"Say it ain't so, Rocket Man..."

Friday, August 20, 2010

As a young boy, I must admit that I looked up to and admired major league baseball players. It was an era when, regardless of the things these men were doing, only positive information was shared with the adoring public…especially the kids. I grew up in Bristol, Ct., which was the home of the Bristol Red Sox and minor league franchise for the Boston Red Sox. Most of my buddies rooted for the Red Sox and I was a fanatic. My hero was Carl ‘Yaz’ Yastrzemski and he could do no wrong in my eyes. I liked Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, Sandy Koufax, and many others, but Yaz was my man. I copied his unusual batting stance, played left field, and taught myself to hit left-handed since he did. If he’d have stolen purses from old ladies…well…I’d have probably figured he was giving the money to the poor or something. He could do no wrong.

I grew up and times changed. Try to find a lily-white professional athlete today. I don’t bother. I’ve come to the conclusion that, like me, they’re human and, with so many more temptations resulting from a life of playing, pampering, and way too much money…what chance have they got? They’re also in a spotlight and followed by folks whose job it is to report those shortcomings. No thank you.

Still…I have a couple of heroes. If you’ve read this for some time, you know how I feel about Lance. The other has been Roger Clemens.

I met Roger when I was managing the Cleveland Athletic Club. He was still with the Red Sox at the time and whenever the Sox were in town, he’d come over to the Club for a workout. I admired his dedication to his fitness and his profession. I observed him working out on a couple of occasions and was impressed with the intensity of his workouts and effort to always be in peak form. I also had the chance to sit with him and eat burgers and drink milkshakes in our coffee shop while talking about things ranging from building a new ballpark for the Red Sox, but moving the Green Monster (famous left field wall) to the new facility to what its like to have a family and travel the way a major league ballplayer does. I even asked him about the ‘curse of the Babe’ for which he shared his strong disdain.

Note: In 1918, the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth, arguably the greatest ballplayer in the history of the game, to the New York Yankees. For the next 85 seasons, the Red Sox would fail to win the World Series, falling short for a variety of reasons…not necessarily a lack of talent…and to the point where it was said that the franchise was cursed because of the infamous sale of the Babe and would never again win the Series. The curse was finally broken in 2004 when the Red Sox, down three games to none in the American League Championship Series against the vaunted Yankees, went on a rampage such as the baseball world has never seen before, winning the next four games against the Yankees and moving on to the World Series where they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in a four game sweep.

So…Roger was my man and, outside of the Indians, the only player I actually knew well and completely respected. For the last several years, he has been tainted with the steroid debacle, accused of having used Human Growth Hormone (HGH) to aid his Hall of Fame career (many considered him the greatest pitcher of the last half century, having won baseball’s greatest pitching award for a season’s accomplishment – the Cy Young Award – a record seven times). In 2008, he appeared voluntarily before a House committee looking into steroid use in baseball with the specific purpose of clearing his name regarding their use. He is now being indicted for lying to Congress at that time.

I don’t know where this will all shake out…but I still believe in one of the most important foundation blocks of this country which basically states a man is innocent until proven guilty. I’m wishing you all the best, Rocket Man…

Oh yeah…I rode 90 minutes and felt rather crappy. The hip is still sore and running is out for some time. I’ll become a serious cyclist for the next four weeks since John and I will be climbing seven peaks in three days on our next trip to the Adirondacks in mid-September and I really need to be in good form.

Bike duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120.
Calories burned during workout: 1275.