Between Bonds and hard place
As spring training commences, we contemplate Bud Selig's long, awkward doubleheader this summer: slugger Barry Bonds bearing down on the sanctity of a cherished record and sleuth George Mitchell bearing up as he tries to uncover the truth regarding the steroid scandal that has rocked, if not rolled, baseball.
Late last week, Selig demurred when asked at a luncheon in San Francisco whether he plans to personally crown Bonds as baseball's all-time home run king, when and if the day occurs.
"That's a matter I'll determine at some point in the future," he said.
Selig has some difficult issues as baseball's storm clouds accumulate. One is his enduring, half-century-long friendship with the honorable man whose all-time home run record is under siege -- Henry Aaron. Selig has gone on record as saying he likes Barry. But he likes, and has enormous respect for, Hank.
Aaron isn't fond of how a generation of artificially pumped-up Popeyes tainted statistics, the lifeblood of the game. Aaron said last fall he has no intentions of shadowing Bonds on his chase, although he gave the giant home-run hitter benefit of the doubt when he said, "The reason I don't want to get involved is everybody is innocent until proven guilty ... until there's proof, I have no comment."
It's the proof part that has Selig hedging.
With Mitchell's investigation creeping along like a caterpillar because of lack of cooperation -- so slowly that the former Senate majority leader has rattled the congressional intervention saber at owners -- Selig understands time is on his side. Why commit to a Bonds home-run party appearance now, in case something else is revealed? If somehow the San Francisco outfielder is cleared, then Selig could present the record-smashing slugger to the world and offer a smile as wide as the Golden Gate Bridge.
One man who doesn't think the second scenario will occur is Fay Vincent. Baseball's eighth commissioner opined Sunday that, "I think the widespread belief that Bonds has been cheating probably is going to be substantiated."
"My expectation would be that (Selig) would not be there when the record is broken," Vincent said by phone from Vero Beach, Fla. "I think he'll send a message: 'We acknowledge it, but we won't acknowledge it the same way we would have if Bonds had not been (allegedly) cheating.' I think he has got it just right."
He said Mitchell's report is critical for several reasons: "He has to tell us, what did baseball know? What were the federal authorities telling baseball, if anything? What did the security people know?"
Baseball knew "something" as far back as 1991.
"Look, when I was in baseball there were rumors that (Jose) Canseco was taking steroids," Vincent said. "Baseball knew -- at least I did. I put out a decree banning steroids. But we really didn't know what we were talking about. I don't think we understood. We didn't realize it was going to be as big a problem for baseball as it was."
My view is that the commissioner should not appear in any coronation ceremony. Some fans undoubtedly would enjoy watching him squirm at such a momentous occasion. Selig's mere pres-
ence would trigger public derision, leaving him the most ridiculed captain of any sports industry. Then again, not appearing will trigger an avalanche of criticism. I wonder if he has the stomach to face either nuclear fallout.
However hypocritical it might be, Selig should boycott Bonds because to do otherwise would stamp official approval of the record. It will be one of rather dubious merit, given the overwhelming circumstantial evidence involving Bonds and his alleged intentional use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. (Remember, Bonds already has admitted in court that he unknowingly used steroids given him).
None of this ceremony stuff has anything to do with precedence. Selig made a point of saying he wasn't there when Roger Clemens won his 300th game (a milestone), nor was he present when reliever Trevor Hoffman broke the career saves mark (really, who cares?). Neither compare to the enormity of the standard of achievement set by Aaron.
The commissioner says the right things. For far too long, the lords of the game failed to pursue a prudent course that would have uncovered the depths of steroid abuse. Baseball couldn't unilaterally impose a drug-testing policy without the union, but it was too complacent and, therefore, equally culpable.
Earlier this month, Selig was a keynote speaker at Ripon College in Wisconsin. The topic: "Ethics in Sports." He spoke of the game's "integrity," about baseball's "enormous social responsibilities," as an American institution.
"I always say to people that if anybody goes to a game and there's scintilla of doubt, then we have no sport - it's done," Selig told his listeners, perhaps not sensing that the damage already has been done.
