On Yahoo! Sports today Steve Henson has a column up about what might have been in Nomar Garciaparra’s career. The piece does a good job explaining the quick rise of Nomar, his love for Boston and other highlights (and lowlights) of his career in baseball.
The disturbing part of the piece is Henson’s seemingly blind accusation about the reasons behind Nomar’s physical breakdown– he did steroid’s.
I think the column is not only way off base, lacking any real evidence, but also 10 years too late. For over a decade hitter after hitter was apparently juicing up. Few reporters and columnist ever asked question about the massive jump in home runs for people like Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. The supposed guardians of integrity for baseball just sat there watching the bombers pummel the ball in a manner akin to a sixteen year old girl watching the hunky Quarterback in high school.
Now, in a seeming attempt to make up for their failure, reporters are much more likely to blindly accuse players for using steroids. The problem here is the accusation is being leveled against a man known for being a prodigious student and lover of the game (pointed out in the column). The basis, Nomar’s physical breakdown at a seemingly you age– a breakdown easily rationalized by a genetic disorder (again, pointed out in the column).
America, especially baseball writers, seems to becoming more and more cynical each day when anyone is placed on a pedastool for their accomplishments. Instead of raising questions about the integrity of a great player (especially when that claim runs counter to any evidence presented in the writers own column) we should be celebrating a great ball player whose time in the game was cut short.
Here’s to you Nomar– thanks for the good times!
rwhitneyjr
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