Continuing my thoughts from yesterday about the punishment of baseball cheaters, I want to share with you some thoughts from "Blackie" Black, a baseball blogger who lives and dies with the Seattle Mariners. He proposes some really tough penalties indeed, which means, of course, that they will never be given the time of day anywhere that matters.
It's hard to disagree that there are still a lot of cheaters out there when this many of them are being caught. I think the situation in MLB is much better than it used to be, but I have no doubt at all that these two guys that got caught are only a small sample of ballplayers who are dodging the testing bullet successfully. Baseball needs to tighten the screws on cheaters and make damn sure that punishment for the crime actually fits it. Baseball is too precious a treasure to be sullied by the likes of these guys who don't care about the game but only their already ridiculously-stuffed wallets.Many falsely believe that the doping era in major league baseball-which almost brought down the game- is over as the testing and penalties have cleaned up the game. Obviously, with Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon failing drug tests and getting 50-game suspensions this week this premise is false. They consciously calculated that the risk was certainly worth the reward. And for making those calculations the punishment does not fit the crime. If baseball is serious about making our great game clean and fair forever then it is time for some stern and harsh disincentives.Hence, I propose that the Oakland A’s must forfeit each and every game Colon pitched this year. The Giants should likewise have to forfeit every game in which Cabrera played. Commissioner Selig should award the American League the All-Star victory in which Cabrera was the MVP for the winning National League.Individual sanctions are not working. There have been 76 suspensions this year under the minor league drug program. “Five players have been suspended this year under the big league drug program. San Francisco reliever Guillermo Mota was penalized 100 games in May following his second positive test and is eligible to return Aug. 28. Philadelphia infielder Freddy Galvis and free agent outfielder Marlon Byrd were suspended 50 games each in June.”
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