Braun Over Brains: On "Technicalities," Precedent, and Confidentiality

by Jason Wojciechowski

This picture is a stupid joke
but I think it’s funny

Just in case TPA is the only site you read from under your rock in Siberia: Ryan Braun won his appeal from a 50-game suspension that would have been imposed for failing a "PE"D test. From what I understand, his argument hinged on mishandling of his urine sample, including the rather salacious fact that the collector of said sample stored it in his refrigerator for a few days because the FedEx store was closed.

About all of this, I have a few things to say.

First: I had a conversation with someone on Twitter today who told me that he still believes Braun used "PE"Ds, even though his case came out in his favor. This is exactly why confidentiality is supposed to be part of the testing program. Appeals happen in the dark and if the player wins, no member of the public is ever the wiser, thus preserving that player's reputation.

Free Barry Bonds!

By The Common Man

(Note: This post was one of two originally submitted to ESPN's SweetSpot blog, but was "spiked" for being "totally inappropriate."  This post was called, "nothing more than a forum to call [Bonds] a jerk," which is the exact opposite of TCM's thesis.  The other post is available here.)

I'm so sick of this. Barry Bonds is, indeed, a pretty bad dude. He comes across as petty and childish and mysoginist, and he probably is all that and more. But it's time to move on.


Yesterday, prosecutors tried to get evidenence introduced at his perjury trial that consisted of text messages and voicemails he left for his then girlfriend. Those messages were not flattering, but nor did they mention steroids, BALCO, Greg Anderson, Victor Conte, the San Francisco Giants, baseball, or even parking illegally. They were evidence that Barry Bonds is a jerk. Which, fine, he is.

But none of that...not one bit...has anything to do with whether Bonds perjured himself in front of a grand jury in 2003. Prosecutors must have known that. After all, it was virtually laughed out of court as the judge wrote, "They are at most very marginal in terms of any relevance to this case," which is a polite way of saying, "I can't believe you actually want me to rule on this crap."

Given the way the initial questioning was bungled by prosecutors and their increasingly desperate motions, it's looking more and more like Barry Bonds will never see the inside of a jail cell (for this allegation, at least). But that seems to be ok with the US Attorney's office. Since this investigation began in 2003, this has not been about justice; this has been about embarrassing a public figure.

Now, that public figure may deserve some embarrassement. Again, Bonds does seem to be an absolute jerk. But since 2003 (EIGHT YEARS!!!), Barry Bonds has had his life turned upside down. He's seen his family fall apart. He's had his friends harrassed and jailed. The world has been told of all of his misdeeds. At this point, there can't be even one Bonds believer left among us. Everything that can possibly be done to this man short of actually starting the trial against him (a trial the US government seems destined to lose) has been done.

All that's left is to spend more money and time and effort to discredit a man who is no longer an icon. No longer an example. The crowds don't cheer his name anymore, and he's almost certain never to work in Major League Baseball again. All that's left is his name in the record books, and even those records will fall sooner or later, whether the US Attorney keeps up her fight or not.

It's time to let go, people. Not just for the government lawyers, but for us too. It's time to stop being angry and vindictive. Let the man be. If you really want to hurt him now, just forget him. Let his memory and legacy fade. Try and forget how you tuned in to ESPN every night during his 2001 chase, waiting to watch him break the single-season record. Don't look back on his 2007 at bats, when you were watching him close in on, and then pass, Hank Aaron. Because while our attention and our worship created this monster that now we all hate, our inattention can end it. It doesn't matter anymore; let bygones be bygones. The baseball season is about to start, let this season of renewal and hope be the last time you think on Barry Bonds and whether he lied under oath almost a decade ago. Find something worth caring about. And that goes double for the US Attorney for Northern California, Melinda Haag and those working for her.

The Case Against Barry Bonds' Collusion Case

By Bill

As you might have noticed by now, while we wait for ESPN.com to name a new fearless leader, control of the SweetSpot Blog is being passed around from one SSN blogger to another like so much...well, like a head cold or something. (Our turn is coming up pretty soon.)

A couple days, ago, the excellent Bill Baer of the excellent Phillies SSN blog Crashburn Alley had the reins, and he wrote a post about two things he'd do if he were named commissioner for a day. The suggestions: (1) issue a formal apology from MLB to Barry Bonds; (2) mandate that Adam Dunn participate in the Home Run Derby. Both good suggestions, I think, especially the first. You might say the media did it, but Selig and the MLB front office sat by and allowed Bonds to become public enemy no. 1 on the PED issue, when really, it was Selig and his cronies themselves, and the MLBPA leadership, who should have been taking most (or all) of the blame. So generally, it's a very good post (as you'd expect from Bill).

This caught me unawares, however, from the end of point number one, emphasis added:

Jamie Moyer is 48 years old and just had Tommy John surgery. Over the past two seasons, he has posted ERAs of 4.94 and 4.84, yet is eyeing a comeback. You can bet there will be some interested teams waiting for Moyer when he is once again healthy.

Whether MLB and the owners care to admit it or not, they colluded against Bonds to keep him from playing baseball after the '07 season. That, not the rampant steroid use during the 1990s and early 2000s, will be what ultimately leaves a black eye on baseball's history.

Wow. Didn't see that one coming. The "baseball is colluding against Bonds!" thing is something that I thought went away along with According to Jim and Frank TV. But I, apparently, was gravely mistaken. It lives -- helped along by one of the smartest bloggers out there, no less.

Is Jeff Idelson Lying or Incompetent? Either Way, He's Trying to Ruin the Hall

I sat down this evening and was all set to write a nice, light-hearted (if, hopefully, thought-provoking and properly shaming) response to The Common Man’s elegant but misguided manifesto on Morris and Hall of Fame voting from the other day.  I was looking forward to that, and I’ll still do it, maybe tomorrow.  

But just as I was sitting down to write that nice light-hearted post, I saw this Joe Posnanski piece in which he recaps a brief interview with Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson.  And as someone who, for whatever reason, cares deeply about the Hall of Fame and its history, standards and (continued or restored) relevance, this made me...saddened?  Angered?  Terrified?  Finally consider saving my sanity and abandoning the institution altogether?  Yeah, I suppose, all those things and then some.

See, it’s just a few quotes, but they were enough to make a few things clear.  One, Idelson either has no idea or is blatantly lying about the history of the institution for which he’s serving as president.  Two, Idelson has no problem simply making up things that are not true when it fits more neatly into his moral code.  And three...well, I’m not sure there needs to be a third thing.  That’s enough, isn’t it?

Let’s walk through it:

“Baseball has historically been held to a very high standard, right or wrong,” he says. “There’s a certain integrity required when it comes to baseball’s highest honor, which is being inducted into the Hall of Fame.”  

What do you suppose he means by this?  More people care about various fairness and morality issues in baseball than in any other sport.  I think that’s true.  What’s clear is that these standards, historically, have not applied to the Hall of Fame, and that whatever else you might say was required of Hall of Famers, “integrity” has never been a part of it.

The Tenth Inning: A Skeptic's Review

By Bill

When I heard a year and a half ago that Ken Burns was planning an update chapter of his epic Baseball documentary, I couldn't make myself think a single positive thought about it. I remember parking on the couch and watching every minute of the original video marathon with my dad, and loving it. But that was different! I was fifteen. And frankly, I have the film on DVD and still love it, but it was a simpler time, and a different project. It was about history (all of it, really; the film had been finished well before the 1994 strike, so none of it really felt "now"); this one, meanwhile, would feel a lot more like current events. All I could imagine it being was several hours of crying about how the players make too much money and steroids have ruined the game. So I felt an obligation to watch it, but no particular interest.

Well...I'm very, very glad I did. In my opinion, Burns' new work, while far from perfect and nowhere near as endlessly fascinating and joy-making as the 18-hour original article, was done almost exactly as well as he could possibly have done it. He certainly didn't shy away from the controversies and other nonsense, but they were dealt with realistically and even-handedly. There was probably too much of a couple silly and generally uncomprehending journalists who shall not be named...but the editing was so good, they rarely got the chance to say anything really upsetting. I was prepared to hate it, and frankly, I loved it. Not as much or nearly in the same manner as the original miniseries, but "love" is still the right word. The still and moving images were beautifully chosen and arranged; In Keith David, they had the greatest narrator of anything, ever (give or take). There was some truly insightful commentary, and on and on. If you stayed away for the same reasons I was tempted to stay away, give it a shot.

The nice thing about watching "The Bottom of the Tenth" on DVR a day late, and writing the review a day late, is that I've already gotten to see a number of other reviews and gotten a pretty good idea of what other people are thinking about this thing. (If you read only one kind of negative review, please God let it be this one.) So the rest of this will be heavily based on things that bothered other people: