Getting Back to Baseball's Grass Roots

By Isaac Berky

          
             On any typical summer night you can find kids in almost any town across the country playing baseball, dreaming of making it to the big leagues.  As they play back yard pickup games each kid pretends to be his favorite player whether it’s Buster Posey, Jason Heyward, Derek Jeter or anyone else.  No kid thinks about whether or not he will take PEDs.  

            Several Chiefs' players answered questions after splitting a pair of games Tuesday night with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders about the recent PED scandal in Major League Baseball. 

           “What they do is on them. It’s tough,” said Chiefs' utility man Tyler Moore.  “It’s good to have guys that play the game clean.  But it’s unfortunate and they’re trying to clean the game up.”

Tyler Moore

          
 Major League Baseball hoped that the days of large-scale performance enhancing drug scandals were over with.  However the recent investigation into the BioGenesis Clinic has led to suspensions of big name players such as Rodriguez, Everth Cabrera, Nelson Cruz and a few others.  There has been talk about the impact that the suspensions have on the game of baseball itself and the MLB, but  no one is talking about how the scandal affects those players who are trying to make their way onto a major league roster and are currently one step short. 

            Cheating in any sport is something that should not be shrugged off, especially when it prevents someone from reaching his or her dream.  Ever since the steroid era began baseball has been struggling to reclaim its identity as America’s pastime. 

           
After their Tuesday night game several players were asked about what the recent scandal has on those people trying to make their way to the major leagues. Chiefs utility infielder and veteran Will Rhymes was not alone when he stated his frustration with those players who used PEDs to get ahead in Baseball.

“The vast majority of us [minor league players] are pretty upset about it, especially guys like me who have been up and down for the past few years,” Rhymes said.  “That was 12 jobs that one of us could’ve had.” 

Will Rhymes talks to the media

   Rhymes teammate Zach Walters shares Rhymes’ sentiment that there is no room for cheating in baseball.  He hopes that the game is able to catch everyone who is trying to take the easy way out.  “As far as cheating goes I really, I hope every guy gets caught and I don’t care if I’m on record saying that,” Walters said after the Chiefs 3-2 victory.

            The players who used PEDs not only impacted those playing with an impact on guys throughout the sport.  Some guys who were playing the game without cheating and working to make it to the major leagues were missing out on opportunities because of players using PEDS. 

“It has a ripple effect through the pitcher who gave up the homerun, his stats.  I had to wear another at bat so it affects my stats as well.”  Rhymes continued “it has not only an effect on our numbers but our chance at the big leagues too.” 

Frustration was evident on each players' face as he talked about the scandal and it’s effect on the game of baseball.  The game that so many Americans grew up playing in neighbor parks and backyards has drifted away from the pure aspect that the game has in those neighborhood games.  Walters thinks that the game of baseball has lost that mystique and charm it had during the younger days.   “You play the game as a kid the way you should play it now.  I didn’t come here to cheat, I came here to play the game that I love,” Walters said. 

Zach Walters

For Closer Erik Davis the steroid is unfortunate yet each player can only worry about himself.  "The hardest thing to do is to take care of yourself.  You know I go out there and at the end of the day I know I can look myself in the mirror and know everything's the right way."

Players at the Triple-A level are not only affected indirectly by the steroid scandal.  Fernando Martinez, who had played for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, was suspended during the investigation as well.  Martinez was part of the reason that the Chiefs and RailRiders had to play the conclusion of a suspended game this past Tuesday night.  The RailRiders outfielder hit a homerun in the game that helped Scranton/Wilkes-Barre tie up the score, sending it to extra innings. 

PED scandals, such as BioGenesis, damage every level of baseball from the top down.  The Chiefs' hope that the suspensions will help eliminate PED use from baseball.