April 12, 2005: Selig's Tarnished Legacy
By The Diesel
Sacramento, CA

Two weeks before Congress was to conduct hearings on the use of steroids in Major League Baseball (MLB), they announced who from MLB they would invite to testify. The list included Mark McGwire (addicted to steroids), Sammy Sosa (known liar), Rafael Palmeiro (only takes Viagra), Jose Canseco (“The Chemist”), Frank Thomas (whiner), Frank Borman (astronaut slugger), Curt Schilling (steroid-free champion), and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig (useless). The BMTG immediately predicted that Selig would again do something foolish to tarnish MLB and himself. A minor sampling of Selig’s infamous resume:

2002 All-Star Game – With the tie at the 2002 All-Star game a low point on Selig’s watch, the All-Star game had been reduced to nothing more than a publicity event for high paid celebrities. Winning the game was no longer the primary goal – now it was getting every player onto the field within 9 innings. Pitchers would often pitch to just one batter despite their willingness to pitch longer. Selig had no contingency plan for when the game went into extra innings and since rosters were bare he called the game a tie instead of having a creative solution that would have energized the fans and players. A missed opportunity for greatness that he was able to 180 into a disaster.

Interleague Play – Selig’s disregard for baseball’s history was never more evident than when he let interleague play begin. Selig is so interested in quick short-term profits that having the Cubs/Whitesox and Mets/Yankees matchups during the regular season were just too enticing to pass up. The result is a dulled mystique surrounding the All-Star game and the World Series, which were the only venues to see such rivalries. Instead of savoring the rare matchups between geographical rivals, interleague play makes the experience too common and when they do occur in the World Series it reminds us of the last time it happened way back in the summer.

Expansion – In the 1990’s, Selig added four new teams to MLB. There wasn’t a need for more teams but there was a need for more profits. With upwards of a $150 million entry fee for each franchise, it made sense to expand into unproven markets and retain unprofitable ones. The result has been a dilution of quality players, in that there are 100 players (25 per team) that are now in MLB who shouldn’t be.

Contraction – In 2001, only a few years after the league expanded, Selig began talking about contracting 2-4 teams. MLB had expanded too quickly because they once again based their decisions on short-term profits and not baseball’s long-term best interests. Montreal (now Washington) and Minnesota were designated by Selig to be lopped off. This would also allow Selig to expand in a few years to other cities in the United States or overseas with even higher expansion fees. He would have undoubtedly contracted a few more teams after that expansion as well. The Players Union overruled Selig in 2001 and everyone stayed where they were.

Selig is as flaccid a commissioner that has ever existed. If the Owners don’t unanimously vote for something or the Players Union is mildly opposed to it Selig looks for his safe place and hides. Fortunately for Selig, every proposal that has money making potential pleases his multi-headed masters. Selig’s screwups could go on for pages, from Cal Ripken’s tribute debacle, the continuation of the designated hitter, cancellation of the 1994 World Series, and out of balance team payrolls.

Congress had naturally assumed that Selig should be a part of the hearings on steroids in MLB because he:

It was obvious to everyone except absent minded Selig that he should attend. Selig quickly announced that he would send one of his aides, after all it was the middle of Spring Training and it was only Congress asking about a subject he had ignored so well for so long. Selig’s attitude was that MLB has had record attendance over the last decade and since the money was rolling in he shouldn’t be bothered – he should be commended. Congress didn’t appreciate Selig sending one of his aides in his place. Selig disrespected everyone in Congress by essentially saying that the hearing was not of any significance and while it was worth their time, it was not worth his. The next day, members of Congress threatened those who didn’t RSVP with legal action and subpoenas. In Selig’s case they added the comment of taking another look at MLB’s unique anti-trust exemption that has limited competition and elevated profits. Congress had to threaten the Commissioner of MLB for him to attend a hearing that he should have felt slighted if he wasn’t invited.

While the parade of barrel chested sluggers testified throughout the day, Selig sat for hours waiting for his turn as he was to go last. When Selig’s turn finally came, he was visibly annoyed when asked probing questions that questioned his judgement. He became defensive when it was suggested that he and others in MLB should have known about the widespread usage of steroids years ago and should have had an anti-steroid program in place years before they actually did. Selig’s most telling response to these comments was a slanted shrug of his shoulders as if to say, “Oh well, who knew?”

At the end of the hearings when a Congressman said, “Thank you for your time Mr. Selig, we appreciate you being here as we know you are a busy man,” Selig only offered a smug facial expression as if to say, “Damn right I’m too damn busy for you, dammit.” Selig wanted Congress and everyone listening to believe that he didn’t know steroids were part the daily diet of many players and to forget that the issue ever came up. He promised the if everyone would forget, he would to.

In 1990, when Oakland and Boston played in the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park, Sox fans slowly chanted, “Steroids, steroids…” every time Jose Canseco played the outfield or came to bat. Six years after those playoffs the FDA made steroids illegal without a prescription, but it took 7 years after that to implement a policy that banned steroids from MLB. The fans in Boston knew 13 years before MLB, not because of a urine test, but because the proof was a hulking Cuban in the outfield that could barely fit into his jersey.

A few seasons removed from 1990 more players were using steroids and as the effects started to take hold, MLB’s offensive explosion began to reach full steam. In 1994 and beyond, everyone looked for answers to the dramatic increase in offense. It was the common belief that players were now in better shape, the pitching talent had been diluted (due to unnecessary expansion), smaller ballparks were geared towards offense, and players were simply swinging for the fences. Some of the more esoteric reasoning was that the balls were sewn tighter than usual and in some dark places that Selig wasn’t aware of, people spoke of steroids. Those dark places were clubhouses, dugouts, and press boxes, which is part of Selig’s workplace. Fans also discussed steroids on websites, around water coolers, and sport bars. It was discussed virtually everywhere for years and yet Selig wants Congress to think that he just didn’t know. It is hard to believe that he is so disconnected with the sport he oversees and has been involved with for 40 years that he would not hear of such rumblings or himself question the changes of the game during his 40 years.

Undoubtedly, Selig did hear of steroids and chose to turn a deaf ear and a blind eye, as the profits were better than ever and being proactive on steroids could hurt short-term profits. Damn the long-term integrity, profitability, history, and soul of MLB, money needs to be made today! Selig felt he could keep a secret as well as anyone else and he never thought the Pied Piper of Steroids, Jose Canseco, would be his “Deep Throat”. Even during the record-breaking year of 1998, when McGwire and Sosa both shattered Roger Maris’s single season homerun record, he refused to acknowledge any mention of steroids. With statistical evidence that amounts to a dead body, fingerprints, receipts, blood splatter, murder weapon, hair fibers, and a motive, Selig felt he just couldn’t find any evidence to justify looking into the steroid issue. Selig justified the offensive barrage as the natural hitting and pitching cycles that the sport experiences and we were just riding the crest of an offensive tsunami. A simple glance at the obscene individual player homerun totals for each season should have sent off alarms in the commissioner’s office. Maybe the ballparks were too small, maybe they expanded too quickly, or maybe steroids were rampant in MLB. The following table lists the single season homerun totals by individual players for two groupings of seasons.

 
Average per season
Years
Seasons
50
60
70
50
60
70
All
1994-2002
9
13
5
2
1.44
0.55
0.22
2.22
1900-1993
94
14
2
0
0.15
0.02
0.00
0.17
Increase in average season
960%
2,750%
  
1,306%

MLB had an increase of 50+ homeruns hit in a season by a single player by 1,306% over 9 seasons, when compared to the previous 94 seasons. Despite the elephant in the room, Selig says he didn’t notice anything odd or worthy of investigation. If you had invested $5,000 in the stock market in 1994 and it increased by 1,306% per year for 9 years ending in 2002 you would have $582,700 profit (actual market increased “only” 104% for $5,187 profit). Selig saw these dramatic increases punctuated by homerun records from every angle (youngest player to 200 homeruns, 300, 400…single season, week, month, etc…). Selig chose to ignore them all. As long as the profits were reaching up to the sky it was of little concern to Selig what the root cause was even if it would later place all those homerun records into question and stain his legacy in the sport forever.

Congress questioned the players and Selig about the weak punishments for violating the MLB steroid policy. In chorus they all claimed that the punishment section could be tweaked some, but that the shame of being caught using steroids is punishment enough to users and would-be-users to pull up their pants and flush the juice. Public embarrassment is the harshest punishment for a steroid user, unless they get caught five times. The public has a way of quickly becoming anesthetized to the shock of celebrity scandals no matter how salacious. After the fifth or tenth player is caught and suspended the public will barely notice and the shame penalty rendered insignificant. Players who aren’t stars and couldn’t make a roster without using steroids in the first place have nothing to lose. If they play well enough to get a 3 year, $3 million contract then get caught using steroids, they only get a 10 game suspension. They can do this a few more times until they start missing a significant number of games at which time they can stop using. They can then play out the remainder of their contract steroid free as their physique and slugging percentage begin to shrink. After their time is up, if they can’t make it they still have a nice nest egg in which to join the real world.

Does anybody really think that the players will be shamed into staying clean? Let’s not expect the players to feel much shame when Commissioner Selig had an unwritten don’t ask don’t tell policy for over a decade and Selig himself continues to live and profit despite his numerous well publicized shameful acts.

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