Steroidgate

Baseball's latest black eye

by Heidi Parent
12/16/04

Baseball certainly has a knack for shooting itself in the foot, doesn't it? Just when we thought the game had recovered from the 1994 strike, steroidgate buzzes us like a high and tight Roger Clemens fastball.

Let me begin by making it clear that I am no fair-weather baseball fan. Just the opposite; I am a huge fan of the game and have been ever since I was about eight years old. Even as an adult, my very existence during the season revolves around my team, their place in the standings, the upcoming schedule, the pitching rotation, lineup changes, DL listings, etc.. Since my favorite team is from another city, I subscribe to the MLB package on DirecTV and watch each and every game from the pre-game show right through the post-game show. On days when I'm not home, the TiVo is set.

That's why I am dismayed to find two of the things I love most about the game – the purity and integrity – under assault. And to make matters worse, the assault is from the inside – the players themselves.

The San Francisco Chronicle recently published leaked grand jury testimony by New York Yankee Jason Giambi and San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds in which they admitted taking steroids. Giambi, knowingly. Bonds, he claims, unknowingly.

Now steroid use in sports is nothing new and it has long been suspected that today's bigger, stronger baseball players were gaining advantage through the use of performance enhancing drugs. So this testimony just confirmed what many had suspected for years.

And that's the pity. Baseball knew, or at the very least suspected, that players were using steroids. To their credit, Major League Baseball did attempt to do something about it during the 2002 contract negotiations. But the leaders of the players’ union rebuffed their attempts and would only agree to limited testing without serious consequences. (Under the current agreement, a first offense merely results in counseling. Suspension for at least a year doesn't happen until the fifth offense.) So the Players’ Association shoulders a huge part of the blame for this mess. The players who take this stuff are most to blame, of course, but the union has been on the wrong side of this issue from the start.

When given an opportunity to confront an issue that not only affects the players, their health, and the game itself, but also the kids – the future players – who look at these current players as role models, the union balked and chose privacy issues over the integrity of the game.

The executive director of the Players’ Association, Donald Fehr, testified before Congress on this issue earlier this year. Sounding like a representative of the ACLU Fehr said, “Every one of us has an interest in making sure we do not turn on its head the fundamental precept that people are innocent until proven guilty.” How about the law, Mr. Fehr? Aren't steroids illegal without a doctor's prescription? How about an interest in the game's future? Isn't that important?

Major League Baseball has an obligation to its fans and to the integrity of the game to ensure that everything taking place on the field is above board. Nothing less should be expected. And as one of the parties involved in ensuring the integrity of the game is maintained, the players themselves shoulder a big part of this responsibility. But that's not how Fehr sees it. In the same Congressional testimony he said that he would not allow a union wide player vote on this issue to gauge whether they want him to negotiate stronger drug testing. Apparently Donald knows best and doesn't care to hear his membership's opinion.

But he'll hear it now, whether he likes it or not.

Because of the scandal this has become, look for the players themselves to pressure the union's failed leadership to act. Braves pitcher John Smoltz has publicly criticized the current testing program as being too lenient and called for stricter testing. I'm happy to say that Smoltz isn't alone. At the 2004 All-Star Game, Kansas City Royals player Mike Sweeney told ESPN, "I want strong testing because I don't think it's fair for someone to have an illegal advantage over me." Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros agreed, "I want the testing because I don't think I should have to have anyone question how I hit my home runs." As this issue unfolds look for more and more “clean” players to come forward and publicly pressure their union to act. You reap what you sow, Mr. Fehr. And your attempt to protect the guilty at the expense of the innocent failed. Miserably.

Baseball is all about trying to gain an advantage over an opponent. All sports are. But it must be done within the rules of the game. Pitching to a batter's weakness or positioning fielders to play to his strength are perfect examples. But a batter using a corked bat or a pitcher putting Vaseline on the baseball is not allowed, and for good reason. Cheating is cheating is cheating. And that's why players caught doing either of these things are fined and suspended. Steroid use should be treated no differently. The very essence of sport is fair play. That's why it's important that all players come to the game with the same basic tools. And while I agree that steroids can't make you hit a curveball if you can't hit a curveball, it is indisputable that they can help you hit it farther. And that's cheating. And until fans can once again be certain that no drugs are enhancing a player's performance, the legitimacy of their accomplishments will continue to be questioned.

So where does baseball go from here?

As George Will, himself a huge baseball fan, said, this problem is so easily fixable. All we have to do is test. Getting MLB and the players’ union to agree on the testing rules, however, will be the biggest obstacle. Senator John McCain has threatened to step in if the two sides can't reach an agreement, but there is no place for government in baseball. The two sides have to step up to the plate – by their own volition – in order to protect the integrity of the game and keep the fans’ trust. If they don't, baseball runs the risk of morphing into the WBF - World Baseball Federation. Forget ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. You'll soon be tuning into TNT to catch your favorite team with players wearing blonde wigs, greased to the hilt, and swinging folding chairs instead of Louisville Sluggers.