Mixed Emotions

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?

As things have unfolded regarding Alex Rodriguez’s admitted use of steroids, I’ve had a hard time forming a solid opinion on the situation. There are so many different aspects involved and my thoughts have been pouring out:

• First off, it frustrates me that spring training is right around the corner and this is the only story we are going to hear about for the next four weeks (maybe even the next four months or years).

• How did this leak? The players were assured by Major League Baseball and the Player’s Association that this was an anonymous test, never to be shared with the public, or anyone for that matter. It was to be completed as a survey, to find out just how bad steroids really were in the game of baseball. In a lot of ways, this test led to many positives in regards to a new testing policy, stricter punishment and overall accountability within baseball. Do you think players would have been willing to be tested, if they knew the results could be made public?

• Now that the information has leaked, why just A-Rod? Why not the other 103 players on that list? As a nation, we love to build up our superstars, but we enjoy pulling them back down even more.

• Will the players ever trust the union again? Will they ever trust the owners again? Who can they trust but themselves? The next time a labor dispute comes around, how can we expect an agreement to be reached? Can anyone in baseball truly be taken at their word?

• I can’t decide if I like the nickname A-Fraud or A-Roid better. I think I’m leaning towards A-Roid.

• Former teammate of A-Rod with the Texas Rangers and current Baseball Factory Consultant, Doug Glanville may have written the best point of view I’ve seen so far on this topic.

• Part of me is proud of A-Rod for owning up and admitting that he let down the game of baseball. He isn’t hiding like Mark McGwire. He isn’t shifting the blame like Roger Clemens or pointing his finger adamantly like Rafael Palmeiro. He didn’t admit to something, while really admitting to nothing like Jason Giambi. He isn’t going to purge himself in court and have to fight it out like Barry Bonds. He apologized. He took all of the blame. Does that free him from guilt? Absolutely not, but it does make him more human, and it does make America more likely to forgive him.

• Was Barry Bonds somehow behind this information leaking? It sure takes a lot of the press and overall pressure off of his trial. He is now story number two in the steroid world that is baseball. (I don’t think this is a possibility, but it is fun to imagine Barry sitting in a dark room, masking his voice as he makes an anonymous call to Selena Roberts)

• Where does the league go from here? If McGwire, Clemens and Bonds weren’t the rock bottom points of the Steroid Era, then this has to be, so there’s only one way to go.

I’m sure that there will be more that will come out of this story. It wouldn’t surprise me if the names of the 103 other players on that list were released. As much as I wish it would just go away, I hope that there is some good that can come from this and that baseball can move forward on a clean path that properly represents that game.

Only time will tell.


Jason Budden is the Vice President of Operations and Marketing at Baseball Factory. Jason joined the Baseball Factory in 1997 while still a junior in high school. After going through the Baseball Factory's college recruiting program he was placed at Johns Hopkins University where he played two years of college baseball before graduating with a degree in Economics. After working part-time at the Factory throughout college, Jason joined the team as a full-time employee in January 2002 when he was promoted to Director of Marketing. He currently oversees all marketing projects and sponsorship opportunities at Baseball Factory. He is also in charge of development and marketing for Baseball University, the leader in online baseball education and a division of Baseball Factory.