime
after the notion that anyone can grow up to be president was disproved by
the $100 million it now takes just to get into the presidential campaign.
Most of us have become cynical about people and institutions in which we
once put our faith. We now think everybody has, or is looking for, an edge.
Politicians have lots of edges. Some religious leaders have an edge in
private wealth and political clout. Certain business leaders have a huge
edge by winning astronomical bonuses after sometimes failing to secure large
profits for their companies. Young, blonde females have an edge on cable TV
news.
Most people don't believe professional wrestling is legit. Ditto for all
forms of gambling, or "gaming" as the gamblers, in their efforts to deceive
us, now call it.
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