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It's too bad for the cable news networks that Miguel Tejada isn't running for President. They'd have a field day with this guy, tearing his character to shreds. First the steroid accusations from Rafael Palmeiro, then the Mitchell Report where Adam Piatt ratted him out as a steroid user, and now this: Tejada has been lying about his age for oh-so-many years. He's a full two years older than previously acknowledged.
I can't find it anywhere online, but I'm certain Miguel Tejada was asked about age-gate issues back when Luis Vizcaino got caught fudging his age in 2002, but I can't recall or find exactly what he said about it. Tejada was fortunate that year to be in the middle of a three-year visa when all the age-gate scandals broke, so he was apparently able to evade the issue with the press on a technicality.
He could have confessed then, when all the fuss was going on, but he didn't. And he expects us to elect him President? Shame on you, Miguel Tejada!
Interesting that the two main characters in Moneyball, Billy Beane and Paul DePodesta, each have had on their resume a much-criticized decision to let players go, who later were revealed to be quite tainted.
Beane has been criticized often for choosing Eric Chavez over Miguel Tejada. Sure, Chavez hasn't turned out great, but knowing what we know now, anybody would make that same choice.
Meanwhile, Paul DePodesta's legacy is tied to the trade that brought Brad Penny (and others) to the Dodgers for Paul LoDuca, Guillermo Mota, and Juan Encarnacion. LoDuca was revealed to be a big steroids consumer, as was Mota. Encarnacion was clean, but vastly overpaid. Great trade, or greatest trade?
Now take a look at the team Billy Beane had when he took over as GM of the A's in 1997. That team had Tejada, Jose Canseco, Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire, and Scott Spiezio. There's a group of guys with some deep moral convictions, eh?
Yeech. I rooted for this group of dingbats. I followed them. I bought their product, helped pay for their salaries. Does that lack of judgment, by association, disqualify me to be President? I think it might. Drat.
I usually find myself defending the Chavez-over-Tejada decision under the ol' the-process-of-reaching-the-decision-was-correct-even-if-the-results-turned-out-poorly rationale. That said, if I could build a WayBack Machine and use it to undo the Chavez-over-Tejada decision, I probably would, if only because Chavez's on-the-field performance has been so suboptimal.
And I might be in the minority here, but I always thought Beane should have kept Tejada, and that hasn't changed one bit. Say what you want about his off-the-field character (and it's not like he's killed anyone), but at least Miggy has been a good ballplayer for the life of his contract, and he always gave his damnedest out on the field (at least when he was with the A's). Can you say the same about Chavez?
I guess I'm more surprised by the total package of deception. Tejada seems like such a positive, likeable guy, it's almost Kirby Puckett-like in the dissonance these revelations cause in my head.
I still think there is a huge difference between Tejada and Puckett's transgressions.
(BTW, I hear that Jeter strangles kittens ...)
I'm just asking because it is easier to be the good guy when life is great. It ain't so easy when life throws you some curveballs that you didn't see coming.
Then you have guys like Jack Clark who were clearly jerks from the moment they cut the cord.
This is the exact opposite of that.
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