Ortiz and The State of the Game
Maybe a naive sap, but I can't help but be a little stirred by Ortiz' "State of the Game" Address in which he basically talks about everything. It's pretty emotional and kind of touches home a lot of things about baseball. Here's what was basically said...things in boldened are things I think are worth quoting.
"This game is being hurt a lot already. This is not a players' game. This is not a team game. This is a family game," he said. "We have a lot of families who live off this game. We have a lot of families who enjoy this game. We have a lot of families who bring their kids to watch this game. I don't think this game can take anymore."
"I think the A-Rod situation was a little tough for the game because you're talking about the best player in the world," he said. "But at the same time people have to give the guy credit because he came out and said what he said at a point of his career when he has done it all. On top of that it was six years ago. The guy has put up numbers his whole career and there was one thing he said that caught my attention.
"He said he was young and at that time that was the [inaudible] all around the league. When you are young and somebody gives you any idea about increasing your production, like he did back then, sometimes you make the wrong decision like he did. He's been playing clean and he still produced and he's still the best player in the game. If I'm the fans and I had to judge the guy, I would put that in the past and move forward.
"The guy works hard. He's still doing his thing. He still has nine more years on his contract. He's definitely going to do some damage. I would judge the guy from after those years he used [steroids], the years without it to the years coming up."
"Whatever happened in the past, I guaranteed more than 80 to 90 percent of the players are now playing clean. What you're seeing out there is what you're going to get. We are going through a tough situation all the way around with the economy and our solders fighting in Iraq. This game is a distraction for people, for the family - the American family. I would like to see some changes. I would like for people to leave this game alone and let us play the game. I will do whatever it takes to make this game better, but not everybody is on the same page. The game has changed a lot. There's a lot of pressure. You already had pressure playing the game out there.
"This game, like I said, is taking a lot of hits lately. We just need to play the game. The game is tough enough. People need to hear something different. The stuff we heard from Alex the last few weeks that was the last thing you want to hear about it. The guy came out and he didn't wait until he was taken to Congress and all that crap. He was honest. Let's put it in the past and play the game.
"All the drama, and bringing guys to court, and acting like they're serious criminals, it doesn't look good for the game. What is happening now is something that happened in the past. We get to know that the steroids thing has been banned since 2004 and nobody has been out there because they haven't been using it afterwards. Let's move on.
"I think you clean up the game by testing. I test you, you test positive, you're going to be out. Period. This is serious. I know that if I test positive by using any kind of substance I know I'm going to disrespect my family, the game, the fans and everybody. I don't want to face that situation. That's what I would do and I'm pretty sure everybody is on the same page.
"I guess they like to use another way to clean up the game, which I don't agree with. Everything is in the past, it's not happening right now. Anybody who has been taken to court is because it happened in the past.
Ortiz is right though -- it's the past. Let's let it go. While I am a fan of justice, I do also want to look out for the good of the game. But honestly, I'm at a point where I don't give two balls about whose on the list or not. I had wanted to know before but now I'm kind of sick of this shit. Can we please just move on?
God I hope he doesn't end up being outed on that list...that would devastate me.
"This game is being hurt a lot already. This is not a players' game. This is not a team game. This is a family game," he said. "We have a lot of families who live off this game. We have a lot of families who enjoy this game. We have a lot of families who bring their kids to watch this game. I don't think this game can take anymore."
"I think the A-Rod situation was a little tough for the game because you're talking about the best player in the world," he said. "But at the same time people have to give the guy credit because he came out and said what he said at a point of his career when he has done it all. On top of that it was six years ago. The guy has put up numbers his whole career and there was one thing he said that caught my attention.
"He said he was young and at that time that was the [inaudible] all around the league. When you are young and somebody gives you any idea about increasing your production, like he did back then, sometimes you make the wrong decision like he did. He's been playing clean and he still produced and he's still the best player in the game. If I'm the fans and I had to judge the guy, I would put that in the past and move forward.
"The guy works hard. He's still doing his thing. He still has nine more years on his contract. He's definitely going to do some damage. I would judge the guy from after those years he used [steroids], the years without it to the years coming up."
"Whatever happened in the past, I guaranteed more than 80 to 90 percent of the players are now playing clean. What you're seeing out there is what you're going to get. We are going through a tough situation all the way around with the economy and our solders fighting in Iraq. This game is a distraction for people, for the family - the American family. I would like to see some changes. I would like for people to leave this game alone and let us play the game. I will do whatever it takes to make this game better, but not everybody is on the same page. The game has changed a lot. There's a lot of pressure. You already had pressure playing the game out there.
"This game, like I said, is taking a lot of hits lately. We just need to play the game. The game is tough enough. People need to hear something different. The stuff we heard from Alex the last few weeks that was the last thing you want to hear about it. The guy came out and he didn't wait until he was taken to Congress and all that crap. He was honest. Let's put it in the past and play the game.
"All the drama, and bringing guys to court, and acting like they're serious criminals, it doesn't look good for the game. What is happening now is something that happened in the past. We get to know that the steroids thing has been banned since 2004 and nobody has been out there because they haven't been using it afterwards. Let's move on.
"I think you clean up the game by testing. I test you, you test positive, you're going to be out. Period. This is serious. I know that if I test positive by using any kind of substance I know I'm going to disrespect my family, the game, the fans and everybody. I don't want to face that situation. That's what I would do and I'm pretty sure everybody is on the same page.
"I guess they like to use another way to clean up the game, which I don't agree with. Everything is in the past, it's not happening right now. Anybody who has been taken to court is because it happened in the past.
Ortiz is right though -- it's the past. Let's let it go. While I am a fan of justice, I do also want to look out for the good of the game. But honestly, I'm at a point where I don't give two balls about whose on the list or not. I had wanted to know before but now I'm kind of sick of this shit. Can we please just move on?
God I hope he doesn't end up being outed on that list...that would devastate me.