PIRATES UPSTAGE SELIG AND STEROIDS
By Murray Chass
August 1, 2013
Starting out, this was going to be a column about new faces in new places – Bud Norris, Scott Feldman and Francisco Rodriguez in Baltimore; Jake Peavy in Boston, Alfonso Soriano in New York, Jesse Crain in Tampa Bay, Jose Veras in Detroit, Ricky Nolasco in Los Angeles, Ian Kennedy in San Diego, Scott Downs in Atlanta and Marc Rzepczynski, the walking eye chart, in Cleveland.
It could have been about Alex Rodriguez and his Biogenesis friends, but Major League Baseball’s plans for them and their possible reaction to those plans were too fluid to write knowledgeably about that subject. The world has read and heard too much speculation already for me to add more uncertainty to the environment.
It wasn’t long ago that news media reports were saying …
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CIRCUS IS BACK IN TOWN
By Murray Chass
July 28, 2013
If I believed there was life after death, I would be certain that George Steinbrenner, who died in 2010, had returned. In fact, no matter what I believe or don’t believe, I at least have to suspect that the legendary owner of the New York Yankees had abandoned his new location and returned for a command performance.
How else explain the nonsense that raged around the Yankees the past week or so. The circus was back in town, and the master ringmaster had returned to the podium in the Big Top in the Bronx. Who else could have orchestrated the Alex Rodriguez act, a three-ring show all in itself?
On the other hand, while that scenario might appear to be the case, if Steinbrenner were alive and well and in charge, it’s highly unlikely that he would …
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NEGOTIATING PLEA BARGAINS, NOT CONTRACTS
By Murray Chass
July 25, 2013
Everyone has watched enough crime and courtroom television shows to know about plea bargains. But the plea bargain we saw in Major League Baseball this week was not the usual fare for “Law and Order.”
Like other steroids cheats, Ryan Braun may not make the Hall of Fame, but he will have a place in history as the first player to accept a suspension by way of a plea agreement.
Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers’ star slugger, was suspended July 22 for the rest of the season, translating to a loss of 65 games on the schedule and $3.25 million in salary.
Braun, 29 years old, is the first player to be …
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