BASEBALL’S FIVE O’CLOCK SHADOW

                           BySy Schechtman

 

         A man with a five o’clockshadowlooks sinister, and usuallylooks much betterwith a shave to brighten up his demeanor.  Baseballhas much the same shadowacrossits collective face;  the grand jury investigation  into the possible illegal use of steroids to enhance baseball performance.  Several big stars have already admittedtheir guilt and several have also implicated others.  And these   also have admitted their use of steroids well above the normal prescribed limits.  Some have demurred and have beenexcused.But the most famous one, Barry Bonds, is still almost noncommittal,insisting that his trainer, who he has absolute trust in, has supplied him only with flaxseed oil products to control his arthritic symptoms after ball games.   Never any mentionof steroids.   That has been his position before the grand jury; perjury before which august body is a very serious offence.(Shades ofBill Clintonand Monica Lewensky’s DNA staineddress,which tumbled Clinton into an impeachmenttrial for lying.!)    

         And according to leaked testimony into the ongoingfederal grand jurysteroid abuse situation in major league baseball,major stars such as Jason Giambi   and his brother Jeremy, Gary Sheffield, Armando Rios, Benito Santiagoand Bobby Estallellahave alreadyconfessedand implicatedBarry Bonds as a known abuser;that the “clear liquidand cream” that Bonds was so innocently using as flaxseed oilwere obvious custom made steroid products designed to circumvent conventionaltesting .   The findings of the ongoing secretproceedingsof the grand jury are likened to a proverbial “steroid shoe” waiting to be dropped.To most of us,however,the apparent evidence we see isdubious indeed.    The suspect men(confessed)and Bonds (non confessed)have bulked them selfsup visiblywithmuscle that has made them easily several clothes sizes larger.They are almost physically transformedindividuals, a phenomenon that only excessive steroid use can rationally explain.Andonly Bonds insists onhis innocence, his naivete, and the miraculous newly acquired brawn of his training regimenand trainer, GregAnderson,   who has spent time in prison alreadyfor illegal steroid sales to some of theother athletes previously mentioned.             

             

        But not to worry too much now at any rate!  The bottom line financiallystill seems quite positive at the moment.Thebaseball public is not too perturbed. As ofthe most recent Forbes magazine annual surveythe most valuable sports franchise is the major leagueNew YorkYankees, worth about

one point two billion dollars.This despite the fact that they hadan operating loss of 25 millionlast yearbecause the team had a 200 million dollarpayrolland paid 105 millionin revenue sharing and luxury taxes.  But far outweighing thislossis the record attendance, an increase in sponsorship and the new stadium being built along side the present one.   And baseball’s 29 other teamsalso made money, generatingprofits of almost$500 million.  And total attendance was a record 76 million fans.  Forbes rated the New York Mets the second most valuable franchise at $736 million and the Boston Red Sox at $724 million.   I believethat the top National Football League team net worth, such as the football Giants, lag somewhat behind thesevery impressive figures.  And no drug or gambling scandals seem to loomontheir horizon.

         Baseball has survived some very serious scandals in the past, too.  And the other steroid shoe drop---a grand jury indictment-- may not have muchimpacton the vicarioushero worshipping conscienceof the average fan,  excusing or forgettingpast legal or moral  infractions.  However, back in the earlyformative baseball days, in the early teens and twenties of the last century, the owners took no chances in the face of a major gambling scandal involving the Chicago White Soxand the world series of l919.  Eight White Sox playerswere involved and confessed, although they were later legally absolved later on when officially brought to trial.But the owners, upset by the bad publicity,appointed a Federal Judge of impeccableintegrity-----whose name certainly connoted that feeling---Kenesaw Mountain Landis.    He was given almost unlimited power, and was nicknamed, behind his back, as the “Czar”.  He was a mixed blessing, however, keepingthe game free from the taint of gambling corruption but also   instilling his racist anti negro bias and preventing black players entrance into baseball until his retirement.    And being very activist on manymore levels thanthe owners would have liked.  While the owners continued the practice of a commissioner overseer, the powers delegated tohis   office were considerably modified after Landis retired.

         And that old devil gambling arose to haunt another baseball commissioner many years later.This time  in the person ofPete Rose,one of the most talented hitters of all time, with his total of 4,256 hits in his career probably never to besurmounted.   The trouble with Rose was that he was an inveterate gambler,and denying this as relating to   his baseball activities.Finally  after two private detectives, hired by the newly appointed commissioner of baseball, Bart Giamatti,came up with the actual betting slips of Rose’s activities, did Rose grudgingly admit to his incessant gambling.But never on his team, the Cincinnati Reds.  Subsequent editions  of Roses’autobiography, however,have amendedthat blanket disclaimer.He now states that while manager of the Reds he always bet on his team,but only to win.  DuringGiamatti’s brief tenure in office he confronted Rose with the obvious evidence of his betting;  a deal was arrangedwherebythe extensive record of Rose’ gambling activitywas not revealed (The Dowd Report) and Rose agreed to a lifetime ban from all baseball related activity.   Within a week of this agreement Giammatti died of a massive heart attack; only 154 days into his briefand aggravatingtenure as commissioner of baseball.(Previously he had been president of Yale University, capping a brilliant academic career before venturing into the hazardous world of sportand Pete Rose,also known as “Charlie Hustle”).

         Pete Rose is still around and still is trying for some form of baseball immortalityin the form of admission to the Baseball Hall of Fame,based on his proven record of accomplishment on the playing field.   So farthe moral greatness of Bart Giammetti still bars the way.

         Which brings us back to Barry Bonds and the other “steroid shoe”   And does it matter?  There is an apocryphal story of a tearful little boy looking up to shoeless Joe Jackson for his part in the White    Sox betting scandal----“Say it’s not true, Joe---please!”     Of course,the compromiseis alwaysto have these drug contaminated records with asterisks and explanatoryfoot notes denoting drug enhancement complicity. And it is also factual to understand that drug enhancement is a creeping phenomenon in all of sports;it is a growing problem in track and fieldand in long distance bikingand perhaps in other strength and endurance competitions.   But we need not relent if at all possible.   Surely steroid and other performance enhancing drugs can be detectedwith a reasonable amount of due diligence.   And as for gambling  the Giammatti treatment is still a beacon of hope for us all.

         Squeaky clean it may never be, but a durable compromise that we can all uphold must be attained,so thatwhen Casey at the bat for fear old Mudville strikes out with the bases loadedwe know it was despairingly real,and that the song “….Take out to the ball game,Take me out to the crowd,….Let meroot, root ,root for the home team….If they don’t win it’s a shame.  For it’s one, two, three strikes you’re out….At the old ball game.”  still evokes a true mystique about our national pastime.

         And , hopefully,that five o’clock shadow on theface of baseball will be no more.