Lame Excuse of the Year

I posted Saturday on the soon-to-be-firing of former major league pitcher Bill Singer by the Mets, who had just hired him as a scout, due to some nasty racially-tinged remarks he had made at the GM meetings in Phoenix to Kim Ng, a Los Angeles Dodger executive of Asian descent.

In a brazen effort to keep his job, Singer apparently told Mets GM Jim Duquette that he did this because drinking alcohol along with his low-carb diet caused a chemical imbalance.

Oh, please.

I've been on low-carb for a year. I don't drink much, but drinking alcohol in moderation is perfectly safe on a low-carb diet, as it is with any other diet, and whether you have a "chemical imbalance" or not, making those kind of remarks is still offensive.

Even more offensive is trying to keep your job in this way. Sad, because up to now Singer had been a well-respected pitcher, coach and baseball exec and now will be out of work.

This just goes to show you that abuse of alcohol (and drugs) is still endemic in baseball and sports, and along with the steroid abuse scandal currently being investigated, proves that baseball has a long way to go toward cleaning up its house.

Thanks to Jessica for sending me the NY Daily News link.