Thank you. Apology accepted, and of course knowing more would paint a clearer picturer, both for the DR and the allegations of Sosa spousal abuse. However, lack of evidence is not proof of anything. I can’t find much on the Sosa divorce, as it happened 11 years ago when Sosa was not the superstar he is today. Suffice it to say, Sosa and his ex-wife have put their differences behind them, and she was there with their son when Sammy passed Maris’ homerun mark.
And FWIW, I believe Sammy’s punishment was pretty fair, although I still think baseball went easy on him with only 8 games. And I think the Cubs should have to forfeit Mark Prior to the White Sox, but that may be asking to much.
Who determines when the suspension is served? And can the player or team select it?
I ask this cause I heard the announcer for the Cubs this morn talking about how he thinks Sammy will serve it at a certain time that won’t hurt the team.
To me that seems silly and unfair. A suspension of a player SHOULD hurt the team.
Logically it seems that the process should go:
Bad thing happens.
Commish office hands down suspension in a timely manner
Ball player makes decision to appeal within a rulebook set time.
appeal is done within a rulebook set time
decision is handed down
suspension starts immediately, do not pass go, do not collect $200.
deb2world, your layout of events is accurate. The timing trick comes in dropping the appeal at a good spot. Sosa and Baker will get together and decide when he will be lest missed, then that day drop the appeal and start serving the suspension immediately.
I posted this in another thread, but if the mods allow, I’d also like to bring it to this thread, where it’s more germane.
If I had the time, which I don’t, I’d research and see if cheating is more likely to occur during pennant races, or when the specific player felt he was in jeopardy and was desperate to increase his numbers. Or it could be that these guys, logically valuable to their high school and college teams, have been conditioned to think that they’re all that, and will do anything to maintain the facade, as well as having that “sense of entitlement” everyone’s on about these days.
I’d like to think that there are no Jayson Blair-esque sociopaths in baseball who would cheat just because they see no need to follow the rules, ever. I do wonder, though, what drove Gaylord Perry to such extremes of subterfuge: it seems like the more they warned him, the more and sneakier was he found to smuggle in substances. Just stubborn, maybe?
But cheating, to me, is an act of cowardice. Especially with a repeat offender like Perry. It tells me that the player doesn’t have enough confidence in the way he can pitch or bat without illegal enhancements. JMHO, but you’re either good enough or you’re not. And if that’s how you handle self-doubt, you don’t belong in the majors anyway.
I think Sosa should just take his medicine and serve the suspension immediately. So what if it the Yankee/Cubs this weekend. In a few years no one will remember this, but they will remember that he appealed the decision and wasn’t man enough to just serve it. They will selectively remember that MLB didn’t immediately suspend Sosa. Bad for baseball cause Sosa and Baker are only looking at the short term.
Mr. Rilch just read my post and wants me to correct this:
Shouldn’t have said “pennant races”. I meant the scrambling that often happens towards the end of the season, when one team is eight games out of first place, and wants to pull ahead of other teams. I didn’t mean post-season playoffs. Mr. Rilch says any player/team who got caught cheating in a playoff game would be crucified, both by the commission and by fans; presumably knowing this, they wouldn’t dare.
Doubtful. Almost everyone appeals a suspension. There was an even longer delay between Albert Belle’s corking incident in 1994 and the start of his suspension (two weeks). I had to dig pretty hard to find that there even was this gap.
I guess I just have a different ethical code than most of you. I find cheating inexcusable. It blows my mind that so many of you think that cheating is acceptable behavior.
As to the question of what to do about former players who have admitted to cheating–well, that’s a toughie. On one hand, I’d like to say “Ban 'em all!” On the other hand, I don’t think you can ban anyone without actual evidence that they were cheating. Do their recollections count as evidence? That’s the key question.
Ultimately, we have to draw a line somewhere, and as far as I can tell, the only reasonable place to draw the line is this: Were they caught cheating? Albert Belle was caught with the smoking bat. Pete Rose was caught Red-handed. (couldn’t resist. sorry.) They both deserve banning for life. Sammy Sosa was also caught cheating, and deserves banning for life. Do I believe Whitey Ford cheated? Absolutely. But he wasn’t caught, so I reluctantly have to say that he can’t be banned. No evidence, no conviction. Doesn’t make it right, but what else can we do?
I think the difference is that we disagree in the appropriate punishment. No one here has stated that Sosa doesn’t deserve punishment (the appeal of his suspension is a mere formality) so the idea that we think it’s acceptable is specious at best. Let the punishment fit the crime. You don’t lose your driver’s license for speeding – especially on a first offense – and you don’t get executed for not paying your taxes. Sosa got 8 games (probably 6 after appeal) and that’s appropriate for what he did. Banning him for life serves no reasonable purpose.
What’s really funny is the latest allegation that MLB and ESPN are picking on Sosa because he’s black and Dominican.
Gary Sheffield said on ESPN that neither organization would have gone after Big Mac or Cal Ripken Jr. that way if they had been found with a corked bat.
:rolleyes::rolleyes:
So you’re suggesting that the league should be able to cheat against the rules of the collective bargaining agreement, without any repercussions? That’s logical.
I remember games in hockey where people were suspected of using an illegal stick (incorrect angle), and the person got a two minute penalty for Illegal Equipment.
By his explanation it was a bat that he concocted because he thought a corked bat would help him hit more home runs to impress his fans as a pre-game show. In other words he used it to lie to his fans about his abilities and he expects us to believe that he never made that he never made the “mistake” of using it during a game before. Uh huh. The one time he used that bat in a game it cracked. Uh huh. What are the odds of that?
I knew that he was a spoiled baby arrogant ass, but I had still prefered him to McGwire’s just legal doping. Now he’s a cheat too.
And sports is held up as a model to our kids? Gimmee a break.
No, I’m talking to you. What would be “cheating” would be for the league to violate the collective bargaining agreement by not allowing Sammy to appeal his suspension. You’re advocating that they somehow make an end run around a rule that everyone knows about, in order to punish someone for making an end run around a rule that everyone knew about. That sounds like some very poor logic.