Selig's open letter to fans

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  • bravosfan
    All Star
    • Jul 2002
    • 5184

    #1

    Selig's open letter to fans

  • bryan_05
    H*rt M*n! L*c*l S*p*rh*r*
    • Jul 2002
    • 3540

    #2
    Re: Selig's open letter to fans

    Dear Baseball Fans:
    Major League Baseball has had record attendance for two years running and may set another record this year. It's early, but pennant and wild-card races are competitive throughout our divisions. Baseball is enjoying a golden age of fan support and excitement. Our great game has never been more popular.

    Yet, despite the good news in Baseball, there are problems. I was disappointed and angered by revelations that a Major League player had acknowledged using human growth hormone (HGH), a performance-enhancing substance banned by Major League Baseball, and had said that others were using HGH as well.

    Seven-hundred-fifty great athletes play Major League Baseball. The overwhelming majority are hard-working, honorable individuals who play to win the right way. But among the seven-hundred-fifty, there have been and still are those who would cheat the game to gain an advantage. They hurt not only themselves, but they unfairly raise questions about the integrity of their teammates who play by the rules and they violate the trust placed in them by you, the fans. These players who use performing-enhancing substances offend all of us who care for the game and I will not tolerate their actions.

    These individuals break the rules of baseball. But the use of steroids, human growth hormone, and other performance-enhancing drugs in this manner is also against the law. The investigative abilities of the F.B.I. are powerful and baseball players are no different than anyone else in our society. If you break the law, you put yourself at risk.

    I am committed to protecting our game. The Office of Commissioner of Baseball was created nearly 86 years ago to ensure the integrity of America's pastime. I know my duty is to uphold that great tradition.

    Last year Major League Baseball and its players agreed to the toughest drug testing and penalty program for steroids in all of professional sports. We are proud of what we have accomplished. We ban and test for amphetamines. And, human growth hormone is banned as well. We have cracked down and will continue to crack down on steroid users, but the use of HGH represents a threat to all sports everywhere.

    Christiane Ayotte, the head of the Montreal Olympic testing lab, acknowledged this in an interview with "USA Today" last week. She said: "We know growth hormone is a problem. No sport is testing currently for HGH because (the test) is not available. If the test kit was available, it would only be effective for out-of-competition testing."

    The writers of the "USA Today" story added that while there is a blood test for HGH, "...because antibodies necessary for the process are in such short supply, virtually no HGH testing is conducted. In addition, the test only detects HGH right after injection so it's impractical for in-competition testing. As a result, there never has been an HGH positive."

    As Commissioner, I won't be deterred and will do everything I can to try to keep up with or even stay ahead of those who break the law and break our rules. But I suspect there will always be a few players who seek new ways to violate the rules, no matter how many we have and how often we toughen them. I also know that science can provide new ways to combat them and I will rely on our experts to keep on top of the science as it develops.

    In the meantime, I want you to know that Major League Baseball is taking steps to address the issue. We are committed to funding a study of HGH and how to detect it. The study will be conducted by Dr. Don Catlin, a leading expert in the medical testing field. Also, we are willing to make additional contributions to fund other studies to determine how to detect HGH and are currently reaching out to experts in the field to ascertain what other studies can immediately begin. We invite other foundations, unions, sports and the Congress of the United States to join us in pursuing the detection and deterrence of HGH use.

    The goal of Baseball is simple. It's a game that is to be won or lost on the field as a result of the natural talents of the game's remarkable athletes. I will do everything possible to make sure that this one goal can always be met

    -Bud Selig
    University of Evansville Graduate

    Fins Up!

    GO CUBS GO!

    Purple Aces, Cubs, Seminoles!

    Comment

    • SPTO
      binging
      • Feb 2003
      • 68046

      #3
      Re: Selig's open letter to fans

      Pfft, we want to see ACTION Bud not PR.
      Member of the Official OS Bills Backers Club

      "Baseball is the most important thing that doesn't matter at all" - Robert B. Parker

      Comment

      • CMH
        Making you famous
        • Oct 2002
        • 26203

        #4
        Re: Selig's open letter to fans

        Is it possible to think that MLB could help other committees and organizations in testing for illegal drugs?

        I'm not just talking about the Olympics. I'm talking about the government as well.

        If baseball becomes serious (still remains to be seen) about this, they money and efforts could (emphasis on could) help with illegal performance-enhancing awareness, prevention, and detection.
        "It may well be that we spectators, who are not divinely gifted as athletes, are the only ones able to truly see, articulate and animate the experience of the gift we are denied. And that those who receive and act out the gift of athletic genius must, perforce, be blind and dumb about it -- and not because blindness and dumbness are the price of the gift, but because they are its essence." - David Foster Wallace

        "You'll not find more penny-wise/pound-foolish behavior than in Major League Baseball." - Rob Neyer

        Comment

        • Misfit
          All Star
          • Mar 2003
          • 5766

          #5
          Re: Selig's open letter to fans

          Originally posted by SPTO
          Pfft, we want to see ACTION Bud not PR.

          What more could he really do? They have a good steroid testing policy in place with acceptable penalties for anyone caught cheating. He suspended Grimsley as well and he may lose the rest of his salary for the season. Until there is a way to test for HGH, there isn't much more that can be done.

          Originally posted by YankeePride_YP
          Is it possible to think that MLB could help other committees and organizations in testing for illegal drugs?

          I'm not just talking about the Olympics. I'm talking about the government as well.

          If baseball becomes serious (still remains to be seen) about this, they money and efforts could (emphasis on could) help with illegal performance-enhancing awareness, prevention, and detection.
          They are working with other organizations in trying to develop ways to detect and test for HGH. I imagine there is some dialogue with the government since they have had a magnifying glass on MLB the past couple of years. I don't know if they are working with any other leagues though.

          Comment

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