For the past couple of years, I’ve appeared semi-regularly on a Sacramento-based radio program called “The Rise Guys.” The show is uncommonly funny and smart, and I always enjoy the unpredictable banter.
Last year, however, I found myself conflicted when one of the show’s hosts, former major league second baseman F.P. Santangelo, was featured in the Mitchell Report as a user of performance enhancers. Even on the juice, F.P. was a marginal (at best) big leaguer; the type of guy routinely lauded for his “heart” and “character” by dolt announcers lacking adjectives. What troubled me about Santangelo was that, pre-Mitchell report, he was one of Barry Bonds’ biggest defenders against steroid allegations, routinely making the point that ‘roids don’t help ballplayers hit and that there was no real proof he used and the whole controversy was significantly overblown.
In other words, F.P. was full of shit. He never mentioned his own usage; never spoke about what he truly knew. He spewed and spewed about steroids, but never offered the context that was required.
Hence, I was sort of glad to learn that F.P. was recently dismissed from the show. While I liked him as a human being, it just didn’t seem right.
Which leads to Fernando Vina …
Last I checked, Vina—a former journeyman second baseman and also a Mitchell Report casualty—was a part
of ESPN’s Baseball Tonight crew. Yet as everything regarding steroids and HGH went on, he remained silent. Never admitted anything. Never said, “Well, as a guy who once used …” Nothing. This might sound sort of cliche, but if a commentator isn’t honest and sincere with his viewers, what is he? Hence, I don’t understand why Vina, who cheated, has a job. His cred is gone.
Plus, he doesn’t say anything worthwhile to begin with …
