Another significant step was taken yesterday on Capitol Hill in the slow, inexorable, but necessary process of bludgeoning Donald Fehr and his baseball union on the need for more stringent testing and punishments for steroids cheating.
First, 14 months ago, Fehr was dragged before a hearing by Sen. John McCain's Commerce Committee, where he was informed by McCain that "your sport is about to become a fraud in the minds of the American public." Senators then ridiculed the union's historically intransigent position on drug testing, calling it "shameful" and "an embarrassment to this country."
Just two months ago, Fehr was dragged before a House committee, where he was interrogated as he sat beside several of his subpoenaed stars and former union members, including Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, all of whom had been accused of steroid use by Jose Canseco in his autobiography.
Yesterday, however, Fehr had his worst day yet. Which means that, for those who want to see the Steroid Age die a swift and complete death, baseball had its best day in a long time.
For the first time, as he testified at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing, Fehr was alone, truly alone. For the first time, the union boss did not have his silent enabler -- Commissioner Bud Selig -- tacitly on his side.
For many years, baseball has been in a state of ethical paralysis caused by an unholy alliance between an indifferent commissioner and his see-no-evil owners -- all perfectly glad to see their players grow arms the size of tree trunks -- and the almighty players union, run by Fehr, which didn't want to negotiate away any of its members "rights." Even if the protection of those abstract rights meant that the health of many members was jeopardized by a steroids arms race.
Now that moral logjam may finally have been broken. With luck, things will never be the same again.
This week Selig has finally seen the light. Or, perhaps, he has simply heard the howls and growls of Congress, the outrage of the public and media, as well as the investigations of some of his players by the FBI and Justice Department.
"I think that the [drug-testing] program that we have in place now is working, but there are public confidence and integrity-of-the-game issues which have transcended that," Selig said yesterday, adding, "While we can convince ourselves [that the problem is being addressed], that is not the issue anymore. . . . This needs to be dealt with quickly."
Whatever his source of inspiration, the formerly invertebrate commissioner has suddenly taken a strongly admirable stand against cheating in baseball. "I applaud what Malor League Baseball has done this week," said Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.). "Mr. Selig, you've come a long way since the testimony in March."
Better (15 years) late than never.
Selig now wants tougher penalties for cheaters: a 50-game suspension, a 100-game suspension and then a three-strikes-and-you're-out expulsion from the sport.
Selig also wants amphetamines banned even though some Hall of Famers gulped them like Tic-Tacs, even out of a bowl of "reds" or "greens" in the clubhouse.
Selig even wants more frequent drug tests. He's vague on exactly how many. Open to suggestion, you might say.
And finally, Selig now sees the previously mysterious benefits of "independence of administration" drug tests. What an insight: The same people who promote a sport and profit from it probably shouldn't be the ones who police it. Eureka!
According to the suddenly inspired Selig, "A single independent administrator should be responsible for all aspects of the program from the scheduling of tests, to the collection of urine, through [analysis] of test results. Only at the point of [administering] discipline should officials from MLB and the MLBPA become involved."
Gosh, what's this going to do to Whizzinator sales?
The net effect of more than a year of congressional hearings has been to identify and isolate the central culprit in baseball's Steroid Age: the union. Others bare their share of blame. But the union has been obstructionist throughout. Since the McCain hearings, the union has given some ground. However, by foot-dragging, the players failed to keep pace with events. With each month, the evidence of the epidemic proportions of baseball's problem mounted higher, undermining the union's credibility.
Despite all this, Fehr still wasn't budging yesterday. He repeatedly insisted that he and his membership were listening to the concerns of Congress and the public. But he didn't give an inch of tangible ground.
By now, Fehr must wake up screaming with visions of his next visit to Washington. Every time he comes, he is excoriated.
Some in the union are still shell-shocked at the swing in public and political opinion in the last year and a half. "[Former players union boss] Marvin Miller has bashed us four times for going this far [with concessions]," said one union leader.
That's the past. Even Fehr senses the sea change. Usually brusque, he spent the day showing off his best manners, apologizing for interrupting questioners and volunteering, "I don't have all the answers."
"[Our members] understand that it would not make a lot of sense to ignore what is going on here," Fehr said.
That is an understatement. The Drug Free Sports Act that has been drafted by the Energy and Commerce Committee will certainly move forward as a bare-knuckles threat that if the union and the owners cannot negotiate an acceptable policy -- and do it quickly -- then Congress will do it for them.
"In a perfect world, I'd prefer this be done in collective bargaining. But this isn't a perfect world. I think there really does need to be a federal standard," said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), the Energy and Commerce chairman. "The one thing that is not negotiable is that we are going to try to get a bill."
Actually, that is almost certainly the one thing that can be negotiated. If Congress approves of what Selig and Fehr negotiate, they'll back off. Nobody prefers the complexity of another Federal bureaucracy.
Fehr is alone now. Selig has finally left his side, running the risk that future labor relations will be damaged by bad blood born of this anti-steroid crusade. But there is no sane choice. Selig finally sees it.
Now, if only Fehr and his players will grasp it, too.
