Bud Selig: Drugs Are Bad, M’Kay?
May 29, 2009 – 9:30 am by Will Brinson
Nothing says “super awesome Friday” like hearing Bud Selig talk on the radio. You know why? Because he’s so gosh-darn sure of himself. Seriously, the guy is just a confident guy who never hems and haws, especially when people ask him about the steroid era.
Wait – what? You mean to tell me that Bud Selig is a spineless, somewhat sniveling little fella who’s willing to pretend like he’s not at blame for all the steroid issues? GET OUT. Okay, sarcasm aside, I get a little cheesed off when I start hearing Bud chat about drugs in baseball and how it’s clean now and how shocking it was to see Manny Ramirez get busted and how, well, you get it right? He defends baseball now in the following interview and also discusses how the Mitchell Report came about. And you’ll never believe this, but it has to do with his own brilliance. H8 U, Bud.
On the drug testing program so far:
“Look, I know a lot of people will critique maybe what happened in the late ’90′s and they should’ve known and you and I have discussed that on multiple occasions, but here we are. We’re nine years into the minor league program, so every great young player – Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, the young Diamondback players, Ryan Braun, you go on and on, Albet Pujols – have now been tested their entire career. What the Manny Ramirez thing proved is that — by the way we’ve had a lot of tests this year Dan, as I told you earlier, way over a thousand and that’s the only positive we’ve had so far – but what it proves: a) the program works. And more importantly, no one, but no one is above the law. So whether it’s Manny Ramirez or a bench player for another club, it doesn’t matter, he was going down for 50 games. So yes, the program has been received very positively lately, and I think the Manny Ramirez thing proved that. Look, I was saddened that any player at this late date was still using steroids and whether it was Manny or somebody else it not a happy day for me, but on the other hand, that’s the program and it will be enforced.”
On the reason for the Mitchell Report:
“The reason for the Mitchell Report, as I told you earlier, I was pacing back and forth in our Scottsdale home, aggravating only my wife at that point, and what I said to myself is, “Look, we’ve done the testing program in the minors, we’ve done it in the majors, but somebody needs to take a critical examination of what went on.” And I have nothing to hide, and nor do I believe that baseball does. So I made a decision that was really unpopular — not only with my own staff, and they would acknowledge it, I was the only one who wanted it and unfortunately, it’s not run as a democracy so it didn’t matter and of course the Players Association was aghast — but when I chose George Mitchell I had a really pretty good list, and I know there were two weaknesses: one, he had been on our blue-ribbon committee, he is a friend of mine, he is a director of the Boston Red Sox. But he understands the culture, his credentials are impeccable, as you now see him in Israel trying to solve far weightier and greater problems, because everybody has so much respect. They did a spectacular job. By the way, the union never answered one of his calls or letters, and so he hasn’t talked to anybody. He talked to every club, the clubs were a little unhappy about it because every email, I mean, they went into everything and wrote this comprehensive report. But you know Dan, Mike, that’s why I did it, because I wanted somebody to take a look, and more important, if there’s a lesson to be learned I wanted the sport to learn it for the future. He made 20 recommendations, by the way, we’ve adapted every single one. Clubhouses now are no longer what they were. Everybody gets tested, equipment people get tested, every package is opened and examined, we’ve learned a lot of lessons and so I’m delighted with the Mitchell Report and that’s, Dan, what it did. It brought everything to light.”
Listen to Bud Selig on XTRA 910 in Phoenix with Bickley and MJ
Tags: Albert Pujols, Baseball, Bud Selig, Chase Utley, Manny Ramirez, Mitchell Report, MLB, steroids
