Damaged goods for sale, price reduced

A 6-inch-by-10-inch placard, designed by a sports merchandiser, was on a display stand at T&B Sports in Santa Rosa. It was a picture of Roger Clemens. He was wearing a moisture-wicking, form-fitting undergarment.

The words under Clemens' picture read: "The Advantage Is Undeniable."

You bet it is, and it ain't the sportswear, Bucky.

Some copy editor for Under Armour might have lost his job over this one, unless it was the company's sales event of a lifetime: Buy This Undergarment and Your First Two Syringes Are Free. Assuming this ad copy wasn't written, say, in 1998, how could the writer have not seen he was writing something that eventually would appear on Jon Stewart's Daily Show?

Mel Arnerich, the store manager for T&B, came to work one day, saw the Clemens picture, saw the words, and yanked it immediately from the shelves, snickering as he did it.

"The words were intended to emphasize the fabric," Arnerich said, "but . . ."

I swear Arnerich was giggling on the other end of the phone.

Of course the advantage is undeniable, why else would so many Major League baseball players inject, swallow or absorb steroids? And given Clemens has the same credibility right now as a certain out-of-work left fielder, well, it kinda makes you wonder why that shindig Thursday in Denver was such a big deal.

The owner of the baseball Barry Bonds hit for his last home run revealed himself at a press conference and announced what he plans to do with the baseball. It would be fitting, entirely appropriate actually, if the owner mounted the ball that was Bonds' 762nd homer and placed underneath it these words: The advantage is undeniable.

One thing is for certain, however. Arnerich won't be having it in his store.

"I will not buy anything for the store that has Barry Bonds' name on it," said Arnerich, a former baseball coach at Santa Rosa High School in the '90s and for 15 years the program director for Connie Mack Baseball in the area. "I read 'Game of Shadows.' I am not ignorant of the situation. I am not supporting Major League Baseball right now. I get free game tickets through my distributors but I don't go to games. It's been about four years since I went to my last big league game."

Arnerich, 57, made it to Double A as a second baseman in the Cleveland Indians' organization. His son, Tony, made it to Double A with Texas. His father was a pro. He feels wounded by the steroid mess. He is not alone.

"I've had these two pictures for two years now," said Roy Patel, store manager for Touchdown, a sporting goods store in Santa Rosa.

One is a Bonds autographed picture and a game ticket from that day when he hit career homer No. 600. The price on that picture is $575. The second is a Bonds autographed picture and a game ticket from that day in 2001 when he hit home run No. 73. That price is $700. Patel is guessing, of course, but he doesn't think it's the price that's keeping customers away.

"People are concerned about the steroids," Patel said. "Then again, everyone is cheating in baseball."

Now there's a romantic vision of America's pastime.

Patel is thinking of lowering the asking price for those two pictures. He's also wondering if that will make any difference. Dump the product? No retailer wants to take a cost hit on unmovable stock. It's a situation John Elder is pondering as well.

"I got 11 Bonds jerseys left," said the store manager for All-American Sports Fan. "They have not been selling well. Apparently, some of the public doesn't want to side with Barry Bonds. A lot of people who come in here are big Giants fans, since this once was the Giants' Dugout Store, but they don't want to talk about him. It's kinda hush-hush."

Some people, it seems, still can't get over this numbers thing, still stuck on this concept so foreign to others but so relevant to them, that integrity has been violated.

"The game is predicated on numbers," Arnerich said. "The 56-game hitting streak. The 714 home runs. The 300 victories. It's what unifies the game and carries it through generation and generation. People have to be held accountable. Look what happened to the governor of New York. He was held accountable. Why shouldn't baseball players?

"Or am I just being on my high horse?"

Arnerich said it almost as if he was embarrassed, embarrassed to say that he has, um, standards. Like he has to apologize for sticking to a principle. But he is, to the point of rejecting possible revenue for his business. His commitment to integrity, well, it is undeniable. And there's not much advantage for him in that, unless he sleeps better at night for it.

Come to think of it, that might be quite an advantage, as you wonder how well the dirty baseball players are sleeping.

You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5490 or at bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com

IN THE NEWS

An auction house says a Colorado man has decided to sell the baseball Barry Bonds hit for career homer No. 762. It could fetch $1 million.

SCP Auctions said Thursday that 24-year-old Jameson Sutton of Boulder snared Bonds' final homer of last season on Sept. 5 at Coors Field.

SCP says Sutton has decided to sell the ball in an online auction starting March 31. The auction house also handled the sale of Bonds' record-breaking home run ball No. 756.

-- Associated Press