The Bob Costas Affect

A-Rod got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  Or as Bob Costas points out, someone ratted him out.

So, A-rod says he is sorry.  Says he was young and foolish. Says it hasn't happened in five years and will never happen again.  Yankee haters are up in arms, as are many baseball purists.  Bob Costas is all open arms.  He says: I hold zero animosity towards Alex Rodriguez.

Bob Costas says the people who leaked the names are the ones who should be penalized.  Bob says they broke federal laws and should be held accountable.

Have I ever mentioned that I love baseball?  I love it so much I want to marry it.  And I am so very tired of all the nonsense that has been going on for the past decade.  Like most true baseball fans, I just want to watch the game.  I want to watch the boys of summer out on the field doing their thing.

But just like everything else in America these days, drama rules. And the media sucks it up.  Then the parasites show up to feast on the bodies.  Then the buzzards show up to feast on the carnage.  And then we move on to the next drama.

For the record, though I have tremendous respect and much love for Bob Costas, I disagree with him (I think).  Everyone involved is equally culpable. The players who took the steroids are responsible for their actions. The union who didn't protect their players are responsible for their actions (or inactions), the commissioner of baseball is responsible for this entire mess that continues to unravel like a Spalding baseball punished by Roy Hobbs.  And yes, the people who leaked the names and the media who jumped all over it are responsible for the feeding frenzy.

And to what end?  The players will continue to play.  Fans will continue to boo and cheer. Baseball cards will continue to sell. The season will go on.  It will all just be a little less innocent than it once was.  

And yeah, the bloom has been off this rose (no Pete pun intended) for some time now, but baseball continues to be an important part of our history.  If I may be so bold as to borrow the words of one fictitious Terence Mann:

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.

So can't we just leave it alone?