Congress Is Right to Investigate Baseball

Published: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 11:07 AM PST

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Roger Clemens just had his moment on Feb. 13 before Congress in testimony about steroids use.

The question was, would it be a Rafael Palmeiro-like moment or Mark McGwire-like moment?

Palmeiro, you’ll recall, wagged his finger in defiance when he testified before Congress only later to test positive for steroids use.

McGwire, the same day, babbled incoherently about not wanting to talk about the past.

McGwire never has said anything of substance about allegations he used steroids, while Palmeiro’s inflated statistics were exposed.

A lot of people are wondering why Congress is getting involved and asking why we needed a Mitchell Report. Well, baseball would have never done anything on its own, so what is happening now was necessary.

This isn’t a new problem. It just seems like new.

Tony Gwynn said players such as himself tried to address the steroids issue 14 years ago, but they were brushed aside. Here’s what he said a couple of years ago when he spoke at the Hall of Champions:

"If you go back to 1994 when we went on strike, everyone thinks money," he said. "That was one issue -- money. But you never hear talk about the fight for testing. Being the player rep, I can tell you we were talking testing. We were concerned the game was headed down the wrong path and nobody paid attention to us."

They are now.

What fans of pro sports criticizing the need for the Mitchell Report and testimony before Congress don’t understand is the trickle-down effect of the ills of pro sports to high school athletics.

We live in a time when high school coaches try to counter their athletes being bombarded by negative influences from pro sports. Yet, ironically, the coaches have less support and resources than ever in under-funded school systems.

Guys like Clemens and Barry Bonds, with their defiant arrogance, need to be busted. If baseball won’t do it, Congress should.

-- TOM SHANAHAN

4 Comments so far on this story...

"Guys like Clemens and Barry Bonds, with their defiant arrogance, need to be busted." Merriman is a guy "like Clemons and Barry Bonds, with their defiant arrogance". I don't hear you calling him out even though he cheated and lied. The hypocrisy is wonderful. Homer strikes again! Keep up the great work Tom. If you're going to live in a glass house, don't throw stones.

Posted by Merriman = Clemons & B | reply to this comment
February 15, 2008 10:27 am

Congress should not be involved in any way with baseball. The Congress of the United states exists to serve the people of the United States by attending to social needs and security. It does not exist to take care of entertaining them. Baseball's popularity does not make it necessary to our national security or social wellbeing. We no more need a government office for baseball than we need commissioners for surfing and golf. Regulation of baseball should be entirely private and paid for by those who attend the games and play in them. It is shameful that taxpayers are picking up the tab for a branch of the sports and entertainment industry.

Posted by fra59e | reply to this comment
February 16, 2008 10:03 am

Bravo fra59e! I am a lifelong baseball fan and supporter and feel that these Congressional hearings are a dog and pony show to divert the public from real issues like massive federal debt, depleted military resources and partisan earmark give-aways, among others. Frustration with poor self-governance in baseball makes it tempting to clamor for federal oversight, but let's keep things in perspective. Men and women in uniform are in harms way overseas. Let's keep our proverbial eyes on the ball and hold our public officials accountable for issues of government.

Posted by DrThorsen | reply to this comment
March 5, 2008 12:03 pm

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