Rick Reilly is a real doucher....

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Story - Is he for real? That article left a real bad taste in my mouth. So we are now accusing any baseball player who starts producing of being a cheater? Nobody is capable of improvement or hard work? What a Doucher with a capital D. I usually dislike Reilly's articles, but sometimes he hits the mark. He is way off target on this one.

 

Throughout baseball history, several superstars took years to become great. They had bad years before the good years. Or they only had one or two good years. I don't see any fingers pointed in their direction. Maris is a great example. Now fingers are pointed in anyone's direction that is starting to have success, we see monsters in every shadow. Players take time to develop. Not everyone is an instant superstar. Sometimes it takes the right hitting coach or the right teammate to help you get over the hump. Davis is having a career year so we automatically assume he is dirty? Sorry, but I think that is such ******** DMC and completely unfair to anyone who is doing it the right way. Which is the majority of the players. Davis has never even been on a PED radar. Why would you automatically compare him to A-Hole A-Rod or Braun? I don't see how you support Reilly in his making a connection there with no knowledge of Davis as a bad guy. It's NOT what TODAY's players deserve. Especially the younger players. Crucify Bonds, Raf, A-Rod, Sosa, Clemens and McGwire all you want. I don't care. But Davis deserves none of the criticism for the past indiscretions of former ballplayers. Period. The day he fails a test or is named in a Biogenesis scandal, feel free to drag him through the mud. But until something like that happens.....

 

Is it fair to the player? No. But as Reilly points out, it's fair to the game. And as has been pointed out, any jump in performance like that these days is going to raise eyebrows. Hell, you'd have to be incredibly naïve to not think that steroids at least might be involved. So colour me skeptical, and as Reilly says:

 

It's fine to THINK about it. It will always be in the back of the minds of all of us baseball fans. But it's not right or more importantly FAIR to put it out there as the truth. That's crap. I would hope that I am not judged in any capacity of my life under that type of rigid structure. There are bad apples in every grouping of the world. I know a lot of black guys that are criminals, so should I suspect them all and treat all blacks as criminals or possible criminals? Hell no.

 

He is putting it out there. Read the below again. His intent and sarcasm are easily identifiable.

That's not fair to Chris Davis -- who can prove a negative? -- but it's what baseball deserves. So many players cheated, so many trainers looked the other way, so many suits left holes in the testing process, that anybody who has an out-of-the-blue season makes us all go, "You figure it's the cream or the clear? The HGH or the Deca? In the butt or under the tongue?"


Davis can explain everything, of course. He says he went from Bernie Williams to Ted Williams because "I'm just making more consistent contact," he says. Also, he switched to a bigger bat. And he fixed a couple of holes in his swing.


But this is a guy who's spent most of his career bouncing from the bushes to the bigs. In fact, in four seasons of facing Triple-A pitching, he hit only 54 home runs. Now, in one major league season, he's on pace to hit 62? That must be some new bat.


"I know, I know," Davis shrugs. "I have to take the heat for other people's mistakes. I guess it's kind of a backhanded compliment. If people accuse me of steroids, I must be doing something right."


Or something wrong. Which is why Michael Tran and I will wait 15 or 20 years to see if anybody comes forward with used syringes, injection calendars or photos of him licking Chinese deer antlers.


If nobody does, then congrats to Chris Davis. See you in Cooperstown!


In the meantime, I'm hanging around Twitter to see what young Michael comes up with next.


"Hey, Kim Kardashian, is that really your baby?"

 

No, but if one of them suddenly went from driving a beat up 20 year old Chevy to a brand new Ferarri, and there was no ovious "legitimate" reason as to why (new job, won the lottery, etc.), then suspicion would be understandable.

 

I know nothing about baseball so I can only comment on a general level. As someone who follows cycling quite a lot it seems to be a bit of a similar case. In cycling anyone who performs well, especially on the difficult mountain stages, is under suspicion these days and current cyclists are living under the quite justified suspicions about everyone being more or less doped up. Which is not surprising considering that at least half of the tour winners from the last few decades have been caught in one way or the other.

Not failing tests is not nearly enough to shed such suspicions. Especially considering that Lance Armstrong won seven Tours without ever failing a single doping test.

 

And now a number of players have been suspended, with A-rod leading the way with over 200 games (which he apparently intends to appeal).

I’m telling you, I wish baseball would just turn a blind eye to this steroids stuff so that I could continue with my hero worshipping un-impeded.