March 27, 2020
By Dmack 928
I’m 32 years old but still see the twiggy looking 7 year old kid holding a baseball glove and in his Little League uniform at home when I hear your name and look in the mirror. Yeah baseball, I was the kid who fought his parents to wear his Little League uniform to bed the night before a game because playing with you was all I could think of.
You see, to me baseball has always been pure. Yes, it’s slow. Yes it’s “not exciting” at times. But it also captures life perfectly. There are moments in life when it is super intense, and other moments where it seems as if nothing is happening. With the exception of the Black Sox scandal in like the early 1900s, which was way before my time, it’s been pure-ish. Plus through baseball I met one of the best people I ever knew. So for that, first and foremost ‘thank you’ because without the game I’d have never got a job selling dipping dots as a 16 year old in Yankee Stadium and told “it’s cool to hang out after we close to watch the last 2-3 innings of the games.” Again, free baseball. And thanks for my first boss who, over the next 20 years, became one of my best friends and for a few other friends too.
But baseball I’m mad! I’m upset because of what came to light this off-season and how it was handled because so many little kids image of the game was tainted. I had a Little League coach once say “see the ball, hit the ball.” Simple right? That’s all coach ever said. It was on repeat. He never said ‘get the sign, hit the ball…’ What the Astros did is maddening and I’m still mad months later. First off let me clear something up. This isn’t anything like the steroid era stuff. You see the steroid era was cheating, yes, but skills were still in play and the game of cat and mouse of an at bat still existed. With this whole sign stealing fiasco it was gone, Astros hitters knew exactly what was coming and when, in real time by banging on trash cans. There are even rumors of buzzers worn by certain hitters to alert them to the type of pitch being thrown. That’s maddening!
I’ve penned this piece about a half dozen times and erased it each time because I couldn’t figure out why I’m so mad. Is it because I see myself as the kid who wears his uniform to bed before game day still? Or because I’m a ball of excitement from Opening Day to last out of the World Series? Maybe, but in all honesty, no. I don’t think that’s it either. I think in my 7th attempt of writing this it’s because I have a 3 year old daughter who loves the game maybe more than I did at that age. A kid who only sees the purest things of the game. Yeah maybe that’s it. Maybe you cheated her and now I’m dad mad but she’s 3. Shes doesn’t know, but she knows what’s fair and I’m sure she wouldn’t be happy about this. I wonder what would those Astros players say to their 7 year old self who fell in love with the same game they cheated so viciously. Would the 7 year old of them been OK with it and just said, “oh that’s fine?” Or would they have been upset too and asked why would you take the best part of the game away? I’m going to pick the latter.
So the Astros got caught, no apology. I mean their Manager and GM got canned, and in a player driven scandal baseball has not suspended a single player… that’s wild. The younger kid versions of those players would be heartbroken, not only did you lie, you also got caught and never really said sorry. Maybe I wouldn’t have this mailbag of emotions about it if they came out and said, “yeah we did cheat. We banged trash cans for breaking balls and maybe we wore wire buzzers under our jerseys and that’s why Altuve didn’t want to take his shirt off after last year ALCS home run.” After all in Little League I pitched a lot, and was good at it too but I dreamed of hitting a walk off to go to the World Series all the time and running the bases. Not losing an article of clothing as I crossed an imaginary home plate was never a thought. Why would it be when it finally happens?
This was the biggest black eye for baseball ever. Baseball has always been an escape not just for me but for the millions of kids and adults who play and watch it every single day. We all get lost in for a few hours we forget politics, we forget about the market crashing, we forget about everything and just zone in on the art of the game. But now we wonder if technology has gone too far? Do teams need live video feeds in the clubhouse mid-game? If a player smacks a moonshot home run when we finally resume games will we be in awe or wonder if he had help knowing what pitch was coming? I guess in a weird way maybe Suzyn Waldman signature line was right in a scope way beyond what she ever intended…“well that’s why it’s called baseball, we just never know what will happen next”
