Who Can Really Say?

Rose, he knows he's such a credit to the game

Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds are in the news the last two days. Their grand jury testimony last winter has been leaked, and both stars are now reveal as having admitted taking steroids, although Bonds denied knowing that's what they were. Dave Pinto offers an interesting defense of sorts on their behalf, agreeing with Tim Kurkjian that Pete Rose's foul against baseball was worse.

One difference between the two situations is that baseball deeply fears gambling because it leads to players throwing games. Steroids are the opposite -- players take them to perform better so that their team wins (or the player gets a bigger contract). I'm not sure how that plays out in the larger picture of what baseball should do about the scandal, but it is a difference.

Anyway, earlier today while listening to the replacement iPod, Billy Joel sang a lyric I'd forgotten about -- from 52nd Street's Zanziber, here's the first two lines following the first run through the chorus:

Rose, he knows he's such a credit to the game
But the Yankees grab the headlines every time

I wonder if Joel changed the lyrics after Rose's downfall?

Posted by Peter at December 3, 2004 07:10 PM