Besides being a communications professional, I'm also an avid baseball fan, so today is a very interesting day as these two passions are converging. The long awaited Mitchell Report was released at 2 p.m. today, and the names included are coming out slowly. Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada and Eric Gagne are among the most notable to be named so far. A total of 78 are named.
Bud Selig's press conference just started, and as it unfolds, I have to comment what a farce this is. Selig just said that "it is important to hit the issue of steroids head-on" to "preserve the integrity" of the game. While he's trying to convey a take-no-prisoners approach to cleaning up the game, this is a CYA move by the commissioner to shift perception.
George Mitchell stated in his press conference that anabolic steroid use has been prominent for a decade, during a period of time when Selig has presided over the game. It has been during this time that Major League Baseball has enjoyed arguably its greatest prosperity for owners, players and, of course, the League. Everyone has talked about how Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's single season home run record chase in 1998 brought the game back after the strike in 1994. Both players have been among the most suspected of cheating. Of course, since then, Barry Bonds has become the poster child. Now, these three have 78 co-conspirators to share the spotlight.
It looks from the early reporting on the report that the focus will be on the players (and the clubhouse personnel and trainers supplying them). To me, this is a calculated move to shift perception away from the real enablers of the widespread use of performance-enhancing substances -- the owners and the League. Why is this?
It's been several years since the curtain has been raised on what's been going on inside clubhouses. It's provided great fodder for talk show hosts and media during that time. Yet, the popularity of the game has only increased. This has given the commissioner and the League a good idea of how the public would react to the "call to action" Selig stated he is doing. As has been the case during the past few years, the game will not suffer -- in terms of attendance, TV ratings, etc. Selig's response to a question during the press conference was very telling in this regard.
Question: "Will this limit the number of fans that come out to games?"
Answer: "We're past that because this has been going on for a while."
It doesn't sound to me that he's too worried that the game's prosperity is at risk, yet he is hoping to come across as tough on this issue so as not to be remembered in history as the commissioner who presided over baseball's "steroid era."
