The photo on the left was taken in 2008, the one on the right is his head shot from this year (I lifted it from the MLB site). A lot has changed for Scott and you can see it on his face. How can you not want this guy to succeed?
When I was at Remy’s on Monday, I caught my first glimpse of Scott Schoeneweis in a Red Sox uniform. He’s a bit shaggy right now, curly hair puffing out from under his cap, lots of scruff on his face and he looked like a man possessed.  So I was immediately intrigued. It was a game that didn’t mean much to anyone but maybe him – he was pitching for a spot on the team – and this week, much to my delight, he earned that spot.
I did a lot of reading on Schoeneweis this week. I learned how to spell his last name (had no idea about that second “e”); I learned that ESPN accused him of receiving six steroid shipments from Signature Pharmacy while he was with the White Sox (an accusation he denies); I learned that he spoke to the Commissioner’s office about the report and they found nothing to verify the allegations.
I was also surprised to find out that Schoeneweis had testicular cancer and did use steroids as part of his treatment and that the Mets and “other clubs” knew of this use and knew that if fell under the allowed use in the collective bargaining agreement.
So, already, he has a lot on his plate to deal with and then in 2009 he got more. His wife of ten years died from an overdose and left him with four children (now aged between 3 and 15). After about a month off for bereavement leave, he tried to return to the game and failed and ended up going on the DL for depression and (according to reports) to ‘deal with parenting issues’. He filed for free agency at the end of 2009 and ended up with the Brewers. The Brewers wanted him to play in triple A and he refused. He’s on record as saying that he couldn’t get a big league job with the Brewers because his wife died. A few days later, he signed with the Red Sox.
Now that we’re all up to speed…I don’t know that I agree with his assessment of the Brewers but I understand his frustration. In the days that followed his signing, many message boards and blogs had comments from Sox fans wondering why the team would pick up a player with so much “baggage”. I’m not sure I consider Schoeneweis’ life “baggage”. Everyone has things in their life that make it difficult to go on but eventually they do. It hasn’t yet been a year since Schoeneweis’ wife died, so I’m not suggesting at all that he’s “over it” (or that he ever will be) but he knows that he has a job to do – which is take care of his family – and if he and his family think the best way for him to do that is play baseball, well then I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that he’s ready to jump in and play ball again.
On Monday night we were joking about how intense, hell almost psycho, he looked on the mound. At one point, B.J. Upton looked a little nervous facing him. His pitches were a little erratic (but with purpose) and his gaze piercing. He didn’t blow anyone away (heck he gave up two runs on two hits and also walked two and struck out two – maybe 2 is his lucky number?) but it was easy to see that his focus was the game and that he was busting his tail out there to get things done. He has a sad back story but he also seems to have the determination to go on and to succeed.
I’m all for giving him a shot (as are the Red Sox) and I’m hoping this new beginning in Boston will be just what he needs to pick up where he left off.
The MLB.tv and At-Bat app have both been ordered for a while. Yesterday I ordered the MLB Extra Innings package from Comcast and in a little over 30 hours I’ll be in Boston for Opening Night. Man, it’s been a long winter!
4 comments for “Why must we all conceal what we think, how we feel?”