Chapter 70.9: The Mitchell Report

There's something I must admit about steroids: I've not read the Mitchell Report. I've downloaded it, but it's 409 pages long, and I simply haven't had the time to devote to it yet.

But I've read several news stories, including this one about the Todd Hundley and David Segui connections to the former Mets clubhouse guy, Kirk Radomski, who was dealing the drugs. As a baseball fan, I'm pretty pissed off that so many players -- and you know that it wasn't only the ninety or so that are list -- were using human growth hormone or a variety of steroids. Lots of people talk about how this is a victimless crime; "No one got hurt." Personally, I think they have no idea what they're talking about.

If I were the last cut for my position and didn't make the team because the guy above me was cheating, I'd be furious. It might even be enough for me to stoop to the same level. That's one argument about why Barry Bonds started taking the clear and the cream; he was so jealous of the accolades that Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire received that he said, "Just wait to see the numbers I put up if I took that stuff."

I used to be in the camp that would argue for including Bonds in the Hall of Fame because he played like one of the all-time greats before using. But my sentiments are changing. With Roger Clemens too. I've never liked either of these players, but I had respect for their abilities. Clemens was always the guy who worked harder than everyone else. I don't doubt that he retained that work ethic; the problem is he took advantage of a substance he had no legal right to use. Who wouldn't want to heal faster than usual and gain strength when your career depends on it? Before Clemens left Boston, he was a fading great; then he went to Toronto, won a couple of Cy Young Awards, and placed him on the path toward more than 350 wins. Better than Greg Maddux? No. Maddux, Glavine, these guys were (and are) true ball players, not bullshitters. I think it's telling that a group of Little League coaches in Texas may disinvite Clemens for a speaking engagement.

One of the articles that I read recently that surprised me was by Murray Chass of the New York Times. He pointed out that sixteen years ago Commissioner Fay Vincent issued a memo to teams. The following is from that article:

Mitchell, however, cites one development in his report that may be its most overlooked element. Mitchell mentions a June 7, 1991, memo Vincent wrote to clubs when he was commissioner in which he added steroids to baseball’s list of banned substances.

After the enactment of a federal law, Mitchell wrote, Vincent advised clubs that baseball’s drug policy prohibited the use of “all illegal drugs and controlled substances, including steroids or prescription drugs for which the individual” doesn’t have a prescription.

The memo should have gotten the clubs’ attention, but it didn’t.

“My memo was totally ignored by all,” Vincent wrote in an e-mail message Sunday. He added: “The point was to alert the baseball world to the recent inclusion of steroids as illegal prohibited substances under federal law. But the union did nothing to underscore my memo and I think the clubs ignored it as irrelevant.”

I don't know what effect this will have to counter the argument that "no one knew" what was going on. If nothing else, it should shut up the stupid fans who say "they weren't doing anything illegal." Yes, they were. Steroids were -- and are -- illegal to possess without a prescription. Perhaps some players received legally prescribed steroid kits, but if they're acquiring it through guys like Radomski, then it's still illegally obtained.

Perhaps my anger will be assuaged with time, but this is not a story that will be quieted by spring training. This is a cloud over the game for the forseeable future. For at least five years and probably more. Rafael Palmeiro will never be elected to the Hall of Fame. Neither will Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa, and even Bonds and Clemens will probably miss out on being elected in their first year of eligibility.

One last note for now: The Mitchell Report is effectively an argument; the players basically kept their mouths shut, so the court of public opinion is decidedly against the quiet ones. But the Mitchell Report can't be taken as the definite truth -- not yet. But I think all of the named players will have a difficult time proving that Mitchell was wrong.

Chapter 60.52: A Vicious Hit

Murray Chass pulls no punches in this piece about the hypocrisy of baseball, which is now fighting to rid itself of steroids (after ignoring/overlooking/avoiding) that subject for at least ten years but avoids things like alcohol, which kills far more people.

In light of Josh Hancock's death, for which alcohol appears to have been a major contributor, Chass excoriates Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, who was caught asleep at the wheel earlier this year with his foot on the brake at an intersection after drinking too much. LaRussa doesn't help himself with some of his comments about how reporters might try to turn Hancock's story into something "not all sweet" (I have a question about context, but I'll leave it for another time).

As someone who enjoys a wee dram or to crack open a cold one from time to time, I have to say that Chass's comments are sobering. It's hard to argue he's wrong; alcohol is not only a controlled drug but also is attributable to tens of thousands of deaths every year -- and probably contributes to the health problems of a million or more individuals. These are tragic truths, and Chass is right to call attention to them. He also could have enhanced his information about how smoking (cigarettes, cigars, pot) and smokeless tobacco also have held too comfortable a place in baseball and can be traced to the deaths of millions of people each year also. These things would be true.

I think there's something else at stake to the sport of baseball with steroids, however. We're not merely talking about a substance that threatens the health of the players, which is clearly bad enough, but it also undermines the integrity of the game. Alcohol is not a performance enhancer. Chass is comparing apples and oranges.

Driving while intoxicated is illegal, and those who are in the public eye who are caught doing that deserve to be ridiculed for their actions. I feel sad for those who die due to their stupidity in driving drunk and I'm angry about those who die because of the stupid people who drove drunk and caused their deaths. But the institution of motorized travel isn't completely undermined by drunk drivers. I know that sounds ridiculous, but the apples are apples. While some people choose not to drive because of the myriad dangers involved, that is all about personal choice, just like the fans who decided not to return to baseball after the labor strike(s).

I care about the game of baseball, and those who attack its integrity -- the admitted gambler Pete Rose, the admitted steroid user Jose Canseco, the alleged steroid user Barry Bonds -- all take a little piece of the game away. A game that was very helpful to them and enabled them to be wealthy. With great wealth comes great responsibility. I believe Pete Rose should not be voted into the Hall of Fame. Jose Canseco doesn't deserve to be there either. Barry Bonds? He may go down as a more tragic figure than Pete Rose, because what Bonds accomplished before he seems to have started juicing warranted Hall of Fame status, so he didn't really need to enhance his ability; he was already an all-time great. Now? ... well, I wouldn't vote for Bonds if it were up to me. (Of course, Rose was an all-time great too, but he broke an established, very well-known rule. That moron should have known better, but he thought he was above the game.)

Would I get into a car with Billy Martin or Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle or Hack Wilson or Whitey Ford or any of the other baseball greats who were later exposed as heavy, dangerous drinkers? Not a chance in hell. But I probably would have enjoyed watching the games they were involved in, because they seemed a bit more pure than what we were exposed to during the late 1990s.

Perhaps I'm deluding myself. There's probably a pill for that.

Chapter 51.7: Kids in the Hall

It's Hall of Fame voting time again. (No, I don't have a vote.) This year's three big new names are Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken, and Mark McGwire. Gwynn and Ripken are obvious HOFers, so I won't even belabor that debate. And McGwire, well, that's something else entirely. Given what's been mentioned on the radio and online lately, a lot of voters have decided to leave him off their ballots -- quite possibly enough to deny him election this year. Fair play. But will that happen next year too? Is he now forever left in the background because of the unproven (but likely) accusations of using enhancements? Time will tell, and it will speak loudly. Personally, I think voters eventually will acquiesce and vote him into the Hall and others will decry it as hypocrisy.

On another issue, I'd like to throw out these names for the Hall of Almost Famous: Jim Rice, Goose Gossage, Bret Saberhagen. (There are others too.) In my opinion, Rice was a great hitter and deserves enshrinement. Gossage too, because he helped change the role of relievers. But I don't think either will get in. Rice's numbers were short of most of the major metrics (e.g., 500 HRs, 3,000 hits, 1,500 RBI) and reportedly his attitude annoyed the writers who vote at this point, but he came darn close last year so perhaps there's hope. Goose? It's a harder sell. No one seems to remember that after he left the Yankees -- well, at least after the Padres -- he became just another reliever. Other than his final year (with Seattle!) he hadn't finished more than half the games he pitched; this man was not a closer the final seven years of his long career. But he had several years as one of the best. Of course, his time with the Yankees is his claim to fame, and while he was the most feared reliever at that time, I'm not sure he kept that status long enough for enshrinement. The man wasn't Mariano, whose eventual enshrinement is a foregone conclusion. Saberhagen? Excellent for a few seasons (two Cy Young awards), but not otherwise close to enshrinment. He just didn't have it for long enough to deserve it.

Just another guy whose baseball card is worth a few pennies more than the common player.