America’s favorite pastime is in full swing and the pendulum is flying in crazy directions!
First, the Mets are acting like their ship is still floating, breaking a subway series sweep from the Yankees. Second, Yankee baseball lovers are biting their nails in anticipation of Derek Jeter clapping his 3,000th hit at a home game, just four hits away from making history as the only Yankee slugger to reach that milestone. The 12 time All Star will probably achieve this weekend.
Third, fans are in a holding pattern over the perjury trial of Roger Clemens, who faces several years in jail for lying to Congress about his involvement and use of steroids. Clemens’ “doc” is expected to produce needles with Clemen’s DNA, needles the doc saved like a stalker after allegedly juicing up the pitcher.
This is baseball’s own Monica Lewinsky scandal and it’s reflective of the pressure players face in the age of huge endorsement contracts and the American obsession with doing big things. That’s not an excuse, it’s a fact.
PHOTOS: Derek Jeter’s Weekly Birthday Dopeness
Compare and contrast Barry Bond‘s own steroid scandal and the portraits that emerge tell an interesting tale about race and representation in media.
Either way, both men are equally screwed before the eyes of history.
Baseball has seen both cloudy and bright days in its hallowed history. Bright: Blacks breaking the color line in 1947. Cloudy: Roberto Clemente burning up in a plane crash in 1972, to name two.
But we’ve seen it all, the personal, the pathetic, the awe inspiring. We’ve also seen baseball become a way out of the ghetto for African Americans, to it being colonized by Latin Americans who, according to some critics (looking at you Gary Sheffield), are non-threatening to whites and are also looking for a way out. The stories of Pete Rose, Jose Canseco, Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra and the Mets treatment of Willie Randolph, round out some of the cloudy days of this amazing sport.
Above: Derek Jeter during one of his 2,996 hits.
After the break, we go back and see some of the bright spots. Enjoy!
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Pitcher Roger Clemens in D.C. after answering perjury charges.
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NY Giant Willie Mays.
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Jackie Robinson.
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Photographer George Silk’s iconic photo of University of Pittsburg students cheering atop Cathedral of Learning.
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Leroy Satchell Paige at rest.
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Yankee slugger Babe Ruth.
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White Ford mid-throw by Mark Kaufman.
