Jobu weighs in on Rick Sutcliffe’s mouth diarrhea.

Early on Tuesday morning, former big league pitcher and current ESPN blowhard Rick Sutcliffe took to the airwaves to voice one of those opinions that can really only end with a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease. Sutcliffe, incensed by the idiocy of Melky Cabrera, who was suspended for 50 games last week for a PED violation, said out loud and on actual airwaves that Melky should be deported following his positive PED test and the ridiculous scam he attempted to use to clear his name. Too bad you can’t suspend radio idiots for ignorant and racially insensitive comments.Now don’t get me wrong, I am not calling Rick a racist. I wouldn’t just throw that word around irresponsibly like that. His comments, whether he meant them to be or not, were insensitive to the fact that Melky, and any other Latin American players (or foreign players from any country) aren’t from America. I know that sounds kind of plain and simple, but it is. Before I keep going, let’s take a look at the actual quote from Sutcliffe, so that everyone has a frame of reference for my opinion.

“First of all this guy is over here in the United States on a working visa and he broke the law, what’s he still doing here? Forget the 50-game suspension from baseball, why is he still here? That visa should be taken away and he should not be allowed to play over here again or work here again.”

I suppose this makes sense. Rick Sutcliffe, a native of Independence, Missouri (that’s about right), lives in ‘Merica. And, in ‘Merica, you can’t have these foreigners coming here and committing crimes. They should just be kicked back to whatever third world delinquent country they came from, right? In ‘Merica, we don’t do that kind of thing. No self respecting ‘Merican athlete would ever, and I mean ever, do something like Melky the foreigner did, right?

Sutcliffe’s comments were simply arrogant and ignorant, which as Americans, we should really be offended to hear. This is why most other countries hate America. They see all Americans as the arrogant, ignorant ‘Mericans that Sutcliffe must have channeled when he thought to say the things he said on a nationally broadcast radio show.

Look no one is saying what Melky did was not horrible. Just last week I had praised him for admitting his wrong-doing. The revelations about the website he purchased to sell a made up product that he could then blame as the cornerstone of his defense are not only despicable, they’re idiotic. Who planned this, Cartman? Was Casa Bonita involved?

That doesn’t excuse the double standard that Sutcliffe used in his assessment of the situation. How many American born players have been suspended for PEDs and lied about it during their defense? Ryan Braun used one of the worst defenses ever and escaped his 50 game suspension on a complete technicality. How is Melky’s website any worse than that? Just because Braun got off? Or because Braun is American? If Braun’s suspension had held up, would Sutcliffe have demanded that he be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and possibly have his career completely ended because of a first-time suspension that’s supposed to cost 50 games?

The reality is that, if Melky were to lose his work visa for his indiscretions (he won’t), his career would be over. The Major League Baseball drug suspension policy says that one offense is 50 games, two offenses is 100, and three is a lifetime ban. Why is Melky being banned for life (or for a few years of legal struggles anyway, if he managed to get his visa back) on one suspension OK for Rick?

I think Melky should probably face some kind of tack-on suspension for his idiotic plan. It’s hard to quantify that with a games suspension because no one has been stupid enough to try a scam like that before. Usually, athletes just lie and say they were taking Creatine or something and got a bad supplement. One that really exists. I’m not sure a fair punishment for that act can be assessed by anyone, but I would imagine another 20 games? 30 games? Maybe a big fat fine? It will be interesting to see what Bud Selig and the MLB do to Melky, but hopefully someone cuts Sutcliffe’s feed the next time he goes to say something that stupid.

Featured image courtesy of: W.E.E.N.