Steroids, Veterans, and Rookies

by jscape2000 on Feb 4, 2008 1:44 PM EST in New York Yankees News

Andy Pettitte spent two and a half hours giving a deposition to Congressional investigators Monday about his former teammate Roger Clemens's challenge to the Mitchell report on performance-enhancing drugs in base all.

I've sat here for 15 minutes trying to think of something to say about this. I'm sure that the testimonies (once leaked to the media) won't clear up anything.

Do you think that seeing some of the biggest stars in the game brought before Congress to face the threat of jail time will cause some of the next generation of stars to think twice before using illegal drugs?
Or do you think seeing how little power anyone (Congress, the commissioner, the Player's Union) has to punish offenders on the grounds of hearsay will only further embolden cheaters?
Or won't matter?

I've been thinking about the large number of veteran players who are still out of work. Some interesting pieces have been written lately about the possible collusion that is driving down the price on a large number of experienced baseball players.

I wonder where the steroid scandal fits into all of this.
I've always thought the clubs have to know who is doing something if not who is doing what.

So maybe we've just reached a tipping point.
We've always questioned the cost of a replacement player; maybe that minor leaguer can perform as well as the veteran, or close enough to be worth the drop in salary. Now the clubs have to worry about Radomski clones turning up in every major city. Maybe the money plus the road map of who knew how to get what is going to drive a lot of role players into an early retirement.

As Brian Cashman said of the market: "You either have the stars or the young guys. There are very few players in between."

The biggest names (like Pettitte) are worth the cost and the risk. Shawn Chacon, not so much.

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Better things to do?

Following yesterday's brilliant Super Bowl victory, I heard Arlen Specter say he wanted answers into some alleged videotaping the Patriots may, or may not have been doing ...

Today, Andy Pettitte shows up to testify before Congress ...

Don't our elected officials have better things to do? Here's a start, why not work together to actually get something done on Capitol Hill--something that actually benefits the citizens of our nation--not special interests, not illegal aliens.

I pondered why Congress seems so compelled to suddenly stick their collective noses into baseball, football and the like, and could only come up with this ...

Does baseball and football use federal monies to build stadiums? I believe in some cases they do. Is this the silver bullet. Is why our leadership is sniffing around?

Perhaps baseball and football need to divorce themselves from any government cash?

I may be way, way off base here, but I was getting ready to post this same story and Jscape beat me again. But in my version I really wanted to get some opinion as to what others think about the government's intervention. As Ronald Reagan said, "The most terrifying thing a taxpayer can here is 'I'm with the government and I'm here to help.'"

Thoughts??

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Feb 4, 2008 2:13 PM EST reply actions

Anti-trust

Ronster22...
Great post...

The problem is a little thing called the "Anti-trust" law.
Both Baseball and all the other major league sports are covered by this law. Therefore, the Jerks in Washington have to regulate everything to its death. From the questions I have seen asked by the "Great Senators" they have no clue what the heck they are talking about. They should get out of the way and let the industry take care of itself. The market always adjusts itself one way or another. 27/08.

by Old Ranger on Feb 4, 2008 3:42 PM EST up reply actions

alleged steroid use

has nothing to do with antitrust law. And The Sherman Act does not, to my knowledge, give Congress the authority to look into drug use among MLB players.

That being said, I don't know why we don't have other things to worry about. HGH, which Pettitte admitted to, is a PED but not a steroid.

"The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided." -Casey Stengel

by bxgrl1 on Feb 4, 2008 6:45 PM EST up reply actions

Where Anti-Trust comes into play is

That the government can say: Shape up, or we'll revoke your anti-trust exemption. The problem is, they are not concerned with the "cleanliness" of either game. Rather, its a relatively cheap and easy way to
1.) get your name out there and have average joe sportsfan know who you are and
2.)Come down hard on an issue where almost 100% of the population will agree with your position.

This is like kissing babies for all these guys.

by seanp23 on Feb 5, 2008 10:51 AM EST up reply actions

Don't let me stop you

from taking a different angle on the same topic.

Baseball is given special allowances and special regulation under the anti-trust laws.

I won't say what I think of the job the gov't has done recently or who's to blame. Just like Manny standing at the plate and watching a homerun, this is a part of the game that I'm not happy with but I have to live with.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Feb 4, 2008 4:26 PM EST up reply actions

The big problem with

this situation is that Congress is now putting Knoblauch and Pettite in a position to 'name names.' Whatever their interests in preserving the integrity of the game, they've overstepped their bounds, and probably Selig is as culpable as anybody. He should have strenuously pressed for time to not only adopt the Mitchell recommendations (one of which was move forward, not back), but also to clean his own house.

Getting into a he-said, he-said over details of the report does nothing to enhance the report's credibility. We've already come to our conclusions. I think there was a small minority who thought/think Clemens is innocent. Having his close friends trotted before Congress is overkill. Let the crusading IRS agent or other feds investigate if that is absolutely neccessary. But don't diminish Pettitte and Knoblauch through this congressional charade.

My two cents.

I always feel pressure. What I don't have is fear. -- El Duque

by LateInningRelief on Feb 5, 2008 8:36 AM EST up reply actions

Excellent information, but ...

Why don't we have mandatory drug testing for every member of Congress--starting with the President. Some of the decisions--and non-decisions he's made confirm--at least to me that he is on some type of nefarious illegal drug.

I joke, but I'm sort of serious. Why not?

They want to bring accountability into baseball (I'm all for that) start by bringing in some accountability where it really matters--Congress.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Feb 5, 2008 9:50 AM EST up reply actions

You're not going to

get an argument from me on that proposal.

Still, I really have to lay this at the feet of Selig. He needed to use his bully pulpit to strenuously dissuade Congress from getting involved. In the absence of that, those guys can't help themselves: it's cheap, non-partisan grand-standing.

I always feel pressure. What I don't have is fear. -- El Duque

by LateInningRelief on Feb 5, 2008 12:52 PM EST up reply actions

Selig is ...

the real villian, in my opinion. I went on at length about why I despise him in the role of commissioner. He really can't use his bully pulpit because he knows he's just as culpable. He was in charge of the chickens, and allowed the fox to come in.

While I'm not a fan of David Stern's micromanagement style, this is what we need in baseball--someone strong, with a backbone who truly does have the best interests of the game at the forefront.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Feb 5, 2008 2:26 PM EST up reply actions

Exactly,

which is why I cannot fathom why on God's green Earth Selig got an extension.

I always feel pressure. What I don't have is fear. -- El Duque

by LateInningRelief on Feb 5, 2008 3:56 PM EST up reply actions

He's one of them ...

The owners love him and the Player's Union knows how to handle him. Nobody wants to rock the boat with someone unknown. They prefer being "comfortably numb."

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Feb 5, 2008 4:25 PM EST up reply actions