Some analysts want us to return to the days when baseball was about standings and box scores. Make no mistake, I can agree with them on that point. The issue is how we get back to the days when baseball was about baseball..
The point is that some in the sport want us to just go back to talking about the on-the-field product, instead of getting sidetracked every time an outfielder shows up in mid-February looking like a WWE wrestler.
It reminds me of a discussion I had three years ago with someone close to me. We were discussing the world’s events, and she said, “I miss the days when all Washington talked about was sex scandals.”
It was a simplification. The problem is talking about something that’s easier to deal with won’t make the big problems go away. In baseball, I get the impression some media members would rather ignore the issue altogether. I’m not the only one here with that suspicion.
Sunday night, ESPN’s Peter Gammons made a comment about how Sammy Sosa has never failed a drug test. I think Gammons was implying we should stop asking questions as fans, give all players the benefit of the doubt, and move on. He should know it’s not that simple.
Some want us to ease off baseball, trust that the steroid issue will be taken care of, and keep buying tickets. They want us to trust the sport again. Trust has to be earned, and no sport has betrayed its fans more in the last decade and a half than baseball.
Through two World Wars, a depression, and constant change in the country, there was always a World Series. In more than 90 years, the World Series was cancelled once – in 1904. Then came The Strike. As it turned out, it wasn’t world conflict or social unrest that canceled a Fall Classic. In 1994, it was pure greed. No need to rehash the sorry affair. Just know, many fans deserted the sport when it finally got around to playing again.
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