WHY I'M STANDING BY FRANCISCO CERVELLI

I’m really trying not to get too wrapped up in this PEDs scandal. Am I paying attention to it? Of course, it matters to me as a fan and because it really affects baseball as a whole. Am I buying into everything yet? No. I don’t believe that all of the dots have been connected yet. Last week the Miami New Times broke a story that exposed an alleged PEDs scandal that directly implicated seven players, read that HERE. It was huge at the time. Now it grows again with three more players being added to the list, including the Yankees own Francisco Cervelli.

I have seen so many tweets and Facebook posts with Yankee fans expressing their frustration with all of this. I get it, it was bad enough to have Alex Rodriguez implicated. Now, Francisco Cervelli is in the mix and it really puts a bad spotlight on our team, the team we love and follow every day. Speaking for myself, I have a lot of pride in my team. I know I am not alone. I know so many people that read this blog feel the exact same way. I know that others have their own point of view though, and that is important. I am just not ready to jump to conclusions on anything. I know, it is the same thing we have been saying about ARod also, but I really believe that is important.

Major League Baseball has a lot going on with these investigations, and as more and more information leaks out I don’t know what to think of it. I do know that I wish all of this information would just find its way out into the public sooner rather than later. I have to sit here and play devil’s advocate a little. I could be way off base here, but I am going to throw this out anyway. There are about 10 more names that are supposedly still going to come out to be linked to all of this. Things are going to get more complicated here.

The longer we wait this out, are we getting further from the truth? The only reason I ask is because I relate this to the “secret” game I remember playing as a kid. It starts off with one person who whispers a secret into your ear. Let’s say I tell you that even after Johnny Damon left the Yankees, I still liked him as a player and when I had the chance to meet him I told him I missed seeing him in a Yankee uniform and that is a true statement. You in turn whisper it to your neighbor and tell them that I met Johnny Damon and told him that after he left the Yankees I bought a Johnny Damon Tampa Bay Rays jersey. 

Next, they pass it along to their neighbor, so on and so forth until it finally gets down to the end maybe 10 people or so and suddenly the secret turns into I met Johnny Damon, and missed him so much that I decided to turn into a Tampa Bay Rays fan (which come on, would not happen because I bleed Yankee blue). It becomes a feeding frenzy.

In this case, all of these “neighbors” are a simile for the media and this is also a feeding frenzy. It’s time to let Major League baseball do their job. It’s going to take some time and they want to figure this entire story out just as much as we want all of the answers. Francisco Cervelli made a statement on twitter (read FRANCISCO CERVELLI SHEDS LIGHT ON "THE LIST") and I appreciate that he is speaking out. In the back of my mind, I keep telling myself that he knows he has a huge opportunity coming up to earn the starting catching job. Right now, if he can do anything to help clear his name he is going to.  He has been so focused on this opportunity, so I am choosing to believe that until proven otherwise; he is innocent.

And just a thought to keep in mind, I stick to the thought that even when it comes to baseball, you are still innocent until proven guilty, even though this is “just a game” to some. I realize that when it comes to PEDs, many believe that you are guilty until proven innocent. I think that is a testament to how passionate baseball fans are and I admire that. However, just like anything else, there is a burden of proof here. Right now there is no proof. Right now, there is only a photograph of a journal with 13 names on it that are crossed off. I can create that with the camera on my cellphone. As a fan, and supporter of this sport I want more proof, I NEED more proof.

So, while some people were tweeting back to Cervelli last night in frustration….I sit here and choose to play devil’s advocate. I don’t have the answers, I know that. MLB doesn’t have the answers either…..yet. They will though, and I have full confidence in that. So until something comes out to link Cervelli to this scandal, I look forward to watching him show up to Spring Training next week focused, and ready to prove himself.

--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Writer and Editor

Twitter: @NyPrincessJ



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