Manfred was asked about the
distinction between Rose and players tainted by allegations of
steroids use, who are eligible for the Hall but have fallen short of
election.
"I don't accept the analogy
between steroids and gambling," Manfred said. "I see
gambling as different in a sense that baseball's rules on gambling
have been in place literally for decades. They've been clear. They
spell out specific penalties. The reason those rules exist is that
gambling is corrosive in a number of ways, including raising the
specter of somebody of not doing everything they can to win. Steroids
— a very, very different kind of issue."
He gets it. Glory, hallelujah, he gets
it.
Commissioner Manfred has made one of
the most intelligent and sensible statements about these two
controversies in a long time. It's something everyone who cares about
the game of baseball must consider.
He was discussing the status of Pete
Rose, and the possibility of Pete participating at the upcoming
All-Star Game, and inevitably the possibility of Pete's reinstatement
after 25 years in the wilderness as an outcast from the game he loved
and loves.
Inevitably the companion subject of
PEDs came up. And Manfred hit the ball out of the park.
Let's be clear.
Ballplayers take PEDs because they
believe they will stay in the lineup longer and be more productive
and therefore more valuable. This is destructive to the player's
health, sets a bad example for kids, and cheapens the game.
However, ballplayers who get involved
with gambling and gamblers inevitably run the risk of getting
involved with schemes to "fix" or "throw" games.
As we know from history, this is destructive and, if not handled
firmly and mercilessly, will be fatal to the game of baseball
itself.
A mighty big distinction. Will the
BBWAA take heed? Don't hold your breath, but what needed to be said
has been said, by the man whose first responsibility is to the game
itself, and nothing else. He gets it.
Early Returns
A three-game sweep of the Dodgers is
always nice, of course, and when it comes on the heels of a 1-6
Homestand-from-Hell-in-the-making, it's even better. Giants starting
pitchers have racked up 11 quality starts in 17 games so far, so when
your record is 7-10 you know where the problem is.
We weren't too thrilled with the
off-season pickups of Nori Aoki, Casey McGehee, and Justin Maxwell,
but we're sure happy to say that two of those three guys, at least,
are paying off big-time. There's nothing in Maxwell's tepid resume to
date that would suggest he'd thrive as an every-day starting
outfielder on a contending team, but he's been nailing the ball this
month and really ought to start every day until he stops or until
Hunter Pence returns, whichever comes first. As for Aoki, it's not
that we disrespected him as a player, it's that we had the sick
foreboding that before long he'd be used as the leadoff man. And we
were right-- and so far, he's been right, too. As long as Aoki can
hit .300, his OBP will be over .350, and that qualifies.
McGehee got a big hit in a clutch
situation yesterday, leading off the ninth and setting up Brandon
Crawford's monster triple that we thought would win the game. At
.179, we'd say McGehee has about four weeks to pick it up and prove
he should be starting ahead of Matt Duffy-- who ran for him and
scored the tying run in that ninth inning.
Two weeks ago everyone was moaning
about Joe Panik, who has since climbed to .295/.348, well within
acceptable range. Today's moans center around Brandon Belt, who has
started to hit the ball hard but who remains below the Mendoza Line.
Buster Posey leads the team with 8 walks, in 60 AB, which is a number
we like to see, but it was clear from watching that game yesterday
that at least a few of those walks are from teams pitching around him
to get to Belt. Not so good.
And then there's Angel Pagan, whose
mere presence in the lineup... yada yada yada, except it's true.
There he was yesterday, waiting through a pitchout before stealing
second base and setting up Maxwell, whose GIDP-appearing grounder
went through for the game-winner and made up for Kendrick's brilliant
bases-loaded eighth-inning stab of Maxwell's shoulda-been-RBI-single.
We've always said the key stat in stolen bases is the
caught-stealing, because it is so destructive. Pagan has two steals,
hasn't been caught, and those are the kind of numbers we like,
because speed and stolen bases are all about opportunity, not
quantity.
Between them, Chris Heston, Madison
Bumgarner, and Tim Lincecum have delivered 7 quality starts in 9
appearances, with a composite ERA of 2.61. Throw out Bumgarner's
certified turkey from April 11, and it's even better. Lincecum showed
he could pitch well against a team other then the Padres, Heston has
already pitched well against the Rockies, whom he faces at Coors
Field tonight, and Bumgarner is, well, Bumgarner. We're not at all
sure Jake Peavy can help the Giants any more, Tim Hudson's been OK so
far but nobody knows how long he'll hold up, and Ryan Vogelsong was
excellent yesterday-- 16 days after his previous, awful, start. Oh,
we got issues here, all right, but noting to panic about. And
consider Yusmeiro Petit has yet to be called upon to start a game.
Finally, if there is one more takeaway
from this LA series, it's this: the other guys' bullpens tend to
"blink" a lot more than does the Giants'. This
not-so-secret weapon is our best guard against a repeat of that 4-10
start that had everyone ready to jump ship a few days ago.
There are two NL wild-card spots. A
.500 team at the All-Star Break is now a contending team. This one's
weaknesses will be apparent by then, and recent history teaches us
that mid-season, not off-season, moves tend to be the ones that turn
things around for the Giants, if a turn-around there is to be.
Charlie Hustle
Has Rose suffered enough? We think so.
He deserved his suspension, because gambling by players and coaches
is the ultimate bad seed of professional sports.
But Rose did not participate in, nor did
he condone or excuse, the fixing of games. This is where he differs
from the "Black Sox" and others banned for life.
It's been over 25 years. Pete Rose is
74. He ought to be reinstated, and voted into the Hall of Fame,
before he passes. Let his punishment stand as a warning to others,
but let him back in.
But Joe Jackson and the others? Never
in a million billion years. Throwing games-- that gets you baseball's
version of the death penalty. His records, and their records, are
still in the book, and they should be. But his person, and their
persons, cannot ever be admitted into an institution that purports to
honor the game. It's not that Hall of Famers are, were, or should be
model citizens or even nice guys. It's that those who deliberately,
with malice aforethought, specifically seek to undermine and destroy
the very integrity of the game by their own efforts for their own
monetary gain, cannot possibly honor that game by their presence, and
therefore must be excluded.
