A-Rod Reminiscent of Raines

As the saga of A-Rod continues to unfold, a lot of what has gone on in Yankee Nation in terms of the surprising revelation of steroid use, followed by the exclusive one-on-one interview, by Peter Gammons followed up by the first day of training camp "mea culpa" which was all she wrote in terms of talking about the issue, reminds me of the situation with Tim Raines and his cocaine rehab in 1982-83.

In September of 1982, near the end of his second major-league season, in fact on Raines' 22nd birthday, the news came out in a blockbuster feature in the Toronto Star, a well-written piece by Wayne Parrish, that Raines had been playing with an addiction to cocaine. The key moment was when he failed to show up for a game because of an announced "illness". In his failure, it turns out, he was not the Lone Ranger.

That period of baseball in the early '80s was a crisis situation for the game. The danger of cocaine was so new that most middle-age, white, stuffy old baseball execs, who did not spend a lot of time with their players, did not even know what was going on in their own clubhouses. I have my own mea culpa. I was a 28-year-old Expos' media relations director who travelled with the team and was not aware of the problem until the Parrish article was confirmed. So I'm damned sure that John McHale (team president) and Jim Fanning (manager) wouldn't have had a clue. It's a reflection of what happened in the '90s with the steroids issue. Only with coke, the clue was cluelessness, while with steroids, the clue was clearly visible in muscle definition and skyrocketing statistics.

In any case, the reason the A-Rod case reminds me of Raines is that after the '82 season, Raines went to a 30-day drug rehab centre in Orange County, California and we at the Expos had to decide how to handle the '83 season. My suggestion was to allow one even-handed, all-telling feature story to be written in the winter followed by one opening day of camp mea culpa, then the silence of the Raines.

I chose Montreal Gazette columnist Michael Farber because of his proven humanity, sensitivity and journalistic integrity. I was not proven wrong. Farber was the A-Rod equivalent of Peter Gammons and the exclusive ESPN interview - only better. Farber was given exclusive access to fly to visit Raines at his home in Florida and do the full story, with background, retell the genesis of the problem with the final solution being revealed, warts and all.

Knowing Michael very well as a true professional with integrity, a former Yankee beat writer, now a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame for his work with Sports Illustrated, if he had smelled a rat with Raines he would have written it. He treated Raines like a young kid that got too rich too fast, who had a chance to come back if he wanted to make the effort. Rock didn't let him or us down. 

Then, on the opening day of '83 training camp, just as with A-Rod, Raines met the international media for his one and only session regarding his cocaine issues. Everyone by that time had had the definitive Farber piece to read and use as reference. The facts were out there.

It seems to me that utilizing a highly respected member of the print media was more effective for Raines than the electronic media was for A-Rod (even with the respected Gammons doing the interview). Rock also had Andre Dawson and other teammates there to support him. As far as the Expos were concerned, it worked out very well. Raines went on to a near Hall of Fame career. That's why I have had great difficulty criticizing the Yankees and MLB for the way the A-Rod issue has been handled. None criticizing A-Rod. He's an ass.

Regards           

Comments

[Joe Jacobs]

This story is getting worse.

[Clint]

Two questions for you today Richard:

1. I read an interesting article on Bryan Bullington in the Post today. It stated that out of college he could throw 96 with an excellent slider, and Bullington stated he feels almost as good as he did coming out of college after a string of injuries. My three part question is have you seen him throw in spring? How has he looked and is he anywore close 96mph? Also could he be a darkhorse for a starting job?

2. I read the article on Marcum today, isn't it a little early for Marcum to be throwing a bullpen session 5 months after surgery?

[derek]

Thanks for answering the quesions richard

[Tom in LA]

Where can I find the Farber article?? I can't find it using Google.

[Sean]

Thanks Richard, its nice to have something to compare the current steroid scandals. By the way, you mention Tim Raines had a "Near HOF career?", do you think he will/should be elected some day?

[R-Griff]

Sorry these responses are a little late, but I was on a five hour bus ride to the Bruce Peninsula at Lion's Head Arena with a spaghetti dinner afterwards as part of Hockey Day in Canada on Saturday with my son Patrick's minor midget AAA team. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it was great. It's what all sports should be about -- but are not. However, I just recovered yesterday from the bus ride home (we found the LCBO), so here I am. As for Tim Raines, I will continue to vote for him for Cooperstown as the NL leadoff man equivalent of Rickey Henderson. But I don't think he should be in the Hall until Andre Dawson is because Dawson was the leader in that clubhouse and in fact saved Raines's career after coicaine rehab.
The Farber article was written in January of '83 in the Montreal Gazette and I have it in a book written by Mike using his best columns.
As for Bullington, he's a darkhorse for the Vegas rotation. If you threw 96 mph as a No. 1 draft pick and didn't make it, you had other issues. Those other issues haven't disappeared after surgeries.
As for Marcum, I think the side session was more for his personal mental well-being than for any hopes that he can beat the recovery time for his surgery.
As for the state of the game post A-Rod's whiny confession, I think the disappointments are getting worse but the story is getting better.
Cheers,
R-Griff

[california drug rehab]

I really don't understand why athletes who are so meticulous about their health are the ones abusing drugs. What could be the reason behind it? Does it give them the rush they need? Well, hopefully they'll have a good season.

[alcoholism withdrawal]

I disagree with the comment above, not all athletes use or abuse drugs just to maintain their built of physical appearance, athletes are more meticulous with their body because they want to maintain their fitness but not by using drugs.

-jomie-
http://www.oceanhillsrecovery.com