Baseball's Real Dirty Secret

I wanted so much to leave all the crap behind.
I won't think of the steroid stuff very much while I'm actually enjoying a game this summer.
I really won't.
When some beefy hitter drills an otherworldly fastball nine miles,I won't sit back and think just how many syringe fulls it might have taken for either pro to deliver the goods.
Am I in denial?
I don't think so.
I'm not lying to myself, I just can't tell the bad guys from the good.
I've been around the game a good long time so I knew what was going on even if I didn't have de facto info on exactly who was doing what.

That's not what I wanted to write about however.

It's baseball's other dirty secret.
It started before steroids.Before Tim Raines, Keith Hernandez, Steve Howe and all the rest of the snorters gave baseball a black eye in the 90's.
Or should I say a white nose?
Before Jim Bouton's Ball Four exposed plenty including the prevalence of greenies or amphetamines in Major league clubhouses.
It started before they allowed African Americans into Major League baseball.
And it reared its ugly head again this week.

Alcohol has long been more than tolerated in the game.
A cold one has always been part of the post game.As Bouton once quoted his manager Joe Schultz after a post game speech:"Now go pound that Budweiser" !

I have seen teammates fight because of it.
I have seen a team plane fill with popcorn.
I know decent careers that have ended because of it.
Tony Larussa fell asleep at the wheel at a traffic light,and one of his pitchers died last year in a car crash caused by it.

The latest bits of news remind us that while some of us can have a drink and go home,
others are consumed.
Nobody could figure out why Bret Boone went from a 35 homer, 117 RBI all star second baseman,to unemployed in two years.
Now we know as he tries to comeback with Washington.
The Nationals of course have his dad Bob in their administration.
Bret back after a stint in rehab.
More disturbing however was the Cardinals swift release of utility infielder Scott Spiezio.He was charged with essentially crashing his car in December, leaving the scene of the crime,going home and beating up his neighbor.
You would think that Spiezio would have learned something last summer.
The late Josh Hancock was his friend.

“We anticipate a successful resolution to this misdemeanor matter,”
attorney Paul Meyer said.

Lovely.

Asked about Spiezio’s release, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said,
“I think it’s a consistent message about what the team represents.”
What does the team represent Mr. I fell asleep at a traffic stop?
Maybe we can ask you at Busch Stadium.