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Look, I really don't want to get into a whole "blogging in somebody else's blog" kind of deal, but the question SABRMatt asks is one many, including the Mariners, have asked me. Why don't I show the human side of Josh Lueke?
My answer is a complex one, but rooted in some of what I've seen written in this very comment thread. One of your commenters wrote that Americans are "suckers" for redemption stories. And that's why I'm not going to play the spin-the-redemption-line game with my readers. The fact that Josh Lueke feels contrite, humbled, humanized, whatever, has absolutely zero bearing on this story.
That he may be a "good guy" now does not change the fact that he's accpeted responsibility for a serious crime. And that he is still on felony probation for that serious crime. Accepting responsibility, in my book, does not mean that your slate is automatically wiped clean, as some would like it to mean. What it means is that you agree to accept the consequences of your actions, which could extend well into the future. Josh Lueke was granted the freedom not to spend any more time in jail. He was not granted "absolution" or a "clean slate" in the eyes of the law. His record remains for all to see. And there may be consequences for that record when he tries to pitch in an entertainment industry like baseball.
There are too many examples of people who got "second chances" in life, but not in baseball. Tim Johnson, Barry Bonds, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver, Pete Rose. In all walks of life, as well. I've used the Sinead O'Connor and Bernie Madoff examples this week on radio. O'Connor did not commit a crime, but was effectively blacklisted by music producers at the height of her stardom and never was allowed into the mainstream again. How many of you would give a "second chance" to Madoff, if he ever gets out of prison, when it comes to running your finances? How about Madoff's local equivalents here in Seattle? Second chances for them? Yes, I know Lueke's crime was not specific to baseball. OK, then, let's move to a baseball example...
Tim Johnson did not commit a crime. His lie was about having served in Vietnam. Nothing to do with baseball. But he never managed again after one 88-win season. He was fired not because of the media, but because of the PR nightmare and the fact that his own players would not give him a second chance the following spring.
That's the way we roll as a society. We don't automatically give second chances. That's a myth. Neither does the law, which prohibits a felon like Lueke from holding specific jobs.
So, having laid that foundation, I will submit, yet again, that it is up to the Mariners and/or other MLB teams to decide whether Lueke gets a second chance in their sport. His "second chance" for now is that he is no longer in jail. Whether he gets to participate in a PR-conscious branch of the entertainment industry (MLB), is going to be a subjective call made by someone from within that industry.
And Lueke accepting responsibility for his actions, as he did, means he now goes forward knowing that those actions will be open to public scrutiny. And that he may still have consequences to pay for those actions. Yes, the Texas Rangers were willing to keep Lueke. I'll suggest that's because not a single story was ever written in Texas about what he did. Remember, he made his plea in the off-season and it was months before he took the field again, in Class A ball at that -- a long way from the majors and big-time media exposure. So, yes, it's easy to say a certain fanbase was accepting of a player, but if it's because that fanbase was kept in the dark, well then, that changes things.
My job is not to keep serious issues quiet, especially when it pertains to a player involved in the biggest trade of the year. I have done my best to tell the story of what happened that night with Lueke. He has supposedly taken responsibility for his actions.
Right now, those actions are being judged for what they are. We laid them out for you in the paper, and gave him a chance to tell his side of the story about what happened that particular night. We did not invite him to engage in personal PR to try to spin those people who are going to be deciding upon his future.
If I was going to write a human interest profile on anyone in this case, it would be on the woman acknowledged by the law as the victim. My story contained two paragraphs on her troubles since the crime took place. That's it.
Lueke has accepted responsibility for what happened to her. People have forgotten this and have tried to suggest that he was really innocent, or just didn't want to spend more time in jail...but that's not my call. I'm not a mind reader. All I know is, he accepted responsibility by pleading no contest in the case. The law considers him guilty and he knew that when he took the plea deal. I've read the case front to back, and seen all the police interviews. I've spoken to plenty of people on both sides who did not get quoted in the story. I am satisfied with how we presented it.
Again, the Mariners have to make the call on this one. But if they are in the midst of making that call, I am going to make sure the fans of Seattle understand what call it is they are making. And I'm not going to play any of them for "suckers" by giving them a story at least one of you agrees is something everybody loves to hear. This isn't about Josh Lueke's redemption. It's about whether a baseball team can withstand the PR hit of employing him, based on the bad things he has taken responsibility for.
That's it. Because either you take responsibility or you don't. And taking it means you might put other future things at risk. That's real responsibility. Where there are possibly some future consequences to owning up to your mistakes. Because taking ownership for something where you are granted automatic absolution, forgiveness and no future consequences/risk at all, isn't really accepting anything. It's taking the easy way out.
And really, based on that, it doesn't surprise me that so many in our society are in favor of lightning quick "second chances" or are "suckers" for redemption stories. We all want to take the easy way out. Josh Lueke may indeed get to play MLB here in Seattle or someplace else. That's for MLB teams to decide. But it isn't my job to do a PR spin for him. He'll live or die in MLB based on what he accepted blame for -- which we have reported in detail -- and based on how much his employer can live with it.