Philadelphia, PA – Congratulations to Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
He may have been unable to get Barry Bonds and had even less success with Roger Clemens, but Selig thinks he has seemingly nailed the big fish that he hopes will ultimately be his legacy.
On Monday, the world's worst kept secret became fact, as MLB and Selig suspended 13 players for their involvement with the now-defunct Biogenesis Clinic. Jhonny Peralta. Francisco Cervelli. Nelson Cruz. Jesus Montero. Who cares? The only name anyone, including Selig, cared about was New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who was suspended through the 2014 campaign.
Rodriguez had made it clear that he would appeal any ban and that still appears to be the case. In what might make for a bizarre scene, Rodriguez is expected to be in the Yankees' lineup on Monday when they begin a three-game set with the Chicago White Sox.
How embarrassing is that for MLB? The day they announce this suspension, A-Rod makes his season debut.
And why wouldn't he appeal? He has $100 million reasons to fight this to the end. And given MLB's track record here, Rodriguez's betting on the fact that they haven't dotted their i's or crossed their t's.
It would be such an A-Rod move to get off on a technicality here and proclaim his innocence the way Ryan Braun did.
And as much as you'd like to see A-Rod go down, you kind of don't want to see the Yankees get off the hook here either. They were the ones who gave him that ridiculous contract.
Since Braun accepted his 65-game ban two weeks ago, there had been speculation that Selig was going to try and ban Rodriguez for life. At the very least, he was expected to invoke the "best interests in baseball" clause which would have meant that Rodriguez could not play while appealing.
In the end, though, it was all talk. There was no way Selig was going to be able to give A-Rod the death penalty. Rodriguez may be guilty as sin, but the fact of the matter is he's never failed a test.
It's kind of hard to go from nothing to life in one fell swoop.
Selig can puff his chest out all he wants here in the next few days. Rodriguez has already won, though. He went from a supposed lifetime ban to now being in the lineup on Monday, the same day he was suspended. What a joke.
Does anyone want to bet that Rodriguez wins his appeal? Mark my words, when this is all said and done Rodriguez will be left with no more than a 100-game ban.
If Selig wants to label that a victory, then more power to him. The rest of us will still point and laugh at him for being the buffoon that he is.
Apparently, MLB has binders and binders full of evidence on Rodriguez. Well, let's see it. There is no doubt in my mind that Rodriguez was up to no good at this clinic, but his likeability, or should I say lack there of, seems to be the driving force here.
Please tell me Selig's crack staff actually did some sort of real investigation here rather than just take the word from some glorified drug dealer like Anthony Bosch.
We've been down this road before. Do the names Kirk Radomsky or Brian McNamee ring a bell? Selig was left with egg on his face then and it seems like just a matter of time before A-Rod drops a giant yolk right on his noggin.
You almost feel dirty having to defend A-Rod, especially after his press conference on Friday when he stated that people were trying to conspire against him because of his contract and that "we all want to rid the sport of PED's; that's a must."
If that last line doesn't make you cringe, then you really do have your head buried in the sand.
We all know where Rodriguez stands moral-wise. Let's be honest, we all stopped buying his act a long time ago. He's a fraud. Always has been, always will. He'll never get in the Hall of Fame and what was once a great career became a laughing stock a long time ago.
The thing with him is that it's hard to believe one person can be so dumb? No matter the situation, he always seems to do the wrong thing. Regardless the situation, he always comes out looking like a fool. For as much money as he has and for as many people he employs, how is it that he does not have someone advising him in certain areas of his life?
Still, if this wasn't a witch hunt, someone has to explain how Melky Cabrera gets off with nothing here. Yes, he served a 50-game suspension last season, but if Rodriguez is getting hit with multiple offenses at once, how was Melky's use of a fake website last year to cover up his failed test not held against him?
Let's face it. It's easy to pile on Rodriguez. Most people don't like him and nobody will bat an eye at the way he's being treated here. It doesn't make it right, though.
And Selig can try to rewrite history all he wants. Nobody will ever forget that he's as much responsible for this mess as anyone. Everyone remembers the home run chase in 1998. If he was so concerned about cleaning up the sport why didn't he launch an investigation right when that reporter in New York noticed a little bottle of Androstenedione in Mark McGwire's locker?
Chicks dig the long ball, right?
Selig is a joke. He may have laid down the law here, but as much as he wants to trump his drug policy, unfortunately there's another A-Rod right around the corner. Selig's legacy won't be that he slowed down the use of PEDs in the game, it will always be that he allowed them to run rampant under his watch while he and others profited from it.
Oh, and that he let the All-Star Game end in a tie.
And if these recent events have soured you a bit on baseball, don't worry the murdering, wife beating, drunk driving, no-paying child support National Football League is right around the corner.
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