![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Credit-phillycom.jpg\")
<\/a>Alex Rodriguez wants Bud Selig to answer ques\u00adtions about his role in base\u00adbal\u00adl\u2019s long-run\u00adning steroid scan\u00addal. [Cred\u00adit: philly.com]<\/p><\/div>Alex Rodriguez has a point.\n
The Yan\u00adkee third base\u00adman, who is appeal\u00ading his 211-game sus\u00adpen\u00adsion for sus\u00adpect\u00aded use of per\u00adfor\u00admance-enhanc\u00ading sub\u00adstances, stormed out of an arbi\u00adtra\u00adtion hear\u00ading last week and onto a New York sports radio pro\u00adgram, where he deliv\u00adered a ram\u00adbling, self-serv\u00ading and emo\u00adtion\u00adal screed<\/a> against the pro\u00adceed\u00adings and the man who ordered his sus\u00adpen\u00adsion, Major League Base\u00adball Com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader Allan Huber (Bud) Selig. A\u2011Rod is angry that Selig did not appear at the pro\u00adceed\u00adings and go under oath.<\/p>\n A\u2011Rod is right about one thing: Bud Selig has a lot of explain\u00ading to do.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to defend him or to agree that Selig should have been made to tes\u00adti\u00adfy at the arbi\u00adtra\u00adtion hear\u00ading. The pro\u00adceed\u00adings are gov\u00aderned by a col\u00adlec\u00adtive bar\u00adgain\u00ading agree\u00adment between own\u00aders and play\u00aders. Rodriguez is alone in insist\u00ading that the Com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader him\u00adself, rather than his Chief Oper\u00adat\u00ading Offi\u00adcer, tes\u00adti\u00adfy. In its state\u00adment<\/a>,<\/span> the play\u00aders union said that it \u201crespect\u00adful\u00adly disagree[d] with the arbi\u00adtra\u00adtor\u2019s rul\u00ading\u201d against requir\u00ading Selig to appear, but \u201cwill abide by it,\u201d dis\u00adtanc\u00ading itself from the Rodriguez tantrum. Although Fred\u00ader\u00adic Horowitz, the arbi\u00adtra\u00adtor, isn\u2019t expect\u00aded to issue his rul\u00ading until late next month or ear\u00adly next year, going AWOL<\/span> with\u00adout sub\u00admit\u00adting to ques\u00adtion\u00ading was rather a dra\u00admat\u00adic way for A\u2011Rod to con\u00adcede that his cause was lost. It was a cal\u00adcu\u00adlat\u00aded act of desperation.<\/p>\n A\u2011Rod has fur\u00adther cement\u00aded his sta\u00adtus as an object of ridicule. His skills fad\u00ading, his body fail\u00ading, his rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion for\u00adev\u00ader ruined, A\u2011Rod\u2019s employ\u00aders are des\u00adper\u00adate to get out from under a con\u00adtract that oblig\u00ades them to pay him $86 mil\u00adlion<\/a> over the next 4 sea\u00adsons . A 211-game sus\u00adpen\u00adsion would save them rough\u00adly $30 mil\u00adlion. For Yan\u00adkees own\u00aders, that would be a good start. They don\u2019t want to pay him anoth\u00ader dime.<\/p>\n It was not always so. Rodriguez first won baseball\u2019s biggest con\u00adtract in 2000, when he bailed from the Seat\u00adtle Mariners to sign a 10-year, $250 mil\u00adlion<\/a> con\u00adtract with Texas. Four years lat\u00ader, the Rangers swapped him to the Yan\u00adkees. In 2007, with sev\u00ader\u00adal years still remain\u00ading on his con\u00adtract, the Yan\u00adkees signed him to a new 10-year, $275 mil\u00adlion <\/a>pact that oblig\u00adates the team to pay him through the 2017 sea\u00adson when he will turn 42<\/a>.<\/p>\n Iron\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, it was baseball\u2019s steroid scan\u00addal that land\u00aded him a con\u00adtract that may be the worst in sports his\u00adto\u00adry. At the time, a dis\u00adgraced Bar\u00adry Bonds, who was play\u00ading his final sea\u00adson, had already bro\u00adken Hank Aaron\u2019s record of 755 career home runs. To have Bonds hold two of the sport\u2019s most revered records \u2013 most home runs in a sea\u00adson and in a career \u2013 was galling to many fans and to the game\u2019s over\u00adlords. The hope was that Rodriguez, the youngest play\u00ader ever to hit 500 home runs, would sur\u00adpass Bonds and dis\u00adpel the odor of scan\u00addal from the record. The Yan\u00adkee orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion was eager to have Rodriguez in pin\u00adstripes when he set that record and was will\u00ading to over\u00adpay for the opportunity.<\/p>\n But big salaries come with big expec\u00adta\u00adtions and Rodriguez nev\u00ader was able to sat\u00adis\u00adfy demand\u00ading Yan\u00adkee fans. Even when he slugged 54 homers in 2007, they com\u00adplained that his con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtions were too often irrel\u00ade\u00advant to the out\u00adcome of games. Though he helped lead his team to a World Series cham\u00adpi\u00adonship in 2009, he did not win their hearts. And when his out\u00adput plum\u00admet\u00aded after 2010, they turned on him for good. Few want to see him in a Yan\u00adkee uni\u00adform again.<\/p>\n For non-Yan\u00adkee fans, the turn\u00ading point in their view of A\u2011Rod came in Feb\u00adru\u00adary 2009, when he admit\u00adted to hav\u00ading used steroids<\/a> while still with the Texas Rangers. The admis\u00adsion had the weird\u00adness that we have come to expect with Rodriguez. He blamed his Domini\u00adcan cousin and said that he used sub\u00adstances that were legal and read\u00adi\u00adly avail\u00adable in his native coun\u00adtry. He said he\u2019d stopped using in 2003, some\u00adthing he con\u00adtin\u00adues to main\u00adtain, how\u00adev\u00ader implau\u00adsi\u00adbly. But the dam\u00adage was done. He no longer was the play\u00ader who was going to break the all-time home run record with\u00adout cheat\u00ading. Indeed, his pro\u00adduc\u00adtion dropped so abrupt\u00adly that he would not threat\u00aden the record at all. The fans and the commissioner\u2019s office had no more use for him.<\/p>\n A\u2011Rod may be forced to go away. But he won\u2019t leave qui\u00adet\u00adly. His fit of tem\u00adper like\u00adly seals his sus\u00adpen\u00adsion, which he seems cer\u00adtain to appeal to fed\u00ader\u00adal court. He already has opened anoth\u00ader legal front: he filed suit last month in New York Supreme Court, seek\u00ading dam\u00adages for what he alleges to be the Commissioner\u2019s tor\u00adtious inter\u00adfer\u00adence with exist\u00ading con\u00adtracts and prospec\u00adtive busi\u00adness relationships.<\/p>\n Legal mer\u00adits aside, the com\u00adplaint<\/a> speaks some incon\u00adve\u00adnient truths about the base\u00adball com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader. It claims that Selig\u2019s aggres\u00adsive pur\u00adsuit of Rodriguez not only vio\u00adlat\u00aded baseball\u2019s col\u00adlec\u00adtive bar\u00adgain\u00ading agree\u00adment but was under\u00adtak\u00aden to \u201cgloss over [his] past inac\u00adtion and tac\u00adit approval of the use of per\u00adfor\u00admance enhanc\u00ading sub\u00adstances in base\u00adball\u201d [para\u00adgraph 1].<\/p>\n The com\u00adplaint accu\u00adrate\u00adly describes Selig\u2019s tenure as com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader as \u201cscan\u00addal-rid\u00adden\u201d and \u201cplagued by some of the most con\u00adtentious and dam\u00adag\u00ading fail\u00adures in base\u00adball his\u00adto\u00adry\u201d [Para\u00adgraph 20]. Cit\u00ading one of a litany of Selig\u2019s fias\u00adcoes, the com\u00adplaint reminds the court that:<\/p>\n Mr. Selig presided over the 1994\u20131995 strike, which result\u00aded in the first can\u00adcel\u00adla\u00adtion of a World Series since 1904. This 232 day strike caused sub\u00adstan\u00adtial dam\u00adage to base\u00adbal\u00adl\u2019s rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion and result\u00aded in long-last\u00ading declines in game atten\u00addance and team rev\u00adenue [Para\u00adgraph 20].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That blun\u00adder, one among many that the com\u00adplaint might have cit\u00aded, led Selig into a fail\u00adure that was even more stun\u00adning and one that has done the game last\u00ading dam\u00adage: the steroid era.<\/p>\n In the after\u00admath of the rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion\u00adal harm suf\u00adfered by MLB<\/span> as a result of the 1994 strike, base\u00adball was in des\u00adper\u00adate need of a way to recon\u00adnect fans with the game. This sal\u00adva\u00adtion came in 1998, in the form of the high\u00adly pub\u00adlic com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtion between two MLB<\/span> play\u00aders, Mark McG\u00adwire and Sam\u00admy Sosa, to break Roger Maris\u2019s record of hit\u00adting 61 home runs in one sea\u00adson. Under the rapt atten\u00adtion of fans world\u00adwide, both McG\u00adwire and Sosa beat Maris\u2019 record, hit\u00adting 71 and 66 home runs, respec\u00adtive\u00adly [Para\u00adgraph 21].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Buoyed by steroid-pow\u00adered feats of Sosa and McG\u00adwire, base\u00adball wel\u00adcomed an influx of fans and cash, with Selig assum\u00ading cred\u00adit for the suc\u00adcess. But as with steroids them\u00adselves, the sud\u00adden rush of strength was fol\u00adlowed by a longer and more debil\u00adi\u00adtat\u00ading decline. When the \u201cGold\u00aden Age of Base\u00adball\u201d turned out to be the \u201cGold\u00aden Age of Steroids\u201d [Para\u00adgraph 22], the game\u2019s rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion soured.<\/p>\n So did Selig\u2019s. His fail\u00adure to police the sport he over\u00adsaw prompt\u00aded Con\u00adgress to call hearings.<\/p>\n To divert atten\u00adtion from his own fail\u00adures, Selig took off after the game\u2019s great\u00adest asset \u2013 the play\u00aders them\u00adselves. Under pres\u00adsure from Con\u00adgress, Selig enlist\u00aded for\u00admer Sen\u00adate Major\u00adi\u00adty Leader George Mitchell to under\u00adtake an inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtion. The Mitchell report<\/a>,<\/span> as the com\u00adplaint notes, \u201cfound ram\u00adpant use of banned sub\u00adstances through\u00adout the game\u201d [Para\u00adgraph 24].<\/p>\n More sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant\u00adly, it named names, dozens of them<\/a>,<\/span> includ\u00ading those of some of the game\u2019s biggest stars, con\u00advinc\u00ading fans that they\u2019d been played for fools when they paid to wit\u00adness the accom\u00adplish\u00adments of the game\u2019s giants. The report did its job. The Mitchell report estab\u00adlished the play\u00aders that had used steroids as the sole vil\u00adlains. Hence\u00adforth, every play\u00ader who would have an out\u00adstand\u00ading offen\u00adsive sea\u00adson would be sub\u00adject to whis\u00adpers that he might be cheat\u00ading. The bet\u00adter the play\u00ader, the more per\u00adsis\u00adtent the sus\u00adpi\u00adcion. The com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader, mean\u00adwhile, avoid\u00aded sus\u00adpi\u00adcion. The man who presided over the steroid era was off the hook.<\/p>\n Some mis\u00adtak\u00aden\u00adly believe that Mitchell con\u00adduct\u00aded a thor\u00adough inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtion of the steroid scan\u00addal, includ\u00ading a detailed inquiry into the con\u00adduct of Selig and the own\u00aders. It did noth\u00ading of the sort. The report\u2019s pri\u00adma\u00adry pur\u00adpose was to deflect blame away from the com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader. It was a \u201cReport to<\/strong><\/em> the Com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader,\u201d not an inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtion of the com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader. That was by design. Mitchell\u2019s law firm was hired by the commissioner\u2019s office to pre\u00adpare the report. Lawyers don\u2019t inves\u00adti\u00adgate their clients; they defend them. Mitchell defend\u00aded Selig by attack\u00ading the play\u00aders. It was an able defense.<\/p>\n Selig has nev\u00ader gone under oath before an arbi\u00adtra\u00adtor, fed\u00ader\u00adal inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtors or a court. Con\u00adgress has slapped him around a few times, but nev\u00ader seri\u00adous\u00adly exam\u00adined the ques\u00adtion of his com\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty in a scan\u00addal that occurred under his nose. We still don\u2019t know what he knew or when he knew it. No one has sub\u00adpoe\u00adnaed his emails or phone records, pored over inter\u00adnal mem\u00ado\u00adran\u00adda, inter\u00adviewed sub\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnates or club own\u00aders who grant\u00aded club\u00adhouse pass\u00ades to steroid deal\u00aders (and, in some cas\u00ades, employed them) and in whose work\u00adplaces play\u00aders inject\u00aded one anoth\u00ader with the sub\u00adstances. No one has under\u00adtak\u00aden a full inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtion to deter\u00admine whether Selig was a wit\u00adting accom\u00adplice in wide\u00adspread cheat\u00ading or just anoth\u00ader obtuse and incom\u00adpe\u00adtent executive.<\/p>\n That mat\u00adters because, while Rodriguez is respon\u00adsi\u00adble for his own integri\u00adty, Selig is respon\u00adsi\u00adble for the integri\u00adty of the game. His fail\u00adure has far greater con\u00adse\u00adquences. In that sense, Rodriguez\u2019s tem\u00adper tantrum is under\u00adstand\u00adable. Selig has been relent\u00adless in destroy\u00ading his career and rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion and that of oth\u00ader play\u00aders, while pock\u00adet\u00ading a report\u00aded annu\u00adal salary of $18.4 mil\u00adlion<\/a> and nev\u00ader being held account\u00adable for his role in mar\u00adring the game\u2019s integrity.<\/p>\n It is long past time for him to answer ques\u00adtions under oath. The arbi\u00adtra\u00adtor wouldn\u2019t do it, but if Rodriguez\u2019s civ\u00adil action against Selig or his court chal\u00adlenge of the arbitrator\u2019s rul\u00ading were to move for\u00adward, per\u00adhaps judges will.<\/p>\n It is time for the accuser to stand accused.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alex Rodriguez has a point. The Yan\u00adkee third base\u00adman, who is appeal\u00ading his 211-game sus\u00adpen\u00adsion for sus\u00adpect\u00aded use of per\u00ad\u00adfor\u00ad\u00admance-enhanc\u00ading sub\u00adstances, stormed out of an arbi\u00adtra\u00adtion hear\u00ading last week and onto a New York sports radio pro\u00adgram, where he deliv\u00adered a \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading