I have a reflexive reaction to hypocrisy and that reflex is often triggered by Major League Baseball. Ever since Sammy Sosa left the Cubs in 2004 he has been not welcomed by the Chicago Cubs, mostly because of ownership’s “holier than thou” attitude toward Sammy’s use of performance enhancing drugs. Sammy’s place in Cubs history and his alumni status were not to be recognized until he apologized. The hypocrisy is that every part of MLB, from ownership, the commissioner, the media, and the players knew who was taking PEDs and looked the other way for sake of all the money rolling in from the coverage of Sammy and Mark McGwire’s season home run race in 1998. The fact that race re-engaged a pissed off fan base due to the players strike during 1994-95, which lead to millions of more dollars for all involved, seems lost on everyone.

So, Ricketts got his apology yesterday, and so all is forgiven and they look forward to seeing Sammy at the upcoming Cubs convention. Sure they would, like the “incident” itself, Sammy’s participation in that convention will result in more money for all involved. Question, when is Mr. Ricketts going to apologize to Cubs fans for the poor product he has been putting on the field the last seven years?

As a fellow human being, Sammy Sosa deserves forgiveness and grace given to him for mistakes he made in the past, but is forgiveness only “given” upon condition truly forgiveness? Sosa, McGwire, Bonds and all the others could have been “better” humans, but like so many of us they gave in to the temptations and expectations put upon them. But, all of these players were and are being scapegoated by a corrupted system that wants our attention on them while the powers of the system put more money in their pocket.

Let’s see an apology from the MLB baseball commissioner on behalf of the league and ownership for the culture they nurtured during the “PED era.” As reconciliation, they can figure out how the hall of fame can recognize the good and the bad of these players as well as what was done to them. Further, a league that has gone all in on gambling really has no high ground to keep Pete Rose out of the hall of fame.