Remember that whenever you read arguments like:

“Pete Rose never bet on baseball, and besides, Ty Cobb was a racist, which is much worse than gambling.”

“There is NO proof that Barry Bonds ever used steroids, and besides, he was already a Hall of Famer before he started using them.”

“Shoeless Joe Jackson did NOT help throw the World Series, and besides, that miserable cheapskate Charlie Comiskey DROVE him to it.”

“Mark McGwire never used steroids, and besides, steroids weren’t illegal when he took them.”

“Only a tiny percentage of players ever used steroids, and besides, it’s really Bud Selig’s fault everybody was using them anyway.”

Instead of wasting resources trying to say “gotcha” to people in the past, those resources should be spent trying to stay ahead of the curve to catch those that are getting around the testing now, or using new and different enhancers.

The NFL has had an aggressive testing program for years, and yet another (quieter) story last week was Dana Stubblefield’s admission (also after being caught) and plea bargain to give up other information about steroid use in the NFL during this time. The cheaters are 2 moves or more ahead of those who are trying to catch them.

That being said, I have always blamed the ineffectual and hypocritical Bud Selig for the size of the problem in Baseball. There has been talk about steroids in baseball since at least 1987, and by 1994 it was quite simply accepted that there was a problem.
(In 1993 I saw Kevin Appier pitch the best game I have ever seen in person-and I saw Saberhagen’s no hitter- but he lost 1-0 when Palmeiro pulled a pitch no human being could pull down the left field line for a home run. I turned to my friend and said “He has to be juicing”. As it turned out, he was.)
Yet, even with the strike and a new labor agreement, there was no attention paid to this then. By 1996, (Brady Anderson, Ken Caminiti) everyone who followed baseball knew, but Bud kept his head in the sand as the Home Runs brought people through the turnstiles. Facilitator Bud nodded and winked in 1998, taking in all that money, and helping to sweep the “Andro” scandal under the rug.

Then the best player in baseball took the best steroids in the world and became Superman, Canseco’s book came out (also all about the money), the 1996 MVP died tragically after a downward spiral that started with amphetamines and steroids in baseball. (I remember when Cami was a slim young third baseman who I thought had a chance to be the best fielder at 3rd in a couple of decades) When it all hit the fan, Bud turned holier than though, claimed he had no idea, put in token testing program and went after Bonds as a scapegoat.

I truly believe that for many reasons, Bud Selig has done more to harm the game than any other single person in baseball history.

As far as Selena Roberts goes, this is also all about the money. She circumvented the law to find out sealed results about a player she clearly has a vested interest in dragging through the mud. This story will make her millions and will make what would have been a pedestrian book a #1 seller.

A-Rod? It seems funny that I am just getting to him. There has never been a claim that he was a great person, just a great player. Like MANY others, he took PEDS in the steroid era. Ho-hum. I wish he had not, but I pulled my head out of the sand 20 years ago.

2. There is not now, nor has there ever been any rule in MLB against the use of “banned substances.” The rules as originally written were merely guidelines. With today’s testing; they are merely a hoop to be jumped through by any steroid user. The penalties are minor and the testing is laughable. When was the last time a player who could afford undetectable designer steroids and the state-of-the-art in masking agents got penalized by MLB? Never.

The shame in this episode belongs to Selena Roberts. Using the New York Times to promote her own book certainly does not qualify as journalism. The Times should fire her for it; even if the accusations she makes are true, it is the equivalent of a business columnist writing glowing stories about a company he owns stock in.

Furthermore, while Ms Roberts did not commit an illegal act by publishing this information, she caused four other people to commit the illegal act of sharing legally sealed information. Her wanton solicitation does not absolve these four of any blame, but it certainly casts her in an unflattering light.

I’m going to dispute your characterization of andro as an anabolic steroid. There is little evidence that it acts as such, and its inclusion in the Anabolic Steroids Control Act has probably as much to do with the hysteria over McGwire and the home run record as its actual effects. It is a steroid precursor, and it was not against the law, or the rules of baseball, to use at the time.

Lastly, just because Serena Roberts got this right, doesn’t preclude her from having an agenda behind it all. I don’t think anyone is accusing her of lying. But to pretend that this is some sort of All The President’s Men-level expose of the commission of high crimes… come on. I’m all for journalistic shield laws, but come on. Whomever the “four sources” are should all do jail time for leaking this information. I’ve read her pieces on the Duke LAX case, and I’ve read her non-apology and rationalizations for still declaring that the team members are terrible human beings. I’ve read and watched the stories surrounding the Rodriguez case, and I don’t think she has a lot of scruples or journalistic ethics.

I certainly respect your opinion with regard to your baseball fandom, but I can’t share it. There’s never been a “pure” era of baseball that you can point to and say, “see, this is what we’ve lost”. So yes, I will continue to go to games, I will continue to cheer for my team, but I certainly won’t be surprised by anyone else being revealed as a juicer.

Well, maybe Craig Counsell.

When you use terms like “this lady” and “stalker,” it if obvious you are creating a separate point of reference for a female reporter than you would for her male colleague.

Several comments express similar criticisms, criticisms not of the work but of the b*tch, etc.

I apologize if you felt I was grouping all criticisms into that mix. I was not, I was merely pointing out the absurdity of A Rod’s comments and the equal absurdity of comments that continue on his line of thought.

It’s not ”admission“

It’s “admission”

Or use regular ones like “this.”

“This lady is coming out with all these allegations, all these lies, because she’s writing an article for Sports Illustrated and she’s coming out with a book in May. And really respectable journalists are following this lady off the cliff. And following her lead. And that to me is unfortunate.”

Famous last words, A-Rod. Famous last words.

http://www.observer.com/2009/media/who-s-lady-meet-selena-roberts-rod-s-worst-nightmare