Get Alex Rodriguez Out of Baseball

My feelings about Alex Rodriguez remind me of this classic youtube clip (which led to this classic youtube clip).  I'm not mad at Major League Baseball as Mad Dog was at the NFL, but I do want Alex Rodriguez thrown out of the league.

I already posted about steroids after Ryan Braun was suspended, but I have some more thoughts.  I've always despised Ryan Braun for stealing Matt Kemp's MVP Award so I have some thoughts about guys that set records and win awards.  Melky Cabrera did the right thing and said he shouldn't be eligible for the batting title after he was suspended last year.  Ryan Braun should not have been eligible to win the MVP in 2011.  Surprisingly, I think Major League Baseball should kind of take the NCAA approach:  vacate awards and records for cheaters.  You can't vacate the 2000 World Series for the Yankees (for Roger Clemens and probably a bunch of other guys) because every team had guys on steroids.  There's nothing you can do about teams.  But you can take stuff away from individual players.  Take the MVP away from Braun, but don't give it to Matt Kemp (even though he should have won it).  Matt Kemp shouldn't get it for two reasons.  First, if I was in that position, I wouldn't want to win it that way (which is what Kemp said himself also).  He should have gotten it in 2011, not two years later because the guy that beat him got caught cheating.  The second reason is that we can't prove Kemp was clean.  What if it came out later that he wasn't?  Are we going to keep giving it to the next guy on the list?  It seems impractical.  Let's just say there was no 2011 NL MVP.  (For the record, I don't think Kemp is a cheater.)  And wipe out records for cheaters.  If you set the world record in the 100 meters and then fail a drug test, your record doesn't stand.  Roger Maris and Hank Aaron are the home run kings.  Let's agree on this.

As for Alex Rodriguez, it made me so angry that I had to hear him on ESPN this morning saying that he wants PEDs out of baseball.  Alex Rodriguez, you sir are a cheater, liar, scumbag, and a disgrace to the great game of baseball.  He should have gotten a lifetime ban (in effect, it might very well be a lifetime ban because he won't be worth anything after missing two years of baseball, but he's enough of a scumbag that he'd probably come back and make the Yankees pay him the money).  The Collective Bargaining Agreement says "Players may be disciplined for just cause for conduct that is materially detrimental or materially prejudicial to the best interests of baseball, including, but not limited to, engaging in conduct in violation of federal, state or local law.''  Alex Rodriguez certainly fits that description.  Unfortunately he was suspended under the drug policy and not the CBA.  If Selig had used that clause to suspend A-Roid, he wouldn't be able to play while he appeals.  Selig might have have good pragmatic reasons for suspending him under the drug policy, but it's a joke that he's going to be playing in a Major League Baseball game tonight.  Alex Rodriguez, go away.