Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig promises that current players who have been
named in the Mitchell Report will face discipline, but he didn't say what
kind, or how severe it would be. Players, especially those who have a chance
at making it into the Hall of Fame, are bound to challenge any disciplinary
action in court.
What will members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America do when it
comes time to elect players to the Baseball Hall of Fame? While some sports
journalists were on top of the steroid abuse early - the San Francisco
Chronicle, Sports Illustrated and NBC's Bob Costas were among them - too
many others enjoyed the story of superheroes with impossible bodies hitting
the home run ball and setting new records. If some of those writers looked
the other way, are they fit to judge the qualifications of players about
whose alleged steroid abuse they might have known but declined to report?
And might they face a lawsuit or allegations of a conflict of interest
should a certain player not be voted into the Hall?
The Mitchell Report is not the end of it. As for the fans, they'll pack the
stadiums again next spring, awaiting the long ball and not seeming to care
much whether such strength comes naturally or unnaturally. What lesson
should the sons and daughters they take with them learn from the steroid
scandal? Maybe it's that these days, you have to have an edge.