Joe Torre And Steroids In Baseball, Not A Happy Story

"They are talking about six years ago," Joe Torre was quoted as saying in The New York Times on the subject of Manny Ramirez appearing on the infamous 2003 steroid user list. "It's ancient history."

You've got to love Joe. Joe put up with The Boss when he was still a tyrant. Joe was the serene manager of those championship teams. But Joe, your Manny, and he is your Manny now, wasn't only caught using six years ago, although he was a user then, he was caught using again recently. It's not ancient history at all.

The baseball owners colluded to control free agent salaries. In retaliation the union flexed its muscle and helped create stratospheric compensation from the lowest to the highest paid ballplayers. The newly empowered union under Donald Fehr with the capacity to shut down the game battled ferociously against drug testing. With Bud Selig as commissioner, the owners got drunk on home runs and enhanced performances which boosted attendance. Law-abiding, clean ballplayers were playing on an uneven playing field, but getting rich beyond their fantasies and developed an insidious wall of silence about steroid use in the locker rooms.

Baseball beat writers are beginning to ask about the so-called good ballplayers and where they were while baseball and its statistics and history were diminished, while the marquee players who used were tipping the balance of the sport and the union protected them. Where were players like Cal Ripken, Gregg Maddux, Derek Jeter, why didn't they pressure the union to allow more stringent testing, why didn't they organize others of integrity?

And where were the managers, so attuned to the physical characteristics and physical conditions of their players that they make subtle decisions, who hits, who sits, who pitches and when, who stays in, who comes out. We know why they didn't speak out about steroid use, the owners who employed them were condoning the practice. And their ballplayers were going along with it. And maybe, just maybe they knew they were benefiting in their careers from the steroid-enhanced performances of their players.

But why can't a manager like Joe Torre speak out now? Sadly, about the names being revealed from the 2003 list, Joe Torre told The Times, "It's something that certain people have access to and they are choosing to systematically have fun with what they are doing with it." Joe, the leaks aren't the issue. People are still using. We know because some of them are getting caught. Yet testing in baseball still doesn't come close to Olympics Games or cycling standards.

The Yankee locker room on Joe Torre's watch was the very opposite of a steroid-free zone. To quote the Times again, "The list of Yankees who either admitted to or are accused of doping includes Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettite, Chuck Knoblauch, Jason Giambi, Jason Grimsley and Roger Clemens."

If there's still work to be done in cleaning up the sport, saying it's ancient history and blaming the messenger doesn't help. We really don't know whether you were an enabler in the locker room, Joe, but don't be an enabler in print.

Comments

[Davyhulme]

Why can’t they just ban the players involved from the sport immediately, I don’t believe in more chances for these guys. An example should be made of people like Michael Vic, he did not even make an apology for what he did. People say that there will never be another player like the one involved, but believe me there always is!!! There are always more waiting on the sidelines to be discovered!! Maybe once they ban a few, the others will learn, there might be a few with enormous ego’s that will try to beat the system, but they will be caught.

[3fingerbrown]

Joe would love to make all this stuff go away for good reason: he's as guilty as the players on the list. The commissioner, everyone at MLB headquarters, and every manager, coach, trainer, team doctor, union official, agent, owner, GM, broadcaster, and writer who knew this stuff was going on and were too cowardly and greedy to kill the steroidal goose laying their golden eggs must share in the shame.

I especially single out the reporters, who were professionally obligated to say that something fishy was going on instead of acting like employees of MLB's PR department (interesting that, around the same time, the White House press corps was doing the same see-no-evi­l-speak-no­-evil routine in support of Bush's splendid little war).

Also, there were the high-profile managers like Torre and LaRussa and Cox, men who had both the insider's knowledge and the clout to speak up without fear of reprisal, who could've stood up and been counted. Instead, they sat down and counted their fat paychecks. And said nothing.

[Frank Smith]

It was reported at the time, maybe not nearly enough, but it was reported.

McGuire's use of androstenedione, then legal in baseball and everything else, along with creatine was openly touted. Nobody cared.

It got to the point where it was ridiculously out of hand and the problem was finally addressed. The people crying about PEDs being ignored just weren't paying attention or are rewriting history.

[Catothemuchyounger]

Sorry, can't get very excited about this stuff. Pro athletes are highly competitive. Most will do almost anything to get an edge. That attitude is part of what makes them as good as they are. I am not saying the PEDs are good for the sport, but I can't get very outraged by players using them.

[coolmaiden]

Much agreed. I have said before, I'll say again: I think there was a massive conspiracy among owners and network sponsors to distribute the drug so crowds could see home run shows, or aging pitchers throw 102-mile-per-hour fastballs. The majority of fans support Pete Rose for the Hall of Fame but we're outraged over baseball caving in to fan desire for a more exciting game?

[OttoMann]

A few points:
1) Six years is NOT ancient history, for anything
2) If it turned that Babe Ruth had used steroids, it would still be newsworthy
3) Manny is still playing, so anything he did during his career is relevant
4) Is Torre suggesting that if someone uses, and covers it up just long enough to qualify as "ancient history," then it no longer counts?

[jaggednerve]

The release and the method of release of these names is pure terrorisim. Right ,wrong or indifferent, the players and the owners reached an agreement, FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME, to test players looking for a threshold of use. This was done for the purpose of creating effective testing and moving the game forward. And, as has been stated so many times, there was no rule against use in baseball at that time. Whoever is now in control of this list and dribbling out names (all big stars with big contracts) has violated the confidence of the bargining agreement as well as the spirit in which the tests were allowed.
This dribbling of superstar names will do little to convince players to come forward. Another fact not stated is we have no idea what these players have tested positive for.. could be smoking pot, or cocaine or other "non performance enhancing drugs" but we will never know will we..? So many are so interested in tearing down others that they have no vision for the damage they're doing to the Game and all those that dream of playing in the major leagues.
Since when have we repealed the laws of transational immmunity and confidentiality? Henry Waxman needs to look at his staff and the other members of congress who had access to this list. That's where the leak is..it'swhere it always is.. this is bulls..t! let the players play and if the mess up kick them out.