This column originally ran in The Standard-Times on March 31, 2006.
Selig dropped the ball long ago
By Nick Tavares
Watching Bud Selig wriggle around uncomfortably isn't pretty. And he's done a lot of wriggling lately.
When we last left our hero, he had announced that, due to the obvious and glaring facts in the new book "Game of Shadows" implicating several baseball players, notably Barry Bonds, of steroid abuse, he was launching an independent investigation into the matter.
Steroids in baseball? Absurd. I can't believe it. Never in a million years.
Kidding aside, this is downright embarrassing. Not because of how the game has been tarnished, but how Selig has tripped over himself time and time again, doing nothing right without pressure from outside (read Congress, baseball writers, fans, etc.).
They've been scooped by a book that probably took months to write, written by reporters who were more concerned with the well-being of the game than the leaders of the game itself.
So this is what it takes? The game of baseball has to wait until a book publishing in detail what almost everyone knew in part before it finally launches an investigation? What do they expect to find? What's the point?
"Nothing is more important to me than the integrity of the game of baseball," Selig said at yesterday's press conference.
Well, that's nice to know. Pretending there was nothing wrong for more than a decade is just washed away because, now, or at least since Sen. John McCain has let his wrath be felt, Selig cares.
So, with the integrity of the game at stake, Selig has made the bold, bold decision to hire a third-party investigator to oversee the inquiry. The fact that the third party here also happens to serve as director on the Red Sox' executive board of officers shouldn't cause fans any alarm, no no no. This is an independent investigation all the way.
What's really sad about this is that Sen. George Mitchell, leading the investigation, could do a great job and play it straight down the middle, but it's nearly impossible to believe Selig in this. Everything that comes out of his mouth is later retracted and reinstated and finally tailored to what he thinks people want to hear.
"Should Sen. Mitchell uncover material suggesting that the scope of the investigation needs to be broader," Selig continued, "he has my permission to expand the investigation and to follow the evidence wherever it may lead."
Fantastic. I hope he's just as enthusiastic if Sen. Mitchell knocks on his door asking why nothing was done earlier. I doubt that will happen, but it's a nice thought.
People wanted an investigation into steroids generally and Bonds specifically. Well, now they have it. Sort of. I mean, if that's what the people really want. Because, you know, they care about the integrity of the game. And stuff.
But, on a serious note now, the hypocrisy of this entire administration is ridiculous. It's impossible to take anything they say seriously, much less anything that comes out of this investigation.
Short of taking a black marker to the last 20 years, there's nothing baseball can do to fix this because baseball, from Bud Selig down, turned a blind eye to steroids as long as they could, then kept their eyes shut a little longer.
In the eyes of Selig, baseball was a product too valuable to try to fix. Now it's broken, and it's become broken under his watch.
So, enjoy this investigation and any discipline or discoveries that may or may not come, but know that in the end, it probably won't matter.
Short of voluntary confessions from players who used steroids, all that will come is more embarrassment and more confusion.
But, under the faithful watch of Selig, it couldn't be any other way.
Nick Tavares is a columnist for The Standard-Times. Contact him at ntavares@s-t.com
Date of Publication March 31, 2006 on Page C04