
Robert
DeNiro's face was in my living room late Monday night appearing on a television
movie about an emotionally troubled Giants fan entitled, oddly enough, "The
Fan". And though I nostalgically watched a scene of a Giants game shot at
Candlestick Park (with the late, great Rod Beck pitching), I had to turn
it off soon thereafter because the dark character portrayed by Robert
DeNiro was disturbed me. While the character's problems were not
primarily a product of his endemic frustrations over being a Giants fan in
general, I suspect they significantly contributed to his overall internal
turmoil based upon my personal experiences as one (a Giants fan, not a disturbed person).
This
is all by way of contrasting the interview I heard Mark McGwire give to Bob
Costas on mlb.tv earlier in the day. There were similarities in the two
personalities that left me personally troubled. Over the radio, I could almost
hear Mark's internal demons wrestling with his conscience over an issue that
has haunted fans of American baseball lo this past decade. That dirty little
secret is: performance enhancing drugs (or "PEDs" for short). Mark made himself
the poster child of that widespread affliction when he testified before
Congress some five years ago and said, well, nothing at all about his
incredible home run records and whether or not they were related to his use of
PEDs. In his defense, Mark McGwire certainly cannot be accused of lying
to Congress that day but neither did he choose to tell the truth What
frustrated the congress people and Americans the most was that his adamant and
repeated refusals to address any questions about the use of PEDs came to
symbolize major league baseball's refusal to address the overall problems of
PEDs that had taken over the American past time.
So
fast forward to 2010 and Mark McGwire is now finally prepared to come
clean on the issue of PEDs so that he can return to work for the St. Louis
Cardinals as a hitting coach this season. So when it is his time to come up to
the plate and answer the questions posed by Bob Costas, what does Mark
say? Essentially, the slugger said his
usage of PEDs did not affect his home run totals one iota. Say what? "Not even
a little bit?" asked Bob Costas. "Nope! It was all my natural God-given
abilities, parental-given DNA structure, and shortening my bat swing," replied
Mark (paraphrased). "So, why did you take PEDs?" asked Bob. "To get back on the
field quicker after my injuries. I didn't want to let my teammates down,
y'know," was Mark's excuse. Incredible!
This
exchange brings up a host of other questions and issues such as; Why did he
feel the need to apologize to Roger Maris's widow if he didn't
cheat to break the 1961 single-season home run record? If his home runs were
unaffected by his use of PEDs, why didn't he tell this to the grand jury and
Congress when they asked about it in the first place? Why should PEDs even be
banned if they cannot affect a person's God-given abilities? And on... and on...
and on, etc. But what astounded me the most was upon learning the next day that
Mark McGwire and the St. Louis Cardinals had hired President George W.
Bush's former press secretary, Ari Fleischer, over a month ago to prepare Mark
McGwire for this first public interview. Really? And this was the best they
could all come up with? PEDs have nothing whatsoever to do with a player's
baseball statistics?
Okay,
I do not intend to bash the Bash Brother here. Like Robert DeNiro, we all have
our own personal demons we must wrestle with on a daily (if not hourly) basis.
None of us are perfect. And perhaps, over time, Mark will reflect further upon
this matter and come to modify his positions closer toward the realm of reality
as we know it. But if this is the height of the bar that is set that one must
jump over before he gets rehabilitated back into baseball's good graces, then I
must say that the muscled-bound Barry Bonds has nothing to fear in the
future (besides, perhaps, a tainted jury pool). Sayyyy, when is Barry's trial
going to get started anyway? And wasn't Barry indicted some five years ago... by
George W. Bush's attorney general, Alberto Gonzales... who was the same man that
refused to give Mark McGwire immunity... that would have allowed Mark to
more truthfully testify before Congress in the first place? Hmmmm.
On
a brighter note: The Giants did sign first baseman, Aubrey Huff, to a
one-year contract last week. I am hopeful because Aubrey has put up some
impressive offensive numbers in the past and his signing does not severely
impact the eventual development of fellow first baseman Travis Ishikawa whom I
believe has a ton of future upside. Also, this signing puts Mark DeRosa
in leftfield thereby leaving Nate Schierholtz alone in right.
This year, I am going to be Nate Schierholtz's biggest fan. I like
Nate's God-given abilities, his shortened bat swing, and the fact that he has
the face and attitude of a hockey player. Hmmmm baby!
Go
Giants!