Selig Will Not Be Blamed for Steroids

I haven't exactly been shy about my feelings towards MLB commissioner Bud Selig here at FanHouse, but just in case this is your first visit and you don't have time to check the tag, here's a quick summary. I believe that Bud Selig is an incompetent buffoon that has never cared anything for fans and only about the bottom line of owners all across the league. I also believe that for every good idea he's had (like the wild card) he's had 50 bad ideas (the All-Star game deciding home-field advantage).

I also happen to believe that Bud is largely responsible for the steroids boom that took place during his regime. I believe he ignored it because the home run chase of 1998 with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa helped bring fans back to the ballpark following the black eye that was the 1994 strike. Bud wants you to know, however, that it's not his fault. Why, he had no idea.

In a lengthy telephone interview Monday, the commissioner of baseball strongly disputed the widely held perception that he was in any way complicit in the proliferation of steroids in major-league baseball during the past 15 years.

"I don't want to hear the commissioner turned a blind eye to this or he didn't care about it,'' Selig said. "That annoys the you-know-what out of me. You bet I'm sensitive to the criticism. The reason I'm so frustrated is, if you look at our whole body of work, I think we've come farther than anyone ever dreamed possible.''

"I'm not sure I would have done anything differently. A lot of people say we should have done this or that, and I understand that. They ask me, 'How could you not know?' and I guess in the retrospect of history, that's not an unfair question. But we learned and we've done something about it. When I look back at where we were in '98 and where we are today, I'm proud of the progress we've made.''

While I can agree with Selig that baseball has made progress in battling steroid use in the sport, and the game could continue to improve its stance against steroids, I refuse to believe that Selig had no idea what was going on. I was only 17 years old at the time of McGwire and Sosa's chase of Babe Ruth, and I was well aware of the fact that these guys had to be on steroids. My reason for this being I had seen them play in previous years.

Were they home run hitters then? Yes, but they weren't built like freaking comic book super heroes. So Selig can say he didn't know what was going on all he wants, it only makes him look even dumber than he already does, which is quite the remarkable feat when you think about it.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-17-2009 @ 1:32PM

steveo said...

this just proves that selig has absolutely no clue and should be removed.

and I thought Roger Goodell was an empty suit, Selig may be worse.

2-17-2009 @ 1:34PM

bakatron said...

you know what... blame the fans as well. they knew that mcgwire and sosa were roid'ing like anything and heck they didnt care. if it was such a big issue then, the fans could have voiced it then.

sorry but selig maybe old but hes not the scapegoat that the media makes him out to be.

2-17-2009 @ 7:13PM

Martin said...

I realize that bashing Selig for the steroid scandal is the latest fad by bloggers, but I really wish that just once the bloggers would have enough professionalism to honestly and accurately set out the facts surrounding the efforts made by Selig and the owners to curtail the use of steroids and the efforts made by the players and their union to protect the cheaters using steroids.

In or around 1990, the federal government enacted criminal statutes prohibiting the misuse of anabolic steroids. Immediately thereafter, in 1991, Fay Vincent issued a six page memorandum detailing the rules against the use of steroids and other drugs and advising everyone that such use could lead to expulsion from MLB.

In 1997, Bud Selig sent out a similar memorandum, but realized that without the ability to test the players, the drug prohibitions could not be effectively enforced. Thus, the commissioner and owners actively sought to obtain the union's authorization to allow drug testing of its players. In every collective bargaining negotiation, the commissioner and owners requested the ability to test, and in every negotiation, the players' union refused to allow testing. For the union, knowing that steroids posed a serious health hazard to those who used them, to take a stand opposing testing, is the epitome of irresponsibility. The primary purpose of a union is to protect the health of its members, yet by refusing to agree to testing, the union was placing the players in the position of using steroids and suffering severe health risks or not using steroids and kissing their dream of playing in the big leagues goodbye.

Because the union did not have any say with respect to minor league players, the commissioner could, and did, institute testing in the minor leagues.

So, who does the media blame for the steroids scandal?

Not the players who used the steroids in violation of both baseball's rules and criminal statutes.

Not the players who didn't use steroids but also didn't pressure their union to allow testing.

Not the union, who prevented any realistic enforcement of baseball's prohibition of steroids.

Rather, the media has determined that the blame falls on the commissioner, who reiterated baseball's prohibition of steroids to the players in 1997, who sought to get the union's agreement to allow drug testing thereafter, and who instituted drug testing in the minor leagues.

2-18-2009 @ 2:00AM

rharrigfeld124 said...

Martin, I think you are being naive and foolish to say that Selig has no blame in this!!! He either knew, or he didn't want to know. As a Yankee fan, I can honestly say that I didn't want the Yankees to bring A-rod on to the team. My opinion of that has not changed. However, the guy used an illegal drug in a system that allowed it- the players union, the owners, and yes, Selig did nothing to stop it. Simply put, the issue is so important that you don't agree to a collective bargaining agreement without it- PERIOD!!! The NFL has had a testing process and penalty process in place for more than 20 years and Baseball is just now putting one (a weak one at that) in place??? That's BS- one should have been in place more than 20 years ago. The bottom line is that the players union, the owners, and yes, Selig are all to blame for this!!! Selig should come clean, tell the truth, and accept HIS RESPONSIBILITY in this, and so should the union and the owners!!!

2-17-2009 @ 10:24PM

sgdbaty13 said...

We are all trying to hang on to days gone by. Baseball is no longer a sport, it is simply the entertainment business. Yankee Stadium is sold out every night, no different than if the Beatles were playing there. They did drugs to enhance there performance and people didn't care. We are kidding ourselves when we hold these athletes up to be something other than entertainers.

3-01-2009 @ 5:59PM

hollyamato said...

I see mention of Sammy Sosa and Mark Mcguire here. I just read a new article about Alex Rodriguez and steroids!

http://www.steroidsrx.com/blog/post.cfm/alex-rodriguez-is-the-latest-baseball-star-to-join-steroid-hall-of-infamy

Say it isnt so!

3-01-2009 @ 6:01PM

Anabolic steroids is all I here about. I think these guys could probably have the same results with these legal steroids and not get the site effects.

http://www.legalsteroids.com

Why dont these athletes use this type of product?