ShareThisPredictably, the call has already been issued. Instead of "Release the hounds" it's "Release the names"
The drip, drip, drip from leaks off that list of 104 names of MLB players that tested positive in 2003 for performance-enhancing substances continued this week when The New York Times reported that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were on the list.
Hey, just 98 more to go Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, David Segui and Jason Grimsley were already outed off the list, which players were told would be anonymous when they agreed to base-line testing and ended up being seized by federal agents as part of the BALCO (Bay Area Laboratories Co-Operative) investigation.
It's an early test for the new executive director of the players association and I hope that Michael Weiner, who will replace Donald Fehr at the end of the season, realizes this is a crisis he can't let go to waste. It matters not in the court of public opinion that "leaking" these names is, well, illegal because that's how the whole steroid story has developed. There is no shortage of sources: the samples were tested in private laboratories and were not immediately destroyed. True, the drug testing plan was negotiated in good faith. But check any labor battle lately: society has no respect for a collectively-bargained agreement.
There's nothing baseball can do about reports such as the Boston Globe story over the weekend in which it was revealed that the son of Red Sox's broadcaster Jerry Remy was one of two Fenway Park security guards fired last year after baseball opened an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs inside the Red Sox's clubhouse. What commissioner Bud Selig and the players association need to do is get in front of the news curve and fashion a blanket amnesty for players on the list -- many of whom are inactive, anyhow.
He ought to see how that jibes with federal investigations and Congress. (He might want to remind Congress how much money has been spent on this federal pursuit.) Selig's already granted amnesty to individuals who co-operated with the Mitchell Report and absolved club front-office employees. This is a logical next step.
I'm not going to get into the nonsensical debate about why The New York Times doesn't release the whole list and be done with it. First, there's no guarantee the Times has the whole list. Rather, they might be getting names leaked to them gradually and then following up those leaks with due diligence. If the Times had a list that passed muster, they'd probably run it out of journalistic concern that someone else might beat them to the scoop.
But that's an irrelevant, inside-the-biz argument. In a Twitter message Sunday, the founder of BALCO, Victor Conte, said he thought in the future we'll view the steroid controversy the same way we now view prohibition. He's right. Baseball fans have turned the page and it's time the game's leadership stop others from putting the matter in context. Time for them to get with the program.
SIZING IT UP
Winners and losers at MLB's trade deadline:
WINNERS
-- Yankees: They've finally had someone surpass them in the Distraction Sweepstakes thanks to the Red Sox's steroid scandal and the Red Sox came up short pulling off a deal for a starting pitcher. It's still Josh Beckett and Jon Lester against the world ... and I'll take the world.
-- Giants: Second baseman Freddy Sanchez, acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates, can be an impact offensive player in a tight N.L. playoff race. Manager Bruce Bochy has used 81 different lineups this year and Sanchez ought to give him stability at the top of the order.
-- Tigers: Adding pitcher Jarrod Washburn from Seattle gives Detroit three of the top seven pitchers in the American League in earned run average.
LOSERS
-- Los Angeles Dodgers: Joe Torre deserves better. General manager Ned Colletti didn't have the stones to step up and get a difference-maker and owner Frank McCourt is too cheap to force the matter. Closer George Sherrill deepens the bullpen but, that's about it. Without a guy like Roy Halladay, they're a team you wouldn't be scared to face in the postseason.
-- Red Sox: This looks like a plodding, beer league team and their starting pitching won't get it done. They look just good enough to not make the playoffs or be swept in the first round. They should have paid the premium for Halladay. In the meantime: enjoy your steroid scandal, Red Sox Nation.
-- Indians: I'm not a big fan of ranking prospects. But if I trade my No.?1 starter and a versatile hitting catcher, I'd like somebody's top prospect in return.
ROY TO RANGERS?
Forget that B.S. being spun by the Texas Rangers that Roy Halladay decided at the last moment he wouldn't waive his no-trade clause. "We didn't even go down that road with Roy," said a Blue Jays official aware of GM J.P. Ricciardi's discussions during the week. The Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim did the most road work on Halladay. If the Rangers get out from under owner Tom Hicks's financial crisis, I'm told they're one of the teams the Blue Jays think they can do business with when they try to trade Halladay over the winter.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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