February 11, 2001
A month and eleven days into the new year, and the millennialists are clamoring, buzzing, watching and waiting, some more disappointed than others. The Jehovah Witnesses long ago abandoned the timetable that declared that those living in 1914 would be alive to see the end times. The organization is busy updating its tract Jehovah's Witnesses in the Twentieth Century to reflect the concerns of the new century. In Moline, the controversy over "Piggate" has slowed to a steady murmur as officials at John Deere rush to supply damage control.
Moline team ethicist Suzann Moertl reads the signs of the recent controversy with a filtered gaze. Certainly, the controversy over the use of anesthetized pigs in baseball-impact studies has hurt the reputation of the Greens' franchise, even though the series of articles from ex-employee Annie White implicates none of the Greens' front office, only parent company John Deere. "As an ethicist, I am not pleased by such cruelty, even if Jehovah told Peter to 'kill and eat.' Besides, those PETA people have been calling, emailing, and faxing; it's tiresome. Don't they have other companies to harrass?" As a Witness, however, Moertl reads the controversy as more evidence of the end times. "Read Matthew 24. It's all there. Oh, nothing about pigs as such, but the signs of the evil men do in the last days, man's inhumanity to man and to bound pigs, strapped and anesthetized, awaiting the snapping of their ribs at the flip of a switch of a baseball accelerator."
The scandal of Piggate put a sour finish on a marvelous 2000 that saw the Greens win their third straight league championship, matching the three straight titles from the Kansas City Whirlwind, two of which came at the expense of the Greens. A fourth straight championship for Moline would put the Greens among the best dynasties in baseball history.
But the controversy over Piggate continues to distract the front office, which has tried to distance itself from the scandal. More, despite the stellar success of recent years, money matters have begun to creep into the picture. As the organization looks at the payroll, the league structure, and the bottom line, the signs aren't harmonious. Chief Financial Officer Mary Lamon-Smith notes that "money may soon tear apart this franchise, like a stuffed teddy bear devoured by dogs, like a pinata attacked by drunken unmasked bullies, like a, well, you get the picture." The team jettisoned some salary in the expansion draft, losing beleaguered reliever Troy Percival and pitching coach Roger Clemens, who let himself be selected "for the long-term good of the franchise." For that same good, and with an eye on the bottom line, Moline released this week erratic starter Juan Guzman, one of the last of the Seattle Timbers of 1992, the franchise's first overall pick in 1991. Guzman missed all of last year because of injury, and at age 34 his $6 million salary was more than the club could carry. "It's simple, really," explained team general manger Rolf Samuels "Guzman gave us one of three options each year. He would be horrible, he would be good, or he would be hurt. At his salary and given our payroll, now was the time to cut bait. We're grateful for the good he's done the team over the years. But the years have caught up with him. He's not the first. Ask Steve Carlton." Bigger challenges loom as this team built from the farm system faces the demands of free agency and limited funds. With a core lineup of Manny Ramirez, Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Derek Jeter, and Carlos Delgado, the Greens of these glory days don't figure to stay together much longer.
For the moment, however, the future is closer at hand. Pitchers and catchers report to Homestead, Florida, this week, as the team readies itself for spring training. The team is a year older, and it's suspect for that, but the expansion draft took little pitching beyond Clemens and Percival. The team's rotation looks solid, led by dual aces Pedro Martinez and Kevin Brown. Kris Benson, Ramon Ortiz, and Sid Ponson round out the rotation. "After his performance last year," said newly appointed pitching coach Alabaster Alabama, "Allah has decreed that Chris Holt should pitch out of the bullpen. I seconded that motion." With Percival gone, the team will try out a few arms for the closer spot. Righthander Tim Crabtree, who came to the team last year in the Jay Payton trade, is a likely candidate, though a bullpen by committee is also possible. "There's some questions we've got, sure," said manager Joe Morgan, "but that's why there's spring training. And I'm sure looking forward to Homestead. This winter shit gets old come mid February."
If, as the old tune goes, "Jesus hits like an atom bomb," and if a high hard one in time begat batting helmets, then who can predict the impact of the startling revelations that greeted Quad Cities readers this week? Allegations of nefarious experiments at John Deere, done in the name of sabermetric research? Sunday morning readers of the Moline Dispatch encountered a startling, graphic report on animal cruelty and sport, a series of experiments that subjected anesthetized pigs to machine-thrown baseballs traveling at speeds of more than 90 miles an hour. The experiments broke ribs in the swine, who were later destroyed and buried secretly in unknown fields near John Deere Headquarters in Moline. The front-page report, published simultaneously in the Chicago Tribune, dates the experiments to beanball incidents surrounding the Moline Greens, incidents that were the subject of an internal report some years ago. The experiments were designed to gauge the damage of such impacts. That report responded to the dangers of pitched balls with mandated cricket pads for Moline batters, a strategy that lasted only until Deere CEO Hans Becherer succumbed to heat stroke during a company contest in 1997.
Although the cricket pads engendered much attention at the time, the cricket rule had already passed into the annals of league history. The beanball report itself remained a confidential company document, and in the wake of the team's recent on-field success, it had seemed forgotten until Sunday. Deere insists that it still has the report and that it makes no mention of animal testing. Through a hooded spokesman, Deere maintained that it was "in the business of building machines for farming, not harming or harvesting animals directly. This story is sheer fabrication from a disgruntled former employee."
In fact, the reporter who broke the story, Annie White, was until this year part of the Greens organization, where she worked as color commentator on radio broadcasts. White denies any vendetta against her former employer. From Chicago, where she is a freelance reporter, White said that she stands by her story. "I am a legitimate journalist." Her article cites published reports in medical journals and miscellaneous "internal team documents," not the report itself. According to White, the documents came from the "team's own archives." Greens archivist Shirley Johnson, reached for comment on the story, could only stammer, "I had been missing some papers, yes, but I, I was sure that information was still somewhere in the archives. I have a system there, you see." Team general manager Rolf Samuels refused to speak to the story beyond a curt "no comment at this time." Assistant director of scouting and player development John Dark cursed and hung up the phone when asked about the White report. His boss, Josh Logan only whistled and said that the team would "answer these allegations at the proper time." Team ethicist Suzann Moertl said of White, "I never trusted her. Oh. I shouldn't say that."
"Piggate," as it has already been dubbed, comes at a particularly difficult time for the club, which is still reeling from minor-league losses during the recent expansion draft. Just two months ago the club was enjoying its third consecutive Shoeless Joe League championshp. Now scandal rings through the halls of the Greens front office, squealing like a stuck pig.