The teammates didn't suffer. They went 7-6 while Rogers was gone, significantly better than their 4-10 record in the two weeks immediately preceeding the suspension. Shows how silly it is to think that one player can "carry a team." Rogers was the team's best pitcher, and the team carried on without him just fine.

David is getting back to his old self by ripping Selig. Of course, the technicality is completely irrelevant to the merits of the case and would have been disregarded by any reasonable arbitrator.

And, Daivid, do you really think cameramen will boycott Rogers? COME ON. The camera guys will be tripping over each other to cover Kenny. They'll all be hoping for a million-dollar shove of their own.

Surely the union was not anticipating this outcome-- they were

a. performing their duty to represent a member.

and b. thinking the suspension might be reduced.

Isn't this rather like blaming the prosecuting attorney for Judge Hoffman's ruling, or Johnnie Cochran for the OJ jury's vote; the flaw in the picture is not with the union...

There was no "thinking." They knew the suspension would be reduced, as it (almost) always is. The MLB disciplinary process is a joke. It is simply not possible to suspend people as a deterrent. (Sorry if I've ranted about this before.)

I read an article somewhere, although it may have been about NFL fines rather than MLB fines, that said that most of those fines end up being repaid in some form anyway. The part about the fine becoming a deduction bothers me, but not as much as the suspension being truncated.

Unfortunately, the only way I can see this changing is after a lockout. The owners don't have any concessions big enough to offer to end up with a disciplinary system something like the NHL's system (not the fine part, the games part - the maximum fine in the NHL, last I checked, was still $1000). There's no way the players would agree to anything more stringent. Many players have never been held fully responsible for their actions before. Why would they want that to change?

John, thinking about it, I see this less like the ACLU defending a Klansman's right to free speech, and more like a reflexive response to management - no matter what Rogers did, or for how long he was suspended, the MLBPA would appeal and ask an arbitrator to review the process.

I see that as a critical flaw in the way the players' association operates, the same as the one that prevents them from accepting stringent drug testing. They are fighting rules that are designed to present the game in a more positive light to fans. Whether the suspensions are for drug usage or unacceptable behavior, fighting on behalf of the offending player is a disservice to the players who obey the existing rules. That's one of the reasons why players continue to break the rules - they know there's very little MLB can do about it.

Zlionsfan, thanks. You've expressed my feelings better than I did.

Great comment, zlionsfan. The player's association in just about every sport refuses to make any rules for their players, ever. If there is any wiggle room for interpretation on cause and blame, they side with the player.

This is a horrible thing to say, but I now wish the cameraman, after being pushed around by Rogers that whole time, had wound up with his camera and smacked Rogers in the head with it.

I feel much the same way about Bad Hair Bud (BHB), and his incompetence in this situation. He was way off in both imposing the suspension (which wasn't long enough to begin with) and then hearing the appeal. Talk about your serious conflict of interest. And stupidity taking control where some common sense should kick in. Oh wait, this is BHB we're talking about!

The Players Union is supposed to back up it's members whether they are right or wrong. That's their job. Granted, they appear to be short-sighted at times. However, incidents like leaking the steroid that Raffy allegedly used give them good cause to not want to trust MLB. There is a wealth of evidence to support their belief that MLB Management can't and shouldn't be trusted.

I agree that baseball is fixed 100% because of that Idiot Selig letting his "Boy Toy" Rogers back on the field.
If I were calling the shots, I would have suspended Rogers for the remainder of the season (without appeal) and fined Kenny 50K for his all-out assault on two cameramen.
After the incident, Rogers did "apologize" somewhat for his actions; What ever Kenny! You never apologized to Rodriguez and Mammeli for assaulting them and you cry when you tried to apologize for everything else like:" It will never happen again" and "It was blown out of porportion" and garbage like that, but you were actually crying about you trying to get back on the playing field when your Rangers were missing you. Than you run your big a** mouth in the courthouse like a litte ten-year oldwhen the finger print you. Hey Kenny, how about doing yourself and the world a favor, how bout slitting your throat open before you approach another camera man!
Rogers is nothing but a joke and a cancer to baseball because he will always be remembered for his attack on not one, but two cameramen along with other outbursts.