Easy, they drink away their sorrows.
How does a baseball pitcher deal with rejection ?
Easy, snort coke, smoke weed, buy lap dances, and generally dive deep into the abyss of self deprocating activities.
Such was the way Bill Spaceman Lee dealt with his demons, the Establishment, or MLB. Whether it was Jim Fanning or Claude Brochu, they put him ouit on the street, and passed the word around baseball that this guy was bad news, and please avoid all contact.
Was the Expos actions intentional, in their minds, probably not, but their treatment spelled "this player is toxic" and not even Erin Brockovich could have helped.
These events happened 27 years ago, but they still happen. Players still have their demons, and they choose to exorcise them to rationalise the end of their careers, because they are not ready to accept that the end has come.
Bill Lee refused to accept it, and joined several semi pro leagues, inn Quebec, Maine., Vermont, and New Brunswick, where he now lives.
Manny Ramirez is toxic, Jose Canseco is pure nuclear waste, and what is Roger Clemens ? Once he was the toast of the game. Now at age 50 he wants more, like Oliver Twist. But Dickens was forgiving, and Oliver was the better for it, eventually. The jury is still out on Roger.
Are the Houston Astros truly so bloody desparate that they need sully themselves with what will be a carnival show atmosphere ?
Lee hit rock bottom, lost almost all he had, he kept only the clothes on his back, his records, and his first baseball glove. The Expos tried to claim it was Montreal property.
Propriety does not permit me from what Bill told them to do with that.
So the Spaceman and the Rocket Man have something in common, neither want to give up the game, and both suffered from their reputation. MLB does not suffer fools or problem childs lightly. We will see if The Rocket walks back on a major league mound again, but then again, these are the Houston Astros, and they look nothing like a major league ballclub.
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