MLB wins in battle against the government

Major League Baseball is on a winning streak...at least, in the courts.  While the popularity of the sport has crested, MLB can point to the fact that the courts have ruled that the government did not have the right to grab the steroid data MLB collected in 2004.  It's the fourth time the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on the issue during six years of litigation.

Why MLB did not destroy the data in anonymous testing is still not known, but apparently the 104 players who tested positive will not be found out...at least for now.  The data siezed will now be turned back to the lab unless an appeal is made to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The latest rulings of that court would likely leave the government losing again.

The data was going to further the government's investigation into doping in the sport.  Apparently all non investigative parties involved do not want to learn more about doping in sports.  It's a great message to send to the public. 

Timing of the Donald Fehr announcement

It was announced yesterday that the head of the baseball players' association, Donald Fehr, will be stepping down from the post no later than the end of March. His legacy and what that announcement means to the role of PEDs in baseball has already started to be debated.


The timing of the announcement is suspect. Normally, an announcement would take place at the end of the season. The next collective bargaining agreement is in 2011 so there will be plenty of time for his successor, Michael Weiner, to get acclimated with the process.

Most speculation about the timing of his resignation has to do with last week's leak of Sammy Sosa's positive test in 2003 to the survey test results. Those results were to be anonymous. However, all 104 positive test results from the 2003 survey tests were seized by the government. The union, under Fehr's leadership failed it's membership by not destroying the results. Is it possible more names will leaked? Will there be pressure for the other 102 names to be released rather than have a small trickle of information every couple of months?

The reason why the results were not destroyed was Fehr was trying to protect his membership. If he was able to find false positives amongst the 104, he could possibly lower the number of positive results to below the 5% threshold. Under the agreement reached between the union and baseball, if more than 5% tested positive in 2003, mandatory testing would be implemented with penalties for positives. Looking back, this all seems relatively straightforward and common sense, but the union argued that drug testing violated a player's right to privacy.

It's too early to tell if Fehr's resignation had anything to do with the recent Sosa leak, but it would immensely clear up the air if they were able to state for certain that the union has any knowledge where the leak is coming from. Time will tell.    

Another Call for Manny to Sit Out the All-Star Game

Bill Rhoden of The New York Times is calling for MLB and the players union (MLBPA) to change the rules of the All Star Game in light of Manny Ramirez’s 50 game suspension of using a banned substance. Sentiments that were first echoed here at Beef Roids 9 days earlier.

Rhoden takes his ban one step further to include any postseason award. Ramirez’s manager, Joe Torre, has publicly said Ramirez should not be allowed to play in the game even though he is entitled to play based on the current collective bargaining agreement between baseball and the players union. Other current players feel strongly that it sends the wrong message. Jimmy Rollins said it best: “If you get caught in the first half of the season, no matter who you are, what you mean to the game, you shouldn’t be an All-Star. It shouldn’t really be a question. Even if he’s leading in the voting or is second, he’s basically taking a spot for somebody else who is more deserving.”

It should be noted that other sports have similar rules preventing athletes who test positive for banned substances from participating in postseason awards or all-star type events.

Rhoden was also able to speak with the executive director of the MLBPA, Donald Fehr, to get his opinion on the topic. “We have an agreement. This situation was considered during the time the agreement was negotiated. If the suspension takes place during the time the All-Star Game is played, the player is not eligible. If it’s over, and he has completed the penalty, then he’s like any other player.”

An amendment to the current contract will only be added at the time of the next agreement. I’m all for two parties collectively bargaining an agreement. What I’m against is idiotic behavior and baseball is once again going down that path. What both sides fail to realize that clinging to the “agreement” argument is that it turns off fans. There was an “agreement” collectively bargained for that allowed baseball to dope and roid out of their minds (even though it was illegal to have without a prescription) until Congress intervened and forced both sides to reopen the “agreement.”

Commissioner Selig and Donald Fehr: Do the right thing and use some common sense before you alienate even more fans.

Selig Still in Denial about Role in Roid Era

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig still does not get it.

Speaking to the media last week in Arizona, he defended his role in the roid era that will ultimately define his tenure rather than implementing a wild card, inter league play and other clever marketing ideas to keep the turnstiles spinning after the 1994 work stoppage.

"It's been an interesting experience for me in the respect that we've cleaned the game up. I'm proud of where we are.''

Selig said, if there's work still to be done, it's in being able to test for human growth hormone. He said, "there's not a test, regardless of what people say. If there's a test we'll use it. I can't wait to sit down and tell you that we now have a test for HGH.''

Selig's frustrated with this topic, however. "If I sound frustrated it's because you get into revisionism 15-20 years later and it's the wrong set of facts you're revising,'' Selig said. "My frustration is we started (steroid education) in 1998. Where were we sleeping?''

You were sleeping from 1991 until drug testing was put in place. Steroids have been banned in baseball at the MLB level since 1991 when Fay Vincent added them to baseball's then drug policy. After the 1994 strike and the public outrage that ensued, MLB needed something to get the fans back on their side and into the ballpark. The first year was Cal Ripken hitting the streak and then it was the gradual assault on the home run record that generated the buzz. How could the Commissioner, a former owner, put the halt on a booming business, falling records and an insatiable appetite following his game? The Commissioner could have done the right thing if he had a moral compass, questioned what was going on (he prides himself on being a baseball historian), but instead he chose the path of least resistance and the game has suffered as a result. Bud Selig is not the only one to blame; the MLBPA fought drug testing every step of the way as Selig is found of reminding people. Clean players also did not speak up.

Other areas that show Selig doesn't get it: he states he's cleaned up the game, but then admits there's no test for HGH. Bud, it can't be both ways! The job of cleaning up the game is not finished nor will it ever be: the cheaters will always be out in front of the testers. Cleaning up the sport is not a task like cleaning your car; the latter can be accomplished, the former needs to be constantly monitored and can never be deemed "finished" because someone will always be looking for an advantage. Other than those points, you should be very proud of your accomplishments on this issue.

The A-Rod Apology

Give A-Rod credit, yesterday, Alex Rodriguez did the right thing and admitted to using PED's from 2001 - 2003 in an interview with ESPN. However, he did not go far enough and all his admission did was lead to more questions.

In admitting his use, he framed it this way:

"When I arrived at Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure, I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day. Back then it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naïve. And I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance, and for that I am very sorry and deeply regretful.”

First and foremost, per SI, he tested positive for two banned substances (primobolan and testosterone) not one raising doubts on this confession. He also took a page straight from the juciers manual stating he didn't know what the substance was (one of the PED's was primobolan aka methenolone, a more expensive steroid that was able to leave your system faster than the more commonly used roids of the preceding years). The highest paid player in baseball not knowing what he's putting in his body? Doesn't quite pass the sniff test. What also doesn't pass that test is if he thought the pressure in Arlington, Texas was intense, what about New York freaking City? He felt less pressure moving to the Big Apple playing alongside Derek Jeter, switching positions and ultimately getting even a bigger contract? Tough pill to swallow A-Rod.

A-Rod decided to stop using PED's in 2003 after suffering a neck injury in spring training , he explained:

“I realized, ‘What am I doing? Not only am I going to hurt my baseball career, I’m going to hurt my post-career.’ It was time to grow up, stop being selfish, stop being stupid and take control of whatever you’re ingesting. And for that I couldn't feel more regret and feel more sorry, because I have so much respect for this game and the people that follow us. And I have millions of fans out there who won’t ever look at me the same.”

Crisis of confidence occurs when MLB institutes drug testing, yet allegedly you were tipped off by the union of an upcoming test in 2004? Why would the union need to tip you off if you weren't using? Too much respect for the game and the fans...then why roid up in the first place? I, for one, am not buying.

As for lying on "60 Minutes": "And in my mind, as I did my interview with CBS last year, I felt I haven’t failed a test, I haven’t done a steroid. And that was my belief. Whether I wanted to convince myself of that, that’s just where my mind was.”

That response was well crafted, but again, he doesn't fully admit to his mistake. He lied on national television: admit to it and move on. Earlier he says he used a banned substance and then later goes with the dopers credo of "since I didn't fail a test, I haven't doped". Are you kidding? You can't have it both ways, my man. Marion Jones thinks that line of reasoning is played.

Finally where the admission fails is in the timeline: it's as if there is a small chapter in his life that has been examined and his professionals have crunched the numbers, saw the spikes and said this is the period that we want you to address and only this period. No need to address Jose Canseco's allegations or when you were first exposed to PED's. Being evasive of how he was introduced to roids and how he obtained the PED's in the interview did not bolster his credibility or the strength of his apology. Come spring training, when reporters have additional questions, he'll fall back on this interview as being the only time he'll address this subject.

Total transparency is always the best policy, just ask Marion.

Current HGH Test Has Caught No One

For the past eight years, the current blood test for HGH has caught a whopping zero people using the banned substance...that's correct, zero positives. Either no one is using the product or the test is ineffective in it's current state. I'll go with the latter.

In an article in the NYT, over 8,500 athletes have been tested for HGH since 2000 yet not one has tested positive. Osquel Barroso, the senior manager of science for the World Anti-Doping Agency, believed that out of competition testing would lead to positives. The current test will only come up positive if the user has used HGH about 30 hours after it is taken, a serious limitation on the effectiveness of the current test. "Barroso also said that another reason more athletes had not tested positive was that the threshold for a positive test was fairly high. When drug tests are first implemented, the level of detection is often high to avoid false positives, then lowered after thousands of tests have been conducted." The anti doping experts have said that athletes receive the most benefit from HGH when they use it several times a week while training.

Per the course, the MLB baseball union is feigning ignorance. Gene Orza, the general counsel for the players union said, “We are not going to jump to that conclusion that there is a test today. At best, the science is murky today and there are people invested in the test’s development.” Not jumping to the conclusion that there is a test today...a test that is administered at the Olympics?I've heard that rational thinking from the MLBPA before...we do not have a drug problem, etc. It's time to stop the "deny, deny, deny" game and be proactive. You might actually turn some fans back on to the sport.