What Has Happened to Baseball?

At the All-Star break, fans are presented with a truly surprising stat.  Chris Davis, a heretofore unknown first baseman, has 37 home runs and is on pace for 62 this season.  That’s one better than Roger Maris’ total, a number that stood the test of time until the Steroid Era.  Maris, surpassing a number set by the iconic Babe Ruth, set his record during the 1961 season and won his second consecutive MVP.  Saying he was never heard from again might be a bit of exaggeration, but a man hailed as the next big thing reached only one more All-Star game.

For Chris Davis, it’s tough to wonder where he came from and where he’ll go.  This kind of first half has only been repeated twice from a home run perspective, so it’s a fair question to ask yourself.  Of greater concern, however, is what’s happened to surprise power hitters in baseball.  Tony Bautista, the all-star outfielder for the Blue Jays, faced a bevy of questions surrounding steroids when he hit 54 homers in 2010 after hitting 76 over the previous six seasons.  Even the most trustworthy, so the thinking goes, have to look askance at such a numbers increase.

And that’s what’s happened to baseball.  Every guy who has a great power hitting season must answer the inevitable concern about steroids.  Chris Davis has spoken of his innocence ad nauseam, ensuring that the greater public knows his stance.  Tony Bautista continues to hit home runs, albeit at not such a frequency as 2010, but questions still swirl.

While many of us might wax nostalgic about the 1998 Summer of Cartoon Men in baseball, that era is directly responsible for this.  Because so many of those players synthetically enhanced themselves, anyone who has a potentially breakout season, jacking balls out with regularity can’t dodge the questions.  Back then, the integrity of the game and its players never came under such scrutiny and, even if it did, casual denials were accepted at face value.  Put “Chris Davis” into your search engine…home runs and steroids are the main themes.

In short, the legacy left by the Steroid Era has set baseball back.  Commissioner Bud Selig contends the sport remains very clean, and while he might factually be correct we are so used to not taking any statements about drugs in baseball seriously.  Even from the commish, the same commish who adjusted too late to prevent this slide.  Blame also must be placed with the players union, a group supposedly devoted to solidarity, which delayed widespread drug testing in baseball for years, only recently caving.

As part of the backdrop for this article, MLB continues to investigate Biogenesis.  As many as 20 players are potentially on the chopping block, facing suspensions at the very least.  Chief among them are Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun, two gentlemen already embroiled in the steroid conversation due to mishaps in the past few years.  Braun you may remember successfully appealed a suspension last year.

If baseball really wants to clean up its act, players need to be held accountable.  Some moderation should be part of any drug policy, but A-Rod and Braun have continued to appear in this debate.  Bartolo Colon served a 50-game suspension for steroids last year, but made the All-Star team this year at age 40.  Why aren’t we wondering about him as well as Chris Davis?  He’s a previous offender that actually deserves some scrutiny, not only for his history but he’s also on the Biogenesis list.  Yet baseball continues to allow folks like Colon back in the game, trusting that they will change their ways.  The track record since instituting a more widespread policy doesn’t give much confidence that offenders will cease to cheat.  If it were me, the three strikes policy would work well, but each incremental penalty would be increased.  First offense: 100 games.  Second offense: Full season.  Third offense: banned for life.

Baseball needs something and it’s time for the league office to make a large change.  The penalties above might seem overly punitive, but players know what they can and cannot do to their bodies.  Breaking that policy, especially in a repeated manner, deserves harsh punishment to protect the most important variable in the whole equation: baseball’s integrity.

Bit #1: Prediction for the Open Championship

Golf’s third major kicked off this weekend as the world fixated on Tiger Woods.  He hopes to win his first major in five years at Muirfield this Sunday, and the results from the first two rounds are certainly positive.  A 69-71 start puts Tiger at 2-under, near the top of the leaderboard as it stands right now.

As always, conditions will dictate the winner of this tournament.  The course looks like the set for The Road Warrior, with some of the fairways and greens very clearly dying.  As a result, the traditional rules for links golf (low ball flight, running it up to the green, putting from off the green) remain very much in play.  You could easily carry the ball 150 yards and receive 80 yards of rollout.  As I sit here, Phil Mickelson just hit a pitching wedge 188 yards.  That’s like receiving a compliment for your choice of Ke$ha music at a housewarming party…take a picture, since it never happens.

Tiger could easily win this championship, but his putting woes on Friday (missing short par putts) looked similar to what plagued him during the Masters and U.S. Open this year.  In addition to Tiger, plenty of folks that are over par after two rounds (guys like Ian Poulter, Jason Day, Charl Schwartzel, and Adam Scott) could fire a 2-under round tomorrow and be right in the mix.

For my prediction, I think Lee Westwood comes through this weekend.  At previous majors, he’s lost the tournament due to poor rounds on Day One.  He’s right there after 36 and I expect he will walk away with the Claret Jug.

Bit #2: College sports landscape likely to change

I’ve noticed the Ed O’Bannon lawsuit for a while, but the world received a jolt this past week when the NCAA announced it would not continue its relationship with EA Sports for videogames after next year.  The O’Bannon suit alleges that the NCAA and EA Sports have broken antitrust laws by using the likenesses of college players without paying those players any cut of the revenues.

This week also brought a big news item…the first current collegiate players joined the lawsuit, increasing the chances that college athletes might be receiving a portion of athletics-related revenues.  By adding current players, the claimants hope the judge will allow the suit to obtain class status, allowing the claims to be pursued as a group rather than individuals.  In that scenario, the NCAA would experience huge pressure to settle the case rather than subject itself to huge damages as part of a court judgment.

Either way, players are no longer afraid of the NCAA’s power, a remarkable change from times previous that will bring much-needed changes.  Athletes deserve some kind of compensation for their services…should that come from video game money, it would be a good start.

Bit #3: NFL Preview is coming

Be ready for it.