Homer or Hypocrite?

Yesterday on PTI, JA Adande and Michael Wilbon were given AJ Pierzynski's interference play against the Tampa Bay Rays as a topic. JA Adande read the prompter "What do you know? There's a controversial baseball play and AJ Pierzynski's right in the middle of it. This one happened when the White Sox played the Tampa Bay Rays Sunday. Pierzynski was caught in a rundown, he pulled a Vlade Divac worthy flop, and somehow suckered the umpires into calling interference. So, Wilbon, do you applaud your boy's trickery, or should he be punished and the umpires suspended for making a mockery of the game."

Wilbon's answer is as appalling as Pierzynski's actions, although not unexpected: "Come on, baseball's based historically on these types of plays and all kinds of cheating ... Pierzynski is just smart ... Pierzynski knows how to get away with little things, it's savvy ... He made a smart play for his team which was about to get swept by Tampa in a battle of what had been first place teams, the White Sox salvaged that game, they go back into first ..."

Where does Wilbon stand on performance-enhancing drugs? If you condone Pierzynski's actions, you have to support all the steroid and HGH users for trying to help their teams, too ... right? Isn't it "smart" if you can get your chemist to manufacture a product that will help you out and not be detected by league testing?

Or, is it possible that Wilbon enjoys Pierzynski's antics more than similar shenanigans from other players because AJ plays for the Chicago White Sox? As long as one of Wilbon's home town teams benefits, everything is perfect.

Personally, I think Pierzynski should be suspended for a couple games for intentionally deceiving the umpires and baiting them into making an awful call. Additionally, the umpires involved should be suspended a game for allowing themselves to be duped like that. They should have been able to see that Pierzynski wasn't interfered with; it was obvious that Pierzynski went out of his way to try to create contact (emphasis on the "try to create" because there wasn't any meaningful contact). It should be looked at on a case by case basis, but Pierzynski doesn't get the benefit of the doubt with me because he has a track-record. At some point, enough is enough. Pierzynski is a good player, but he should be told emphatically by the league that this type of action is unacceptable.

If Wilbon wants to praise Pierzynski, whatever. While baseball doesn't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, Wilbon's opinions on PTI (while I do like PTI) are even less important. So, if he wants to say something outrageous (maybe that's what he was doing on this one?) every once in a while, well, it'll help keep the debate strong. If both people were right, there wouldn't be much debating.