by Shaebaun "Suge" Benjamin
In no way am I an advocate of steroid usage or any other PED usage in sports.
People hitting 60-70 homeruns year after year is not fun to watch in my opinion. If that were the case they'd play the sport with nerf balls and play on little league fields.
What I do believe in is the idea that if you committed an idiotic act with which there are consequences and you serve the punishment, you should not be further faced with much more punishment just because.
Red Sox pitcher John Lackey kind of sort of made comments disparaging Baltimore outfielder Nelson Cruz who after last year's Biogenesis Investigation by Major League Baseball was suspended 50 games as per the punishment for first time offenders of their PED policy.
Cruz went 5-5 against Lackey and based on his league leadership in homeruns was selected by the fans to start the MLB All Star Game in Minnesota next week.
Lackey criticized fans for having "selective memory" on Cruz's PED history.
That's his opinion, but, what about the "selective memory" Boston fans have toward their beloved postseason hero David Ortiz, who in 2009 was discovered to have been on list of positive tested steroid users from 2003. That list was meant to be private but with the amount of players that were on that list who were later found out to be PED users you cannot be too sure Ortiz is squeaky clean.
The Red Sox and Ortiz put together a press conference to clear the air which cleared up nothing as Ortiz simply said he doesn't know why he's on the list and no one felt the need to follow up.
PED use is asinine. Cruz for example was paid $10.5 million for last season while with the Texas Rangers. 50 games amounts to 30% of a 162 game season, so Cruz lost $3.15 million in his suspension. Alex Rodriguez is losing his entire salary for this season due to his suspension. His salary this year is a little less than $30 million.
If you want to gamble that kind of money in order to hit more homeruns or have a faster recovery time from injuries be my guest. This year will have been eleven or so years since MLB and the MLBPA implemented a drug policy and we are still having people test positive and get suspended. If the problems continue the penalties should not cost players just money but should also put their careers in jeopardy.
Start off with an entire season for a first timer and then 3 years for a second offense. You would not get to a third offense which is a lifetime ban. If you lose three years of baseball to steroids your career is effectively over, especially if you are older.
If player X is 22 years old and gets suspended and loses a year from a first timer suspension he will be 24 when he returns. He plays 2 years then he is 27 in that third season back, he faces his second suspension and loses another 3 years. When he returns from that suspension he is 31. At that age his ability is question and may have gotten a few seasons in over ten years but has lost millions of dollars in suspended season.
Player X or any other player ought to think long and hard about seeing that shady doctor or having their cousins become their drug mules with those penalties.
As far as for people like Lackey, put a sock in it, because the next big PED scandal may include the guy sharing your clubhouse. Nelson has served his suspension and signed a one year deal at lower than what his market would have been without the suspension. He is performing extremely well on said contract and deserves to be an All Star. You cannot hold his past PED use against him, if that were the case then the league should place lifetime bans on all offenders.
The policy is in place for players to be held accountable and right their wrongs. To forever ostracize players after they have served their time is just plain wrong.
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