Bud’s big problem…

Just to show you I’m not the only one who thinks Bonds should be suspended if the evidience holds up. I realize what a lot of people who left notes in my last entry were trying to say. Yes, he did a lot of his stats before he started juicing, but that doesn’t excuse it. If he’s caught cheating, which is what this book actually does, and an investigation confirms what the book reveals, he should be suspended… possibly a lifetime ban.

I also agree with what this article also says about other players, if there is evidence that others did it as well, they should get the exact same suspension. The fact that he knowly cheated and broke several laws to do it proves beyond a reasonable doubt that he shouldn’t be allowed to play the game and should be made an example of. Banning Barry will make the message loud and clear. If you are caught cheating, you are outta here. There is more than enough evidence to prove that Barry cheated, and if the Commish’s office can confirm it… we know what needs to be done. He should also deal with it now rather than let it hang over the season like a dark cloud. The sooner, the better!

Poste below is a good article from CNNSI that also agrees with pretty much what I posted, but said it better. Take a gander and feel free to leave comments.

Peter

Bud’s big problem

Selig must deal with Bonds situation, then step down

By John Donovan

Here we are, still and once again, knee deep in the muck of Major League Baseball. No matter how hard we talk about the optimism of spring, or how tightly we wrap ourselves in the new nationalism of the World Baseball Classic, or how often we wax about the intrinsic beauty of the game, the needy and the greedy end up pulling us back into the doldrums again.

So now what, Barry? Now what, Bud? Now what, baseball?

What do we do with Barry Bonds? If you believe the excerpt from Game of Shadows (and any level-headed person must), Bonds broke the law by taking illegal drugs, he may have committed perjury and, by doing so, he cheated and shamed the game that has made him millions of dollars. What do we do with commissioner Bud Selig, who has presided over the national pastime while all this happened? It’s easy, of course, to look back, wag a finger and say that he should have been more vigilant, or even suggest that he purposely turned away from the telltale signs. The fact is, it’s hard to see straight when the cash registers are humming and everyone’s happy. But that, of course, is when vigilance is needed the most.

And what about the other steroid cheats? What about those who knew about it but did nothing? What about the history and the numbers of the grand old game? What do we do with them?

It’s a fine mess we’re in, pulled back into it by Bonds and the information in the new book. To get out of it — and to begin to rid ourselves of the stigma of the Steroid Era — will take a gargantuan effort. Selig must show the way. Here’s what the commish should do.

Bud Must Investigate

You can’t have all that evidence slapped on your desk and pretend it doesn’t exist. Selig has said he’ll review the information in Shadows, and he should. Then, as former commissioner Fay Vincent said on Thursday, Selig needs to open a formal investigation into Bonds’ actions.

If Bud’s sleuths do their job, if they uncover much of the same dirt as Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams did in their painstakingly researched book, they’ll come to the same conclusion: Bonds used illegal drugs. He lied and he cheated the game.

That leads to only one course of action….

Bud Must Suspend

It’ll come a little late, of course. By the time Selig gets around to it, after a review and an investigation that could take weeks or months or even longer, Bonds — assuming he continues to play — will likely have surpassed Babe Ruth at No. 2 on the all-time home run list. He may be closing in on Hank Aaron.

But if the investigation’s findings mirror those in the book, Selig must suspend Bonds. Because, again, you can’t ignore wrongdoing. That’s how baseball sunk into this quagmire in the first place.

How long should Bonds be suspended? A few games? A few dozen? Maybe 100? Maybe a year? Maybe two? A lifetime ban?

The harm Bonds has done to the game is immeasurable. By allegedly taking steroids, he gained an unfair advantage over his competitors, altering the course of games, pennant races and even the history of the game itself.

Pete Rose was banned for life for less of an infraction.

Bud Must Leave the Books Alone:

He has said he will, and he should stick to that, because, in truth, he can’t do anything else. There’s no way to measure how many home runs Bonds — or anyone else — hit as a result of taking steroids. There’s no telling how many walks Bonds was issued because pitchers were afraid to throw anything close to the plate. No one can say how many strikeouts were recorded by pitchers on the juice.

It’s unfortunate that a game in love with its numbers won’t be able to trust those accumulated in the past few years. But the history books and the record books don’t reflect an always-level playing field or perfect competition. Baseball fans have always known that. So in the future, when Bonds’ single-season home run record is discussed, we’ll know that it was set in a less-than-pristine time in the game’s history.

Bud Must Not Let Anyone Else Slide

What makes the Bonds situation unique is the book and the breadth of evidence it presents. No other player has been outed nearly as forcefully.

Still, it’s unfair to single out Bonds when there are others, undoubtedly, who also have used illegal performance-enhancing drugs and have avoided detection or punishment. So if Selig becomes aware of any of these players, if any legitimate evidence is unearthed, he’s bound to act on that, too.

The commissioner can’t investigate every piece of innuendo. He shouldn’t. But if enough evidence points to wrongdoing, he has to follow the signs.

Bud Must Then Step Aside

Baseball has prospered in the 14 years Selig has been commissioner. He pushed through revenue sharing and a luxury tax. New ballparks sprouted all over the country. He instituted divisional play and the wild card. Interleague play, another Selig pet project, will mark its 10th year in 2006. The World Baseball Classic, Bud’s baby, could be a huge financial windfall and a hit with fans. The game has never made more money, and it’s never been more popular for those who watch it.

But for all his successes, Selig may well be remembered as the commissioner who presided over the Steroid Era.

He’s tried to make amends. With an assist from Congress, Selig instituted the toughest drug policy the game has ever seen and maybe the most stringent of any North American professional sport. The policy islacking, still, but it seems to be working. Steroid use is, by all accounts, on the decline.

But is that enough? A scandal of this magnitude, one that has fundamentally changed the industry and dragged into it everybody from drug dealers to U.S. Congressmen, would have unseated the CEO of just about any Fortune 500 company. Politicians are voted out of office, presidents impeached, for less than this.

Selig is 71. His contract runs through 2009. He still has to finish dealing with Bonds. And, in the meantime, he still needs to punish other offenders, however and wherever they’re found. He has to push for stricter penalties and test for Human Growth Hormone. Bud has to remain ever more vigilant.

But when he’s done with Bonds, Selig should leave the game for someone else to run. As soon as he can. Maybe then baseball finally can pull out of the muck and move into a new era.

Reprinted from CNNSI.com