There’s been a lot of negativity lurking over Major League Baseball after the recent suspensions.
Thirteen major leaguers were suspended in relation to the Biogenesis clinic investigation, although New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has appealed the move.
These controversies are distracting people from the integrity of baseball.
I didn’t grow up watching the sport, but gosh I wish I had. I see every at-bat as a little miniseries between the pitcher and hitter, which I guess is the point. It also keeps your head in the game.
I understand how baseball is America’s pastime, and that shouldn’t be overlookedbecause these guys broke the rules. Violators should be booed or suspended or whatever, but I would hate for their actions to distract us from the true game of baseball.
I dug up a few notable baseball moments from Todayinsport.com that happened on this very day in history. While there are plenty of records, games and milestones to be accounted for, these should serve as a reminder of why people love baseball — and sports in general.
1907: 19-year-old pitcher Walter Johnson won his first of 417 wins over Cleveland as a then-Washington Senator. It was his debut year out of Fullerton High School in California. He played each of his 21 professional baseball seasons with the Senators and died in Washington, D.C. in 1959.
1956: Boston Red Sox fined its leftfielder Ted Williams $5,000 for spitting at Boston fans. It was exactly three years and one day after he returned to the league from a three-year military service run. He played pro ball for 19 years and was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1966. This nugget was fun because it showed big shots doing obnoxious things aren’t absent from history.
1985: MLB players ended a two-day strike that interrupted the season. There was a disagreement between owners and players regarding free agency and salary restrictions and plain old money business. Several doubleheaders were scheduled to make up 25 games missed during the stoppage.
1990: New York Yankees’ first baseman Kevin Mass set a record with 12 home runs in the first 92 at-bats while also becoming the 21st guy to hit into the high third deck of Seattle’s Kingdome, the home of the Seattle Mariners for 22 seasons until 1999. He only played five years, but he still made a mark in the baseball annals.
1991: CenterfielderDarren Lewis hit his first MLB home run. He was a Bay Area guy who was drafted by the Oakland Athletics out of Chabot College in Hayward, Calif. He got that homerun in his second year and went on to play 11 more years for six other teams.
1992: The Cleveland Indians turned a rare triple play. Since 1886, there have been less than 700 of its type. The Yankees recorded one in a 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles in April. It was nearly three years since New York’s last triple play.
2007: San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s home run record when he hit his 756th. Bonds ended his 22-year career with 762 homers and anumber of incredible accolades. But, he did go down attached to a steroid scandal when he stopped playing in September that same year. Be that as it may, he’s still the greatest home run hitter in all of baseball and it doesn’t look like Rodriguez will be breaking any HR records.
Regardless of all the bad, there’s plenty of good, too. As October peers around the corner, I think pre-playoff performances should be our focus. There’s so much other news being drowned in the ocean of scandal, perpetuated by media members. The A-Rod situation is pretty huge, but sheesh, spread the wealth. There’s plenty of airtime, pages and web space to keep MLB fans updated on other news.
I couldn’t enjoy half of a L.A. Dodgers game Monday night because every baseball expert and baseball drug violation expert wanted to chime in for the A-Rod discussion. I was in a separate room — styling my hair — when the game was on, so all I heard was Biogenesis/suspension talk instead of who hit or caught what.
I can appreciate taut and constant coverage of scandalous matters, but let’s not forget what’s important: Just how far will the resurgent Dodgers go?
Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 and Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.