As soon as I heard the reports about Scott Spiezio, I knew there’d be a column from Bernie on the topic. And I knew it would fuel the fire he continues to help ignite … is hard partying an institutional problem for the Cardinals?

For starters, maybe Bernie knows something I don’t. Heck, maybe he knows something none of us know. But minus that, it sounds like more of the same – jumping to conclusions and making ad hoc arguments.

For starters, last I checked, drinking a couple glasses of wine doesn’t constitute hard partying. Sure, maybe La Russa shouldn’t have driven when he did, but let’s not turn it into more than it was.

Josh Hancock absolutely made some major mistakes and showed some real lack of judgment. He apparently did like to party pretty hard.

But where’s the evidence that Scott Spiezio=Josh Hancock? Am I missing something. It appears that Spiezio was experiencing some physical issues as a result of some drug(s) he was taking. Maybe they were illegal, maybe they were prescription … no way to know yet. But a player acknowledging he’s struggling with such an issue, maybe even an addiction, doesn’t become hard partying in my book either. In fact, if anything, maybe this is positive fruit from the Cards’ prior experiences? Maybe Scott Spiezio wanted to make sure he didn’t become the next Josh Hancock.

In his latest two-ply column, Bernie claims he doesn’t blame La Russa – that ultimately it’s up to players to police themselves, etc. That’s not what he said after Hancock’s tragedy … in fact he all but specifically blamed La Russa directly for Hancock’s death. He and I exchanged some pleasantries following that ordeal.

The reality that Bernie seems to want to ignore is that this is not a St. Louis Cardinal problem. It’s a much larger issue that includes MLB, professional sports, the celebrity culture in general and American culture at large. And, it appears Bernie would know that compulsive and addictive behaviors, which it appears is the case with Spiezio, are outside a team’s control, or even a person’s individual control at times. Maybe Spiezio getting help isn’t the “third strike” that sends the Cards out of control, but the best thing that could have happened … maybe it will encourage others to do the same. Maybe it’s the cure the Cardinals needed.

Now if we could just find a cure for Bernie’s case of the runs.