This Could Be a Heartbreaking Chapter in Tejada's Inspirational Life

Jan 17, 06:20 PM

Tejada was my star. His rags-to-riches life served as the vehicle to tell a larger story about the history of Latinos in Major League Baseball.

This was nine years before Tejada became the focal point of a federal investigation over whether he lied to Congress about steroids. It was three years before Tejada became the A.L. MVP, four years before he signed a six-year, $72 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles. (He was traded to the Houston Astros recently.)

Yes. I knew him when. I met Tejada when home was a hut with dirt floors, no running water and no electricity in a barrio in the Dominican Republic.

Until 1997, when Tejada reached the big leagues, the Tejada family toilet was a hole in the ground behind their "house." The shower was three rusted car doors with a garden hose slung over the top.

Back then, Tejada's main concern wasn't steroids. It never once came up in thousands of conversations. Tejada's concerns were solely about "feeding his family."

Stupid me. A friend and colleague from the New York Times asked me this week if the word "steroids" appeared in my book at all.

Nope, I answered. Not once.

I guess I was part of that lazy, baseball press corps that missed the steroids story completely. Having written Sammy Sosa's book as well, I'm probably a double felon.

Guilty as charged, but times have changed.

In light of baseball's internal investigation on steroids headed by former Sen. George Mitchell, we can't be ignorant of this issue anymore.

At this point, I believe many if not most players of the 1990s and beyond were using performance-enhancing drugs. It pains me to say it: But why should my boy "Miggy" be any different?

Though I have no proof, I fear he did lie to members of Congress during a 2005 interview regarding his knowledge of steroids in baseball. Lying is what baseball players do about steroids. It's part of the culture, as is the wall of silence among players and the people living off them.

By stating this, I am committing the ultimate sin in the twisted kangaroo court of baseball _ I'm betraying Tejada, "throwing him under the bus."

That's what his paid yes-men and flimsy representatives will tell him if they read this. But the truth is, somebody should have told this otherwise laudable person that he needs to tell the whole truth.

Like Barry Bonds, Tejada is in the firing line not for what he did but for allegedly lying about it.

Still, this is a good man we're talking about. Tejada was the bright light that lit the A's. He is a huge success story, overcame poverty few of us could imagine.

Even today, Tejada wears his heart on his sleeve, is completely guileless. I don't have proof, but I could see him lying out of fear and that warped ethic of never "ratting out" another player.

Tejada is being ripped across the country and has been in seclusion since Tuesday, when it was learned Congress would investigate him and when an older brother died in a motorcycle crash.

If it's found that Tejada lied to Congress, he's got whatever he has coming to him; all these guys do. But it will be a heartbreaking chapter in an inspirational life.

Unlike the many hangers-on in his life, I'll still want to call and know Tejada when his playing days are over. He has a huge heart. He cares about people.

But some of those good qualities have been obscured recently. The longer he played in the big leagues, the less I've recognized him.

It's time for the real Miguel to come forward again.

___

(c) 2008, The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.).

Visit The Sacramento Bee online at http://www.sacbee.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. This Could Be a Heartbreaking Chapter in Tejada's Inspirational Life
Back to Current Headlines