Baseball and steroids are two words that have gone together like eggs and bacon for the last six years. Baseball, which has been dragged through 1,000 pounds of mud by Congress, the media and the fans during that period, has a bone to pick. Why are we the only sport being picked on? Why aren’t NBA or NFL players being called before Congress? Why aren’t their commissioners being grilled during congressional hearings?
Remember former Knicks guard Micheal Ray Richardson? How about Dallas Mavericks forward Roy Tarpley or Chris Washburn? All were banned from the NBA for violating the league’s drug policy. There are others, including Richard Dumas, Cliff Robinson, Brad Miller and Ricky Davis, who have been suspended for violating the NBA’s drug policy.
Unlike baseball, the NBA and the NFL have had drug policies in place since the 1980s and early 1990s.Their policies have flaws, but at least both of the leagues acknowledged there was a problem and took steps to remedy it. Case in point, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman. Merriman, one of the NFL’s best defensive players, was suspended four games for testing positive for steroids in 2006. Julius Peppers, Dale Carter, Dominic Rhodes, Josh Evans, etc. The list of NFL players who have been suspended for steroid or drug use goes on.
Baseball? Congress had to browbeat them into instituting a testing policy. Baseball made its own bed and now must reap the punishments. Who within baseball deserves the blame? Try everyone. Commissioner Bud Selig, the owners and union leadership are all on the hook. The real culprits here are the players. Clean or dirty, this all starts with the players.
Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said the entire list of the 104 players who tested positive in 2003 should be released. It’s funny how no one demanded this when the tests were conducted. The clean players want to be separated from the dirty players. That could’ve been done more than a decade ago, but instead they chose to protect their right to privacy. While I’m totally in favor of a person’s right to privacy, you can’t have it both ways.
You want the world to believe you’re clean? Go grab a plastic cup.