Column--5/12/13 (Cheating)

On Wednesday, May 1^st, Clay Buchholz tossed seven scoreless innings allowing just two hits in the Red Sox’s 10-1 win over the struggling Toronto Blue Jays.  Buchholz has been pitching very well, no question about it, but the question is right now, is he cheating?  Blue Jays broadcaster Jack Morris thinks so.

Morris accused Buchholz of having a substance on his arm that he was putting on the ball.  Videos of Buchholz have shown him taking his two index fingers and rubbing them against his arm (which was glistening).  What those videos didn’t show was Buchholz wiping off his index fingers immediately after touching his arm.

“I’m doing the same thing now as I did in 2008 when I was sent down to double-A,” Buchholz told reporters.

I called Morris and he told me that “it is all over with” and he refused to answer questions.

Morris later apologized to Buchholz and said that the pitcher “was cool with it.”  But just how cool with it do you really think Buchholz was?  He was profiled on the headlines of ESPN’s SportsCenter for a week as a cheater, and that’s not what any pitcher wants.

By the next night, it had become the battle of the broadcasters.  “I faced Gaylord Perry,” said beloved NESN Red Sox broadcaster and former Red Sox second baseman and American League All-Star Jerry Remy.  But Jack Morris won 254 games in the big leagues as well, and was backed in his accusition by another Jays broadcaster, Dick Hayhurst, who said that Buchholz was “absolutely” cheating. Hayhurst  was an MLB pitcher also.

Everyone talks about Gaylord Perry as the most famous spitball pitcher ever and how awful he was to face.  So if he was the worst cheater ever and we all reflect back painfully on him, why does he have a golden plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown?

But then that begs another question: if we let Gaylord Perry into the Hall of Fame, why isn’t Barry Bonds, who is widely accused of having used performance-enhancing drugs?  And if we ever let Bonds in, what do we do with Pete Rose, who was banned from the Hall for betting on baseball?  The argument can go on and on.

In other incidences of cheating, this one close to home as well, David Ortiz has hit .333 since coming off of the DL on April 20.  This has begged the question whether the 37 year-old DH is using performance-enhancing drugs.  Though Ortiz denies it, many question whether or not he can maintain the high level of play that he is at.

Long time Boston Globe Red Sox reporter Dan Shaughnessy was the first reporter to confront Ortiz.  “I don’t really like doing it either,” Shaughnessy said of questioning Ortiz several times throughout the conversation, as he revealed on Boston Sports Live.

Ortiz denies it, “I don’t got nothing to hide bro,” Ortiz told Shaughnessy.  “If you struggle, it’s bad.  If you do well, it’s bad too.” 

This comes at a time when untouchable superstars, not just in the game of baseball, are being brought down.  Major League Baseball looked the other way on PEDs for a long time.  It’s similar to when you hear a bad noise on your car and all you do is turn the radio up.  The MLB felt that there was too much money to be made off of drug users like Bonds, Sosa, and McGwire, but that time is done.  It’s over.  And it’s time for us to accept that the steroid-era of baseball is no longer.  And even if it means fewer home runs, it is time.

 Let’s face it, after the 2009 season; I thought Ortiz was done.  So when someone like Ortiz, who was a part of the steroid-era, and was tested positive for PEDs in 2003, starts hitting up in the .400s after coming off of an Achilles injury with no spring training under his belt, it makes me and many others wonder. And that’s all we can do right now, is wonder.  I’m not saying that he did or he didn’t, because I don’t have any evidence. 

But that can be changed.  This is the first year that Major League Baseball and their Player Association have implemented random drug testing during the regular season.  It’s time for other pro sports to follow.  I hope that Ortiz is just having a great start, and with good testing, we can put our suspicions to rest.

Follow Jasper Goodman on twitter:  @Jasper_Goodman

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Column--4/30/13 (Sellout Streak)

The Red Sox’s 820 consecutive game sellout streak at Fenway Park came to an end on April 10.  I’m glad it did.

            The streak, which started in 2003, has surpassed all other sellout streak records in major league sports.  The Cleveland Indians held the previous Major League Baseball sellout streak record at 455 games.  The Sox surpassed that on Sept. 8, 2008.  The next milestone that they passed was to become the team with the longest number of consecutive sellouts in major sports.  The Portland Trailblazers previously held that record at 814 games.

            Now that that streak is over, I can reflect back on all of the times that I have gone to Fenway to find lots of empty seats in the park.  I, like many others, am wondering if all 820 of those games (794 regular-season) were really sold out.

            There is no simple answer to that question.  The Red Sox have been using definitions of the word “sellout” that differ from what you, I, or even the Merriam-Webster Dictionary would say sellout meant.

            Sam Kennedy, the vice president of the Red Sox told the Boston Globe that the Red Sox “operate by a definition that is commonly practiced throughout Major League Baseball and professional sports.’’

            The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word sellout as “an event for which all tickets are sold.”  The Red Sox’s definition would be something like “an event for which all tickets are distributed.”  According to the Boston Globe, last year during the sellout streak there was an average of 800 complimentary tickets given away every game.  While 800 tickets given away each game sounds like a lot, Sam Kennedy said to the Globe that they give away fewer tickets than other major league teams.  The reason for that is because of Fenway’s small size and high demand for tickets.

            As to what this means for you, the fans, well, simply go to the Red Sox official website, www.redsox.com, and note that you can now actually buy tickets to the games off of their website.  During the streak, I would often be asked how to get tickets to games, since many fans thought that it was impossible or that you would have to get your tickets months in advance.  The Red Sox, like most other MLB teams, are now able to send out emails on a Friday saying that they have tickets available to the weekend’s games.  It makes it easier and cheaper for fans to go to games.

            I once asked a Fenway Park staff member what his thoughts were on the sellout streak, and his very blunt answer was, “I think it’s BS.”  This is  because from a general fan’s point of view, the park’s seats aren’t all full.

            The end of the streak is good for a number of reasons. The streak had become a distraction.  The Red Sox don’t have to think about that anymore.  The club can now focus solely on one thing.  Baseball.  You win games with baseball not sellout streaks.

            About ¾ of the way through last year, claiming that games were sold out reached a point of absurdity.  The stars were gone and the fans were too.  The fans, not to mention some of the players, had given up on that year and huge blocks of seats were empty.

            You also might have noticed that something has happened since the end of the streak.  As of this weekend, the Red Sox had the best record in Major League Baseball.   They have also tied their own franchise record of wins in April. I won’t say that this is all because of the ending of the sellout streak.  But the Red Sox certainly have gotten their priorities straight.

Follow Jasper Goodman on twitter:  @Jasper_Goodman

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www.goodmansports.blogspot.com