ABOUT AT BAT

MSNBC.com baseball analyst Ted Robinson gives his take on the hits and misses by players, managers, umpires and owners in Major League Baseball.

Robinson has an extensive background in covering the sport. He called the play-by-play on NBC's Major League Baseball Game of the Week telecasts from 1986-89. Additionally, he has been the lead play-by-play announcer for the Minnesota Twins, the television and radio play-by-play voice of the San Francisco Giants, and a member of the New York Mets broadcast team.



No winners in the Mitchell Report

Posted: Friday, December 14, 2007 8:46 AM

Quick hits from one who has yet to read the full Mitchell report:

 

WHY IS EVERYTHING A SCORECARD?

Much of what I heard and read on Thursday was about winning and losing. Who won? Bud Selig earns huge points for commissioning a report that could only bring bad news to an otherwise wildly healthy sport. But the details were bad for everyone, players were publicly humiliated, staff members were tossed about, and even an owner was exposed. Nobody won, not even former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, whose lack of subpoena power and cooperation from the Major League Baseball Players Association led to little new information.

 

THIS WAS A SAMPLER PLATTER

There were lots of names, a few titillating, in particular Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. But the only new names came from Kirk Radomski and Brian McNamee. Otherwise, it was the Albany investigation and other known reports that provided the players whose names were plastered all over television screens. If we know anything, it is that these names were the unfortunate who were caught. And they represent only a fraction of those involved.

 

DENY, DENY, DENY

Roger Clemens has watched Barry Bonds deny any knowledge that Greg Anderson gave him steroids. Despite Anderson’s conviction in federal court for steroid distribution, Bonds continues to deny. For four years he has maintained that stance with no penalty. McNamee, a former major league strength and conditioning coach who worked with Clemens in Toronto and New York, is neither charged nor convicted. Why would Clemens admit to anything that McNamee alleges? And Bonds is likely taking some solace in finally having company.

 

EXCUSES, EXCUSES, EXCUSES

The sounds of former players apologizing for their brethren have echoed all summer. Thursday I heard it from the wall-to-wall coverage on ESPN. There was whining about the credibility of McNamee. Hate to break this news but “informants” turning state’s evidence have put people in jail for decades. I heard the incredulous claim that Clemens can’t be considered guilty without a positive drug test. And just how many murder convictions feature videotape of someone pulling the trigger? Look, all the names deserve a hearing. And there is no doubt that reputations are damaged regardless of any eventual innocence. But the excuses heard Thursday were laughable.

 

By the way, no voice offered more excuses this summer than Fernando Vina. When any steroid-HGH-related issue arose, Vina, with a national platform, instantly dismissed it. Move on, he would say, for nothing can be proven. Thursday Vina’s name was prominent in the Mitchell Report and his voice was not heard.

 

DON’T OVERREACT

The process Thursday was more important than the information. I say that knowing that many of those players whose names had not previously been exposed would disagree. But a pair of busted (not “disgruntled” as I heard several commentators label them) steroid dealers outed names. It happens every day across America. What stands out to me is baseball’s transparency. Selig allowed us a bit cleaner window into an unpleasant side of baseball. Imagine the outcry if Selig had said “trust us, we have investigated and this was an isolated problem.” Oh, David Stern used that play successfully after l’affaire Donaghy. But baseball will always be held to a higher standard. Selig knows that and made the correct, if unpopular within his constituency, decision. Baseball should be better for today if all parties act sensibly.

MAIN PAGE

Email this EMAIL THIS

Comments

I was very dissapointed when I read about Roger Clemmens, very dissapointed, I've been a huge fan of his accomplishments, pitching and yes I admired his attitude when all others critized him. The man had "Cojones". It is my opinion none of the steroids record breaking numbers should count in doing so we are sending a horrible message to our youth. None of the players are of hall of fame character, if anythin they shoul;d be banned from the sport and enter a new Hall, the Hall of Shame

Ed, Cape Coral, Florida (Sent Friday, December 14, 2007 1:03 PM)

There’s Just Too Much Money in Baseball

Forget about egos and extreme competitiveness, which are powerful forces in their own right.  There is just too much money in most professional sports today.  With so much money on the line it can be no surprise that performance enhancing drugs are de rigueur in professional sports.  

On the one hand, the use of such drugs has become so ubiquitous perhaps we should just accept them as a part of professional sports.  After all, the day is not so far off that we will be able to manipulate our genes to make better, stronger, faster athletes.  Where will we draw the line then?  If we’re going to accept medical “enhancements” lets put procedures in place that guarantee only approved drugs and therapies will be used so that they may be administered under appropriate medical direction to maximize performance and minimize side effects and other physiological damage to the players.  

On the other hand, the Mitchell report gives us a chance to deal with this issue once and for all.  Either way, we owe it to the legacy of professional sports to deal with it right now.  If artificial enhancement of a player’s abilities through drugs or other therapies is going to be considered against the spirit of the sport then lets put into place strict procedures to monitor professional athletes.  How many of us are already subject to random drug testing by our employers on a routine basis?  How many more of us at least submit to a drug test when we apply for employment?  Why not professional athletes?  What makes them so special?  

Let’s not kid ourselves, with so much money in professional sports the temptation to cheat is just too great to rely on personal morals and sportsmanship and expect compliance with these principles.  As such, it seems not only perfectly reasonable but the responsibility of professional sports to require that every single professional athlete should be subject to a drug test on a random schedule several times a year – the same as many of the rest of us.  This not only levels the playing field among the athletes but also lives up to their responsibility as role models in American society.  I don’t want to hear about the cost of such a program either, with so much money in professional sports I think they can afford it quite easily.  It’ll just be another cost of doing business, like gloves, balls and bats.  

ANY illegal substances found should be cause for discipline of a professional athlete, recreational drugs as well as performance enhancing ones.  Come on, these guys get paid so much money, they owe it to the American public (who after all are the ones who ultimately pay their exorbitant salaries through ticket and merchandise purchases among other things), for the privilege of being at the top of the economic heap to implement a program that eliminates beyond any doubt that they are playing by the rules.

Brad Alford, Houston, Texas (Sent Friday, December 14, 2007 3:33 PM)

The Mitchell report what a joke! He said not to punish these players, they broke Federal laws so why not punish them, cause if it was a average person they would be going to jail what makes these premadonnas think that they are safe from prosecution

RM Sarasota, FL (Sent Friday, December 14, 2007 5:37 PM)

This whole thing is almost too absurd for words. Spend $20 million on a report to tell you what you already know ... jeez, that sounds like the government. And it relies on testimony from some sleazeball clubhouse attendant slash junkie who cut a deal to save his own neck. Now there's a reliable source for you ...

But it doesn't really matter, I don't think. There's no way you're going to get good information about what happened in the past, anyway. We already know the players won't wipe their behinds without the Union's approval, and the Union has all the integrity of a rabbit in heat.

For pete's sake, Bud, here's what you do ... take the money you spent on this ridiculous and superfluous report and use it to develop foolproof testing techniques. And then ... duh! .. you test! Every week ... you test every single major league player, manager, coach, trainer, and clubhouse attendant. No exceptions. Every week, no exceptions.

First offense? One year suspension. Second offense? Out of baseball. Period. No exceptions, no excuses. You juice, you're gone.

The alternative? Bud, if you don't get control of this, the great sport of baseball will become a complete joke. Or worse ... it will become utterly irrelevant.

You may say you don't care as long as the turnstiles keep spinning, but they won't spin forever, Bud. Eventually, the public will turn on you. And they will look back and say "Damn that Bud ... he could have stopped this crap, and he didn't."

John Provine, Tucson, AZ (Sent Saturday, December 15, 2007 4:37 AM)

The American Heritage Dictionary says a pastime is “an activity that occupies one’s spare time pleasantly.” Baseball has long been known as “America’s pastime,” a game played by kids in the backyard with wiffle balls, or in an organized league with the city or the school. It was fun to root for the hapless Cubs, the perennial underdogs who never could quite make it to the World Series. It was great to watch as Pete Rose passed Ty Cobb on the all-time hits list, to see Dwight Gooden win the pitching “Triple Crown” (leading the league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average) at the young age of twenty, to follow Nolan Ryan’s amazing career which ended with seven no-hitters and more than 5000 strikeouts. Statistics were what made baseball different from any other sport. Basketball, football, and hockey are such team sports that the numbers don’t mean as much. But with baseball, the numbers were everything. Baseball has fallen far and hard from the glory days of Lou Brock, Ernie Banks, Mike Schmidt, and Tom Seaver. Will the sport rebound from this travesty? Will it ever be “pleasant” again? Only time will tell.

Jason Carter, Ft Thomas, KY (Sent Tuesday, December 18, 2007 4:50 AM)

You heard it here first.  Next year MLB gate revenues will be up, television revenues by contract will be astounding, viewer ratings will not suffer, jersey sales will not suffer, and general fan interest will be just fine.  Sportswriter righteous indignation, which is considerable, will not translate to the way that fans vote with their wallets.  MLB will continue to be very healthy, if health is defined by the financial reports.

Glen Huntsberger, Santa Rosa, CA (Sent Tuesday, December 18, 2007 10:19 PM)

Ted, heard you on KNBR yesterday.....Ralph is a NUT- he likes to blame the whole thing on everyones favorite punching bag(Selig) as usual...others called him a liar and dont even know him...Fehr has all the power, if im an owner why in the hell would i care whether or not these chumps use steroids, the players almost ruined the game with their greed in 1994, now they'll make the owners pay for their drug tests and demand huge concessions just to be tested..on another note, the revisionist history is also speeding along, they want to claim that everyone(inc. fans) new that all these players were on steroids...i didnt, i gave benefit of the doubt because they have access to all the best supplements, etc..how in the hell should i know who's on roids unless they look like the old Mr. Olympia bodybuilders...these same idiots want us to believe that Karl Malone was natural?? if Karl Malone can get that big naturally then why not Canseco, McGwire or Sosa?? or RAY LEWIS?? i think 50% of NFL and NBA players are probably also on the juice, and college, high school where will it end?? in 10 years theyll be testing POP WARNER and PEE-WEE's for roids and HGH...what a disgrace

al nonymoose (Sent Wednesday, December 19, 2007 2:27 PM)



SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

Your name, city and state (John Doe, Seattle, Wash.): 

 Your e-mail address (jdoe@msnbc.com):

Your website (it's okay if you don't have one):

Remember me? (We'll keep it private)