At 13 he already knew he was special. He was long, lean and had the eye hand coordination of a skilled field marksman. At a very young age people started showering him with gifts; taking him to dinners, opening doors for him (both real and virtual) and making sure his every need was taken care of as he was going to be the family 'breadwinner'.
Through High School it became easier; no homework, girls all around him and always the invites to the best parties, but despite all of this he remained a hard worker, diligent in practice, knowing that this was just a stepping stone to the prize. He always knew the prize; not only to be the best but more importantly to be able to provide for his family, as extended as it was.
In college he saw the lesser players looking for the edge; the difference between being a baggage handler at MIA and getting 8 years of service in the 'bigs' was 15 to 20 points on your slugging percentage and maybe 5 more 'big bombs' a year. These were meaningless to him, he WAS the star, but he filed it in the back of his mind.
Time came to leave school early and make it in his chosen profession. He was a smash hit and starred early on. The money early on was nice, but his 'field' was about to explode with free agency and astronomical contracts. He was going to be THE ONE and for the first time he felt the pressure. Was he really good enough? Could his talent alone make him worthy of being #1? By now he'd seen it all, the injections, the swapped urine, the lying and back dealing. He never wanted anything to do with it but there was that gnawing in the back of his mind...a still, silent voice whispering to him from ages ago, "you have to provide for them", "they are counting on you".
In a moment of weakness, the man-child of 23 made his first mistake. The needle looked cold, the trickle that came from the tip was menacing; was he really here? did he really need it? He had $252 MILLION reasons to believe so. Just one cycle he thought. The boss isn't even testing for it, everyone has turned a blind eye just wanting to see the 'ball fly out of the park'. Let's get good and healthy for this new city and then it can be over.
Of course it is never over. One time leads to 3 years or maybe more, who knows...does it really matter?
Is he the boy with the passion or the man who made the mistake? Is his the only guilty conscience here? Why is he and this generation of ball players being called out? How about the more blatant abuse of amphetamines sitting in locker rooms like M&M's? How about the 70's and 80's with the rampant use of cocaine? Not too mention the abusive use of liquor and tobacco products?
Who are we to judge? If given a chance to turn your $75,000-$150,000 salary into $750,000 what would YOU do?
No comments:
Post a Comment