Ex-MLB pitcher Dan Meyer tweets his bitterness towards suspended player

Dan Meyer, who used to play for the Philadelphia Phillies, is just one of the many players on the field who have been hurt by juiced-up players taking shortcuts, writes Steve Elling.

Dan Meyer pitches during a Spring training game in 2011 for the Philadelphia Phillies. Mike Janes / AP Photo

Baseball fans, record holders, clean teams and even casual fantasy-leaguers aren’t the only ones that feel cheated in the aftermath of Major League Baseball's latest doping scandal.

The light has come on for the game’s players, too. More than ever, they are becoming outspoken advocates for even lengthier suspensions and virtual zero-tolerance policy. It’s not just the players on the field who have been hurt by juiced-up players taking shortcuts.

Of all the fallout from Monday’s suspensions, a comment by the former relief pitcher Dan Meyer underscored the latter group’s plight better than any. The left-hander had been released by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2011 when the team elected to keep Antonio Bastardo, instead.

Bastardo was among the 13 players suspended by MLB, prompting Meyer, now 32 and out of baseball, to tweet: “Hey Antonio Bastardo, remember when we competed for a job in 2011. Thx. A lot.” Meyer tossed in an obscenity to accentuate his point and later expounded to a newspaper in his hometown.

“I can’t tell you the number of guys that I’ve seen that are married with three kids, chasing a dream for peanuts in the minor leagues,” he told the Courier-Post in New Jersey. “You always think to yourself: How is this guy not in the big leagues? Some of these guys might not necessarily get a chance.

“I’m not necessarily mad at him, but there’s guys that have pitched and played so well in the minor leagues and they never get a chance because of certain guys that are cheating the system, and it’s just really not fair.”

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