I've also not heard one person (besides Jayson Stark) step up and start calling out the pitchers that have cheated throughout history. Well, except for me that is. And I still believe that most fans and baseball writers are stark raving hypocrites. Nobody really gives a damn about cheating. What has people's knickers in a twist is the notion of somebody breaking to most sacred, holy records in baseball. Home Run records. That's what this is all about. Really. I promise you that.
If you don't believe me, then please to explain to The Bench Jockey why on earth there aren't sites called GaylordCheated.com? Or WhiteyScuffedIt.com? Or DonSuttonSpitter.com? How come we all just sort of chuckled last year when Julian Tavarez was caught and suspended with a pine tar like mixture on his cap? We didn't get cries of indignation about that, no we got apologists saying that sort of thing happens all the time. That's it's "part of the game."
Horse puckey is what I say to that stupid line of reasoning. Absolute nonesense. If shooting juice in your viens is cheating, then so is loading up, scuffing, scratching or any other form of altering the ball. It's all done for the same purpose. To gain an unfair advantage. Let's see what the fine folks at Merriam-Webster Online have to say about cheating;
Main Entry: 1cheat
Pronunciation: 'chEt
Function: verb
transitive senses
1 : to deprive of something valuable by the use of deceit or fraud
2 : to influence or lead by deceit, trick, or artifice
3 : to elude or thwart by or as if by outwitting <cheat death>
intransitive senses
1 a : to practice fraud or trickery b : to violate rules dishonestly (as at cards or on an examination)
2 : to be sexually unfaithful -- usually used with on
- cheat·er noun
synonyms CHEAT, COZEN, DEFRAUD, SWINDLE mean to get something by dishonesty or deception. CHEAT suggests using trickery that escapes observation <cheated me out of a dollar>. COZEN implies artful persuading or flattering to attain a thing or a purpose cozen her grandfather out of a few dollars>. DEFRAUD stresses depriving one of his or her rights and usually connotes deliberate perversion of the truth <defrauded of her inheritance by an unscrupulous lawyer>. SWINDLE implies large-scale cheating by misrepresentation or abuse of confidence <swindled of their savings by con artists>.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that pitchers messing with the baseball is cheating as well. I'm also going to point out that almost HALF of the players suspended by MLB for violation of the anemic drug policy were pitchers. So, not only do they mess with the ball, but some even try and outdo the hitters by shooting juice in their veins. But, we've been giving them a free pass.
Go ahead and boo the alleged and suspect steroid users. That's fine. But, while you're doing that, start up the drives to get the cheaters kicked out of Cooperstown. The ones that we celebrate for cheating. You know who I'm talking about here. Not like I need to hit you over the head with a jar of Vaseline, y'know? All I'm saying is, don't be a hypocrite and just boo the hitters who bulked up to hit the ball farther. Rag the pitchers as well. Drive cheating of ALL sorts out of the game. Not just from Home Plate.
