Nathaniel

Shockey

Read Nathaniel's bio and previous columns here

February 11, 2009

A-Rod and Roids: Cheating Only Bothers Us When It Works

Let’s imagine for a moment that Rich Kotite, the Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach from 1991 through 1994, and the New York Jets’ head coach from 1995 through 1996, was caught cheating. The sports world would laugh, especially Eagles fans. Kotite’s career record was 40 wins and 56 losses.

However, when we discovered that Bill Belichick cheated, we were all distraught. The reason is that the New England Patriots won three Super Bowls. Eagles’ defensive back Sheldon Brown noted that every time the Eagles called a blitz in Super Bowl XXXIX, the Patriots seemed to be ready for it with a screen or a quick pass. The possibility that the Patriots cheated the Eagles out of a championship by stealing play calls is more than a little upsetting.

The only time cheating really matters is when it works.

This ought to shed some light on baseball’s present debacle surrounding its white knight, Alex Rodriguez – the man destined to overtake the disgraced Barry Bonds’s career home run record and restore dignity to the game, the man who was apparently caught cheating in what was supposed to be a confidential drug test taken nearly a decade ago. He explains that he felt a lot of pressure to earn the $250 million the Texas Rangers were paying him. Pressure well handled, sir. Pressure well handled.

And now, once again, we’re all harping on baseball’s black eye, how the steroid era has left yet another indelible blemish on America’s pastime. Bonds, Roger Clemens and now A-Rod – the hits just keep on coming.

Interestingly, the only guy who helped his team to a championship is Clemens. The others? Bonds got his team to one World Series, which they lost, and A-Rod’s Rangers? They placed fourth in their division in 2001, 2002 and 2003 – the exact years during which their star player was allegedly juiced. Honestly, this whole A-Rod scandal is much more pathetic than it is egregious.

Baseball fans are obsessed with statistics. I would venture to guess that more fans would remember when the Sammy Sosa/Mark McGuire home run chase happened than which team won the World Series that year. We’re much more aware of who has the most Cy Young Awards, the most home runs, who is in the Hall of Fame, than which team has the second most World Series victories. The St. Louis Cardinals won 10 World Series and, believe it or not, the Boston Red Sox place third on the all-time list with seven. (The New York Yankees have won more than I care to mention.)

It’s not a mystery why baseball is such a statistic-heavy sport. It’s widely believed that the game simply doesn’t depend on teamwork as much as basketball, football, hockey, soccer or any of the other team sports you could probably think of. Conventional wisdom says nine good hitters plus five good starting pitchers plus five good relief pitchers equals World Series champion. This isn’t quite true, as some of the more recent winners have boasted significantly fewer All Stars than you might think.

The Philadelphia Phillies did it with one great pitcher, and a lineup that, until this year, included about three guys baseball fans had ever heard of. They also did it with great team chemistry, great team defense and a manager who helped the whole team learn to relax in a city bursting with championship-obsessed fans. Consider the 2006 Cardinals or the 2005 Chicago White Sox. How many players from these teams will end up in the Hall of Fame? Try naming four players from the 2003 Florida Marlins. Baseball is more of a team sport than it gets credit for.

But still, it is fair to say that baseball hinges less on teamwork than most other team sports, which is why its fans care so much about its records. Fantasy leagues and SportsCenter only compound this fact. Heroes sell jerseys, postcards, baseball cards, tickets, ratings, you get my point. It is no mystery why we worship our baseball heroes like never before.

This being the case, when a guy like Alex Rodriguez, who was supposed to bring us out of this steroid era by breaking a record covered so thoroughly with asterisks that you can barely see it anymore, is found to be guilty of the same offense, we wonder if the sky really is falling.

But I would suggest that this latest blemish be placed squarely on A-Rod, not the sport of baseball. Baseball is doing fine, as ticket sales and ratings at their highest rates ever will attest. And more importantly, I would suggest that what we have dubbed as “The Steroid Era” might have helped to make one of the most important points.

Take it from a guy who waited his entire life to finally witness a champion rise out of his home city. In sports, the only statistic worth counting is the one awarded to the best team, not the best player.

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

Click here to talk to our writers and editors about this column and others in our discussion forum.

To e-mail feedback about this column, click here. If you enjoy this writer's work, please contact your local newspapers editors and ask them to carry it.

This is Column # NS156. Request permission to publish here.