The Juiced Edition of Barstool Friday

With the Mitchell Report finally issued yesterday, I write this morning with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the Red Sox emerge relatively unscathed (though the early reports rumoring that Captain 'Tek would appear on the list were disconcerting). On the other, we have the state of baseball as a whole. While I think that ultimately there were no real surprises, either in the names that were named or in the blame cast on MLB for letting it get so out of control, how this impacts the game at large remains to be seen. No longer can feigned blissful ignorance let the sun always shine on a field of dreams. No, a dark cloud has passed in front of the sun and darkened the skies of the baseball landscape over the last 20 years. One would have been naive to not have foreseen what the report revealed, bt it is only now that we must come to grips with what it really means.

Baseball stands at a cross-roads, only it has already sold its soul to the Devil, leaving it without many bargaining chips. Here's the thing. There will be many lines in the sand drawn here, so-and-so isn't as bad as whatshisname, because so-and-so took steriods before they were banned by baseball, but whatshisname took them after. JohnDoe isn't as bad as Whosimawhat, because JohnDoe took HGH to recover from an injury when Whosimawhat took it to pitch better on short rest. Arguing these points is futile at best and flat out denial at worst. The fact of the matter is that for the better part of two decades some baseball players have be using substances to give themselves some sort of competitive edge or to speed recovery. And for the better part of those two decades, Major League Baseball turned a blind eye to it and allowed it to go on. It is far reaching. From the clubhouse gopher to the Commissioner of Baseball, from bat boy to GM, from September call-up to staff ace...they all knew. You cannot seperate one from another, it was all wrong.

You also cannot allow your individual feelings on the substances themselves cloud your perspective on this situation. I have heard compelling arguments for why HGH should be allowed if prescribed by a doctor to aid in recovery from injury, as long as the player isn't active at the time. Hell, I can get HGH prescribed for this reason. I have heard compelling arguments that a person should be allowed to take steroids if they want, as long as they are made fully aware of the short- and long-term effects of its use. Personally, the first argument holds water for me, the second doesn't, and I'll say in all honesty that I both recognize the potential hypocrisy of that statement as well as its legitimacy. But again, my opinions on this matter are irrelevant in the sense that we cannot dwell on the past here, but rather must focus on the future.

I beleive that, as former Senator Mitchell called for, we must let the cloud of this revelation sit over the past but we do not need to take massive, sweeping disciplinary action against those whose names appear within the pages of the report. Why? Simple. This is not a comprehensive list, a culture of secrecy pervades sports in general and this is no exception. Conservative reports suggest that 5% of MLB players are or have used "performance-enhancing drugs", reality suggests this number could be as high as 25%, or even more. Making 70 or 80 players the scapegoats is ineffective, and frankly, Selig would be a hypocrite to discipline them and not himself. MLB cannot take it out on these players, particularly since some of the evidence is hearsay at best, without looking into the mirror. Again, this problem was pervasive, and reaches every level of the game. The players rightly deserve a measure of blame, but to blame them alone is to fail to take the entirity of the report under consideration.

It is time for baseball to move forward. We need a clear and comprehensive policy on what is and isn't a "performance-enhancing" substance, when and if the use of a particular substance is permitted, a clear and comlete, universal testing policy, and a firm and unwavering set of disciplinary actions. Only when such a program is implemented and adhered to will baseball be able to fully move on from the Steroids Era.

I have long said that I think it is unfair for athletes to be expected to be role-models, but I don't think it is unreasonable to ask them to uphold the principles of good sportsmanship. When it comes right down to it, baseball is a game, and games retain their purity through clearly prescribed rules. It is an athlete's only charge to uphold these rules to the best of their ability, and the governing body's resposibility to call them on it if they don't. The players and the League have failed miserably in this responsibility in this era, and the time is now to change. I hope that this will be the beginning of a new era in Major League Baseball, an era of honesty, honor, and sportsmanship. I only wish I could fully believe that this will come to pass.













The Boston Celtics will win their 12th home game of the season, tying the team record for home wins to start a season, tonight against the Bucks. We get out first glimpse of Chairman Yi, he gets his first glimpse of the Big Ticket shutting him down. And of course, the Big Game comes Sunday, where despite the weather, the New England Patriots will crush the Jets by 3 touchdowns, minimum.

Have a great weekend, folks. Have a few pints if you like, but with this weather, I'm thinking Scotch. A nice single malt, maybe a Macallan or Balvenie. Enjoy.




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