By Commentary By
In 1876, George Hall of the Philadelphia Athletics hit five home runs in the inaugural season of the National League to set the first single-season home run record in Major League Baseball history. Hall’s record was eclipsed eight times by 1927 when Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs for the New York Yankees. Four of the eight records were set and surpassed by Ruth himself. Roger Maris broke Ruth’s record, hitting 61 home runs in 1961. Maris’ record stood in the baseball record books for nearly four decades before three players decimated Maris’ record in three years.
Prior to 1998, only two men had ever hit 60 home runs in the history of baseball, Ruth and Maris, but that year the number doubled. Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa shattered the records set by some of the greatest players ever to don a uniform, Sosa hitting 66 and McGuire setting the new mark with 70.
Only four short years after a strike threatened our national pastime’s future, baseball was alive and fans were excited. Yet in the background the quiet whispers about players using steroids began. When San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds cracked 73 in the summer of 2001, the whispers turned to shouts and allegations.
In 2002, when Ken Caminiti admitted to using steroids during his MVP season with the San Diego Padres, the MLB began randomly testing players for performance-enhancing drugs. According to the agreement between the MLB and the player’s association, if more than 5 percent of the players tested positive for steroid use, a formal testing plan with penalties for players found to be in violation of the policy would be instituted.
The MLB reported that between 5 and 7 percent of players tested positive for some type of steroids during the 2002 season. As a result, a new policy was agreed upon for the 2004 season under which a player who was found to be in violation once would be placed in a treatment program with no suspension. If the same player tested positive a second time he would be subject to a 15-day suspension. From there the suspensions grew up to one year following a fifth positive result. No MLB player has ever been suspended for steroid use.
For baseball, 2004 was an amazing year. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series, ending an 86-year drought and the curse of the Bambino. But once again this last off-season was a painful one for baseball.
On Oct. 10, 2004, Ken Caminiti died from what the autopsy determined to be a drug overdose. On Dec. 2, 2004, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that in 2003 New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi testified in front of a grand jury that he had knowingly used steroids. When later in the month the same newspaper reported that Barry Bonds had testified to using a cream substance, a common steroid, the MLB had a major league problem.
With the recent findings, Congress began threatening to pursue action through legislation if Major League Baseball did not enact a new, stricter drug-testing policy. Although many viewed it as baby step, the noise in Washington, D.C., seemed to die down after Commissioner Bud Selig and union chief Don Fehr announced their agreement on a new performance-enhancing drug testing policy. The relative calm did not last long.
On Feb. 5, 2005, the New York Daily News reported in his new book “Juiced,” Jose Canseco alleges that he personally injected Mark McGuire with steroids when both played for the Oakland Athletics. He also claims that President Bush, a former owner of the Texas Rangers, must have known of the steroid use allegedly taking place within the Rangers organization. Reports on the Canseco book stirred action in Congress.
Following extensive discussion and debate, the House Committee on Government Reform issued subpoenas to seven current and former baseball superstars to testify on the issue of steroids in baseball. Canseco, McGuire, Frank Thomas, Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Curt Schilling appeared in front of the committee. Although he was subpoenaed, Jason Giambi was eventually excused due to his participation in the ongoing investigation into BALCO Labs.
The hearing itself yielded no answers, with the most interesting point coming when McGuire broke down in tears, refusing to answer the committee’s questions regarding allegations that he used steroids during his playing career. Yet the hearings themselves opened up a new debate in the baseball world. Should Congress be able to govern the rules and regulations of Major League Baseball?
Kentucky senator Jim Bunning, a Hall of Fame baseball pitcher, spoke to the committee prior to the arrival of the day’s special guests.
Calling the new drug policy a “baby step,” Bunning later said that if baseball does not take the necessary steps to resolve the controversy, Congress could take action to “amend the labor laws, repeal baseball’s special antitrust law exemption, and shine the spotlight of public scrutiny onto the players and management like we did last week.”
The debate is far from over and it is certain that no one involved with Major League Baseball wants any further Congressional action to be taken on the matter. At the same time, if baseball does decide to revamp its newest steroid policy, it would face a number of obstacles, including the unbelievable strength of the player’s union which seems content with the current policy. There also appears to be no movement in Major League Baseball toward changing the new steroid-testing policy.
So it would seem that Congress might be forced to take further action, but don’t believe it till you see it.
Adam Collins is a senior majoring in Political Science and is a columnist for The Louisville Cardinal. E-mail him at: news@louisvillecardinal.com
