So the players and owners revised the game's drug testing yet again on Friday, taking a few more steps toward a cleaner and better future.
As the kids in the back seat might ask, are we there yet?
Are we where we need to be regarding performance-enhancing drugs?
The short answer is no, for two reasons.
One, this will be an unending, unwinnable battle until scientists finally develop a reliable test that can detect the use of human growth hormone. They haven't, so we're still not completely sure of anyone in the game's guilt or innocence. The only way to sniff out HGH use is via old-fashioned detective spade work. And we already know that can help, but it can't detect everything.
Two, baseball would be better served if an independent, third-party was charged with the drug tests, as the World Anti-Doping Agency (strongly) suggests. The only way to win the trust of every fan is through greater transparency.
That said, players and owners agreed to extend the current program administrator, Dr. Bryan Smith, to a three-year term in which he can only be removed for cause and after an arbiter's hearing. That's not perfect, but it's pretty good. And at the risk of parroting the game's officials, baseball does have the strongest testing program of any of the major professional sports.
One of the best things about this latest revision is that it takes former Sen. George Mitchell's suggestion that the past is the past and grants amnesty to players named in his report. There will be no suspensions or fines levied to those Mitchell named.
Though I'm all for dirty players paying for their sins with strong suspensions, this is best done now moving forward. It's a waste of both time and money to go backwards and investigate what's done. Mitchell did that, and there is a public record now of what some players did.
Is it a thorough, exhaustive record? No. But it's pretty well detailed, provides us with a decent road map and at least has put baseball on the record in publicly acknowledging that yes, there was a Steroid Era.
Baseball has been testing for steroids for several seasons in the minor leagues, now, and the top 200 amateur players eligible for the annual June draft now are subject to drug tests as well (if they refuse, they can be deemed ineligible for the draft).
The game has reached the point with its next generation of players where drug testing is part of the way of life in professional baseball. Doesn't mean that 100 percent of the players will be clean, but it is a significant change in the culture from a decade ago.
The trick now is to remain vigilant.
Likes: That they name a "Tavern of the Game" on Milwaukee Brewers' telecasts, and that tavern (sponsored by a beer company) is awarded 40 tickets to a Friday night Brewers home game. Sunday's winner: Goodfellas Pub in Marchfield, Wis. ... The Dodgers' sound system guy playing the Who's Who Are You? when Chin-lung Hu bats. ... Sunday newspapers. ... M&M dark chocolate. ... Sneaking snacks into the movie theater to combat the ridiculous concession prices.
Dislikes: Big Papi on the bench for a Boston-Yankees game? Say it ain't so! I know David Ortiz is slumping, but wow. ... Atlanta releasing Scott Spiezio because Spiezio apparently remains ensnared in the throes of his alcohol and drug addiction. San, sad tale. ... Smart People. Saw it Saturday night and, while it's not bad, and I like just about every one of the cast members, there were just too many stretches. As a rental, maybe.
Rock-n-Roll lyric of the day:
"I woke up in a Soho doorway
"A policeman knew my name
"He said, 'You can go sleep at home tonight
"If you can get up and walk away'"
-- The Who, Who Are You?
