Steroids, former players and Orel Hershiser
Ben Godar
As Kenesaw Mountain Selig launches some sort of investigation into the "steroid era," finger-pointing seems to be story of the day. Most point toward the Players’ Association, team owners or the commissioner’s office for not doing something sooner. This morning, I even heard one journalist ask another if the baseball press wasn’t at fault for not pressing this issue sooner.
Now, I’m not convinced steroids are "superman pills." And I’m not convinced that steroid use in the 1990s skews statistics any more than other inconsistencies throughout every era of baseball. But plenty of "clean" former players are – and I think it’s about time somebody pointed a finger at them.
The company line from retired players is "steroids are a blight on the game and we all know it’s been going on for years." In fact, that’s almost exactly what Orel Hershiser had to say to ESPN’s Brian Kenney shortly after Selig’s announcement:
"When I lived in the locker room, it was kind of taken care of with a wink and a nod," Hershiser said. "People knew something was going on, but people didn’t always talk about it. It was taboo to talk about it.
"Do you ruin team chemistry? Do you ruin your industry? You don’t want to be the guy that’s alienated out there. And so, it almost needs to come from the rule creators, from the law makers."
So basically, Orel Hershiser says he knew scores of players were cheating, but didn’t want to blow the whistle because he’d have to sit alone on the team bus. What a noble stand. And, clearly the actions of someone who disdains the tarnish of steroids on The Game.
Hershiser is far from alone. Only moments later, Harold Reynolds echoed his righteous outrage.
"The only thing that bothers me is that it took a book for everybody to wake up," Reynolds said.
It is the height of hypocrisy for these players to claim they knew something was going on but why didn’t anyone else do anything about it? Why didn’t you do something, Bubba? These players sound like SS Guards on trial at Nuremberg: "We knew what was going on was wrong, but what could we do?"
I believe these players. I’m sure a walk through the clubhouse revealed a needle in every third ass. So why didn’t anyone blow the whistle? Either they didn’t believe steroids were much of a competitive advantage, or they just didn’t care.
Former players can say steroids are a scourge, or they can say they knew something was up a long time ago. But they can’t have it both ways.
As Kenesaw Mountain Selig launches some sort of investigation into the "steroid era," finger-pointing seems to be story of the day. Most point toward the Players’ Association, team owners or the commissioner’s office for not doing something sooner. This morning, I even heard one journalist ask another if the baseball press wasn’t at fault for not pressing this issue sooner.
Now, I’m not convinced steroids are "superman pills." And I’m not convinced that steroid use in the 1990s skews statistics any more than other inconsistencies throughout every era of baseball. But plenty of "clean" former players are – and I think it’s about time somebody pointed a finger at them.
The company line from retired players is "steroids are a blight on the game and we all know it’s been going on for years." In fact, that’s almost exactly what Orel Hershiser had to say to ESPN’s Brian Kenney shortly after Selig’s announcement:
"When I lived in the locker room, it was kind of taken care of with a wink and a nod," Hershiser said. "People knew something was going on, but people didn’t always talk about it. It was taboo to talk about it.
"Do you ruin team chemistry? Do you ruin your industry? You don’t want to be the guy that’s alienated out there. And so, it almost needs to come from the rule creators, from the law makers."
So basically, Orel Hershiser says he knew scores of players were cheating, but didn’t want to blow the whistle because he’d have to sit alone on the team bus. What a noble stand. And, clearly the actions of someone who disdains the tarnish of steroids on The Game.
Hershiser is far from alone. Only moments later, Harold Reynolds echoed his righteous outrage.
"The only thing that bothers me is that it took a book for everybody to wake up," Reynolds said.
It is the height of hypocrisy for these players to claim they knew something was going on but why didn’t anyone else do anything about it? Why didn’t you do something, Bubba? These players sound like SS Guards on trial at Nuremberg: "We knew what was going on was wrong, but what could we do?"
I believe these players. I’m sure a walk through the clubhouse revealed a needle in every third ass. So why didn’t anyone blow the whistle? Either they didn’t believe steroids were much of a competitive advantage, or they just didn’t care.
Former players can say steroids are a scourge, or they can say they knew something was up a long time ago. But they can’t have it both ways.
posted by Ben Godar at 8:38 AM
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