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Written by Jonathan Leshanski
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Thursday, 13 December 2007 |
Later today a handful of us will find ourselves taking in the revelations of Former Senator George Mitchell’s report on Major League Baseball and performance enhancing drugs. Some of us will be saddened and shocked to see some of the names branded by the report as steroid users. No doubt there will be some favorite players, some hometown players and even a name or two that we just don’t want to believe but the truth is that the Mitchell report will not be the definitive list of steroid users nor will it be the exposé that ends the steroid era.
It might however be the milestone that means that the worst is truly over. Yes, we’ll still have to figure out what to do about Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire or any of the bulked up stars of the last two decades but this is as close to full disclosure of baseball’s darkest dirty secret that we’re likely to ever see. No doubt plenty of users will get away unnamed and many backdoor diversions of HGH and steroids will not be mentioned but given the limitations placed on George Mitchell, who conducted the investigation without subpoena power, it’s a tribute to his investigative powers.
And while much of the baseball world and especially the casual fan have become numbed to the issue of steroids, many true fans are anxiously awaiting the report. Guessing what it will say isn’t hard to do. No doubt both the owners and the Player’s Union will take their lumps for their part in the whole steroid era. For a change neither side has a lot to fear, the finger pointing will be aimed far more at individual players than the forces on the sidelines.
Unless Senator Mitchell has concrete evidence showing that the owners intentionally turned a blind eye to steroids and essentially condoned the use of steroids or that the Union supported the use of such drugs the report isn’t likely to really be all that earth-shattering.
No, the owners will be labeled as dupes who didn’t act because they didn’t know what was going on and the Union will be labeled as obstructionist to the expose of the truth. And that will be that.
Players whose names come up may or may not face some form of disciplinary action but it would be extremely difficult to punish anyone unless the report offers specifics that could be supported in a court of law. That’s something that we won’t know about for a few weeks, at least until after the grievance filed by outfielder Jose Guillen is resolved.
On Monday Guillen and the Union filed a grievance against MLB and Commissioner Bud Selig contesting a 15 day suspension given to the outfielder after reports that he purchased HGH (human growth hormone) after collective bargaining made the use of such substances illegal.
Of course Guillen, like many who will be named, have not failed a drug test. Nor will they - players have adapted to the new rules and to the existent tests and will either have gone clean or found substances that are undetectable to those tests. That will make penalizing them difficult - at least if MLB wishes to punish them for drug use. However there might be a loophole - Commissioner Bud Selig could attempt to punish them for behavior detrimental to the game, or for the suspicion of having tainted the game, using the precedent set by the first commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis who used that same justification for banning the 8 Black Sox for the game in perpetuity.
If the union challenges that and grievances are filed, the public will notice as will Congress - and that could lead to a change for the better and the empowerment of baseball’s commissioner to stamp out steroids and performance enhancing drug use forever.
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