Category: Scandals

MLB needs a lesson in PR

Cape Cod Baseball League is volunteer-staffed and has a annual budget of less than $2 million.  So you can bet that the yearly grant of $100,000 from Major League Baseball is pretty critical. 

Now that grant is in trouble because of licensing issues imposed by MLB.  The big leagues are requiring that all teams that share a team name with a MLB team purchase uniforms and souvenirs from MLB-licensed vendors (read: more expensive) or lose that grant.  MLB is also requesting an 11 percent royalty on all sales from affected teams.  

Currently, the CCBL purchases its uniforms and merchandise from local sources. 

This is just one more money grab by MLB.  It seems they are inventing newer and more creative ways to make a buck and alienating every fan base along the way.  Between cracking down on fantasy leagues and online reporting, the whole DirectTV mess a while back, plus the subtle increase of marketing of baseball, it seems everything MLB does is to bring in an extra buck. 

Call me a rebel.  I think the offices of Major League Baseball is to become the stewards of the game of baseball that we love.  But it’s gotten way out of hand and the reason and purpose of the game has been lost.  And the Cape Cod Baseball League is a prime example. 

Fortunately, the CCBL says they will not “roll over” or be “strong-armed” by MLB. 

Look out Little Leagues… MLB is coming for you. 

Berman responds to videos

Chris Berman has made a public response to the online videos that were released a few weeks ago.  The Miami Herald conducted a phone interview with him. 

Now I’ve never ever been a Berman fan but after watching a few of the few of videos, I started wondering what the fuss was all about.  Certainly, we didn’t expect a famous baseball analyst to let his hair down and act like the rest of us, did we? 

To Berman’s credit, he didn’t apologize for his actions on the videos nor did he try to spin it to his advantage. 

”It’s almost as if what we would fight against as a country — the Soviets spying — it’s almost like that’s what everyone is doing,” Berman said by phone Wednesday. “What’s said in the huddle, which is what I did, should be in the huddle.

“I’m disappointed people would think I’m not really good with the people I work with, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Do I wish I didn’t say a few things nine years ago? Yes. But if that’s the worst thing I ever did, I can live with it.”

Now the Soviet reference is a tired cliche but otherwise, it’s a solid statement.  I think we as baseball people need to not fall into the trap of thinking that if something that doesn’t follow the company line needs to be apologized for.

I still don’t care for Chris Berman as an analyst or sportscaster but let’s not bring him down because of this. 

By the way, ESPN has requested You Tube to remove the videos which they did.  Now that’s a totally different issue. 

Keep partisan politics out of the Clemens case

The idea of politicians getting involved in the Roger Clemens matter just makes me shake my head and wonder.  Yet, sure enough, there are rumors that folks in Washington are coming to the Rocket’s aid. 

We had the same thing here at the University of Illinois when we had the nasty situation with the Chief.  When the Chief’s existence was being threatened, many state legislators took action.  Those misguided leaders, who apparently didn’t have enough to do with their tax-paid time and effort, made their lofty statements and attempted to pass resolutions to support the controversial mascot. 

Despite how you felt about the Chief, it’s obvious (to me at least) that not only was it inappropriate use of their position, it was a obvious ploy for votes. 

That all said, I ask all politicians to steer clear of the Clemens case.  Clemens’ connection to the Bush family and any endorsement or implied pardon just gets in the way of finding the truth. 

Oh, it goes both way too, Democrats… Clemens was almost booed by members of Congress yesterday, most likely Democrats. 

Please… just do your job and do it professionally.

A bad week for Miguel Tejada

Miguel Tejada has seen better days.  First, he gets word that Congress is opening an investigation into whether he lied to the House Committee Oversight and Government Reform in 2005 on his use of PEDs.

Then, he finds out that his older brother was killed in a motorcycle accident in the Dominican Republic. 

Astros management predictably expressed their condolences on Tejada’s brother’s death but kept their words to a minimum on the investigation issue, waiting for more information. 

In a letter to US Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the Committee made their case:

“Mr. Tejada made statements to the Committee in a transcribed interview on Aug. 26, 2005, regarding his knowledge of and involvement with steroids. Evidence contained in former Senator Mitchell’s report on steroid use in Major League Baseball appears to be inconsistent with statements he gave to the Committee.”

Naive me.  I had this feeling that the baseball powers-that-be were bringing the Mitchell Report out in the dead of winter so that it would blow over by the time Spring Training started.  With Congress (and let’s face it, the media) getting involved, who knows how long it will last.

Schilling’s side

With developing technologies of the Internet, more and more MLB players are taking advantage of this by writing on blogs and websites.  Some are MLB.com sanctioned which I would presume would be monitored.  Other players have there own websites where I would assume they would have more freedom. 

Most players talk about life as a player or events that happen to them in their journey through the minors or majors.  Others even talk about how they play the game.  Most are interesting as they give us an inside look into the game of baseball.

But wait till one of them actually has an opinion.

Curt Schilling, who, let’s face it, is no stranger to having an opinion, recently wrote this on this on his official blog, 38 pitches:

“Roger has denied every allegation brought to the table. So as a fan my thought is that Roger will find a way in short order to organize a legal team to guarantee a retraction of the allegations made, a public apology is made, and his name is completely cleared. If he doesn’t do that then there aren’t many options as a fan for me other than to believe his career 192 wins and 3 Cy Youngs he won prior to 1997 were the end. From that point on the numbers were attained through using PED’s. Just like I stated about Jose, if that is the case with Roger, the 4 Cy Youngs should go to the rightful winners and the numbers should go away if he cannot refute the accusations.”

No doubt you have heard about this in the media.  But please read the entire post before making up your mind about Schilling and his ideas.  The media the way that it is tend to focus on the sensational points rather than the substance of the matter.  Some media outlets do a fair job of covering the job… others just focus on what sells.  Further, many fans are reacting to headlines and soundbites rather than considering the original source.

Did Schilling’s article persuade me that Clemens needs to give up his four Cy Youngs?  No, he didn’t.  But that’s not the point. 

The point is that Schilling had a lot more to say. 

Flood of denials, one takes responsibility

In light of the George Mitchell Report and in the midst of all the other denials, Andy Pettitte is coming clean, as it were.

"If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize," Pettitte said Saturday in a statement released by his agent. "I accept responsibility for those two days."

Pettitte is admitting to taking HGH in 2002.  He claims he took it to "heal faster" and not for an athletic advantage.

There’s More Than What’s In Mitchell’s Report

I don’t think anybody is foolish enough to think that the players named in the Mitchell Report is the definitive list of all players who have used steroids or HGH in baseball. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Surely there have been more than 83 players. These names came from basically 3 or 4 sources. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that there are more than 3 or 4 sources of steroids for players. Whenever the other “trainers” start to get busted then more names will come out. My opinion is that it’s been pretty much an even playing field and that the number of players who did not juice pales in comparison to the number of players who have. And when you see some of the names in the Mitchell Report it makes you wonder how much of an impact it really has. One thing I think it did prove is that if you don’t have talent all the steroids in the world aren’t going to help. Mike Bell? First of all which Mike Bell? It doesn’t matter they both were blips on the baseball radar. Chad Allen, Gary Bennett, Larry Bigbie. Mike Judd? At first I thought they busted the Beavis and Butthead/King of the Hill guy, too. I think the most embarrassing thing for Nook Logan is that now everybody knows his name is Exavier. Cody McKay is not that surprising when you think about who his dad is. Dave had to be the Charles Atlas of first base coaches. I don’t remember him like that as a player. Can they test coaches?

All of this was done without breaking any of baseball’s rules. Of course a lot of law breaking took place and perhaps some of these players will face consequences. But I don’t think suspensions can be given for anything unless it can be proven that the offenses took place after the performance enhancing drug policy was put in place. All this talk about asterisks and stripping of records and awards is nonsense. Baseball has nobody to blame but themselves. Everybody knew it was happening and they didn’t seem to care until pressured by Congress. Are we going to take away all of Gaylord Perry’s accomplishments and boot him from the HOF? What about the cocaine guys of the 70’s and 80’s? How about Ferguson Jenkins? Heck, Doc Ellis threw a no-hitter on LSD. Are we going to take that away? I bet if anybody knew at the time he was on acid there would have been other pitchers to try the same thing! Anyway I think that what’s done is done and there’s really not much baseball can do. It’s time to move on.

Fallout from the Mitchell Report

It’s been 8 hours since the release of the report by Sen. George Mitchell on the illegal use of performance enhancers and the response has been overwhelming. 

The media has been busy.  My Google Reader is filled with formulaic articles by beat reporters for each team with the same theme:  Current, former (fill in team name) named in Mitchell Report.  Or if they’re lucky, No (fill in team name) listed in Mitchell Report.

By the way, no current Cubs were listed but some former Cub luminaries such as Matt Karchner, Todd Hundley, Kent Mercker, and Jerry Hairston Jr. were. 

The denials have started to filter in.  Most front and center, Roger Clemens says he is "outraged" about the inclusion of his name in the report.  When I saw his name in the report, I was a tad disappointed but not surprised. 

A valid point made by Mitchell…

"Everyone involved in baseball shares responsibility," Mitchell said during a news conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. "Commissioners, club officials, the Players Association and players. I can’t be any clearer than that."

I don’t think that can be stressed more.  How this report will be spun by the MLB executives will remain to be seen but this should not be looked at as a "player’s problem".  There is no doubt in my mind that MLB front office knew that steroids and other performance enhancers were an issue for years and chose to look the other way.

Finally, Congress has already reacted to the report.   Specifically, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  Congressmen Henry Waxman and Tom Davis issued a joint statement requesting Bud Selig, and Donald Fehr of the Players Association and Mitchell testify at a committee hearing.   Congressman Christopher Shays from Connecticut wants to address the matter quickly:

"The Mitchell Report shows how pervasive a problem performance enhancing drugs have been in Major League Baseball," Shays said in his statement Thursday. "The common sense recommendations the report has laid out should be enacted as soon as possible. I am looking forward to seeing how serious they take this issue and how quickly they will implement these and other reforms."

Pardon me, but I get a little nervous when Congress tries to solve a problem.  Going on historical evidence, I guess.

 

Link to Sen. George Mitchell’s REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER OF BASEBALL OF AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION INTO THE ILLEGAL USE OF STEROIDS AND OTHER PERFORMANCE ENHANCING SUBSTANCES BY PLAYERS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL (pdf)