Now that the first storm of outrage about the contents of the Mitchell Report has subsided and the season of good cheer is upon us, let's take a look at the mail bag and respond to some of the comments offered in response to my earlier blog posts.
Someone suggested that the way to deal with steroids in baseball is to "dope 'em all up." In this way, we would have a level playing field. Actually, one of my graduate students the semester I taught in the UK suggested that we should have two professional soccer leagues -- one perfectly clean and the other dirty, where anything goes concerning performance enhancing substances. Which "Premiership" do you think folks will watch?
Another commenter suggested that we all pay too much attention to these games and, in the process, ignore the real problems in this country. Do you mean we should worry about the fact that the economy is in the dumper, that we are fighting two nasty wars with no end in sight, that we are systematically destroying our planet, and that poor folks around the world go to sleep hungry each night? Just wait: January 15th the steroid circus comes back to Washington for Congressional hearings, starring some of our favorite Members of the Legislative Branch. In a future post I will present to you my testimony before this august committee, because, as of yet, I have not received my invitation to actually testify.
It is true, as some commenter suggested, that the steroid issue "casts a shadow on the authenticity of the Grand Old Game." I think that is both accurate and quite sad. This shadow had its origins in the earliest days of the sport when gambling, game-fixing, alcoholism, drug use and violence first invaded the National Pastime. I will write more about that part of baseball history in the future, but, as a teaser, I have found evidence in my research of the use of testosterone injections by a Hall of Fame player in 1889!
Many of you seem ready to blame the Commissioner's office for the steroid mess. I think, in general, that Bud Selig has been a good commissioner as the representative of the owners. He has no pretensions of neutrality, like the late Bowie Kuhn, nor does he enjoy the oratory skills of the great Bart Giamatti. He has some terrific folks working for him, including Rob Manfred, who runs baseball management's labor relations. Others blame the Players Association and the greedy players for this mess. In my estimation, Don Fehr is a terrific labor leader, right up there with Marvin Miller. He represents his membership well, and that is his job. In a future blog, I will talk more about labor relations in baseball.
Some folks accuse me of being a lawyer. I plead guilty, and I do value fairness and equitable procedures designed to illicit truth. If there is evidence that players bought steroids and HGH, I think that is valid to consider. No, it does not prove that the players used the 'roids, but an inference might be drawn to that effect. I worry most about the absence of confrontation of the few witnesses Senator Mitchell had available. Yes, the accused players declined the "opportunity" to offer their stories, but that is a far cry from the right of cross-examination.
Apparently, we can look forward to one criminal trial for perjury and a series of internal investigations by Commissioner Selig. This will offer forums to test the validity of certain charges. I wonder, if Barry Bonds is acquitted of perjury, will the front page report this as proof of his innocence of the underlying accusation of drug use (much as they put up mug shots of the 90 "guilty" players named in the Mitchell Report)? If baseball's labor arbitrator, Shaym Das, the splendid neutral from Pittsburgh, were to set aside any disciplinary penalties imposed by the Commissioner, will that put an end to this mess?
One cogent comment offered to my blog made the point that what is most troubling about this entire affair is "the idea that in order to succeed in one's chosen profession, one must break the rules -- cheat -- in order to get ahead." I could not agree more. Baseball has always been a mirror of American society. It has always involved cheaters, and we can learn a lot about ourselves by observing the customs and mores of our National Game.