Come To Think Of It...Rick Helling: Swimming Against The Tide Of Steroids

Time.com published an excerpt from The Yankee Years on Monday, in which former Rangers pitcher Rick Helling is said to have stood up before his player union brethren to wail against the dangers and unfairness of steroid users.

It is a fairly compelling read, and I recommend you check out the entire piece, but to summarize: Rick Helling was apparently the only player during the heyday of the steroid era who had the guts to stand up against cheating and say that the problem was far more widespread than management had realized at the time.

Of course, the player's union and Bud Selig basically ignored Helling's pleas, as the sport was enjoying a resurgence and was awash in cash and good fortune.

Or, as Joe Torre and Tom Verducci point out, the time was "a party of epic proportions, the equivalent of an all-nighter with the music cranked and every care in the world, or at least the anger and bitterness of the 1994-95 players' strike, easily forgotten."

While Jose Canseco told his story to sell his book, and is largely considered a pariah by other players, Rick Helling at the time was a well liked players' union team rep who was warning baseball about steroids because he was concerned about players "feeling pressure to do it because they're falling behind."

Helling is said to have stood up at each year's annual players association meeting and made the same speed. And each year it continued to be ignored.

"It's a bigger deal than people think. It's noticeable enough that it's creating an uneven playing field. What really bothers me is that it's gotten so out of hand that guys are feeling pressure to do it. It's one thing to be a cheater, to be somebody who doesn't care whether it's right or wrong. But it's another thing when other guys feel like they have to do it just to keep up. And that's what's happening. And I don't feel like this is the right way to go."

As David Cone said, "He was the first guy...who had the guts to stand up at a union meeting and say that in front of everybody and put pressure on it."

But is he deserving of hero worship among fans who feel cheated by the steroid era?

Well, not so fast.

Look, if Helling was so hellbent on exposing the cheats, why were his comments only made at union meetings?

I'm sure he had plenty of interviews and other opportunities to tell the media what he was observing and feeling.

Instead, he chose to hide behind closed doors.

Yet, shouldn't we still give him credit for at least having the courage to speak up in front of his peers and the management of the MLBPA?

I bet Jose Canseco never did this.

Of course, had Canseco given a similar speech, it would have been laughed at since he was the poster child of the steroid era when he was playing.

So, while Helling's act was not perfect, it is compelling to read his comments and think about what many of his peers must have been thinking to themselves while he was speaking.

It definitely took some courage for him to have done this.

And, come to think of it, "Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount", as Clare Booth Luce once said. 

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1881350-1,00.html