So much for “confidential” testing.
Sports Illustrated’s report that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for the steroids Primobolan and testosterone six years ago, when he was with the Texas Rangers, is credible. But the way that report came about is abhorrent: Players were promised the results of 2003 “survey” testing would remain secret.
The Players Association and MLB, at long last, were on the way to implementing pervasive testing and punishment for those caught using performance-enhancing substances after years of not caring. The survey testing was the tryout, an interim step, an agreement involving trust. Those results shouldn’t have been used against Barry Bonds, and they shouldn’t have been leaked to expose Alex Rodriguez — even if it’s exposing him as a fraud, at least in the pretesting seasons. (Or, yes, as A-Fraud.)
But it has happened. That can’t be changed. I don’t quibble with the consensus reaction since the news broke Saturday — that Rodriguez’s wisest course of action would be to finally tell the truth about what he put in his body and for how long.
The most poisonous disdain these days, from media and public alike, is reserved for those who have done both: a) juiced up in the pretesting days or later; and, b) played all of us, including Congress, for fools in sworn testimony and informal denials.
If the Yankees infielder now says, well, he wasn’t exactly straight with Katie Couric when he said he wasn’t even tempted to try performance-enhancing substances, that’s the first step. If he promises that he has been clean since the onset of MLB’s official testing program, he wouldn’t — and shouldn’t — be universally believed, even if the official results back him up. Yet it would be a start.
One reason for that is that I’m not sure I know of anyone — not one person — who truly was shocked by the Saturday “revelation.” Slight surprise? Maybe. Twinges of disappointment? Perhaps. But shock? What planet did you have to be on in the past 15 years to be shocked? In that sense, I’m a bit taken aback by the sheer magnitude of play this story has gotten, while knowing I’m contributing to it here.
Linebackers who confess to steroid use remain lovable rogues, to fans and media members alike. Baseball’s held to a higher standard. To a point, I’m fine with that. I can get as teary as anyone waxing about the traditions and still-timeless aspects of the game. I’m offended by baseball’s inexcusable tardiness in policing itself and the way it watered down so many of its records and standards.
But if we’re talking about Rodriguez and Rodriguez only, the leaking of the 2003 results is worse than the leaking of grand jury testimony that was a major blow to Bonds’ reputation.
Journalism was so busy patting itself on the back for “breaking” the leaked testimony, it forgot one American value: There’s a reason grand jury proceedings and testimony are supposed to be secret. Stuff gets thrown out to see what sticks, and the rules of evidence and procedure are far different in grand jury proceedings. Distortions can result. In some cases, those distortions — if leaked — can ruin lives and reputations, either prematurely or unfairly . . . or both.
There would have been plenty of evidentiary ammunition to use to nail Bonds, at least on perjury charges, and there would have been regardless of whether the grand jury testimony became public when it did.
And Rodriguez?
There were 104 positives in the 2003 “survey” testing. The samples were stored in California, the list of names to match up with them elsewhere. The “matchups” weren’t supposed to be disclosed. Federal investigators seized the samples and lists in 2004, long after everything should have been destroyed. That wouldn’t have been Nixon burning the tapes, it would have been living up to the spirit of an agreement. One sample, subjected to more sophisticated testing, apparently added to Bonds’ problems. That doesn’t make it right.
The biggest miracle in all of this is that the A-Rod results didn’t leak sooner. It’s a betrayal they were leaked at all.
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
