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Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Baseball: A Fraud

Gary Tuchman
360 correspondent

As a journalist and a baseball fan, I was curious whether anything substantive would come out of today's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's hearing on the Mitchell steroid report.

In addition to Senator George Mitchell, the committee members questioned baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and players union executive director Donald Fehr.

I wasn't encouraged on the several occasions when names were mispronounced by committee members, and when some seemed a little hazy about baseball history. Also questions about social responsibilities to Commissioner Selig seemed like a waste of time. (Is there really a chance Selig would say we don't have responsibilities?)

But I do think the committee understood the significance of this: that Major League Baseball is supposed to be different from pro wrestling or roller derby.

Representative Betty McCollum of Minnesota hit the nail on the head when she exclaimed, "Every fan who's bought tickets for the last 20 years has been witness to a fraud."

Let the record reflect there was no clamoring in the committee room to disagree with that.

Posted By CNN: 2:45 PM ET
7 Comments

Gary,
There really was no fraud. Fans knew that steroid use was going on but still flocked to the stadiums. They knew they were getting pumped up unrealistic baseball. Yet they still paid their money and enjoyed it. And they still will go regardless of how the MLB deals with this issue or what congress says or does. So noone really cares. It is just a game after all!!

Cynthia, Covington, Ga.

Posted By

Cindy : 3:04 PM ET

Gary, Betty M hit the nail on the head it was for sure fraud but we
must remember all players were not guilty so that leaves room for future hope. My son as a child was
an avid baseball card collector, one day he came home really mad
because of a news story he had just
heard Daryl Strawbarry was busted
for drugs seems like this incident
devalued his card greatly so maybe
this scandal has devalued many of
the guilty players future earning power.

Posted By

barb-dalton ga : 3:06 PM ET

I remember my father taking me to Forbes Field in Pittsburgh to see baseball games. In those days, people like Bill Mazeroski and Roberto Clemente were people a child could look up to and respect.

Those days are long gone for today's children.

Posted By

Joseph Kowalski, North Huntingdon, PA : 3:39 PM ET

We are not victims of this "fraud"; we have been active participants in it. We knew the players were taking steroids, yet we bought the tickets and continued to attend the games. Nothing more will come about because, afterall, winning is all that matters - at whatever cost.

Posted By

Lisa, Elk Grove, CA : 3:58 PM ET

OUR TAX DOLLARS hard at work in a Democratically-controlled Congress. Isn't it time for a change?

Posted By

xtina - chicago IL : 5:45 PM ET

Just reading this now. Everyone knows that professional sports are about gaining the upper edge no matter what you have to do to get there. Two of my younger cousins play college baseball (one pitched his team into the NCAA tournament last season as a sophomore). Competition and doing whatever it takes to win started for those boys in t-ball. Go to a t-ball game and listen to the parents push and yell at 4-year olds to win. The win at all costs attitude starts at home and continues into the majors. I don't blame the pros. I blame the parents and coaches who encourage the mentality and the fans willing to pay knowing they are seeing an enhanced game. One of the two boys has a good chance of making it into the majors. As bad as the profession is and as much as I want what is best for him in his life, there are days I pray really hard he doesn't play this sport past college.

Posted By

Tammy, Berwick, LA : 9:33 AM ET

I'm just ticked that our highly paid congressmen are wasting our tax money paying them to take their time looking into BASEBALL??
Like they don't have anything better to do. Does it affect the ticket price I will pay..NO Does it affect any American in any way except the atheletes? NO Leave this to baseball..This is part of the reason we are 3 million billion dollars in debt right now.

Posted By

Dougydad : 10:02 AM ET

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