Nation's Capitol & Major League Baseball Go Full Circle

By Diane M. Grassi

At one time Major League Baseball was our celebrated pastime in the spring, summer and early fall at which time the World Series was played. Over the past couple of seasons however, we have been put on a perpetual baseball calendar. MLB’s players’ trades, policy on illegal drug use, merchandising, anger management policy, teams for sale and potential relocations are an ongoing sideshow commanding headline copy and sometimes overshadowing the 400-foot homer and the 18 strike-out games.

And as the off-season of 2003-2004 started off with Grand Jury testimony regarding the BALCO investigation and the appearance of Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield to name a few, the off-season never disappeared and haunted major league stadiums throughout the 2004 MLB season.

As the 2004-2005 off-season takes off, not only do we now have the leaked testimony of Barry Bonds and
Jason Giambi of a year ago, but leaves us with a player who may have committed perjury, and one who lied to his team and the public-at-large, perpetuating the proverbial black eye on MLB.

And if MLB’s image problems were not bad enough, not many of us could have foreseen that our nation’s capitol would loom so large during this Hot Stove season. Commissioner Bud Selig is spending an awful lot of time in Washington, D.C. these days, and a lot of it is due to his failed leadership. Politics is a component of every private or public organization, but when its politics provokes legislation and law enforcement, then your in-house politics have not been handled very well. And thus Washington has horned in on our pastime’s back page glory.

Not only is the U.S. Congress involved in demanding Commissioner Bud Selig and President of the Players’ Association, Don Fehr, to come up with a revised and meaningful illegal drug policy by early January, but Selig has yet another “fiasco” which he must now go back and clean up. That mess is no less than the thus far failed relocation of the Montreal Expos which was contingent upon ratifying an agreement for building a new stadium in Washington, D.C.

The mainstream press would like us to believe that this agreement process was a terrible shame and would rather blame this whole problem on one D.C. councilwoman. But they obviously have short memories.

First of all, Bud Selig was over a year late in deciding on a permanent home for the Montreal Expos, forcing them to play a third of their games in Puerto Rico for the second straight year, with the rest of the time on the road and at home in a stadium of approximately 4000 ticket holders each game. Since Major League Baseball collectively owns the Montreal Expos, (another arguable mistake by Selig) it is obligated in finding it a new home, new ownership, and handle any stadium transactions required prior to finding an owner.

The deal with the Washington D.C. City Council did not take place until September 29, 2004, which was contingent upon getting financing for a stadium to be built. (At this juncture there still have not been formal negotiations with any potential owners.) But since this whole deal was put together so haphazardly and rushed at the end of the season, mainly due to placating Baltimore Orioles’ owner, Peter Angelos, (another Selig indiscretion) none of the terms of the agreement were ratified.

In early October it became evident from the D.C. Council that they wanted to pursue private financing in addition to public financing and possibly ask MLB to foot some of the bill. This did not come down to a last minute shakedown from one person. This was a collaborative failing of a Mayor anxious to improve his Q rating and a Commissioner who has been questioned on his leadership since he has been the Commissioner of Baseball.

That brings us back to our national pastime, and makes us wonder why it is such a public relations nightmare. We would like to enjoy the game as it once was played, but since that is highly unlikely, at least management on both sides of the aisle should be held accountable enough so that the public is not inundated with the ineptitude of their decisions. It is a big turnoff for the average or peripheral fan, and the game needs to keep lukewarm fans interested in baseball, not turned off.

You cannot blame Washington D.C. for wanting a Major League Baseball team either, but given all of the bond measures and fiscal nightmares other big league cities have come up against when publicly financing stadiums, (such as San Diego’s Petco Park, which stopped construction for 18 months due to financing improprieties and less than truthful discourse with the taxpayers) you cannot blame those who do not want to deal with sticker shock after the fact.

And what does all of this have to do with hitting and throwing a ball around a baseball diamond? Well, MLB now has several other “games” going on in the background at all times, and that has unfortunately eroded the good of the game. Yes, it is now almost always about money, but when money rules, good management and clear vision is also a necessity.

And as long as Major League Baseball or any other professional or Olympics sports requires taxpayer financing, broadcasting rights, merchandising rights, drug policies requiring legislation, including the issue of eminent domain regarding the site of stadiums, it concerns the public whether it likes it or not. In that regard our national pastime is no longer a simple game but now touches so many parts of our lives and society and calls for responsible and even-handed leadership. No longer can the Commissioner just be interested in the best interests of baseball, but rather the best interests of the public-at-large.