Friday, March 18, 2005
Baseball & Steroids - Must See TV
I found myself glued to my TV set this afternoon watching baseball players (both current and former) and MLB big-wigs like Commissioner Bud Selig and union head Donald Fehr testify before a U.S. House panel investigating steroid use in baseball.
This was almost as good as watching a seventh game of the fall classic. Curt Schilling was there to pitch his views and once again proved that he has never met a microphone that he didn't like. Rafael Palmeiro was there to adamantly deny using any illegal substance. I wondered if before the hearings began, Palmeiro was handing out free samples of Viagra and telling committee members "This is all I need to perform at the top of my game." Mark McGwire was in attendance and did not want to talk about "the past", probably because he knows his legacy will be forever tarnished because of his acknowledged use of Andro which at the time of McGwire's record breaking 70 home run season (1998) was not a banned substance. Sammy Sosa was also there. Sosa also shattered the single season home run record of 61 long balls in 1998. Somewhere Roger Maris was rolling over in his grave wondering why he is the player with an asterisk permanently engraved on his tombstone. The steroid poster boy Jose Canseco was there. The only thing that would have been more entertaining than the hearings themselves would have been a cage match between Canseco and Schilling. Schilling ripped Canseco in his opening statements to the committee flat out calling him "a liar". The two were conveniently seated at opposite ends of the table. Sixty feet, six inches would have been a lot more dramatic.
One by one, committee members questioned the players about steroids and their knowledge of them and their speculation as to the percentage of usage at the major league level. Many seemed to ask a different version of a previous asked question and the players seemed to give different answers to each one. It was as erratic as a Bud Selig news conference but entertaining nonetheless.
Schilling testified that he believed there was a steroid issue in baseball but that the problem was miniscule compared to Canseco's assertion in the past that 80% of players have used performance enhancing drugs.
Palmeiro came off as an honest person. The only reason he was called to this hearing was because Canseco fingered him in his book. If I was to make a list of players I suspect might have used steroids Palmeiro wouldn't even be on that list. He has a natural looking physique and is a player who seems to have earned his place in the 500 home run club with a sweet swing and hard work and dedication to his sport.
Mark McGwrire was a huge disappointment. He refused to answer many questions and despite claiming that he wanted to do all he could to help in this matter, seemed to be no help at all. I wish a representative would have got a projector screen and compared a Mark McGwire rookie card to one from his final years in the majors. Even better would have been a simple question as to why a tall and skinny McGwire, who hit 49 home runs in his rookie season, felt the need to take anything legal or illegal to enhance his performance?
Sammy Sosa denied ever using steroids. If I was on the House committee I would have asked him just out of curiosity why his eyeballs seem to be a foot outside of his head? How credible can a guy whose bat exploded into a pile of cork be?
How is it that of all the players in attendance, Canseco seemed to be the most honest in his answers and opinions? Yes Canseco is slime amongst slime but even if half his allegations are true, baseball has a serious problem and has pretty much ignored it for several years. Every player except Canseco believed that baseball itself could clean this problem up with no help from lawmakers. After looking at what baseball has done (or hasn't done) in the past it was easy to side with Canseco. I was reminded of Steve Howe who received slap on the wrist after slap on the wrist for snorting cocaine like it was an everyday nasal mist. Are known steroid abusers going to receive the same kind of treatment? Baseball's new drug policy calls for a 10 day suspension for first time offenders and it takes four offenses to receive a one year ban. This is laughable and in no way does it send a strong message to athletes and the easily influenced youth of America that steroids are bad and should not be used.
Baseballs first commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis slapped a lifetime ban on eight members of the Chicago White Sox for consorting with gamblers and throwing the 1919 World Series. Bart Giamatti permanently banned Pete Rose from the game in 1989 for betting on baseball.
It's time that Bud Selig along with the players association get tough on the dopers in baseball before government has no choice but to step in to clean the sport up.
Judging by today's proceedings that is where it seems headed.
- Dean Swanton
posted by David 9:54 AM
