Major League Baseball: "Better Living Through Chemistry"?

It seems that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig needs to work a deal with DuPont Chemical for the rights to their advertising slogan "Better Living Through Chemistry" in the aftermath of former Senator George Mitchell's investigation and report on drug use in professional baseball.  Sen. Mitchell's investigation, carried out without subpoena power or any means with which to compel anyone to provide information, yesterday nonetheless named some 89 present and former MLB players, many of whom are All-Stars and/or thought to be en route to the Hall of Fame, as users of anabolic steroids, human growth hormones, and other performance-enhancing drugs.

Much of the initial reaction was shock and dismay at seeing names such as Roger Clemens on the list.  Other names such as Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds were viewed as confirmation of long-held beliefs based upon their Popeye-esque physiques and outlandish home-run numbers.  But to me it wasn't so much the names on the list, but the fact that the list could be generated in what was, in essence a non-prosecutorial, voluntary investigation.

The real black eye is on Major League Baseball.  After all, cheating is connected to baseball as fighting is to hockey.  Think about it - stealing signs (intercepting the other team's signals for the uninitiated) is a revered skill.  Countless hitters have doctored their bats with cork and pine tar.  Countless pitchers have learned the black art of the "spitter", a pitch enhanced by use of anything from Vaseline to KY Jelly to who knows what concoction.  Not touching second base to complete a double play has been winked at for years.  Granted, rampant illegal drug use is a quantum leap beyond these forms of gamesmanship, but where the rules have always been bent on the field, why not off the field, too?  Clubhouses for years have supplied beer and booze to players, resulting in many DUI arrests and even a few deaths from drunk driving.  Now, apparently that largess has included drugs in some organizations.

The laissez-faire attitude toward rules has been coupled with drug-testing policy which is downright pathetic.  Even after "revisions" of the policy over the past several years, MLB still does not test for almost half the number of drugs international bodies such as the World Anti-Doping Agency - some 30 of 60 drugs according to one interview I've read, meaning that the door is very much still open for creative drug users to amp up their performances.  Coming on the heels of such other scandals as Marion Jones and the series of Tour de France disqualifications, the MLB revelations have severely dampened the enjoyment we may take in watching any extraordinary athletic performance due to suspicion and doubt over whether it is genuine.

The focus in the aftermath of the Mitchell Report should rightfully be on Bud Selig and what he does to try to clean up baseball.  Early comments from MLB hierarchy reflect problems there may be with past labor agreements, etc.  It is well past time, however, for union vs. management issues to be put aside and more stringent oversight and testing to be put in place before the so-called "national pastime" becomes a caricature of a sporting event much like professional wrestling.