Fighting for the Only Life They Know

There have been some excellent posts recently regarding the human element to the recent drug allegations. Most have focused attention on talking with the young people about looking up to ball players who are just talented people in a profession that happens to pay a lot of money and garners a lot of attention. That slant works for me when talking about the bigger names. But what about some of the names that sparked only a small shred of a memory or were forgotten completely? Do names like Exavier Logan, Cody McKay, Bart Miadich and Mike Judd ring any bells? Perhaps there is a human element there as well.

One of the favorite pastimes of this blog over the years has been watching the transaction wire. In the past couple of weeks, we see fringe players signing minor league contracts. Players like Keith Ginter, Chad Paronto and Sean Barker are trying one more time to hang on and keep their careers going. These players, like Logan and McKay have only known the dream of playing baseball at the highest level. At one time they were the stars of Little League and high school teams and made all state teams. Perhaps they were the best players in their South American country.

Who among us who ever dreamed of making it as a baseball player wouldn't have been tempted if it was the difference between giving up the dream and having a chance? Those big names made their millions. The difference for them might have been to make more millions. For the McKays, Logans, Miadich and Judds who rode dusty buses for most of their professional career, they made the choices they made. We can all understand that can't we? Just recently, in my own career, I had to make the choice between losing my soul and doing the right thing. I did the right thing. But don't think for a moment that I haven't had buyer's remorse ever since.