Tuesday, May 01, 2007

May may be the month for the naming of names

Hip hop artist Cam'ron made waves last week when he told 60 Minutes he was so consistent in his anti-snitching vigor that if he learned a serial killer lived next door to him, the rapper wouldn't alert the police.

Coming soon, there may be a lot of baseball players and politicians "high in the echelons of power" wishing the "stop snitchin'" culture reigned in their worlds as well.

"DC Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the subject of a criminal investigation, will kick things off on 20/20 Friday by (allegedly) unmasking the thousands of high-class Washingtonians to whom Palfrey claims she sold "legal sexual and erotic services across the spectrum of adult sexual behavior."

Since Palfrey maintains her business's legitimacy -- she is adamant the escorts she hired were required by a detailed contract to perform only lawful acts --she needs to convince her former clients to testify to that in a court of law. Something they would be reluctant to do unless their names were already in the public record, and their testimony would now be part of their own defense against a certain technical level of infidelity.

If the names Palfrey has are high profile enough, this could escalate into the sort of "definition of what is, is" orgy of hair-splitting and hypocrisy-accusing that could keep our nation's capital occupied deep into the summer.

There is also a lot gray area in Major League baseball's policy on steroids and performance enhancing drugs. Especially before the present rules were on the books. But that's one of places Kirk Radomski, a former New York Met bat boy and current convicted steroid dealer, is sure to take us when he dishes on the "dozens" of players he sold performance enhancing drugs to.

The muscle-bound Radomski worked for the Mets from 1985-1995, and told federal prosecutors he had continued to do business with baseball players on multiple teams up to the time of his arrest. As part of his plea deal, Radomksi is required to work with former Senator George Mitchell's investigation into baseball's doping past. Mitchell's mandate allows him to publicly out steroid users without baseball's approval. The speculation is, with Radomski in tow, Mitchell could do so sooner rather than later.

If you've been wondering what Lenny Dykstra has been up to, I think you are about to find out.

In the inner city, snitching ostensibly gets people killed. But, in more polite society, it has the potential to be a whole lot of gossipy fun. As long as your name isn't on the list.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nails got a trading gig from a former teammate’s (Philly third baseman Dave Hollins) brother. He now touts his risk seeking options trades on TheStreet.com.

JT said...

Billy Beane, later of Moneyball fame, once said that Dykstra, then his minor league teammate, was "perfectly designed, emotionally" to play baseball and had "no concept of failure."

Those traits would also make for a good trader. And the juice probably wouldn't hurt.