Losing its luster

By Zack Baker
210 west Writer [send email]

As a lifelong baseball fan, this is supposed to be like Christmas Eve. Spring Training is here and, as long as I can remember, the Spring is like waiting to open presents. In this case, the presents are opening day, and baseball games every night.

This year is different.

Maybe it’s the steroid scandal that is hanging over the sport, or maybe it’s the financial disparity between teams.

Maybe it’s the fact that my two favorite teams—the Indians and the Reds—are not expected to compete this year.

Or maybe … well, who knows. The point is, I’m just not feeling it this Spring, the way I usually do.

In simpler times, I would look at a player and wonder how many home runs he would hit. Now I wonder if he’s on the juice.

I used to wonder if the Indians could trade for a number one starter. Now I wonder if they can afford it.

It’s possible that these problems have always existed, and I was just blinded to them by youth, and the fact that my teams were competitive. Still, the Alex Rodriguez trade to the Yankees did crystallize a few things for me.

The first thing is that baseball can not survive in its present form under the current system.

Don’t get me wrong, because I don’t think that getting Alex Rodriguez helped the Yankees one bit in their goal of winning the World Series. It doesn’t matter.

Someone once said that perception is reality, and never was that more correct that in the sale and advertising of professional baseball, where season ticket sales are a primary source of cash revenue.

There are three teams that have sold a great deal of tickets before the season; the Yankees, Cubs, and Red Sox.

And why not? All three made significant moves, allowing their fans to believe that this could be their year.

If the last three years are any indication, the year will probably belong to an underdog. The Angels, Diamondbacks and Marlins all came out of nowhere to win championships, after all,

But none sold all that many tickets. Baseball needs a better economic system, if only to change the perception of the fans. Fans need to believe that their team has a shot every year. That’s why the NFL has done so well,

The second thing is that baseball needs to clean up.

The steroid policy is a joke, an absolute joke. There are no punishments for a first offense if you’re caught on the juice, just treatment.

Now it’s time for some facts. The only ones that give a damn about steroids are the fans and the media. The Players Association, which is so powerful and so evil that they rival Charles Foster Kane, has used the power to make steroids into a cigarette.

Don’t believe me? Read this quote from players Association CEO Gene Orza, from an article on ESPN.com:

"I have no doubt that they are not worse than cigarettes. But I would never say that to the clubs as an individual who represents the interests of players, 'Gee, I guess by not allowing baseball to suspend and fine players for smoking cigarettes, I am not protecting their health.'”

No, he’s serious.

This guy must not read up on steroids much, and must have never followed pro wrestling. There is a reason why wrestlers drop dead so often before they reach 50, and I can guarantee you it isn’t from smoking. Besides, smoking is not illegal. Steroids are.

See, the problem here is that the MLBPA isn’t interested in the players, they are interested in the strength of the union.

I would love to ask any high ranking official in the MLBPA, under oath, if the survival of baseball is more important, or the survival of the players union is more important.

I bet we already know the answer to that one. That’s why baseball has no salary cap, no strong revenue sharing, and fully guaranteed contracts that even the players themselves aren’t allowed to get out of.

I’d tell the players union to go to hell, but they seem intent on taking the game there already.

Bud Selig, fearless leader, is telling everyone not to talk about steroids. That’s like having an asteroid destroy your house and then acting like nothing has happened. Maybe if we ignore it, he thinks, it will go away.

Well, it won’t go away, because it’s as obvious as anything you wish to name.

Baseball has made a deal with the devil, not dealing with its problems years ago, and instead pushing them to the back while they accumulated.

Now, it’s chaos.

Steroids are worse than any drug in the world of professional sports. Cocaine and heroine are worse for people, but they don’t call into question the integrity of the game itself.

If I were running baseball, I would shut down the game for a year and figure out the best way to fix myself. The players union is too powerful, the sport itself is too weak. The owners have showed themselves to have no backbone in negotiations. It’s time to stop negotiating and set a mandate, and stick to it.

Something needs to be done, or else baseball will have as much cultural relevance as Roller Derby.

I used to think the theme for baseball was “Take me out to the Ballgame” or “Centerfield.”

Now I know it’s AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.”

Time to face the music, boys.