Ball is in your court, commish, By: Carol Slezak
Fallout from latest revelations will pressure Selig to clean up steroid mess once and for all
May 6, 2007
In the coming months and years, there surely will be books and movies dramatizing the tale of Kirk Radomski, the former New York Mets clubhouse assistant-turned-drug dealer to the major leagues. For now, there is only a search warrant bearing the blacked-out names of baseball players Radomski has ratted out to the feds.
Who are the players? What were their drugs of choice? And, most important, what is commissioner Bud Selig going to do about this latest mess?
One way or another, the names of the players will be revealed. And when they are, instead of being consumed with the saga of Barry Bonds, we will expand the scope of our steroid angst -- because Radomski has admitted providing drugs, including steroids and human growth hormone, to ''dozens of current and former major-league baseball players and associates on teams throughout Major League Baseball,'' a statement issued by U.S. Attorney Scott Schools said.
As part of his plea agreement, Radomski, who worked for the Mets from 1985 to 1995, has agreed to cooperate not only with the feds, but also with former Sen. George Mitchell in his ongoing investigation of steroid use in baseball. Radomski told federal agents he was supplying players with drugs until December 2005, when federal agents raided his home. According to his plea agreement, Radomski ''sold steroids in person, over the phone and by mail.''
Players sweating it out
According to news organizations that have viewed public records in the case, including the Associated Press, one investigator said that Radomski, who reportedly didn't start dealing until after he left the Mets' organization, became a ''major drug source'' in pro baseball after the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative lab was shut down by federal investigators in 2003. Investigators have found records of 23 checks, totaling $33,935, written by ''MLB-associated individuals'' deposited into Radomski's bank account between May 2003 and March 2005. Investigators also have obtained Radomski's cell-phone records, and ''some numbers belonging to current and former MLB players have been already identified.''
So not only is Radomski, who pleaded guilty to felony charges of distributing steroids and laundering money, naming names, but there appears to be hard evidence to back him up. In other words, judgment day is coming. No doubt a lot of players are sweating this out, waiting to see if their names will surface, wondering whether they'll be done in by Radomski. Reputations and entire careers might be ruined. No doubt Selig is sweating this out, too. What will he do?
Selig's approach so far has been to do little and hope the drug problem simply fades away. Remember, this is the guy who told Congress in 2005 that baseball doesn't have a major drug problem. This is the guy who said last July that he thought ''steroid use has been minimized'' as a result of the drug-testing program MLB implemented in 2003. This is the guy who still hasn't decided whether he will be in attendance when Bonds breaks Hank Aaron's home-run record.
Last chance to make good
Selig is the guy who called for a steroid investigation last March only after the publication of the book Game of Shadows shamed him into it. Now, after spinning his wheels for more than 13 months, unable to get players to cooperate, investigator Mitchell appears to have gotten his big first break, courtesy of a lowly former clubhouse attendant.
Selig is the guy who, despite receiving repeated warnings from Congress that it is itching to step in and clean up the mess, continues to pretend that the game is clean. Why, sure, Bonds is a bit of a headache. But other than that, everything is swell.
Why didn't the commissioner react sooner to the drug problem?
''I wouldn't do anything different than I did,'' he said.
Selig has been looking the other way for a very long time. Lucky for him, fans love the game too much to abandon it. But it's one thing to suspect players of cheating and quite another thing to have proof. An entire decade of statistics might be tainted. If dozens of players are implicated, will any numbers be valid? Batting averages, home runs, earned-run averages, strikeouts -- how will we know what's real? Can you put an asterisk on an entire record book? I'm afraid the drama has just begun.
Fans will demand accountability and solutions. Is Selig up for the job? Nothing we've seen so far would indicate that he is. But it appears he will get one last chance to make good. For the sake of the game, he'd better make the most of it.
