THERE'S STILL INNOCENCE IN BASEBALL, DESPITE THE PEDs MESS

The ARod story is a mess.  For months and years it’s been a mess.  It's disappointing to have my kid’s heroes turn out to be disasters in front of their eyes and it’s hard to steer your children through this minefield because it’s a real sensitive subject.

We got smile in my house though. It happened the other day and it had nothing to do with a Yankee at all.  In fact, it was one of the most innocent, most gratifying parts of being a baseball fan for me and my kids.  It’s something that I did as a kid, and to this day, I do it for mine.  I've mailed baseball cards to players for as long as I can remember, be it current and former, in the hopes that we get them back signed to put in our collection.   

Tuesday’s package came from Kirt Manwaring… and it made all the talk of ARod and PED use go away.

Now, you’re wondering... Why Kirt Manwaring? Why? Because we’re a baseball family and many, many guys have played on the major league level and did it clean.  In essence, there’s an innocence about receiving a signed card in the mail from a player.  It immediately brings me back to my childhood, when the news didn’t harp on drugs and baseball.  Sure, there was the cocaine mess in the 80’s, but there was no Internet, there wasn’t cable news. It was reported, the players got fined and the story went away.  As we opened our envelope, Kirt Manwaring’s signed card fell out and it was a nice moment for all of us.

We put the card in the binder that we’ve been collecting for years, next to the Al Leiter and Kurt Bevacqua cards and put it back in the closet.  Life was good in my house… baseball was pure again.

Oh and as far as Kirt Manwaring is concerned;  He played from 1987 to 1999.  He was a catcher that played mostly for the San Francisco Giants, but also for the Astros and Colorado Rockies.  He has a career .246 average, 21 home runs, 278 RBIs. He was listed as a 5’ 11”, 187 pound catcher all those years… and most importantly… he did it clean.

Thanks for the autograph Kirt… perfect timing… perfect timing…

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