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Editorial: Baseball and steroids, time is no longer on their side.by Jonathan LeshanskiMarch 2, 2004 For more other/recent articles on steroids or drugs in baseball please follow this link I have had more than my share of hate mail since I suggested that government should get involved in legislating an anti-steroid policy if the players union and MLB could not put one together on their own. I was called anti-player, anti-management and anti-union. As I have said before and I’ll say again, I am anti nothing I am pro-baseball.My position is whatever is best for the game is the right path - be it a drug policy, salary cap, revenue sharing, or the re-instatement of Pete Rose no matter how unpopular that may be with one side or the other. Steroids have been a personal issue of mine for more than a year, long before it became fashionable for the media to discuss them. Baseball and the MLBPA have had plenty of time to clean up their act without outside interference but so far they have not been willing to do so. They have concentrated on window dressing while claiming to have rebuilt the house. Banning trainers from the locker room is not enough. Add in random drug testing and it is still not enough. Add in a drug policy without any mandatory suspension time and it becomes an out and out joke. Steroid use should not be an arbitration eligible issue - It’s a cheat pure and simple. Penalties need to be straightforward and enforced as seriously as the ban on gambling and not subject to outside review. Owners are afraid that they will lose star players during the season to suspension and that the home run totals will fall - after all in their minds that’s what we all come for, the home run - the rest of the game is irrelevant. It’s the reason that bandbox stadiums have become the rage in recent years. The MLBPA is afraid that the millionaires that they represent might lose some money if they get suspended, or that their contracts might be for lower dollar amounts if the guy can’t hit 40 home runs per season. They have done everything in their power to impede and block testing - even voluntary testing by players that want to prove they are clean. It’s unfair to all of us. Somewhere in the middle are the players. Somewhere between 40-95% of all players are clean and play the game to the best of their natural abilities. Yet every single one of them knows someone who cheats and uses the “juice” to improve their production. Some are marginal players and some are superstars. It sends a message to young and marginal athletes when baseball refuses to crack down on enhancing drugs. It says, “cheat and be rewarded with big contracts, you know how much easier it will be.” I see things from a medical perspective as well as that of a baseball writer and fan. I try not to leave my patients on steroids because of the long-term health risks. They are very dangerous drugs. Morally when they are used for non-medical reasons, they are being abused. A game or contest of any sort should a fair and represent an honest effort from the athletes on both sides. Steroids deny that to the fan - even if every athlete on the field were doing it. Pure and simple it’s a cheat. It cheats the fans that buy the seat, the owners that pay the salary and the players that stay clean and rely on their natural talent - and they’ve started to come forward in droves. Steroids violate the integrity of the game itself. Bug Selig has acted in the interests of players and owners by asking the Federal government to stay out of it. They have promised to clean up the game on their own. Don’t believe it. It’s another problem being swept under the rug. How many players came into camp 20 pounds lighter this season? How many much bigger and stronger? How many know that their integrity is publicly questioned? They have had a whole season to wean themselves from drugs and some are now quite sanctimoniously swearing that they never used steroids. Uh-huh. And I have some lovely swampland to sell you. Now legislators are climbing on board by launching anti-steroid bills. Today they will announce the first bill to clean up the game and to force a drug policy on baseball. For them it is theatrics, a popular cause with no downside and they can be known as the man/woman who cleaned up baseball. The sad part is that it might be the only way to force change. The owners and MLBPA have been having their own private Cold War since the late 60’s and they have refused to come to terms on their own. They had their chance and we all rooted for them to do the right thing but apparently it was beyond them. Now we need to hope that they either come to their senses or that the legislators don’t screw this up too badly. Share your thoughts or comments on this topic or article by clicking here! |
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