Where There's A Will...

...There's a whine.

"Sports Illustrated released excerpts of a new book, "Game of Shadows," by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, two tenacious and respected reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle.

It is no reflection on them to say that their book poses the kind of problem that ordinary people frequently face reading political journalism. Judging the accuracy of their conclusions requires weighing the veracity of their sources. That is problematic because many sources are not identified. An important one, Bonds' ex-mistress, may have an ax to grind, money to make and legal jeopardy to deflect. Some other sources are low-lifes who, in the initial frenzy surrounding this matter, faced federal charges involving, cumulatively, scores of years in prison, but when the dust settled only two people went to jail, and for a total of just seven months."
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It is a shame that George Will didn't think it wise to do some journalistic snooping on his own before commenting upon the Bonds flap. Two years ago there was a major story in Playboy, describing in detail the efforts by the Federal Government to gather evidence on Barry Bonds with regards to illegal drug use. It coincided with the BALCO affair, and the Feds had indeed planted an undercover agent in the gym that Bonds and his trainer frequented.

And he was getting oh so close to obtaining proof of flagrant drug abuse by both the ballplayer and his weight room guru. It takes time to become part of such an inner circle, and both suspects had begun to trust the agent and hint of things to come should he hop onboard the anabolic steroid express, and grow with them.

Then the entire investigation fell apart, as working out with hardcore gym rats took it's toll. Gym rats using performance enhancing drugs. The agent in question suffered a massive stroke that left him hospitalized and unable to continue the job. Nearly all of the evidence he had obtained was rendered useless, for he was in no condition to take the witness stand, so the Feds sprang the trap with what little proof they had.

And got little in return.

They KNEW they had Bonds dead to rights, but were forced to do nothing more than charge his trainer with minor drug violations and for all intents and purposes the investigation into Barry Bonds and illegal drugs had ended. He was almost trapped once, and it would be impossible to get anyone into his good graces ever again.

Bonds dodged the bullet. Baseball's hierarchy is of course privy to all of this information, but instead of launching their own investigations it took a whining Congress to get them to stiffen the penalties for drug abuse. And they certainly did not want their biggest star to stop starring. The absolute sham that we all saw on C-Span enraged even the most casual of observers and prompted the Commisioners office to get tough, but so very much of the damage had already been done.

The smart players aren't using quite as much steroids as before, and the seasonal records are returning to something along the lines of normalcy. But I strenuously disagree with George Will's opinion that the accomplishments of cheaters whould be overlooked because it would be too hard to make what happened simply go away.

That which can be done, can be undone. Sending such a message would strike these egotists where it hurts the most.

The Commisioner should use the Best Interests of The Game clause, and use it now. Stop this man from breaking Hank Aarons records. Punish the guilty or admit that you're nothing more than an enabler.