Monday, June 22, 2015

Remember Who Asked To FORG1V3 First


This is a post from November of 2013 when I began the campaign to forgive all the steroid users, specifically Alex Rodriguez. I just find it ironic now that Bald Vinny and others have began to forgive around Yankee Stadium and around the country with others getting the credit for this thing. I'm not bitter, I'm not, I just want to give everyone a friendly reminder of who had it first.



I have made it my new goal and mission in life, for this blog, and in general to remove the bad juju that is fumigating around the New York Yankees right now due to steroids, suspensions, and all that jazz. I have made it my job to try and convert as many people as I can to the side of forgiving the steroid users that have admittedly given a black eye to the sport that we all obviously love. I will not defend their bad decisions, nor will I ever support their bad decisions, but I will look at this from a fans perspective. I am a father to a three year old and soon to be another future Yankees player so I know, understand, and appreciate the message that it sends to children but I also think that that's where parenting steps in. Sure we can look up to these guys as super heroes but we also have to understand, even at a young age, that these men are just that, men. They are human and they make mistakes and it is how they handle themselves and the situation after the fact that they should be judged on. I personally do not believe in throwing the first stone, especially when my closet is probably not as clean as I would like it to be, and I do not believe it is my place to judge them.I was taught to forgive those who need it, not those who ask for it, and that is what this is all about. Agree, disagree, feel indifferent, it is what it is.

I'll be honest this whole thing started out as a joke and a way to just fill time during a lull in Yankees news but it has turned into a borderline obsession. The more I wrote the more I got to thinking why in the hell should I be mad at Alex Rodriguez, Francisco Cervelli, etc for failing steroid tests? I did not allow him to take them and turn a blind eye to their use because it brought back a game that was on life support, that's ownership and management. I did not put A Rod's face on every television show, newspaper, blog, and internet site finding anything and everything to bash the guy about and ignoring the "guilty until proven innocent" mindset that has made this country great, that's the media. I'm not the one who paid reportedly $5 million to get a testimony from the guy selling and supplying the players with the PED's, that was Bud Selig. I am the one who supports, loves, and lives all things New York Yankees. I am the one who is here to be entertained and watch my team win as many games as they can and I have done all that and more in my Yankees watching lifetime. I have been entertained watching Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, and whoever else was linked to steroids.

If there was a clean slate across the board I may feel differently but as much as we all loved watching the dynasty Yankees how do we know who did and who didn't? I know one thing I balled my eyes out when Andy made his final start in New York and then again when he made his final start in Houston. I didn't because Andy played the game clean, he didn't, and I didn't because he admitted it, although that helps, I did it because I love the New York Yankees.

What we as the fans do not understand is these guys are not on call 24/7. They are not firefighters, police officers, super heroes, doctors, nurses, etc etc etc. These men are baseball players and they get paid, quite well I might add, to play a kids game and entertain us. These guys are not on call they get paid to play a game a few hours a night for 162 games plus a season, that's it. Who cares if their significant others feed them popcorn while playing a game, get over it. Who cares if they don't wear their seat belt, it's their life in their own hands. Who cares if they took steroids, how did it affect you personally? How did they cheat a game that was reeling and dying after the greed of Bud Selig wanting a salary cap to maximize revenue for himself that is now flourishing not only in the states but world wide? They cheated themselves, sure, but that's between them and their God. Who am I to judge?

I don't buy my MLB TV subscriptions, my Yankees jerseys, hats, tickets, memorabilia, and run this blog because of what the players do off the field. I will not stop doing or purchasing any of these things if every damn one of them failed a steroid test tomorrow. I love this team, this team is my passion, and I support any and every player that puts those pinstripes on their back. I don't agree with them doing steroids or anything illegal to the game or to the law but that is not my place to judge them and make them out to be the second coming of the devil. These men are here to entertain you. That's what they are paid to do and that's why we continue to pay them, whether directly or indirectly, to do that. That's it.

  I want ONE Yankees fan, notice I said fan, to come to me and tell me that they were not entertained watching Alex Rodriguez hit 50 home runs a season or leading us to the 2009 World Series. I want ONE fan to say they did not enjoy Francisco Cervelli get clutch hit after clutch hit last season for us in limited time. I want ONE fan to tell me they did not enjoy watching Andy Pettitte's career, support the hell out of him, and cry their eye balls out when he pitched his final game in New York and in Houston. Go ahead, I'll give you my email address. You have my twitter account name. I'll give you my cell number, I feel that strongly about this.

When you look at a guy like David Ortiz who can relax at the plate and doesn't feel like he has the weight of the world and his city on his shoulders and he can come out and hit in the .700's in the World Series. The first thing you think about when you think of David Ortiz, a steroid user, is not his past in most cases. A Rod on the other hand is vilified. A Rod could go out there and hit .800 in the World Series and still be asked questions about the other two at bats where he made an out. The last time the entire team, fans, and city had A Rod's back seemed like it was 2009 and look how that worked out for us. This is not just A Rod too, this is all steroid users. We need to forgive Ryan Braun, we need to forgive David Ortiz, we need to forgive Barry Bonds, we need to forgive Roger Clemens, we need to forgive Rafael Palmeiro, we need to forgive them all. If you can forgive ONE of them you have to forgive them all. If you want Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame then you have to forgive them all. If you even know who Shoeless Joe Jackson was then you have to forgive them all.

My last question that I leave with everyone is this... if Derek Jeter failed a test tomorrow would you forgive him?

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)