Dear Ryan Braun...

I defended you. When the accusations poured in, I said I would wait for the courts to decide. When they decided in your favour and believed your story, I thought things would be alright. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

You lied to them, your fans, your critics, the Milwaukee Brewers, the baseball world, and to me. Your sentence should begin at the start of the 2014 season, when the punishment will be a chorus of boos that follow you wherever you go.

May God have mercy on your soul.

A former follower,
Phil Wood

It's My Last Day: Yunel Escobar

In preparing to write this piece, I made a quick study of my writing career. Nothing too elaborate, mind you, I took an account of the number of years I wrote about life, people, events, sports, baseball, and other various things. I made writing "my thing" after a meeting with my English professor in 2004; his name was Mr. Jacobs, and he encouraged me to write, because he thought I could be very good at it. That was really BIG for me, because up until that point I didn't think I could write at all o_O

Moving on, I decided to list the number of years, give or take, I spent writing and separated them by field and/or topic since 2004:

Academic writing: 4 years
Sports writing: 4 years
Baseball writing: 5 years
Life writing: 5 years

Blue Jays shortstop Escobar NOT wearing eye black.

That's eighteen years worth or written work o_O I'm surprised I don't have carpal tunnel LOL All kidding aside, there are a few times when writing became really difficult. For example, when I wrote about abortion about three years ago, I did not experience or feel like my life was under threat, praise God, but I worried I would lose my ability to write professionally. I am still writing, which is great, but I am constantly under threat that my words could harm someone emotionally or physically. Yes, it do receive feedback, both positive and negative. Sometimes, I receive feedback within a half hour of posting what I wrote (Hi Nichole LOL). I am happy for the positive feedback, but I must admit it isn't all roses and daisies; I lost friends over things that I wrote as well, from times I took a stand for what I thought was right according to my faith, beliefs, and so forth, to times when I was a complete jerk for which I spent many weeks and months apologizing for afterward. It's that last point I want to dwell on, because when you take the time to think what to write about, find a writing utensil, find a piece of paper or fabric to write that thought out, and then showcase it for many dozens and hundreds of people to see you are bound to run into problems.

Case in point: Last Saturday, the Toronto Blue Jays were losing another home game to the visiting Boston Red Sox during their weekend series. The game would take on added significance when a fan's photos of Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar revealed an inflammatory, controversial, and derogatory slur written in his native Spanish on his eye black. Toronto is a multicultural city, and the largest city within a country proud of its multiculturalism and diverse population; to call out any particular group of people with a written, derogatory term, take a public stage, and transmit that image to many thousands of people paints the person (Escobar), his teammates, his coaches, his team (Blue Jays), his management, his organization (Rogers), his city (Toronto), his province (Ontario), and country (Canada) in a bad and inaccurate light.

Since the leaking and duplication of the controversial photo on the internet and the story's publication on various social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, The Toronto Blue Jays organization and Yunel Escobar came forward, and Escobar publicly apologized saying it was "a joke", and it was "not meant to offend anyone". Escobar received a three-game suspension for his conduct from a "collective" of baseball people such as the Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, coach John Farrell, commissioner Bud Selig, and Public Relations officials, according to AA on Canadian radio hours after the press conference, but to many critics and fans of the game it is not enough.

No Laughing Matter: Escobar received a three game ban
for displaying an inflammatory slur on his person during last Saturday's
game against the Red Sox.

This morning, I posted on my Facebook wall that I could forgive Escobar for this incident, but anything less than suspension for the year would be unacceptable, and I stand by those words. Contrary to preceding and comparable incidents (See Ben Chapman, John Rocker, Delmon Young), Escobar thought, planned, and executed this act, and to make matters worse did it in 2012 with Facebook and Twitter and Google+ and Pinterest and nationwide television audience and so on...! My reaction and judgment would be the same had another player write the N-word on the baseball cap: If anyone did the same thing in their line of work, whether he was the world's greatest CEO or the assistant to the junior mail room executive, he would have their things in a box taking them out to his car! The debacle that was the press conference, the less than appropriate three game ban handed down not by the GM, but a "collective", and the weird apology Escobar made without taking proper ownership of his actions probably made me angrier than I was this morning, hence all the exclamation points and run-on sentences >_<

I'm sorry you had to read this. I would rather discuss other things baseball, or rant about the precedence of the WHIP statistic over win-loss record, but I must write about the hot topic issue of baseball at the moment. It saddens me, too, because when the Toronto Blue Jays traded for Yunel Escobar from the Atlanta Braves two years ago I was excited. He did a lot of highlight reel things on the diamond, when he started playing here, and although 2012 was a rough year I was more than willing to give the Blue Jays a pass. Now, I'm not so sure anymore -_-

No doubt you noticed there are no pictures of Escobar doning the controversial eye black in question. I did that on purpose; I thought about, planned, and executed it with the purpose of not transmitting those  images on my blog. No, I'm not sorry.

Lawrie and Order

Good Times: LAWRIE celebrates walk-off homerun with teammates ^_^

The 2012 Blue Jays here in my hometown have a different air about them, but as the eyes of the city, province, and nation look to the sole professional baseball team outside of the United States to represent, the more it matters when things go awry.

Such was the case, when earlier this week against the Tampa Bay Rays, Canadian and fan favourite Brett Lawrie set his competitive fire in the direction of home plate umpire Bill Miller after a pair of questionable strike calls behind the plate. Lawrie launched into an angry tirade, which led to his immediate ejection from the game; he threw his helmet to the ground, and it bounced off and hit the umpire. The argument between the two continued and Blue Jays manager John Farrell had to restrain Lawrie from causing further damage o_O Major League Baseball reviewed the incident and moved to suspend Brett Lawrie for four games, which he appealed right away. As of Thursday, however, Brett Lawrie dropped his appeal and agreed to sit out the four games (Eric Koreen, National Post).

Bad Times: Lawrie ejected arguing strikes with umpire Bill Miller o_O

There is no question Torontonians identify with Brett Lawrie: The energy, enthusiasm, and competitive spirit that he brings to every baseball game is a hit with casual and fanatical fans of the game, at least for the holdovers of the Strike of '94. For the younger generation, his energy, tattoos, and host of Internet memes are some of the things that bring them to the Rogers Center (they also go for good baseball, I can't forget that ^_^). The four-game suspension is an indication that the old guard of Major League Baseball is still in charge. With every game televised and watched by thousands at the park, and hundreds of thousands at home and aboard, and twenty-first century technology pushing other sports into the future, it is easy to find baseball so relaxing one minute and frustrating the next.

Years ago, my Politics 101 professor in university asked the class what is a strike in baseball. After a minute or two, one of the students raised his hand, and said "the ball must be over home plate, above the knees and below the shoulder blades of the batter." We all agreed, but the professor said we were incorrect, and that a strike is "Whatever the umpire calls a strike". MIND BLOWN o_O Going back to Brett Lawrie, another reason so many here in Toronto like him is because he plays baseball like a hockey player. When you play at full speed, like Pete Rose in his youth (without gambling on baseball), and you play to the whistle (there are no whistles in baseball o_O), then there should be a prize or a return for all the hard work and dedication you put in. Two pitches blurred that sentiment for Brett Lawrie and Blue Jays fans watching at the  park and at home.

The 2012 Jays are BIG, and demand to play BIG. However, the 4-game suspension handed down to Lawrie is another message that MLB is in charge of the "reality" of baseball, and the energetic Jays must play by their rules, whatever the umpire happens to call them. Speaking of reality, this kind of thing reminds me of something that happened last season (Phil strokes chin, dream music sequence, what is Phil talking about?)...


Click here to go to Brian Chisholm's piece for more on the Lawrie fallout.