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Jewish World Review
April 30, 2007
/ 12 Iyar, 5767
Radomski's Crooning Won't Upset Baseball's Apple Cart
By
Evan Weiner
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
So Major League Baseball's little world was rocked again on Friday when it was
revealed as part of a US government's investigation into drug use is baseball that
a New York Mets clubhouse employee Kirk J. Radomski pleaded guilty to supplying
performance-enhancing drugs to dozens of current and former Major League Baseball
players and their associates, and laundering the proceeds from those deals.
Radomski worked for the Mets between 1985 and 1995 and claimed he was selling
anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and amphetamines to players over a decade
long period starting in 1995.
Will Radomski's plea really have an impact on Major League Baseball? Probably not.
The federal probe of BALCO, Jose Canseco's book, Congressional hearings on the use
of illegal performance enhancing substances in all sports, the South Carolina
doctor going to jail after giving illegal performance enhancers to members of the
Carolina Panthers in 2004, the raid of former Major League pitcher Jason
Grimsley's home in 2006 by US has not diminished the amount of money or interest
that is going into sports.
If anything, sports industry has become even bigger despite the allegations of
players using illegal substances to help their performances.
Radomski, BALCO founder Victor Conte, Dr. James Shortt and others have been
indicated or implicated, found guilty of various crimes and the sports world goes
on and on. In the United States, the possession of steroids without a doctor's
approval has been illegal for 16 years, the bill signed into law by President
George H. W. Bush, yet Canseco said he was instructing his teammates about using
various illegal performance enhancers in 1992 in the Texas Rangers clubhouse. The
Managing General Partner of the Texas Rangers in 1992 was George W. Bush, the son
of the then sitting President of the United States.
Years later as the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush included in
his State of the Union speech a talk on getting steroids in 2004. Bush's comments
included "the use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball,
football, and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message - that
there are shortcuts to accomplishment, and that performance is more important than
character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches, and
players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough, and to get rid
of steroids now."
Apparently no one in the United States sports world took Bush's call to arms
seriously because the raids of both Radomski and Grimsley homes took place long
after the State of the Union address, a number of Carolina Panthers players were
using illegal substances and the International Olympic Committee President Jacques
Rogge was trying to convince with Italian authorities in 2005 that athletes caught
using illegal substances should be tried not by Italian law authorities but by the
IOC since the athletes really were not committing a crime, rather they were
cheating and should be suspended for cheating.
So if Rogge was correct, then Major League Baseball may have been loaded with
cheaters and not criminals from 1991 onward. That means it is possible that from
1991 onward, baseball games might not have been bona fide competition and that
really does bring up questions. Since baseball did not test for illegal
performance enhancing substances until recently, any wild allegation can be thrown
out there without proof. Yes, andro was found in Mark Mc Gwire's locker in 1998
but at the time androstenedione was legally sold over the counter.
The Anabolic Steroid Control Act was signed into law in October 2004 and classified
androstenedione and 17 other steroids as controlled substances. As of January 2005,
these substances may not be sold without prescription.
If Mc Gwire just took andro, he did nothing wrong in 1998. Many countries do not
recognize the United States steroids law and in some baseball playing Latin
American countries, there was no problem in purchasing steroids.
So baseball may not have had as many "cheaters" as thought because of various
international and American laws governing steroids and other supplements. Still,
what if Radomski starts singing to Major League Baseball's investigator on illegal
substances, the former United States Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and
names a bunch of retired players? Major League Baseball can't suspend them as they
are retired, perhaps there might be a permanent ban imposed like the one given to
Pete Rose which really won't amount to much except in an individual case here or
there or maybe dock pensions but that's not happening. The likelihood of any
athlete getting arrested is slim, how many users have been picked up by law
enforcement officials? Major League Baseball can't do anything about its past and
Major League Baseball isn't going to erase the records from 1991 onward because
that could unleash a bunch of class action suits that would be unprecedented in
sports history.
How many United States cities and states raised hotel, motel, car rental, sales
and other taxes to underwrite new stadiums for Major League Baseball owners that
would want their money back if it was admitted by Major League Baseball that the
competition from 1991 onward may not have been on the level? How would MLB deal
with all the ticket holders who might want their money back who attended games
during the time period? How would baseball owners deal with Cable TV operators who
passed onto non-sports fans consumers the ever escalating price of sports on their
systems (by the way, will US and Canadian cable operators ever reimburse
subscribers for missed games which were paid for because of labor actions in
baseball, hockey and basketball in 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2005?), if
they ask Major League Baseball for a refund?
It has been suggested Mc Gwire along with Sammy Sosa in their battle to break
Roger Maris' home run record of 61 in 1998 helped catapult Major League Baseball
to where it is today, an industry loaded with revenue streams, new stadiums all
over the map except in South Florida, huge TV contracts, a big money producing in
mlb.com and huge attendance. There were all sorts of rumors about steroid usage
during the 1990s but the US government, baseball owners, the players association
or newspaper editors seemed very interested in ruining the party, so life went on
despite some suspicions about certain players.
Chances are good that Radomski will give investigators a lot of good information,
but like the BALCO case, the Dr. Shortt plea bargain, Dr. Shortt got a year in
jail, Radomski will become a mere footnote in sports history. People will still
buy tickets, buy mlb.com subscriptions for games, and buy cable or satellite radio
and TV packages because they want to see or be seen at a game or they want to be
entertained. Truth be told, all baseball fans want to know is who hit the home run
and how far did it go. Radomski, Grimsley, Conte, BALCO, Dr. Shortt just get in
the way of being entertained.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Evan Weiner is a syndicated radio commentator. Comment by clicking here.
Previously:
03/26/07: David Stern's United States West Coast Political Problems
03/19/07: Why are Oden and Durant Playing College Basketball Instead of Being in the NBA?
03/05/07: Even with cap, system works against small markets
12/14/06: Specter looks to repeal NFL's antitrust exemption
11/13/06: Selig May Be the True MVP of baseball this year
08/31/06: Goodell moving into office with long list of challenges football
08/23/06: Why the NFL is so great
07/17/06: The end of sports reporting as we know it?
07/10/06: Kansas City Finds Itself The Center of Musical Chairs
06/27/06: Newark takes a hard lesson in the pro stadium game
06/16/06: Don't Believe the Gripe: The NHL Is Back
06/05/06: As Bonds Hogs the Spotlight, Selig Goes 3-for-3 at the Plate
05/30/06: State of the NBA Nation Is Strong
05/22/06: NFL owners gather to play stadium game
05/15/06: A legal groundswell builds beneath baseball
05/05/06: Four Years Later, Baseball Finds an Owner in D.C.
05/01/06: Turmoil brews beneath NFL's newfound tranquility
04/24/06: NFL and small town America wherewithal
04/21/06: The Two Scariest Words in Baseball: Salary Cap
04/18/06: Why the major leagues succeed
04/17/06: Fans welcome new stadiums; will stadiums welcome fans?
04/10/06: Fans welcome new stadiums; will stadiums welcome fans?
04/07/06: Don't mess with a congressman/sports fanatic
04/05/06: Los Angles loses yet again
04/04/06: NCAA's highest stakes are first beginning
04/03/06: The real reason Major League Baseball is worried about cheating
03/31/06: Baseball buoyant, better than ever
03/30/06: Affording to be in the big leagues
© 2006, Evan Weiner
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