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The Culture of Baseball
Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee spoke in front of congress on February 13, 2007.
In an event that interested political and legal analysts, and baseball fans alike, all present and interested were left with more questions than answers. The Clemens hearing has further exposed the seedy underbelly of baseball, and the similarities to organized crime are uncanny.
Don - rather Commissioner Selig has been remarkably quiet since the release of the Mitchell Report, which has implicated dozens of former baseball players in connection with steroids.
In The Godfather: Part II, there is a scene where Michael Corleone is being peppered with questions about his criminal actions in front of the Senate Committee, who had been investigating his crime family, which once had high ranking officials on its payroll.
Knowing that the burden of proof was not his, Michael flatly denied all allegations. Corleone confidently challenged the committee to provide a witness who can provide evidence of his guilt. The committee, equally confident promised Corleone that they would find an adequate witness.
The committee found a witness, Frank Pentangeli, who could implicate Michael and the Corleone family on homicide conspiracy charges. The Corleone family had attempted to take Pentageli’s own life.
Michael, well aware of Pentangeli’s deep traditional Sicilian roots attended the hearing with Pentangeli’s brother. Frank Pentangeli, after seeing his brother, was suddenly aware of the weight of his accusations, and recanted every statement he made to the committee.
After Pentangeli left the stand, Corleone and the family’s lawyer, Tom Hagen, arrogantly demanded an apology.
Clemens lawyer, Rusty Hardin, was boisterous standing in front of the congressional building in Washington D.C. He slandered McNamee, made an irresponsible comparison of Clemens’ situation to the Duke Lacrosse Sexual Assault Case, which ended with the suspects being cleared of all charges, and warned the media that they’d be sorry for any assumption that Clemens was guilty.
Andy Pettitte, Clemens’ close friend and long time teammate, considered the most important witness in the Clemens hearing, was noticeably absent the day of the hearing.
In a sea of half-truths, lies, deceit and back-stabbing Pettitte is perhaps the only person who can truly corroborate Clemens or Brian McNamee, who claims to have injected Clemens with steroids and Human Growth Hormone on multiple occasions.
Pettitte opted to give a taped deposition to congress, rather than answering questions in a live forum. In his deposition, Pettitte implicated Clemens HGH use, but claimed ignorance in regards to steroid use.
Baseball has a long history of cheaters. Baseball, in the past, has essentially breached all courtesy in setting even a double standard, and has nearly glorified some of the games greatest culprits.
Pete Rose and Joe Jackson aside, the image of an old-time baseball player is a gritty, ultra competitive player, wearing a loose uniform and a funny mustache, who bent or broke rules in order to gain a competitive advantage. Routinely baseballs were doctored, bats corked, spikes sharpened, and players received a mere slap on the wrist if caught.
The key difference, and the reason the government is involved, is the relative effect on society. As far as medicine has advanced, we still know little about the long term effect of steroids and HGH. Some of the greatest speculations involve the development and accelerated growth of cancer.
However, there are no reports, even anecdotal, of widespread, long term medical problems from hocking a loogie on a baseball, dipping it in a tub of Vasoline, jamming cork into a bat, or a cleat shaped cuts on a player’s leg
Baseball has done a poor job of policing itself, and some even believe that baseball’s alleged ignorance to performance enhancing drugs is intentional. There comes a point when an impartial authority must step in, that point is now.
Children idolize and emulate athletes, and in their purest form, athletes are not bad role models. Most, or at least many athletes are a symbol of hard work and discipline personified. If the government were not to take a hard stance on the use of illegal drugs to enhance one’s performance, or wallet, it would be doing a disservice to society, and setting dangerous precedent for future generations.
It is highly unlikely that baseball can ever completely separate itself from steroids, but if anything that resembles a resolution is ever to be reached, drastic measures must be taken.
Baseball will need to employ a strategy similar to the drug-testing policies of the International Olympic Committee. Harsher punishments need to be levied against offenders and samples taken should be saved, and retested as new information surfaces, effectively keeping the MLB one step ahead of offenders.
Unfortunately, baseball will have to wait to make any major changes, the collective bargaining agreement between Major League Baseball, and the Player’s association ends in 2011. In the wake of apparent widespread use, the MLBPA’s leverage is at an all-time low.
The culture of baseball has been shaken, its credibility shot, and its fans have been awakened to their idols misdeeds. Chances are, this near half decade of steroid awareness is just the tip of the iceberg, but as it sits right now, baseball is battling drug dealers and conmen in the court of public opinion, and losing.
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