With the scrutiny facing Major League Baseball and the current steroid scandal down in Miami, fans are once again questioning the validity and pureness of America's favorite pastime.
Normally a soft spoken guy who rarely speaks up, Holliday had strong feelings towards players who test positive for performance enhancing drugs or caught with evidence of usage and abuse. Holliday told the MLB Newtork Radio on Sirius XM on Wednesday that he feels the penalties for guilty parties should be harsh. Here is a transcript of some of what Holliday said, via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"I’d go first time (you get caught) you miss a full season, 162 games you’re out. And then the second time I think you are suspended for a lifetime with the eligibility after two years maybe to apply for reinstatement. That’s what I would do. I feel like that’s pretty harsh but I think that’s what we need. I think we need harsher penalties. I think that would be a good start."
"I thought that might be enough with 50 and then, I think it was, 100. But it clearly is not enough. There are guys getting caught and there’s a paper trail and all this stuff going on now. It’s clearly not enough to deter guys from trying to find ways around it, trying to find ways to beat the system or whatever they’re doing. So I’m all for making it harder.”Good for Matt Holliday. It is refreshing to hear a player take such a passionate stance. It is easy to tell that Holliday is clearly focused on helping clean up baseball.
Holliday has never been caught up in any speculation surrounding PED use, despite his impressive physical stature and workout regimen. Holliday is known as a hard worker. He is known as a nice Christian man. The guy does not even drink alcohol during World Series celebrations.
Holliday's words are spot on and one would think that many other players and all fans would hopefully support such a strong stance. The penalties Holliday is speaking of almost surely will eliminate PED use in baseball and would make the game better in the long run.
Holliday took a risk with his comments on this sensitive subject. More players, who want baseball to be clean, should follow his lead.
