King Kaufman's Sports Daily
Baseball's new drug probe: A weak swing in hopes of hitting a P.R. single. Plus: George Mason, America's sweetheart.
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March 31, 2006 | It's unsporting to condemn a do-good initiative before it has taken its first hacks, but it's also hard not to look at baseball's new drug probe as anything more than a weak swing, an overmatched hitter's attempt at a public-relations single.
Commissioner Bud Selig held a press conference Thursday to announce an investigation into "the illegal use of performance enhancing substances by a player or players," with former Sen. George Mitchell of Maine in charge.
Selig's usual course of action -- inaction -- became untenable in the wake of the publication of "Game of Shadows," an explosive book by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters that details the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs by Barry Bonds and others.
Coincidentally, Victor Conte, the founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, which the book says supplied Bonds and others with drugs, was released from prison Thursday, and he told the Associated Press that he didn't give Bonds steroids.
"I plan to provide evidence in the near future to prove that much of what is written in the book is untrue," Conte said.
You want to see some mighty swings? Get a load of Selig whaling away at expectations like Mad Vlad going to work on a Triple-A control pitcher:
"As a practical matter, however, an investigation of the illegal use of performance-enhancing substances by a player or players is an extraordinarily difficult undertaking," he said Thursday. "Arbitrators have been reluctant to allow compelled, potentially self-incriminating testimony and, unlike governmental law enforcement officials, Major League Baseball lacks the authority to grant immunity.
"The investigatory authority of Major League Baseball, therefore, is particularly limited when the allegations relate to conduct that can create or has created a risk of criminal prosecution for the player. Major League Baseball is also aware of its obligation to avoid interference with an on-going grand jury proceeding or criminal investigation."
Got that? In other words: Don't expect this investigation to accomplish much. And if it does turn up anything, expect the Major League Baseball Players Association to fire a high, hard grievance at any punishment Selig tries to mete out for past misdeeds.
You may have noticed a decided absence of union officials or players on the dais with Selig and Mitchell.
Mitchell is a director of the Boston Red Sox. He also is chairman of the Walt Disney Co., which owns ESPN. Not only does ESPN have a contract to broadcast Major League Baseball games, it also has a deal with Barry Bonds to air a self-produced reality show about his quest for the all-time home run mark.