Just a 50-game suspension for Melky Cabrera? Not on the Crime Dog's watch.
Fred McGriff, a five-time All-Star who hit 441 career home runs, dropped by 98.7 The Fan in Tampa to discuss Cabrera's suspension. Let's just say he doesn't think too highly of the Giants outfielder at this time.
"No. 1, we can't call Melky Cabrera a stand-up guy in the sense where, back in July, they asked him, 'Hey Melky, there's rumors that you failed a drug test,' and he denied it. Now he's coming out saying, 'Yes, OK, it was this drug, I apologize.' He's not a stand-up guy," McGriff said.
McGriff's opinion goes against the ideas of some, who applaud Cabrera's willingness to own up to his mistake in a press release. The fact remains that Cabrera cheated the game, though, and McGriff considers that a major no-no where he comes from.
"It's like, I'm sorry, but he's killed a team," McGriff said. "He's going to miss the rest of the season. The National League has home-field advantage and he was the MVP of the All-Star Game. He might have cost somebody else a chance at the All-Star Game and now the National League gets the home-field advantage because of it. So its not like, 'Oh, Melky, what a stand-up guy. Way to go dude!'"
Dude, is right. The Crime Dog, despite playing in the Steroid Era, never got caught up in any of that stuff (at least that we know of). Plus, the guy was out there filming awesomely hilarious instructional videos.
McGriff did elaborate a bit on his All-Star Game views when asked what he thought of the whole home-field advantage thing. That, of course, was before he went back to questioning Cabrera's integrity.
"It's garbage," McGriff said of the home-field advantage rule. "I would love to see whoever has the best record or whatever, because now it's out of your control if you're going to have home-field advantage. You look at last year, home-field advantage helped the St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series. So home-field advantage is huge. And you wish they would do something else. But they're going to have to come up with a little stiffer penalty for somebody getting caught for steroids, because 50 games just ain't doing it. It's going to have to be, if you get caught, 100 games or the next time you're out of the league. They've got to do something."
McGriff noted that he'd even be down for one positive test getting a player banned, because as he notes, there's "chemists and scientists" whipping up crazy concoctions in their basement as we speak.
I'm with you, Crime Dog. Let's fight the good fight.
H/T to Deadspin for pointing out McGriff's displeasure
Thumbnail photo via YouTube screengrab
