On Aug. 7, 2007, Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s record with 756 home runs. Many fans reserved judgment as to what they thought about the new home run king because at the same time he was going for the record, Bonds was also fighting to clear his name.
On Dec. 13, 2007, former United States Senator George Mitchell released his investigative report on performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball.
Fast forward to February 2008, when Roger Clemens faced a judge after being named in the Mitchell report after allegations that his former trainer, Brian McNamee, injected human growth hormone into him.
With the 2008 season around the corner, the question as to whether these same fans, who have dedicated themselves to the support of Major League Baseball, its teams and players, have been affected by the recent steroid scandal will be soon answered,
But what about the future of baseball?
Last season, the Bonds scandal caught fire with the homerun record by the former San Francisco Giant.
Next it was the Mitchell Report that left the public curious as to what former Senator Mitchell dug up. More recently the appearance of Clemens in court has also struck up a debate on if he did take human growth hormone or not.
“The record is not tainted,” Bonds said. “It’s not tainted at all. At all. Period. You guys (in the media) can say whatever you want.” (Quoted from the Washington Post’s article “Bonds Sets Baseball’s Home Run Record,” written by David Sheinin and posted online on Aug. 8, 2007).
With the utterance of Bonds’ name, the topic of steroids always comes up. However, there was a lot of hype with this record chase. I will admit that when Bonds and the Giants rolled through Los Angeles, I made it to at least one of the Dodger/Giants games hoping to see history made, which makes me believe that even though fans may not have liked the idea of someone accused of using performance enhancing drugs, every seat was filled and they will be in the upcoming season.
“His record is regarded skeptically, if not with outright scorn, by fans. Helene Elliott, a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times said in an email interview this week. “I think there are many fans who hate the cheaters. But I also think many fans are growing tired of stories about human growth hormone and Congressional investigations and simply want to go back to reading about baseball.”
Former Senator Mitchell released his 409-page “Independent Investigation.” In his report, Mitchell said he requested, received and reviewed more than 20,000 electronic documents from the computer systems of the Commissioner’s Office and various MLB clubs, as well as more than 115, 000 documents from the Commissioner’s Office and teams. He went on to say that 700 witnesses from the United States, Dominican Republic and Canada were interviewed, of these, more than 550 are currently affiliated with the MLB, and 16 people from the Commissioner’s Office were interviewed. This report releases names, recollects events of the use of performance enhancing drugs and also provides copies of payments and package labels.
“The Mitchell Report accomplished very little good,” said Ken Rosenthal, senior baseball writer for FOXsports.com.
Rosenthal said that there could potentially be some positive outcome from the report, if the suggestions in the report are implemented.
It seems as though the Mitchell Report seemed to only stir up the offices of the Commissioner and the front offices of Major League teams. I feel that former Senator Mitchell just told us what we already were thinking.
And what about good old Roger Clemens? My colleague Galo Pesantes believes that Clemens is completely guilty and is a liar. It also seems like everyone else is ratting him out, and he just won’t ‘fess up to it. But what will be the effects on fans and the upcoming season as a result of Clemens, Bonds and Pettitte in court and being splashed across newspapers and news broadcasts as liars and drug users? I honestly think that it affects them more than it affects the fans. They are the ones having their names in the mud, and they are the ones who are losing their shot at baseball glory. The game will go on without them.
“I do not have concrete evidence, but I suspect that Roger Clemens is lying when he says he did not use performance-enhancing drugs. I suspect he will try to say what Marion Jones did: she said she thought she was getting injections of vitamin B-12,” Elliott said.
As for the fans perspective, Elliott said that Clemens will lose his reputation.
“There will be a backlash against him and scorn for him. His past achievements will be viewed suspiciously,” Elliott said.
As for the business baseball, Rosenthal said that baseball is doing well.
In “MLB’s Advanced Media Arm Pulls in Profits,” written by Jorge L. Ortiz for USA Today online, Major League Baseball brought in $6 million in annual revenues including $380 million in online revenues.
Rosenthal said baseball will move to a better place, but as for completely cleaning the game up; it may not happen, and if it does, it will come after a long period of time.
“I don’t think its ever going to happen. Cheaters will always be ahead of the drug testers,” Rosenthal said.
As for fan attendance, the experts I talked to agreed that the game and the passion that fans have for is strong enough to look past the scandal, but when it comes to players, opinions will be questionable. On the other hand, Elliott also said the scandal will probably not affect attendance in the upcoming season because of the uniqueness of the sport, affordability and the sentimental value it has on families.
“I think fans will be more skeptical than ever when they see a player have an especially good season or see an athlete break a record of some sort. I've covered a lot of track and field, and whenever an athlete reaches a personal best, the normal reaction now is to wonder whether he or she is clean. It's sad to think that way, but that's reality,” Elliott said.
“I don’t think fans are bothered enough to stay away from the ballparks,” Rosenthal said.
As an avid fan of baseball, I know that even though all of these events have potentially put the MLB in a negative light with some, I will continue to go to games this season. In fact, I cannot wait to go to my first game. However, I would be lying if I said that the Mitchell Report and seeing these Major Leaguers in court has not affected me. It made me think that a game that was, in a sense, pure, and full of rich history could not be tainted. I never thought a game that is so simple in the joy it brings to people could be so complicated. Along those lines, it made me think of all of my peers who have looked up to these players as role models in the game of baseball and aspired to play like them. Most of the players named in the Mitchell Report are these role models of my generation. With that said, though, I think that fans will also continue to support their teams and the game of baseball because what it comes down to is a true love of the game.
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1 comment:
Great insight Marilee. I agree that fans will still stick with baseball because they love the game. Despite all the cheating going on and all the record being broken, fans still want to head to the ball park and support their teams.
I think the only way fans will not support baseball anymore is when the game is not the same anymore. Perhaps in the future, baseball will not be America's past time. But for now, the game itself should be unchanged in spite of players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Jason Giambi.
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