ballplayers just being ballplayers

I am Wil Cordero and I approve this message.

I find the positive spin on the Brett Myers story by the television announcers more disturbing than DirecTV using a dead little girl to promote their service. I don't think Caray needs to pepper every discussion of Myers with the reminder that he's a wife beater, as is done here, but taking a more matter-of-fact tone when he does something positive for his team would be a start. Utilize the Ed-Farmer-after-the Rays-Won-Game-4 voice.

What positive spin? The resurgence of Myers as a player was key to the Phillies' success this year. Is that something the team or MLB in general should be ashamed of? It's not like Brett Myers is uniquely objectionable among players today. The Mets roster this year had a probable rapist and a guy who was arrested for domestic violence at least once and is currently in jail for running over and killing two people.

A whole lot of players fall into the category of wife beaters, attempted rapists, guys who start fights for no reason, occasional drunk drivers, and other types of malefactor. And the media people know a lot of rumors to this effect that aren't publicized because they don't involve the police or any hard evidence. If announcers adopted a tone of grave and sorrowful objectivity everytime a morally disreputable player unfortunately does something good on the field, the games would contain a lot of awkward moments. And NFL broadcasts would sound like funeral orations.

I suspect the fact that Myers was never convicted of anything would lead networks to shy away from the subject. Fortunately, we're not held to the same standard, so we're free to openly criticize the POS.

I don't think criminal or antisocial behavior off the field deserves mention when broadcasting a game. However, the broadcasts shouldn't include puff pieces on obstacles, good deeds of players who have done bad things. If you know someone has beaten his wife, girlfriend then there shouldn't be a story about how he visits kids in the hospital or works to save stray dogs.

and a guy who was arrested for domestic violence at least once and is currently in jail for running over and killing two people.

Burgos wasn't on the Mets roster this year. Unless he was and didn't pitch a single inning.

However, what does the Mets roster or ANY roster have to do with Myers being a wife-beater?

There doesn't have to be a sorrowful, somber tone, nor do I personally think GOOD things a players does should be specifically ignored (unless, of course, they're done by the flag-hating Carlos Delgado, but whatever). Good things are, well, good. I guess my problem is more with things like the call-in he got on BBTN. A decision to leave him off that attention-getting national appearance privilege that will help his contract talks and make him that much more money strikes me as entirely appropriate. Please note: I don't think this would ever happen, but I could hope.

I don't think criminal or antisocial behavior off the field deserves mention when broadcasting a game. However, the broadcasts shouldn't include puff pieces on obstacles, good deeds of players who have done bad things.

Very much agree with this. I really do not care to hear about how great a person Josh Hamilton is and about how he is so inspirational for conquering his addiction. If my kids hero-worship someone who almost destroyed his life with drugs but was saved because he can still hit a baseball I have done something terribly wrong with them.

I'm recalibrating my sarcasm meter today. Not sure what to make of #8, it could go either way.

Not sure what to make of #8, it could go either way.

I just don't think someone should be lauded so much for getting out of such a messed up situation. It is great that he turned his life around, but it is not a national feel-good story. Don't take so many ####### drugs in the first place.

Same deal with performing nice acts to atone for hitting your wife in the face. You never should have hit her in the first place. There are enough generous players out there, why focus on a dick?

In salute to my baseball heroes I am tying my arm up with a rubber hose right now....and WHAT the !!!!? Where the hell did my wife hide my smack this time? She is gonna pay right now!!!!!

People have done what they've done, good and bad. Why should good things not be mentioned just because they've also done bad things? (How would that be different from not mentioning bad things just because they've done good things?)

Kind of related, but why doesn't Wilie Aybar get the Josh Hamilton treatment? I know he was only out of baseball for one year, but he also beat substance abuse problems to come back and have a successful season on a playoff team for himself. And the announcers don't even mention it. Chip Caray said he missed last year with a broken wrist.

Burgos wasn't on the Mets roster this year. Unless he was and didn't pitch a single inning.

He was on the roster, but spent the full year in DR rehabbing an injury.

...but why doesn't Wilie Aybar get the Josh Hamilton treatment?

"Or do you want me to hit some more dingers?"

"DINGERS! DINGERS!"

Kind of related, but why doesn't Wilie Aybar get the Josh Hamilton treatment?

He never hit the scoreboard at Yankee stadium, duh

Chip Caray said he missed last year with a broken wrist.

That's true, in the sense that he did have a broken wrist last year. That alone was not what kept him out for the full season, of course. But instead of showing up to team meetings and instead of showing up for injury rehab, he decided that he'd rather sit in his basement doing his nose candy. How many articles did we see last year where Cox and others in the organization were quoted as having no idea where the hell Aybar was?

...why doesn't Wilie Aybar get the Josh Hamilton treatment?

Aybar is too dark - only light-skinned recovering addicts deserve your affinity.

Every media person should have a list of evil doers in the entire history of baseball, and whenever their names are mentioned, at least one of their wrongful acts must be mentioned.

A lot of trees will be sacrificed.

I find the positive spin on the Brett Myers story by the television announcers more disturbing than DirecTV using a dead little girl to promote their service.

She's been gone over 20 years now. Damn.

You'd think she was Kurt Cobain or something.

I just don't think someone should be lauded so much for getting out of such a messed up situation. It is great that he turned his life around, but it is not a national feel-good story. Don't take so many ####### drugs in the first place.

Same deal with performing nice acts to atone for hitting your wife in the face. You never should have hit her in the first place. There are enough generous players out there, why focus on a dick?

As they say on TNT: the essence of drama... is conflict. You can't sell papers about a nice guy who never screws up any more than you could sell a novel or a movie written about one.

We all #### up our lives at one point or another. Most do it in little ways, some do it in big ways. Seeing someone come back from a major #### up shows people that it is possible to turn things around, pretty much no matter how big a hole you've dug for yourself. Someone like Hamilton should be applauded for turning his life around - for every drug addict who recovers and gets his life back together, there are probably 4-5 (and I'm likely underestimating) who just continue the downward spiral toward an inglorious, lonely demise. You can't gloss over the things that put him in that place, but you shouldn't gloss over what he did to get out of it either.

Do we think that Hamilton/Myers/whoever has no regrets for the bad actions? It's possible, but either: (1) they already regret it, in which case dwelling on it won't make much of a difference because they've already accepted that they made a mistake and want to correct it; or (2) they don't regret it, in which case dwelling on it won't make much of a difference because they fail to see that they've done anything wrong. If you want to dwell on it, use it as a shield for those who could go down the same path again - don't use it as a sword to continue to punish the person for what he's already done.

Or, as Uncle Sidney used to say: acceptance, forgiveness, and love.

Negativity can only pull you through temporarily, like Achilles.

I just don't think someone should be lauded so much for getting out of such a messed up situation. It is great that he turned his life around, but it is not a national feel-good story. Don't take so many ####### drugs in the first place.

Same deal with performing nice acts to atone for hitting your wife in the face. You never should have hit her in the first place. There are enough generous players out there, why focus on a dick?

Agreed. Another example of this that really bugged me were the people commending Canseco for coming clean about the steroid problem and crediting him for helping "clean up" the game. Bullsh!t! Canseco basically admitted in his book to being the biggest steroid pusher MLB had ever seen, including introducing and educating several of his teammates on the stuff. And now we're going to give him praise for helping to fix a problem that he helped create in the first place? WTF? That's like calling someone a hero for rescuing people from a burning building when they were the one who set it on fire...

(And yes, I realize that steroid use happened before and after Canseco, but he deserves no credit for his role in the mess).

(And yes, I realize that steroid use happened before and after Canseco, but he deserves no credit for his role in the mess).

I disagree with this. He deserves to be attacked for his horrible actions and praised for his good ones.

If a mass murderer saves a boatload of puppies. It doesn't make him a good guy, but it doesn't make the saving the puppies meaningless either. Until they start getting in my grill, and then begins the run, throw, punt competition.

I disagree with this. He deserves to be attacked for his horrible actions and praised for his good ones.

What good ones? Canseco doesn't give a damn about the integrity of the sport. His book was written because A) He's got nothing else going for him and he needed the money and attention, and B) To get revenge on MLB for "blackballing" him, as he so eloquently put it.

Actions guided by malice and spite do not qualify as "good ones," even if some benefits accidentally happened as a side effect.