It's been yet another bad week for baseball. First, Alex Rodriguez tells the world he used a "banned substance," and today Miguel Tejada will plead guilty to lying to Congress about his knowledge of steroid use.
The next step in this saga is the list of 104 anonymous names on the list with Rodriguez when they took anonymous tests earlier in the decade.
Yes, not only as a journalist but for my own curiosity, I would like to know the rest of the names on that list. A number of those players are probably retired by now, and the ones that aren't are getting close to retirement, but that doesn't make their names any less relevant in today's baseball. For they likely influenced a great number of today's players, be it directly or indirectly, with their actions.
But just because I, along with a lot of you I'm sure, would like to know the names, doesn't mean they need to be released nor should they be.
These tests were taken so that the results, and the players who took them, would remain "anonymous." That is probably the only reason so many players, including Rodriguez, agreed to take the test.
It was one thing for the Mitchell Report to be released, and the government has some right to question this matter, especially because steroids are still illegal. But leaking the names and creating more of an uproar isn't just unethical it's morally wrong.
These tests were taken under the agreed umbrella of anonymity and the results should remain that way. If the government continues to pursue this matter and leak more names, than it, not some baseball players, should be the ones investigated.
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4 comments:
Dougie Fresh,
Don't you think that just about every big name player did roids/hgh during the so-called "loosey-goosey" era? When I think about it, Brian Giles seems like a guy that would have been "juicing" during these years. I never heard abnything about Junior Griffey....is it naive to think he was clean? Let me know.
-Enrique Romo
Everyone was naive during the steroid era, whether it was by choice or not.
The question isn't whether a big-name player is mentioned or not. There were just as many Marvin Benards and Mark Carreons in the Mitchell Report as there were Barry Bonds and Jason Giambis.
Believe me, there will likely be plenty of non big-name players if this list ever came out.
The point is, the tests were taken under an agreement of anonymity and to breach that confidence because some congressman has nothing better to do is a crime.
Of course it was wrong if any player juiced, used HGH, etc. Ane even today, its not safe to assume that any player is clean.
These players names have been protected for a long time and just because A-Roid was found to be on the list that doesn't mean the rest of the players have to be found out as well.
Doug,
As much as I have always disliked A-
Fraud for being so plastic and fake I did enjoy hearing his name linked to steroids.
However, I am in total agreement with you about the leaking of names that are supposed to be held secret by the federal government. Obviously, PED use in sports needs to be addressed but it seems to me that longer that this is dragged on and the more names that are leaked out illegaly it seems to me that this has become nothing more than a witch-hunt directed solely at baseball. Why?
Why isn't the NFL or college football looked at more closely and under such scrutiny? Nobody could possibly tell me that those two sports don't have a bigger problem with PED's than baseball especially when HGH does not have an accurate and legitimate test. It's not natural for some of these players they have in the NFL and NCAA to run as fast as they do with their respective size.
It appears to me that the NFL and NCAA are simply overlooked because A) In the NFL's case, they've had a generic drug-testing program in place for years...even though it's a "test" you can't tell me that it's nothing more than a test in name only. Besides, Michael Vick, while waiting for his federal sentencing tested positive for pot when he never did while playing in the NFL. Nobody, not even him, is that stupid to start smoking herb while awaiting federal sentencing...he was doing it all along and the NFL tests for that but he never failed...hmmmmm. How many tests did Ricky Williams fail before it became public knowledge? B) Perhaps, most importantly, football is overlooked because it's the nations favorite sport and more so since the MLB strike of '94. But that is not an excuse to overlook football.
As I said, baseball deserves scrutiny and needs to be cleaned up but not at the expense of other sports getting a free pass and not at the expense of the rule of law in which confidentiality MEANS actually confidentiality and not illegally naming names from "sources." The more this comes out, the longer this goes on it draws comparisism in my mind to McCarthyism of the 50's and 60's.
-Matt Janosko
Football shouldn't be overlooked and it hasn't. The NFL's program is pretty good, although there have to be players still using and just not getting caught. There are likely players like that in baseball now as well, even with the new system in place.
McCarthyism might be a bit harsh, however I do believe that these players shouldn't be outed because a congressman or two are bored and need to make a name for themselves.
Food for thought: If many are saying that the baseball records set by players known to be on steroids need an asterisk next to them, then should there be an asterisk next to the Steelers four Super Bowl championships of the 1970's? After all, those players were known to be on steroids at a time when it wasn't illegal, just like a lot of these baseball players.
If players are caught when its illegal, that's one thing. But some are trying to set a dangerous precedent in baseball by rewriting history and punishing players for actions that were not illegal at the time.
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