Bouton: Here's How To Clean Up Baseball

Guest Column: Former Pro Ballplayer Jim Bouton Offers A Tough Love Prescription To Save The Game

(CBS)  This column was written by Jim Bouton, a former professional baseball player.

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Now that baseball's so-called "best hitter" has been suspended for 50 games, it's clear that Major League Baseball needs to do something serious about performance enhancing drugs and the resulting distorted records. I propose the following three-step program:

1.Policy. To avoid a continuing race with the chemists (Ramirez was caught with a female fertility drug in his system) baseball must ban all performance enhancing drugs including those not yet invented. This can only be done by collecting regular blood samples of all the players, which are dated and saved for future reference. New drugs (and drugs like Human Growth Hormone for which there are no currently effective tests) can then be tested using these blood samples.

2.Penalty. Players found to have used performance enhancing drugs must pay a stiff and immediate price: A lifetime ban from baseball. Why not? Far more games have been impacted by performance enhancing drugs than by gambling. One Strike and You're Out would put an immediate (and equally important, believable) end to the use of these drugs. Retired players whose blood tested positive would suffer a loss of status and honors.

3.Records. Baseball's performance enhanced records should be adjusted by a blue ribbon panel of trainers, chemists, statisticians, players and coaches. Given two years and a budget of $20 million (the salary equivalent of two utility infielders), the panel would develop a formula that, in its best judgment, reflected the percentage impact that steroids has on performance. Accordingly, that percentage would be subtracted from the records - pitching and hitting - across the board over a certain period of time (also determined by the panel).

For example, if it's found that hitters get a 20% boost, the relevant hitting stats (also determined by the panel) get reduced by 20%. The same would go for pitchers, which may have different percentages. The adjusted PE performance enhanced) numbers would appear in parenthesis next to the actual stats.

Only time would tell which numbers were more legitimate (just as the imaginary asterisk after Roger Maris's 61 home runs was ultimately removed). Unfair to some, yes, but more important it would be fair to the fans, and fair to past and future players.

Jim Bouton played professional baseball for 10 years. He later became a sportswriter and an author. He also operates a web site at www.jimbouton.com.

[swin5]

Although I agree with his first two points, his third point about 'adjusting' records for the effect of steroid use is absurd. I can see it now - remember 'Manny Sagano's' 4000th hit - the one that the outfielder played off the wall instead of attempting to drop back and catch? Well the ball flew 364 feet. Well let's see - Sagano used a steroid that enhanced his play by 26.4%. Therefore the wall would have landed after traveling 288 feet. So the outfielder would have dropped back and caught it. But wait a minute - this outfielder was just called up from the minors and was not known for his fielding skills. Oh, but we forget - he tested positive for steroids that enhanced his performance by 16.7% So would he have dropped back for a drive that traveled 364 feet that is now adjusted to 288 feet? Well let's see, film shows that he was playing at a depth of about 235 feet. He could be expected to drop back 40 feet to catch the ball, or a total depth of 375 feet. But adjusted for his steroid use of 16.7%, that 40 feet becomes 46.7 feet, which added to his original depth of 235 feet adds up to 282 feet. So he would not have caught the ball anyway. So Sagano gets credit for the hit. Next Case.

Why not just kick anybody permanently out of baseball for steroid use and expunge all their records? Much simpler. Besides, we would all be better off with Baseball without Barry Bonds.

[U-R-So-Wrong]

brianbwb-2009, I think that the difference between staying-awake and hitting 90 home-runs a year should be obvious to anyone who is themselves awake.

[fleabag75]

As far as records set,,, simple,,,,,,,,,, just do like the Olympic Committee does. Strike them!! Hats off to the Olympic folks,,,,,, when there is a drug violation they take the medal, strike the record from the books and it is as if that person never existed!!! Is there a reason I don't know of why they can do it but MLB can't???

[brianbwb-2009]

"Stimulants taken to refresh and restore an athlete to their normal level of competition are not the same as substances taken to raise their level of competition beyond what is normal. A boxer who needs smelling-salts between rounds isn't getting the same benefit from drugs as a boxer who takes steroids to develop muscles." Posted by U-R-So-Wrong

He is indeed getting the exact same benefit, he is ingesting a substance that allows his muscles to continue to work at a higher level than if he didn't ingest, (thus, higher than what is "normal") and, given equal musculature and skill between two boxers, one who takes smelling salts, and one who doesn't, the one taking them has a greater probability of victory.

It is exactly the same thing, what you are attempting to do is to create "grey areas" in order to justify violations of your own principles in circumstances that favor your preferred outcome.

So either they all are OK, or they all are not, anything in between is subject to the interpretations of people who will always fudge the principles to their own advantage.

[An-Historian]

So-called "professional sports" has really gotten disgusting. Nobody in their right mind wants *their* kids going into "professional sports" when they grow up any more. God forbid! That's about as enticing a prospect as it would be if your child wanted to become a garden variety crack-head and drug dealer when they grew up. It doesn't matter how much money they might make - it's still totally disgusting.

Rule #2 is an absolutely necessary no-brainer: if a player gets caught doping even one time they get banned from professional sports for life. Great idea!

There really needs to be a Rule #4 too, though: If a player swears that they are not doping, and they later get caught lying about that, and there needs to be mandatory jail time for falsely misrepresenting themselves for monetary gain.

[platteman]

Who cares about baseball?? All it is a bunch of overpaid coddled bunch of egos who can't be contained and they have ruined a great american pastime. I wouldn't watch a baseball game if you paid me to. Boring, no action.

Until they let Pete Rose into the baseball hall of fame, he didn't do anything that the rest of the players did.

[U-R-So-Wrong]

Stimulants taken to refresh and restore an athlete to their normal level of competition are not the same as substances taken to raise their level of competition beyond what is normal. A boxer who needs smelling-salts between rounds isn't getting the same benefit from drugs as a boxer who takes steroids to develop muscles.

People enjoy sports because they believe they are watching the-best-of-the-best in fair competition. If they are watching a freak show, it changes the idea of sports and it changes the type of audience who will continue watching.

[brianbwb-2009]

Mr. Bouton is the author of "Ball Four" perhaps the funniest inside look at the game from a player that I have ever read. Highly recommended.

In the book, Mr. Bouton describes the prevalent use of amphetamines, and mentions one obvious sign, the use of chewing gum. I believe that his was a truthful account, and shows that performance enhancing drugs were the norm for players, even back in his day. even earlier, Babe Ruth was known to use alcohol in order to ignore the various aches and pains during his games.

There are many substances, from alcohol to tobacco, to sugar, even bananas, remember Martina Navratilova eating bananas to replace the potassium lost by sweat? That is also artificial performance-enhancement. So even food and water can be considered performance-enhancing substances, try to do anything without them, and the fact will soon become obvious.

The problem is not with performance enhancers per se, but the idiotic notion that such things should be illegal. What a person chooses to put into their own body for whatever reason should not even be a topic of discussion, let alone law. Only if others are harmed as a result, should it even be a matter of discussion, and that should be to eliminate the harm, not the substance.

I say eliminate all consentual substance consumption regulations, let people use and enjoy whatever they wish, and leave the responsibility for their choices to them.

Any other approach is nothing more than fascism.

[Henri_Rochard]

Personally, I can't wait until F'ball Season.

High School, College or Pro.

F'ball is the premier sport of the Land.

P.S. That's American-style football, not commie soccer.

[budmag06]

I know. Get a commissioner that will enforce the rules.