"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again." - Terrence Mann, Field of Dreams
Baseball has shaped our country's history and character over the past century as much as any game, sport, or institution - including, perhaps, Congress. I'm not trying to downplay the role of our legislature or the accomplishments of our elected officials. There is nothing more admirable than public service. But I do firmly believe that our athletes have a more direct impact on our children and on our own character than the people we elect to serve us. Doubt it? Answer these questions:
1. How many of you grew up collecting Congress cards?
2. How many of you can name the number of seats the Democrats won in 1996?
3. When was the last time you went to the store to shop for a Thad Cochrane jersey?
I rest my case.
A child, or an adult, or more specifically me, is not going to turn off the mute button to listen to Ben Cardin make an announcement about health care (the natural question then, I guess, is why watch Ben Cardin on mute?). But I will hush a whole bar and pump up the volume if ESPN issues a report on Phil Hughes' hamstring. Is that wrong? That's up to you to decide. The truth is, though, that athletes do influence our society in a way public officials cannot. Though two of the regular readers of this blog watch C-Span with reckless abandon (you know who you are), the majority of Americans would rather catch a ballgame than a political sparring match. Derek Jeter is a more recognizable figure in New York City than Michael Bloomberg. Babe Ruth is a better-known historical figure than most of our presidents. Do you know anyone who would empty their savings for Chester A. Arthur's autograph? Me neither. So it is fitting, I think, that the United States Congress this month has turned its attention to its cultural counterpart: baseball.
Two of my passions in life are baseball and politics. I love them both and I follow them both carefully. I know off the top of my head, for instance, that Roger Clemens has 354 wins and 4,276 strikeouts and that Henry Waxman was elected in 1974 to serve the the 30th District of California. "How might someone have such knowledge at their disposal?" you might ask. Easy. Because I'm a dork. The point here, though, is that I should be thrilled to see these worlds collide. As a spectator of the game of baseball and the bloodsport of politics, I thought this could be a thrilling adventure. As a conscious historical observer, I thought this could be Congress's big chance to leave a lasting, positive impact on our national pastime. Unfortunately, it is neither. These hearings, like so many others, have become an opportunity for politicians to abuse the spotlight and for witnesses (in this case Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee) to use the U.S. House of Representatives as their own public relations outfit. It is a shame, really, and it is only getting worse.
What began as a noble venture into the dark underworld of professional sports has become a media circus, a he-said, he-said dogfight between a baseball legend and his former trainer. The purpose of these hearings (steroids in baseball) has been buried deep under the much smaller issue of Roger Clemens' individual steroid use. Eighty-nine players were named in the Mitchell Report and yet only one has the opportunity to appear before the Committee on Government Reform. Roger Clemens is an amazing pitcher, maybe the best of all-time and certainly the best of my lifetime. But he is not bigger than the game. Indeed, he is merely a small piece of this puzzle, yet he has become the focal point of Congress’s investigation and the center of the media coverage surrounding this event. Clemens, McNamee, and the congressmen and media who allowed it, have turned the investigation into a joke. The focus has shifted from the broader issue of steroid use to one man’s personal retribution. Congress surely has more important things to worry about.
Today's hearing was an entertaining one and was certainly news-worthy, but its contents should not have been important enough to garner the interest of the United States Congress. At it's heart was the question of whether Roger Clemens or Brian McNamee was telling the truth. For what it was, it was high drama and it did not disappoint. McNamee was softspoken but firm, clear in his conviction that he provided Clemens with steroids and injected him countless times over a 5-year span. Clemens was heated, clearly angry but composed, and proclaimed his innocence from start to finish. It was Clemens, we learned, who requested this hearing as a chance to restore his reputation. Chairman Waxman wanted to release a bipartisan report on the subject, but Clemens' lawyers were adamant about requesting a hearing so that Roger could prove his innocence. Unfortunately, he did not. His stories contradicted each other, his explanations were thin, and his credibility was demolished by Andy Pettitte's testimony. I cannot offer a better analysis than that given by Congressman Elijah Cummings, who told Clemens this afternoon, “It's hard to believe, you. You're one of my heroes. But it's hard to believe you.” Watching Clemens today, he was simply unbelievable. It was like he was trying to pull off a major league lie but was just not smart enough to do it. He was unprepared for what he faced and his lawyers should be fired, if for no other reason than that they didn't tell him that "Mr. Congressman" is not something people say. After today, our national image of Roger Clemens will never be same. Gone is “The Rocket”, that brash, young pitcher who threw fastballs like bullets and put fear into the heart of every batter he faced. That image of Clemens has been struck from our collective psyche. Instead, we’ll remember the angry man in the tailored suit, overmatched intellectually by everyone else in the room and struck down by the same stubbornness and pride that once made him so formidable.
Brian McNamee is an unlikely whistleblower. The man is, in no uncertain terms, a lying, drug-dealing ex-cop. He is not an honorable man. We learned today that he "earned" his PhD. from a diploma-mill online college and passed himself off as a medical expert. He kept gauze and syringes he used on Clemens, preparing, it seems, for this exact scenario. He should not be a credible figure, but here he appeared far more believable than his former boss. His statements to Senator Mitchell involved three players: Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch, and Roger Clemens. Pettitte and Knoblauch have both corroborated McNamee's testimony. Only Clemens denies it - and poorly, mind you. McNamee, it seems, is the unsung hero of the steroid investigation. They say, "It takes a crook to catch a crook." In the case of Major League Baseball, it seems that axiom holds true.
As entertaining as today's hearing was, however, it was not a discussion of steroids in baseball so much as a vain attempt to sort through the contradictory statements of two known liars. The United States Congress had a chance today to lend its weight to the problems facing our national pastime. Instead, it ignored the real issues and brought to the front pages a feud between an icon and his former goon. While I walk away today with a clearer indication of Clemens' guilt, I cannot say that I have learned anything new about steroids in baseball. We learned nothing about the union's or the owners' involvement in the scandal or about any coverup. We learned nothing about preventing drugs from entering the professional baseball system or about the plans for the MLB’s future testing policies. Today’s hearing was an investigation into the unimportant. It was a waste of Congress's time and a waste of taxpayer dollars. In other words, it was politics as usual. Congress dropped the ball.
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