FanNation - The Republic of Sport

There is an old saying I am reminded of here: It is easier to beg forgiveness than to ask for permission.

All I heard from Bud Selig in his press conference following the Mitchell report was how this is not a baseball problem. It is a people problem, and that we are fixing it and that we need to move forward, move forward, move forward.

While listening to Selig talk, and thinking about the way Mitchell had claimed financial and economical reasons were behind MLB's lack of drug testing over the past decade, I got an image in my head.

I could picture a group of MLB bigwigs, the men who stand to gain the most from baseball's economical success, all sitting around in a dark room somewhere after the 1994 strike left them with a diminished fan base and less money in their pockets.

At least one of these bigwigs had to know that steroids and other drugs were making their way into baseball. From an ethical standpoint, they had to have known they should do something about it. But, they also had to know from an economical standpoint they needed something to save the game of baseball and bring the fans back to the game. They needed to save their pocket books.

"You know what we need," one of them might have said. "We need an offensive explosion. We need home run records to fall."

"What are you suggesting?" another bigwig asks.

"I am suggesting we let the players take steroids and anything else that will help them hit home runs. We will win the fans back."

"But, that would be cheating," says another bigwig. "We can't do that. Eventually the fans would find out about the steroids and we would be finished."

"Oh, that will take years. By then, we will have our fan base back. We simply ask them to forgive us, to understand that human beings make mistakes. How could we have seen this coming, we'll say."

"It might work. Then again it might not. It might backfire."

"What do we have to lose? We have no fans now, so I say we give it a shot. Heck, we can make it as easy as possible for players to get the juice they need, then just sit back and watch the fireworks. People will flock back to the ball parks."

Now, here we sit in 2007 with all this somewhat behind us. I am the perfect example of a fan who got sucked in to baseball because of the home-run-hitting show between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa that led to McGwire's record breaking (at the time) 70 home runs in 1998.

Prior to that year, I paid no attention to baseball whatsoever. I thought it was boring and slow. I had tried playing as a kid, but hated it. In 1998, though, sportscenter was full of home run highlights. McGwire hit two one day and Sosa hit three the next. Before I knew it, I found myself watching a game here and there. Then I was playing fantasy baseball. Suddenly, I was a baseball fan.

Years rolled along and I would watch a little more baseball and then a little more. Pretty soon, I had discovered that baseball was a great game, not all about home runs, but really a great game to watch.

I developed an appreciation for the strategy of the game, the different skills required of all the positions, the personalities of different players. I loved baseball, a game I had once hated.

Now, I sit on my couch in 2007 and I see Selig talking about moving on into the future. I ask myself if I think steroid use was forgivable, if essentially cheating is ok and acceptable and something I can just ignore as a fan and move on. My answer is no. When I really think about it, I am a little angry that we have been watching tainted competition all these years.

When baseball comes on the tube next season, however, I will be watching because I like the game. I'm hooked. I am a fan of baseball. So, I guess the bigwigs won. Their plan worked to perfection. They are begging forgiveness and they are getting it, even if it is begrudgingly.