Baseball commissioner Bud Selig's recent appointment of former Senator George Mitchell to investigate past drug use and abuse is misguided on so many fronts.
A decade ago, the sport benefited from looking the other way as the physiques of players such as Mark McGwire, Julio Franco, and Barry Bonds morphed before our very eyes. The home run race between McGwire and Sammy Sosa energized a fan base that had been jaded by the 1994 work stoppage. Home run and RBI totals soared along with attendance records, and a Home Run Derby was added as a feature to the All-Star Game. All was well in muscled Mudville.
Then Ken Caminiti died, Rafael Palmeiro lied, and Barry Bonds inched closer to Babe Ruth. Now, the book "Game of Shadows" accuses B2 of imbibing a daily cocktail that would empower a formula car. As with every issue from marketing, to relocation to Washington, Commissioner Selig, a former owner himself, is late in reacting. More importantly, his response is wrong. There is nothing to be gained by investigating past offenses. This is not the Pete Rose case, where past gambling may exclude one from Cooperstown. This would be like investigating the way by which Rose collected his record 4,000 plus hits (was his bat corked? was he stoked on greenies? did someone steal signs for him?).
One flaw in Selig's strategy is his transparent motivation. This cannot be about players' health, because it is about what has already occurred. It cannot be about reputation, the home run explosion can never be expunged. It's about Bonds — and while I'm no Barry apologist, it is very small of Selig to react to a book, and not the trend that was right under his nose for years. It took a written expose that largely centers on the player approaching Ruth and Aaron, to get Bud off his duff.
But Bonds wasn't alone in this — he's just the one chasing the records. MLB still doesn't test for human growth hormone, which still may be powering performances. The commissioner should have been ahead of the journalists, not behind them. This is an ill-timed attempt to stave off a Ruth/Aaron-inspired Barry backlash. This is damage control for career homers 715 and 756. Very cheap, Mr. Commish, almost as tasteless as Bonds' desperate attempt to revive his image by "producing" a reality TV series. These actions are making Jose Canseco look like Mother Theresa.
The time for action was the time we celebrated. We rejoiced when the Roger Maris single-season homer mark fell, excited as we were by combatants McGwire and Sosa. We cheered increased run production as a sign of a lively game once again competitive with the NBA and NFL for attention. We welcomed the age of the 40-home run shortstop, and rooted for the bodybuilding sluggers on our favorite teams. We ignored improbable stats by formerly mediocre hitters, and overnight physique development by nondescript players. We advertised the long-ball, because "chicks dig" it. Baseball, and all who love it, dug its own grave with needles.
It is sufficient that if the power surge of Messrs. Sosa, Bonds and McGwire was ill-gotten, that the 1996-2004 period will forever be viewed by most fans, sports media, and baseball historians as clouded by the taint of suspected juicing. This applies to both hitters and pitchers. The recurring injuries tell as much a story as the inflated digits. Looking back will neither change the records nor absolve Selig and the owners of their lengthy willful neglect. The effort is a waste of the talents of expert negotiator/legislator Mitchell, whose acumen would be better used on our foreign or domestic policy.
If evidence of past abuses does surface, what of it? Who will the witnesses be, illegal PED salespeople? Disgruntled ex-teammates? Reformed former dopers? How will baseball gain from such — it cannot retroactively suspend offenders, it will not erase records, and everyone who was taking disguised designer drugs will not be caught.
Senator Mitchell has neither subpoena power nor arrest jurisdiction. No one is disposed to cooperate with him. There are few who would benefit from ratting on the pumped up players, for most of those who knew were either users or sellers themselves. Are we really ready for every ex-wife and girlfriend's tell-all books? Finally, any new revelations would bring a stain to an already dark period in baseball's recent history — where is the victory there?
April 9, 2006
Authentic Signed Sports:
This investigation that Selig has begun is not now or has ever been about steriods. It is about Barry Bonds and his quest for the Homerun record. The most sacred record in Baseball is going to be broken by an unlikeable player. This is Maris all over again. In 1961if only Mantle was chasing Ruth there would not have been an asterisk placed next to the single season record. We as Americans always want the good guy to win. In reality that is not always the case. We need to accept the fact that Mr. Bonds will pass Ruth. No outcome of this investigation will erase that. They may try to discredit his accomplishment, but he goes into the record books just the same. Mr. Bonds may not be the most likeable human being, but there is no denying his greatness on the playing field. Everyone should just shut the hell up and tend to their own house. Let Mr. Bonds have his moment. He deserves it.
April 10, 2006
Bijan C. Bayne:
Agreed.
April 11, 2006
Mike Round:
“Mr. Bonds may not be the most likeable human being, but there is no denying his greatness on the playing field.”
Actually, there are some denying his greatness. Whilst he had HOF type numbers prior to 99, he was never going to be mentioned in the same breath as Ruth, Aaron, DiMaggio, Mays blah blah blah. That’s what he wanted and that’s what some are still prepared to credit him with if he tops Ruth/Aaron. If he achieves the prestige record a drugs cheat has won.
I, for one, ain’t prepared to shut up about it or tend to my own house. He shouldn’t have his moment and he deserves ridicule.
April 13, 2006
Bijan C. Bayne:
Bonds, Bagwell, Sosa and Franco may well have cheated to acquire their numbers and physiques- even if steroids weren’t banned in the 1990’s, they were illegal. Most of them have paid for it with injury prone recent careers, but Selig’s moves are far too late.