If I spit at a professor's face, being the non-athlete, non-legacy student that I am, my academic career here at the college on the hill would more or less be over. If I spit at my boss' face, assuming I had a job, I would most definitely get fired. If I spit at my father's face, he would most assuredly attempt to beat me to a pulp. I think we get the idea here. Spitting at a person, not to mention at that person's face, is a vile, degrading and dehumanizing act, and deserves the harshest punishment.
So why is it that after Roberto Alomar crossed the line, and spit at Umpire John Hirschbeck's face after a called third strike last Friday night in Toronto, he was given a slap-in-the-wrist, five regular-season game punishment by American League President Gene Budig? Once again, a professional athlete has shown a complete lack of self-control, and once again, Major League Baseball has chosen to let it pass, "for the good of the game."
What Alomar did was wrong, and deserves to be punished. I doubt there's question in anyone's mind about that. However, the real blame for the potentially disastrous situation that baseball now finds itself in belongs solely on the shoulders of our Acting Commissioner, Bud Selig.
Although it was technically Budig who sent down Alomar's suspension, you would have to be a fool to think that Selig did not have any input in the decision. In an interview with MLB's Richard Levin on national television Tuesday night, NBC's Jim Gray asked Levin if Major League Baseball was cowering to the players' union. The answer to that question is obviously yes, and it was the players' union, now seemingly dominating control over baseball, that brought such light punishment for Alomar's actions.
When I heard that Alomar had been given five regular-season games, I was overwhelmed with shock. FIVE GAMES??? Come on. Let's examine the punishment. When Budig/Selig handed down the punishment, they knew that Alomar would appeal the suspension because the Orioles were in the middle of a battle for a playoff berth, and under baseball rules, the appeal must be heard before the suspension can be enforced. Budig had originally intended to hear Alomar's appeal after the World Series. Thus, Budig/Selig knew that all they were actually giving to Alomar was five, relatively unimportant games at the beginning of next season. Five games for spitting at an umpire's face? Let's see, five games out of 162 games comes out to three percent of the games. Alomar sat out nine games this season of his own accord anyway.
MLB thought that they could get away with a quick one, and that maybe the upcoming playoffs would be able to overshadow its ridiculous concession to the players' union, but their plan didn't work. The umpires' union is steaming about MLB's pathetic ploy, and I don't blame them. Many people are making cases that the umpires should honor their no-strike clause in their collective bargaining agreement, but the umpires insist that if action isn't taken against Alomar, that MLB is showing that this type of behavior will be tolerated, leaving the umpires an unsafe workplace. MLB could have made an example out of Alomar by suspending him for at least a part of the playoffs, but chose not to. Ever since the 1994 players' strike, MLB has existed in constant fear of Donald Fehr and the players' union.
Baseball's lack of authority can be traced all the way to the top, or lack thereof. It is in these types of tense situations that one strong, solid leader, a commissioner, would take charge and help clear things up. Unfortunately, Acting Commissioner Bud Selig has shown for years now that he just will not and can not act in such a manner. When it comes to Selig, and the job he has done, acting is certainly an accurate definition. However, it would take an entire article to discuss Selig and his great acting job, so we'll move on from there.
There isn't one bad guy to blame for this pitiful situation. Alomar's actions were pernicious and deserve harsh punishment. It saddens me that one of the greatest players in baseball will be forever scarred by an emotional moment, but that's how life is sometimes. What saddens me more is the decrepit state that baseball now finds itself in, and for that there are plenty to blame.
