Nothing, according to Bruce Weber in the Dec. Sunday Times “Week in Review Section,” who offers several examples and quotes to back up his philosophy.
“Cheating in baseball is just like hot dogs, French fries and cold Cokes,” Billy Martin, the pugnacious former player and manager once declared, a sentiment echoed, in an interview, by the baseball historian John Thorn.
“Cheating is not merely countenanced in baseball,” Mr.Thorn said. “It is loved.”
Thorn, writes Weber, noted that “spitballs and hollowed-out bats are on-the-field maneuvers, organic manipulations of the actual rudiments of the game, whereas performance-enhancing drugs originate off the field, taking the outside world where it doesn’t belong.
“Any kind of cheating between the white lines is encouraged,” Mr. Thorn said. “People think it’s clever. But for most fans, baseball is both an emotional and a psychological refuge. When you shake fans up, tell them there was a subtext to a story they weren’t aware of, it makes them feel bad about themselves for being credulous. It’s like someone has dumped on the family scrapbook.”
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