Taking a Stand

I am going to let you in on a little secret and I ask that you keep this information to yourself.

I am not trying to be a gossip and I don’t want to be seen as someone who is spreading rumors, but this information may come as a shock to you.

Okay, here goes: several Major League Baseball players have been taking performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).

Who knew, right?

In all seriousness, this is another sad chapter in an already growing book of allegations and lies regarding players and their use of banned substances in the game of baseball.

In all seriousness, this is another sad chapter in an already growing book of allegations and lies regarding players and their use of banned substances in the game of baseball.

The latest player to be called out is Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers. Braun, who successfully appealed a 50-game suspension last year, is now out for the remainder of this season without pay for his use of the PEDs.

Awesome, right?

Well, as Detroit Tigers pitcher and union representative Max Scherzer pointed out, the punishment doesn’t really make sense.

“With the Braun case, I think it’s absolutely despicable how he handled it,” Scherzer said earlier this week. “I’m glad he got caught. He went out of his way to try to bring people down and cover up his lies and now he looks like Lance Armstrong.”

While Braun is losing out on nearly $3.85 million because of the suspension, the Brewers are still bound contractually to pay Braun another $113 million after this season. Scherzer went on to say that he believes in situations like this, a player’s contract should be null and void.

“I think you’ve got to commend MLB for doing its homework to find everything possible it needed to make the suspension stick and for him not to get off on a technicality,” Scherzer said of Braun. “I still don’t think the punishment fits the crime. MLB hasn’t closed the loophole to create the incentive to cheat. He still has his contract and he’s still financially gaining from this.”

For me, it is refreshing to see players taking a stand against what is wrong and not lining up behind Braun, and others, as a show of support. If you are as good of a player that your contract says you are (financially) then you have no reason to cheat and use PEDs, right?

Braun released a statement in which he acknowledged that he is not perfect and has made some mistakes. I wonder if he is referring to his use of PEDs or the fact that he lied and covered it up for so long?

And now we await the word on the infamous A-Rod and the rest.

In other news, did you hear what former President George H. W. Bush did this past week? One of the secret service agents assigned to Bush has a two-year old son, Patrick, who lost his hair due to his battle with leukemia. As a show of support, all of the agents shaved their heads. But the 89-year old Bush took the support to a new level when he also shaved his head in support of little Patrick.

As you may remember, the Bushes lost a daughter to the same disease back in 1953. We all know that Presidents are human just like we are, but to see something like this shows true class. The former President also helped launch a website to help Patrick and his family with medical costs.

Submitted by Mark McGlothlen