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The S(p)eeds of Disaster

June 7, 2006

 

You never know.  When the other shoe drops, it might be filled with lead.  Major League Baseball is about to find out.  It has been reported over the past 24 hours that Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Jason Grimsley told federal investigators that he used illegal performance-enhancing drugs.  More important to baseball, however, is the fact that Grimsley has named names for federal investigators, indicating that the use of performance enhancers and amphetamines has been widespread in Major League Baseball.  Grimsley’s statements also appear to have indicted various Latin players of acting as “mules” bringing amphetamines in to the United States from their home countries.

 

I have no idea how much play this issue has gotten from columnists around the country.  I haven’t had time to check.  But as of 2:30 pm EDT, only ESPN.com’s Buster Olney had written anything on the story among the national baseball writers I had checked on.  I am, of course, aghast that the Pious Piper himself, SI’s Tom Verducci, hasn’t already weighed in with one of his self-righteous soliloquies.  I mean, come on Tom…you are the same guy who writes a column every 11 minutes decrying the existence of Barry Bonds, aren’t you?  Where’s the outrage?  The national pastime is under attack. 

 

Of course, many of you are still asking yourself this question…who the hell is Jason Grimsley?  Well, since you asked…Jason Grimsley is a journeyman righthander who broke into the bigs with Philadelphia in 1989.  He was an extremely ineffective starter early in his career, mostly because of control issues (Grimsley somehow led the American League in hit batsmen in 1996 in only 130.1 innings of work).  He was out of the big leagues in 1997 and 1998, but a move to the bullpen revitalized his career.  He was a key cog in the bullpen for the world champion Yankees in 1999, and from 2001 through 2004, Grimsley ranked in the AL’s top ten in appearances, logging over 70 games in each campaign.  Grimsley reportedly failed a drug test in 2003, and he had been working with the investigators who broke the BALCO scandal.  Grimsley is reported to have told investigators that he used amphetamines, human growth hormone, and steroids.  Grimsley apparently broke off cooperation with federal investigators in April.

 

He may wish he hadn’t.  The IRS is among the federal agencies involved in the investigation, and they have searched Grimsley’s home for any records regarding illicit drug use and purchases.  That the IRS is searching his home is Grimsley’s bad fortune.  That Grimsley may have indeed named names of other drug users may well be Major League Baseball’s…

 

Grimsley seems to have spoken at length about the prevalence of amphetamine use in baseball clubhouses, saying that the drug was often put into coffee…in pots marked “leaded” or “unleaded” to let players know which pot the amphetamines were located in.  If those claims were made…and if they are accurate…let’s consider what that means.  It is possible anyone, and everyone…every single member of an organization with access to the portion of the clubhouse where the dosed coffee was kept…knew that amphetamine laced coffee was being consumed in the clubhouse.  It is also possible that leaded and unleaded were simply slang for caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee.  One can only hope.  Because if Grimsley’s claims are true, then there may not be one innocent soul in all of baseball.

 

Because let me tell you something.  If we are going to crucify Barry Bonds and tear down his achievements because he took performance-enhancers, then let’s just take the broom to everybody.  Looking the other way while a culture of drug use permeates the clubhouse is little different than mainlining speed-riddled coffee yourself.  What are amphetamines, by the way, if not performance enhancers?  Players are taking them for a little boost, right?  A little pick-me-up?  Performance enhancement, any way you slice it.  If everybody in the clubhouse knew about baseball’s dirty little secret, then everybody’s culpable.

 

The larger story will materialize once the names of other HGH users are leaked.  But that holds little drama for me.  That players have been using performance enhancers is no surprise.  I, and others, have long said that for every player caught, there are another 25 that haven’t been caught.  That other players have had their hand in the HGH cookie jar is almost a no-brainer.  But the idea that amphetamine use was an accepted practice…perhaps even an encouraged one…that tells us straight away the steroid witch-hunt has been a campaign of convenience, hypocrisy, and double standards.

 

What are amphetamines if not performance enhancers?  Players have taken them to combat fatigue and to provide a little extra pep in their step.  That IS performance enhancement.  Are we going to have to ask George Mitchell to investigate how many home runs have been hit on speed?  How many strikeouts were notched by hopped up pitchers?  And what about this notion that Latin players are bringing drugs into the country?  Seems like more things are leaking through our borders than illegal aliens…

 

Bud Selig better do two things very quickly.  One, build a time machine, return to 1996, and retire.  Two, he better give Barry Bonds a call and say he’s sorry he wasn’t there to kiss Barry’s ass when he crossed home plate with homer #715.  Because I have a feeling when all is said and done, Barry may look like a pretty good guy.

 

Why, you ask?  Because at least Barry could take performance enhancers and turn them into something special.  Jason Grimsley took performance enhancers and remained a solidly middle-of-the road journeyman pitcher.  In the 2003 season, when Grimsley failed a drug test, he compiled a 5.16 ERA.  This season, when Grimsley allegedly received a package of HGH at his home on April 19, Grimsley has compiled an ERA of 4.88.  Performance-enhancers, my ass.  We are talking about a guy here who has a career record of 42-58 record with a 4.77 ERA.  Relative to big league success, Grimsley stinks.  You think anybody cares that he used steroids?  Of course not.  Let John McCain and his cronies drag Grimsley up to Capitol Hill for some testimony.  That should be good for a laugh…

 

Baseball has a problem.  As Olney noted in his work for ESPN, the revelations that spill forth from the Grimsley investigation could be both eye-opening and earth-shattering.  It almost certainly will deal MLB a negative blow in terms of its image.  But what is important to remember…and acknowledge…is the following: A prevailing atmosphere of “if it makes you better, it’s OK” has enveloped the professional baseball culture over the last ten to fifteen years, and that atmosphere made it perfectly acceptable to dabble in ANYTHING that might raise the quality of a player’s performance.  Consider this if you don’t believe me…this season Major League Baseball started licensing certain supplements that were OK for use by its players.  The point of the measure was to make sure that players didn’t take supplements containing banned substances.  But the fact of the matter is that the legal supplements are PERFORMANCE-ENHANCERS.  They simply aren’t illegal.  But to split hairs over what is or isn’t a legal performance-enhancer is ridiculous.  How is anything you put in your body to improve it any different from anything else you might put in your body unless those substances are spinach or milk?  Can we separate creatine from androstenedione?  Or even creatine from HGH?

 

Let me be clear.  I don’t approve of illegal drug use of any kind.  I don’t even approve of the use of supplements.  I think they are largely untested, and I find the unknown to be dangerous.  It seems to me that eating right, taking care of your body, and working out properly should be enough for any person, even high-level athletes.  But things have gone to a different gear in the realm of professional athletics, and while it may not be acceptable, the behavior we have witnessed in recent years in highly understandable.  We are a culture of bigger…faster…stronger.  You reap what you sow.  And so we have.

 

I just want baseball, and society, to get it right.  MLB and its players union must sit down and hammer out an appropriate drug policy to handle every known illegal substance at play on the market, as well as preparing for every potential new threat that will come along.  Players that use banned substances should be punished appropriately, letting everyone know that the use of banned substances will not be tolerated.  What society (and by society I suppose I mean baseball fans and sports journalists) needs to do is take a deep breath.  Stop villain-izing Barry Bonds.  Stop worrying about what the numbers mean.  Bonds may have cheated.  He probably did so knowingly.  But he hit his home runs on the field, and he did so fairly.  He didn’t get to hit from second base.  Pitchers didn’t toss the ball underhand to him.  Baseball isn’t about home run records, no matter what ESPN tells you.  We can’t have this cheating thing both ways, either.  Gaylord Perry was an admitted cheat.  He’s a beloved Hall of Famer.  How many of his 314 victories should we lop off because he doctored the baseball illegally?  Should we drop him down to 288 victories, same as Tommy John?  Then Perry probably would be on the outside looking in, just like John.  Nobody suggests that though, do they?  And why not?  Because Gaylord was a nice guy who never threatened any historic records.  Bonds offends you, he threatens you.  But that doesn’t make him more of a cheat than Perry or Jason Grimsley.

 

Remember this when your at a boil as you watch more players identified as users of HGH and other performance enhancers…it will be OK.  Baseball will roll on.  We just all need to be problem solvers.  Problem solvers don’t asses blame.  They just identify problems and fix them.  Then they move on.  We, and baseball, would be well advised to do the same.

 

 

 

You can contact The Chief at chiefjustice@thehighcourtofsports.com