View from the Couch

BY BILL LEEMAN

Oh, boy!   Spring training is right around the corner!  Yahoooo!   I've got my tickets to Arizona.  You have yours?  Hope so.  

But before we delve into the 2010 season, I have a couple questions that I need to pose on an unpleasant subject:  That being the besmirchment of our Great National Pastime by the likes of Mark Magwire and other Oafs of the game.  Those who would make a mockery of the our Great Game; who would cheat for their own personal gain, without a glimmer of thought to ethics.   Those who would whine, lie, whimper, and cry when caught red-handed.

Who is the poster boy for Steroids, HGH, and Performance-Enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball?  

Would that be Jason Giambi?  No.  Barry Bonds?  Sorry.  Rafael Palmeiro?  Nope.  How about A-Rod?  Not this year, anyway.  Jose Canseco?  No, not even.  

No, the poster boy for steroids in baseball is none other than Tony LaRussa's main man, Mark Magwire.  You know, the new batting coach for the Cards.  Yeah, that Mark Magwire.  

Am I the only one who thinks he's got no business being in a major league uniform, let alone a dugout?  

Am I the only one who feels insulted by the preposterous lies that he has told?  

Am I the only one who thinks those phony tears he shed would have embarrassed him if he had enough sense?  

And to top it all off, here's Tony LaRussa acting like Mark Magwire is the 'wronged' one.  Say, here's some news:  Tony LaRussa and everyone else in baseball knew what was going on, and turned a blind eye.

The whole scenario is ludicrous.   Almost as ludicrous a having Magwire as a batting coach in the first place.  What is he going to show them?  How to shoot up?

You know, maybe I'd be a little less upset, if he would just MAN UP, and tell the truth.   Stop insulting everyone's intelligence.

But then I started thinking:  The reason he can't do that is because he used performance-enhancing drugs for his entire career, in my opinion.  

So what that would mean is his whole career was one big sham.  

Wow.  

He sold his soul for a few home runs.   Say, Mark, was it worth it?
But before you start feeling sorry for him, remember this:  No one forced him to use drugs.  It was his choice.  He wanted to be bigger, stronger, faster.  He wanted to hit the ball farther than anyone else, hit more home runs.   Well, he got his wish.  

Now, he's paying the price.

So, don't feel sorry for Mark.   Feel sorry for the game, for the record books, and the Hall of Fame.  

Above all else, baseball has always been a game of integrity. The records have been kept meticulously and precisely for more than a hundred years.

Now, there is a chink in the armor of that integrity that can never be repaired.

\It is a sad day for baseball, a sad day, indeed.