One Player's Response to "Grimsleygate"

My (approximate) transcription of comments by White Sox reliever Jeff Nelson, who was one of Grimsley's fellow Yankees from the late '90s:

"Yeah, what he did, it was disappointing because, you know, I guess it got him a, uh, lighter sentence in a bargain or whatever it was, uh, yeah, but I mean, you do something like that and talk about teammates, I mean, you know, innocent 'til proven guilty, and I don't know why a guy would do what he did, and the way he gave all these guys' names, I mean, that's the most dis-, err, disc-, err, dist-, err, disappointing thing with this whole thing, you know."

Translation: "I can't believe that fucking rat ratted me out. He said there was no way I'd ever be found out, that slimy fuck. And now my name is in that fucking document, and now I'm totally fucked. Oh lord, am I FUCKED!"



This isn't the first time we've heard this type of comedic fumbling regarding performance enhancers (e.g. Palmiero's explicit lies, Giambi's legendary vagueness, Sammy Sosa's translator's evasiveness). And we will grow more and more used to it now that this bombshell is out.

At the same time, this Jason Grimsley statement has more tabloid-gossip value than anything. Yeah, we'll all get some guilty pleasure in adding names to the inventory of known cheaters (Albert Belle, Sammy Sosa,...) and collecting our winnings from the "hey, I bet you this guy juiced" wagers. But in the wider scope, we already knew that the "Grimsley era" was--and is--irrevocably tainted by performance enhancers.

And let's face it; as long as the development of new performance enhancers and masking agents outpaces the testing--which will be always--no policy can weed performance enhancers out of any competitive sport. Maybe the kicked-around idea of saving urine and blood samples until adequate testing exists and then striking the records of known users could mitigate the problem, but even that, I believe, would mostly affect legacy-concerned stars and not the guys just playing for a paycheck.

Another idea that could work if the MLB players' union ever went for it--but they would never ever go for it--is the withholding of MLB pensions for retired players found to have juiced.

But as in every profession, professional sports have insider cultures with insider knowledge of the trade, insider rules with unwritten agreements, and an insider mentality regarding the profession. If any sport--particularly baseball--is to ever rid itself of widespread performance enhancing, it must sprout from a shift in values within this insider culture. Call me crazy; call me naive, but I think this shift is someday possible. Maybe it will take a few influential, highly-respected maverick athletes, or maybe it will be a slow, painful process of learning-the-hard-way (i.e. rampant devestating health and personal problems). But I think the mentality will eventually change.

In the meantime, I'll be waiting to check off guys on my "juice list."