From: v085f2wd@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Theodore J Kury)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: He's baaaaaaack...
Date: 16 Nov 92 21:38:00 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <16NOV199213470350@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu>, 
   yankees@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu (Kenneth M Gelfand) writes...
>In article <15NOV199213565362@pierre.mit.edu>, 
   kettler@pierre.mit.edu (KETTLER, THOMAS R.) writes...
>>this is a big joke since although I feel that people should be given a second 
>>chance, this jerk hasn't had just two chances but seven. Now he gets an eighth 
>>chanced just because he can throw a baseball faster than 80 mph. What if it 
>>happens again, will he be given another one? What does this say to youngsters 
>>who are put in jail for selling the junk? Did anyone think of this? Finally, if 
>>the jerk must be given another chance, then I have an idea. Why doesn't 
>>baseball require that all of his salary go to drug prevention and treatment? 
>>Here is the necessary d::-) since I know that won't happen.

Well, the youngsters were convicted. Howe, whether guilty or not, was not
convicted. It's not a perfect system, but it's the only one we've got.

>         I agree with you wholeheartedly that Steve Howe did not deserve
>another chance way back in 1991, but it was Fay Vincent's decision
>to readmit him.  Then, last winter Howe was involved in a situation
>where the facts still remain unclear.  However, a Montana judge felt there
>was not enough evidence to prosecute Howe back in May, so why did Fay
>Vincent take it upon himself to go after Howe then, instead of waiting
>for the courts to rule?  Did he know something the judge didn't?  If
>so, was he withholding evidence?  The timing of Vincent's decision was
>just plain irresponsible, and there was no way a good lawyer in this
>day and age was going to let him get away with it.  Baseball has
>undoubtedly changed over the years...you think Judge Landis would
>be able to ban 8 White Sox from baseball after they had been
>cleared by a federal jury?  Look at how much info they had to get
>on Pete Rose and George Steinbrenner before they could get rid
>of them.  Your point about Howe being a poor role model is well-taken, but
>again the burden falls on whether baseball players should be role models.
>Should Dwight Gooden be banned because he used drugs once?  Should 
>Darryl Strawberry be banned bacause he used to beat his wife? Should
>Dennis Martinez be banned because of his onetime alcohol problem?

You seem to support the idea that ballplayers should be treated as human
beings who make mistakes, but...

>	The answer lies in American society and the fact that baseball
>is more concerned with making money than with bringing up America's
>youth.  It is up to the player himself when he decides how to carry
>himself. The effect of drugs are already a documented fact, and if a
>player chooses to use them, it's their mistake, and most of these players
>could care less, unfortunately, about what they're doing to the young people
>who adore them so much.  If anyone is interested in reading about the
>effects of drugs on an athlete and his career, try "Out of Control"
>by Thomas Henderson, it's a candid look at drugs and athletics.    

I know I'm going to get hammered for this, but the case studies I've
seen (Darrell Porter, the "We are family" Bucs, the '81 (?) Cardinals) seem
to show that drugs can enhance short-term performance at the cost of
longevity (career and otherwise). The fact that a professional athlete would
sacrifice the long-term for short-term satisfaction is not surprising in a
society that values 'instant gratification'. Players that believe 'it can't
happen to me' are no different from drinking drivers and megalomaniacal
world leaders, they have not learned from the past, so they are bound to
repeat it.

On the subject of role models, baseball players are paid (granted, quite
well) to play baseball, not to carry the hopes and dreams of American
youth. Any kid who uses drugs, or burns down buildings, or kills himself
because his or her favorite athlete (or heavy metal singer or actor, for
that matter) does it has something seriously wrong mentally or at home.
Perhaps it's time for the parent or guardian to take some responsibility
here. Children are not born worshipping entertainers, it's something they
learn from the people around them.

>	What baseball now needs is a definitive drug policy so it can
>begin to take that decision away from the players and force them to
>realize that they are jeopardizing their career by using drugs or abusing
>other substances.

All MLB can do is make the players aware of the danger. They are all grown 
men and can make up their own minds. That is a basic right of every person.
If they're convicted of breaking the law, they go to jail and they probably 
lose their job (as the team replaces them) just like the rest of us. That's 
exactly how they deserve to be treated.

Ted Kury "I only think this way because Bud Harrelson does."
v085f2wd@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball