Cardinals GM deserves praise for moral stands

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 4, 2008

"THERE ARE no morals in baseball!"

OK, perhaps the above statement is not located in black and white anywhere in baseball's universe. So it doesn't actually exist in the long list of its written or unwritten rules.

But it does seem a wonder that there isn't some crusty, old baseball lifer standing in the doorway of John Mozeliak's spring- training office in Jupiter, Fla., airing out the St. Louis Cardinals general manager by screaming that very thing.

THERE ARE NO MORALS IN BASEBALL!

Mozeliak, after all, is the voice of an executive staff that decided to fire infielder Scott Spiezio after the one-time A's infielder was charged Wednesday with six misdemeanor counts stemming from a car wreck in December. It is the same executive staff that earlier this winter told manager Tony La Russa that, no, Barry Bonds would not be welcome, primarily because of the trouble he faces and the headache he would bring.

None of which makes Mozeliak or the rest of the Cardinals executives extraordinary human beings. But it does make them rare ones, at least in their unique world.

You see, the actions by the Cardinals speak to a concept that seems as endangered as the pay phone. Namely, that the bottom line - - in this case, winning -- should not trumpet all else.

Now, it may well be that this discussion would not be taking place if Spiezio were 28 years old and coming off a 35-homer, 100- RBI season. Ditto if Bonds were still able to play left field effectively and the Cardinals deemed themselves one big left-handed bat away from being a World Series contender.

But the fact that we even have to wonder is indicative of just how little the needle on baseball's moral compass has moved in recent times. And for those who might argue that baseball carries with it little social responsibility, consider just how many impressionable minds take their cue from the institutions at which they admire.

Which is why the Cardinals' conduct deserves some applause.

"I think there is a message," Mozeliak told the St. Louis Post- Dispatch. "Clearly, given what is at stake, we want people to understand that ... we do have expectations about how (players) live their lives. Not trying to be the moral compass, but we felt it was the right thing to do for our organization."

Certainly, some unique circumstances helped St. Louis draw a line in the sand. The team endured La Russa's drunken-driving arrest last spring (to which he eventually pleaded guilty), and the drunken- driving-related death of reliever Josh Hancock in April. So their patience for certain irresponsible conduct had been worn thin. Spiezio, too, was on a short leash after enduring a 30-day rehab program for substance abuse in August.

Still, it would've been all too easy in today's climate to excuse Spiezio's latest brush with trouble and the apparent lies he told about it. Looking the other way has become its own national pastime, with a new example seeming to come forward daily from a variety of voices.

Spiezio's agent, for one.

"My understanding is that in this country, and that includes the state of Missouri, a man is innocent until proven guilty," Barry Meister told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We're very disappointed the Cardinals went in this direction."

Such rationalizing is commonplace. On the same day St.Louis was terminating Spiezio's deal, Houston owner Drayton McLane would promise only that he "might" reconsider Roger Clemens' personal services contract in light of the Rocket's mounting legal woes.

"We'll just have to look at that and see what transpires," McLane said.

In other words, McLane wanted to see which way the wind was blowing. Two days later, he decided the wind to keep Clemens was favorable; he announced Clemens' contract would be honored.

So it is in almost every instance. It seems not to matter anymore what an individual represents, or how much baggage he brings. The easier, more gutless way, is to ignore the needle on that moralistic barometer, and for the most part, that's just what our culture does.

Except, of course, in the rare instances when it doesn't. There may not be morals in baseball, but they do still exist in life, and every so often, we all should be reminded that they do, and why they're so important.

Should Spiezio -- an otherwise down-to-earth, friendly individual -- overcome his demons, he no doubt will thank Mozeliak and the Cardinals for doing just that.

For now, the rest of us should stand up and do the same.

MT. MILTON: Speaking of looking the other way, Milton Bradley is receiving yet another chance. This time, Bradley is trying to put his demons behind him in Texas, where he has been reunited with Ron Washington, the Rangers manager who was an A's coach during Bradley's lone full season (2006) in Oakland. The Rangers are his sixth team in nine seasons.

Bradley's temper once again got the better of him and his team last season, when as a San Diego Padre, he tore his right anterior cruciate ligament in his knee arguing with umpire Mike Winters. Winters was disciplined for taunting Bradley, but Bradley essentially escaped blame for becoming completely unglued at a time when his team was in the last stretch of a pennant race it eventually lost. He told the New York Times he is fine with being "the angry guy ... the bad guy. I'm through fighting it."