Slap on the Wrist

I was brought up to believe that if you broke the rules, and got caught, you would be punished. I was also taught that the punishment I received would fit the severity of the crime. This is clearly a lesson that Bud Selig never learned.

In an era where baseball is being made the object of ridicule on a daily basis Selig is doing little to combat the problem. To someone with no knowledge of baseball or its history it might even seem as though the issue of steroids is one of little concern to Mr. Selig. I myself can understand how someone could reach such a position. One need look no further than the handling of Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez to realise that Selig is doing little to combat steroids and even less to punish those who break the rules.

Baseball as a sport is under constant attack from the media and fans in regards to steroids and the legitimacy of the game. Over the past decades countless books have been written on the subject and numerous Hall of Fame players have been found guilty of using steroids. Players such as Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Roger Clemens have all had their names tarnished due to steroids.

You would think that with all of this bad publicity it couldn't get any worse for baseball and Bud Selig. Then it happened. Before the season even started it was reported that A-rod had tested positive for steroids in 2003. This meant that not only were formers players having to deal with steroid allegations but also the "best player in baseball." A-rod had been found guilty and much like a child who broke the rules was waiting to be punished. Yet the punishment never came. Selig and the league did nothing about the A-rod situation and instead sat idly by as the poster boy of the game was massacred in the media.

Selig's chance for redemption had passed him by as instead of making the ultimate example out of A-rod he simply let him off the hook. Why? The almighty dollar. Selig couldn't afford to have his superstar player, and highest paid athlete in sports, out of competition. How could be suspend A-rod when without him the MLB, which was already feeling the burn of the struggling economy, would lose even more money?

So A-rod was allowed to play. He did miss the start of the season due to hip surgery but managed to come in time to turn around the then struggling Yankees. Without A-rod the Yankees were 13-15. Since his return the team has gone 38-22 and look like World Series contenders.

Selig's ultimate opportunity has passed him by. Or had it?

It would be just a few months later that another MLB superstar, Manny Ramirez, would test positive for steroids and once again bring the national media spotlight to baseball for all the wrong reasons. This time Selig jumped into action. To ensure that the integrity of the game was not damaged by this revelation Selig suspended Ramirez for 50 games. That's right a whole 50 games. Ramirez, who played for the team with the best record in baseball and was merely a cog in a machine, would have to sit out roughly 1/3 of the season.

Was the punishment too severe? Would the Dodgers survive without Manny? Of course they would. They play in one of the worst divisions in baseball and have by far the best team in the National League, even without Manny. The 50 game suspension Selig handed down was a joke and an insult to the game of baseball and its fans.

These two men disgraced baseball by cheating and getting away with it. They pretended to be superstars who were achieving success based on athletic ability when instead they were using drugs. Each time they would hit a home run they point to the sky to thank God when they touched home and yet the real person they should be thanking is the trainer who injected them before the game.

What Selig failed to do is make an example out of these two players. What have other players learned by watching the results of the A-rod and Manny situations? They learned that if you get caught cheating you get paid vacation and come back after the All-Star break in time to lead your team into the playoffs.

How ironic would it be if the Manny led Dodgers met the A-rod led Yankees in the World Series? Both teams best player would be a man who had been caught using steroids only months earlier and yet there they would be. On the field in October playing for the greatest prize in baseball. In that series whenever either of them hit a home run and pointed to the sky to thank God they would really be thanking Bud Selig who allowed them to play rather than doing anything to try and defend the integrity of the game he claims to love.

Selig blew his chance to try and save the reputation of baseball and make it seem as though he was doing something to try and deter the use of steroids. Instead the game has been besmirched and surrounded with clouds of doubt. Players are no longer innocent into proven guilty but are merely innocent and assumed guilty.

These two separate incidents could have been the catalyst to a shift in baseball away from the "Steroid Era" and into greener pastures. Had Selig handled the situation appropriately he may have been the savior of baseball rather than the man who cared more about money than about integrity.

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