Okay, you all may have already heard about this, but Rocco Baldelli is back in the majors after a pretty serious scare with Mitochondrial myopathy, a condition that causes extreme muscular fatigue with normal or light exercise. Baldelli, who was a budding superstar just a few years ago, has battled injuries since then until finally being diagnosed (sort of) with the mitochondrial disorder. The condition is life-altering and in many cases is even life-threatening.
Now, I am really happy for Josh Hamilton, battling addiction is a tough thing and hopefully something none of us Leatherheads ever have to deal with. However, I am kind of curious about why the same people who make Hamilton out to be a hero have made Baldelli seem like some kind of wuss. To be sure, it is difficult to battle addiction, but Hamilton brought his condition upon himself, while no one really knows what caused Baldelli's.
In ranking shortstops historically based on worth, Bill James brought up an interesting point. People make Buck Weaver out to be some sort of screwed-over victim of the 1919 Black Sox scandal, but no one seems to care about Ray Chapman, who was not only killed, but was also clearly the superior player.
I think the same argument can be made here for Baldelli. People just don't really care. And that's really too bad because as a rookie, Baldelli was an all-around player, but he was best known for his speed and his fielding. Times change, and in his modern life, he can barely run enough to start at designated hitter. Well, this is probably the only time you'll ever hear me say anything good about the DH, but for Rocco, I'm glad that it's there. Hopefully he can help the Rays in October.
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5 comments:
You are way more sympathetic to Josh Hamilton than I am. It seems every time he comes up to bat I get to hear three things about him:
1. He used to be addicted to drugs.
2. He now needs a personal chaperone because he is afraid to start using drugs again.
3. He doesnt like his tattoos because they remind him of his "former life."
Also something about his grandmother.
If theres any reason to feel bad for him, it might be because this little cluster of blurbs will probably follow him forever, especially if he is on a winning team in the future. His legacy is going to be "former drug addict rights himself and plays baseball."
Its sad that such sensationalism (and thats exactly what it is) has seeped into baseball. You know I am not a lifelong fan, so perhaps this has been happening forever and I just haven't seen it before.
On a totally different note, its funny how for about the past three weeks all the writers and commentators have been touting the "Don't worry about the Mets, this is a different team, no collapse like last year." line, and as soon as their lead is in jeopardy, the papers have back page head lines such as "Deja Voo-DOO!" and "Shades of '07." I don't care what happens to the Mets, but thats funny as hell.
Yup, journalism at its finest. Well not exactly. But the Sarah Palin coverage, now that's journalism at it's finest.
Well that's because "Mitochondrial myopathy" isn't as newsworthy as "drug addict."
Sensationalism is exactly what it is. A reason why after briefly considering some sort of journalism as a career, want to be as far away from it as possible. It's not just sports, all mainstream media is based on sensationalism.
I don't recall media coverage of baseball before 1994 (I'm assuming it was the same) but once the steroid era erupted, baseball coverage became (and still is) dominated by the strikeout (for pitchers) and the homerun (for hitters). Speed has been sexy of late too.
It's the reason no one cares what Jamie Moyer is doing this season (not to compare age to a medical condition but it's still quite amazing).
But unless Baldelli starts hitting homeruns (or hitting his wife, a la Elijah Dukes) it's unfortunate that many won't know his struggle.
I wonder how the Iron Horse felt.
I dig the title Jesse
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