Beisbol Been Bery, Bery Bad

Gee, just when I thought baseball had finally gotten over all the bad effects of the Pete Rose debacle and of the 1994 strike, testimony was leaked from the San Francisco Grand Jury investigating steroid use connected to Balco . . . and Barry Bonds' spokesman is now saying not that Barry never took steroids, but that he never knowingly took anything illegal.

Does this not strike you as akin to those who say that having oral sex is not having sex? I mean, come on! The word sex in the description of what is being done should give you a clue.

I was afraid of this. I had the same bad feeling last summer when it was revealed that Jason Giambi was being treated for a rare tumor usually associated with steroid use, but that Jason never took steroids. Well, thanks to other SF grand jury leaks, we now know that wasn't true either.

>>sigh<<

As if that weren't enough, ESPN has released an unscientific poll of its viewing audience claiming that they think steroid use by Bonds and other players is worse for baseball than Pete Rose having bet on baseball, by a 63-37% margin.

Well, those of you who know me know that I will disagree with that. Pete Rose was a player-manager when he was betting on his own sport--and while he finally admitted that he'd bet on baseball, he said he'd never bet against his own team . . . but don't you think there are times when he didn't place bets involving the Cincinnati Reds at all, thinking that the Reds probably wouldn't win those particular games? Bookies are no dummies. They'd have picked up on Rose's betting patterns right away. So even not betting against your team influences betting, thus injuring the whole sport.

But steroid use is a different matter. It's dangerous, and foolhardy (just look at what happened to Lyle Alzado if you doubt it). But it cannot make someone a better hitter--it can only improve the distance of the hits they'd already get. So I don't think it adversely affects the whole sport the way betting by players can.

Unless, of course, the steroid use comes to be revealed to be much more widespread than I at present suspect it is. In that case, ALL bets are off.

These are indeed dark days for the baseball fan.

(I do confess to a great curiosity about the identity of the person(s) who leaked the Grand Jury testimony . . . and why s/he or they chose to do it now. Maybe this doesn't rise to the level of Watergate's Deep Throat, but it sure is something I'd like to know!)