Clemens' fine not stiff enough

Alex Roman 

The recent controversy between New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens and Mets catcher Mike Piazza is a microcosm of what's wrong in sports today.

In case you don't know what happened, it all goes back to earlier in the season when the Mets and Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

After some hostilities had already broken out between the two teams, Clemens threw a baseball at Piazza's head, knocking him out of the game with a concussion.

Afterwards, Piazza was obviously upset, attacking the moral character of Clemens, who throws so hard that he could have probably killed Piazza.

Fast forward to Game 2 of the World Series, which was played in Yankee Stadium. Clemens is pitching and Piazza's up to bat. Piazza grounds out and breaks his bat, the shards of which Clemens throws at Piazza while he's trotting to first base.

Following the incident, Clemens was allowed to continue pitching and was not hit with a suspension or disciplinary action from the league office until just prior to Game 3.

Eventually, Major League Baseball's discipline guru Frank Robinson handed down a $50,000 fine to Clemens, but do you honestly think that's enough?

I mean for god's sake, the man threw at another man's head, then in a separate incident, threw a sharp piece of wood at him while he was running down the baseline.

I'm sure in words it doesn't sound as vicious as it appeared on television, but the point is that superstar athletes are afforded a certain luxury that normal players are not.

Suppose it was some readily expendable player who had done all this - the league would have handed down a suspension so fast that his head would have spun.

So why didn't Clemens get some kind of suspension?

Simply put, he's a superstar. Without him, the Yankees chances of winning the series would diminish.

True, you want the best players to be able to play in the World Series, but is it at the cost of sportsmanship?

What Roger Clemens did was reprehensible. With one pitch he could have ended Piazza's career or maybe even his life. And for what? Some macho, intimidating posturing?

I think that Clemens should face a severe suspension. Sitting out the rest of the World Series would suffice.

Reportedly he told the umpire that he was a little fired up. Sure, he was so fired up that he didn't even realize that it was Piazza, a player that he has a running feud with.

Come on, superstar athlete's get enough of a break as it is, they shouldn't be allowed to possibly ruin another man's career and play again in a few days like Clemens will.

A precedent needs to be set now, to let other stars know that enough is enough with the poor sportsmanship. Especially in baseball, where it's understood that if one of your teammates gets hit by a pitch, you have to retaliate.

I say suspend Clemens now and let him watch the Mets win from the dugout, that way he'll understand his actions really have some consequences.

Alex Roman is a print journalism major at Long Beach State.