Now that the Mitchell Report is almost two weeks old, the fabled Grimsley Affidavit has been unsealed, and the field of our national pastime is littered with urine samples, it's fair to ask what baseball fans have gotten out of all this.
After all, it's the fans who paid for the Steroids Era at the turnstiles, funded the increasingly exorbitant, incentive-laden contracts that rewarded the impossible durability of ancient men named Clemens and Palmeiro (and please hold your tongue, Mr. Schilling): 500 plate appearances, 200 innings pitched and, of course, the ultimate barometer of fan approval, a selection to the All-Star Game. Senator Mitchell was kind enough to leave the fans out of his report, since all we were truly guilty of was that most precious of faults: naivety.
But just the same, baseball fans, like the players and management, grimly awaited Senator Mitchell's 411 pages of commandments. In a way, we were all bracing ourselves for the same spanking. I, for one, had a sinking feeling, as is all too common for sports fans, that I had made yet another poor emotional investment.
The morning of the 13th, as I sat in my car listening to Mitchell's press conference, memories of 1987 were already rushing back to me. It was winter, and I had arrived at my second grade homeroom wearing one of my several Dwight Gooden jerseys, only to be ambushed by a tall boy with a runny nose.
"You do cocaine," he said, snickering, and walked away.
It didn't matter that I didn't know what cocaine was, and it didn't matter that until that morning, when he failed his first (of several) drug tests, the 21-year-old Gooden had promised to be one of the greatest hurlers in history. Most of all, it didn't matter that Gooden and I were two different people. I might as well have failed the urine test myself.
I anticipated the same sinking feeling leading up to December 13. Which players had betrayed us without our knowledge? Which jerseys would be in the trash? And now that that (mostly) unsurprising list is out there; now that we've been treated to another round of admissions and denials; and now that a Cy Young-winner named Schilling has gone on record with a conditional demand that another Cy Young-winner named Clemens have four Cy Young Awards pulled from his mantel... what benefit have we reaped and what more are we due?
On the question of replica jerseys, let's be straight. Kids, you can keep them...but save them for an ironic Halloween costume. When you and your future college roommate go as the Giambi brothers, stuffing pillows into your vintage Oakland jerseys, some tearful schmuck your age will buy you a beer -- I guarantee it.
But on the subject of benefits -- aside from perhaps having, say, better-informed speculation as to why Roger Clemens threw a bat at Mike Piazza in the 2000 World Series -- what we've really gotten is yet another object lesson on the dark side of the American dream. Baseball is often called the most capitalistic sport -- everyone plays for himself, and the team benefits. Of course, capitalism rarely asks conscience of its actors, so whatever guilt the Pettittes, Gagnés and Grimsleys of the world felt over the decision to cheat (if indeed they felt any), such pangs were easily dismissible. They had families and mortgages, they'd never earn this much money again, and that's to say nothing of helping the team. Which, if you play for the Yankees, you're sort of expected to do.
I heard one angry caller on ESPN Radio demand that clubs lower the price of admission. "They've been cheating us for years, paying those salaries and raising ticket prices," he griped. "It's time they put some money back in our wallets."
Maybe I'm blinded by my desperate love of baseball, but I actually don't feel duped. Compared to Pete Rose, betting on games he was managing? Compared to the 1919 Black Sox, throwing the World Series? At least these fuckers were trying to win.
So I'm happy to start over, to accept Senator Mitchell's recommendation about focusing on the future. I don't much like Schilling's talk of stripping awards, as it seems hopelessly incomplete, and frankly the only reason I think Mitchell put as many names in there as he did was so the damn thing would be read. (There is of course, collateral damage to this tactic: the reputations of players who perhaps committed no sin other than paying the infamous Kurt Radomski to install their car stereos.) Let the Steroids Era fade into the rearview mirror just as the pre-9/11 one did -- as a blissful fantasy time. The real trick will be forgetting everything that came next: the accusations and denials, the historically ignorant discussion of "asterisks," and the wounded sanctimony of the sports media. The sport needs a bath, and it seems the water may have been turned on.
On a personal note, I went to see Bonds play in Dodger Stadium in July. He was one homer away from tying Hank Aaron, so naturally the games were sell-outs...but the fifty-six thousand fans had paid the price of admission as much to boo the greatest hitter of my lifetime as to catch a glimpse of history. When he would come up, every hour or so, the ballpark filled with a dense, ugly roar of disapproval. It was hideously surreal -- a gross inversion of Mark McGwire's record chase in '98. An entire stadium was on its feet, millions of flashbulbs were going off, but it was all set to a different soundtrack. If baseball gives us future respite from that roar, that will be quite enough for me.
Steroids were specifically prohibited by a 1991 memo from Commissioner Fay Vincent; the more recent agreement with the Players Union established specific punishments for positive tests, but they have been 'against the rules' of baseball for 16 years. But even that is inconsequential. The use of controlled substances without an apporpriate medical reason is against the law in the U.S.: even for pro athletes. Of course, as a 'victimless' crime, I wouldn't expect these guys to be prosecuted. By the way, I doubt ax murder has ever been specifically 'against the rules of baseball', but I imagine even pro athletes might get into a spot of bother for that.
They used cocaine in the early 20th century?! Horrors! So, probably, did your great grandmother; cocaine was sold OTC in many forms until 1916. At the time, the medical field was unaware of its additictive nature; when they figured that out, it was pulled.
And anybody who honestly equates a morning cup of coffee or Gatorade with steroids, HGH, or greenies has such a bad case of either situation ethics or the inability to see proportion that there's really no need to answer them. I suppose, to them, having a glass of wine at home and driving drunk are the same thing as well.
Professional baseball is a sport and an entertainment. It is, however, also a job. Were you employed in any profession that required drug tests and you tested positive, you would be fired. So should pro athletes. And if you don't believe they are a danger to others (setting aside any potential Roid Rage episodes), you definately not only don't have children who play sports with goals of college scholarships or professional careers, you are unaware that such young athletes might even exist.
This 'everybody does it so who cares' attitude is appalling.
And considering our National Pasttime barred Blacks from the major leagues until 1949 and didn't fully integrate them until 1956, all of the records of the so-called greats are suspect anyway. If steroids were available to the racist heros of yesteryear, does anyone really believe they had such character they wouldn't have used it -- when they participated in making themselves look better by excluding some of the best talent in the game?
Stop the crocodile tears and grow out of the hero worship of the racist baseball players and racist National Pasttime of yesteryear -- because compared to the athletes of yesteryear, the current ones are far better -- with or without steroids -- and they compete against the best talent out there.
There's a probability that the same fans will pay top dollar to get into a baseball memorabilia show a few years from now to see what's left of Barry &, maybe, buy something autographed by Mr Bonds & more if Barry autographs the item in front of them. These same clowns demand that an asterik be placed by Barry's name in the record books because he used 'roids but they'll pay top dollar for Barry's record with or without asterisk. This schizoid attitude is very close to hypocrisy.
Andyboy's comment is one giant appeal to emotion. He overstates everything. He focuses on NFL referees missing one call instead of focusing on the thousands of calls they get right. He focuses on the one NBA referee that goes astray (Tim Donaghy) instead of the other 99% that uphold the integrity of the game.
Then he resorts to conspiracy theories, that sports are fixed. Care to explain that one? How can they possibly fix the games? I would like to hear exactly how they do it, my interest has been piqued.
Andyboy said: "Our whole modern society is based on finding and keeping an 'edge'. Nobody cares what it is or if it's legal."
Just because it's illegal doesn't mean it SHOULD be illegal. I agree that if these players broke the rules, they should be punished, but it's still a dumb rule.
The anti-drug craze in this country has put more good people in jail and has wasted billions upon billions of American taxpayer dollars.
You take performance-enhancers, too, Andyboy. That cup of coffee you have in the morning to wake you up? Performance-enhancer. Those vitamins you take? Performance-enhancers. The Red Bulls? Performance-enhancers.
And I think you meant BARRY Bonds, not BOBBY Bonds. Bobby was Barry's father.
As NorCalNative alluded to, amphetamines are also performance-enhancers. Willie Mays and Mike Schmidt are two notables that admitted to using them. Hank Aaron probably used them as well. Let's asterisk, or, better yet, play Revisionist History and remove them completely from the record books! They cheated my parents out of their money!
How can you pretend to be looking at the issue of performance enhancing drugs and stay quiet about "greenies?" Forget about the steroids and Human Growth Hormone that have legitimate medical uses.
Isn't the bigger story why baseball as a business apparently can't survive without giving it's on-field employees access to speed? We have a War on Drugs and yet baseball gets a wink-wink pass.
Is it possible that Dwight Gooden decided to use cocaine because he was introduced to speed by MLB? Was Pete Rose's hustle amphetamine fueled? It seems to be that this part of the story is much more significant yet remains covered up.
If you haven't done so already, pick up a copy of Jose Canseco's "Juiced." And Daniel as a resident of the S.F bayarea, I'll leave you with a favorite cheer of Giants' fans. "Fu*k the Dodgers!"
This is a perfect metaphor for America. Cheating is praised and promoted. Watching the NFL this year is pretty surreal. Kick returner steps a foot out of bounds on a long TD runback. What happens? Nothing. No call. No challenge. Nothing. It's a Touchdown! Amazing Grace! What an athlete! And he just bought his Momma a $50,000 diamond watch! The announcers point out the cheating on the replay but make no judgements. The referees just "missed one".
NBA umpires gambling on games. Thus rendering the entire season nothing more than a glorified clone of Big Time Wrestling.
Professional sports in America are FIXED.
They are nothing more than a front for huge gambling operations which prey on the idiot "fan" who blows the tuition or the mortgage payment on the internet. Gambling profits dwarf the money generated by ticket and jersey sales.
Marion Jones. Bobby Bonds. The guy who "won" the Tour De France. Hulk Hogan. Roger Clemens. The list is virtually endless and growing by the day.
Our whole modern society is based on finding and keeping an "edge". Nobody cares what it is or if it's legal. Bud Selig doesn't care. He ACTS like he cares. There's a huge difference.
Ballplayers who walk into the lockeroom with giant tackleboxes filled to the brim with performance enhancing drugs could be a clue.
But Dan may be right on one level. If everyone is cheating what difference does it make? Why embarrass people by asking questions?
I just can't bring myself to acknowledge that records that were gained by endurance,dedication,sweat,heartache and victory have been broken by chemically enhanced "athletes".
Baseball is a game where records count in the most visceral way.They are part and parcel of the mythos of the game.To have those records sullied and stained and called into doubt is a blow at an institution which has been a vital part of American history for well over a century.
Is there a reason why President Bush said, "The players and the owners must take the Mitchell Report seriously. I’m confident they will"?
The game isn't tainted, and steroid-using athletes didn't cheat you out of the money you spent on tickets and merchandise.
If steroids are performance-enhancing and should be banned, then so should Gatorade.
If steroids are unhealthy and should be banned, then so should tobacco and alcohol (and, in the context of sports, Cortizone shots).
If steroids add muscle mass and should be banned, then so should protein shakes and weight-lifting.
Stop being duped by an interest-conflicted group of officials, be it Major League Baseball or Congress.
Hopefully we'll be a little more convincing at feigning shock and outrage when the NFL gets busted for steroids, because all the uproar over this scandal has been incredibly unconvincing.