THE ISSUE: Baseball union

OUR OPINION: Players’ organization wields power even amid drug scandal

Professional baseball continues to suffer under the weight of a scandal about players using performance-enhancing drugs during the early years of this decade. The latest revelation about New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez being named on a list of 104 who tested positive in 2003 for drug use has assured that the controversy will not go away.

The question now is should the names of the other 103 players be made public? A poll of Americans undoubtedly would find that most want to know which other players were using steroids and other drugs. Seeing what has already happened to Rodriguez and his image, it is no wonder no one wants to be named. And there remain the legal issues, particularly for some who may be caught in the middle of official lies.

All the while, there is the debate about baseball and its records. Should those who set big-time records in the so-called “steroid era” have their accomplishments nullified? In the court of public opinion, the records are tainted.

For players, there remains much as stake in terms of the game’s integrity and profitability -- and theirs.

Much of the blame for the steroids scandal has fallen to Commissioner Bud Selig and owners for turning a blind eye to what was happening with performance enhancers. After all, records were being broken and baseball was popular. Money was being made.

The sometimes-forgotten party, however, is Donald Fehr, the powerful head of the baseball players’ union. He’s working hard these days to make sure his power, and the power of the organization, is not eroded.

Speaking earlier this week, Fehr rejected the idea of making public the names of other players on the user list, and he insisted that the perception of the scandal is all wrong.

“We know what happened in 2003. The number of positives we had was slightly over 5 percent. That means that slightly over 94 percent was negative,” Fehr said.

That is precisely why the other users should be known. As pitchers Curt Schilling and Brad Lidge have insisted, a cloud hangs over the majority of players until the air is cleared.

Fehr said the union will try to ensure the list of players who tested positive remains confidential. Appeals court judges in California will determine the fate of the list, which was seized by federal agents in April 2004.

Test samples and records were supposed to be destroyed, but Fehr said the players’ association didn’t have enough time to make arrangements after the results became final Nov. 13, 2003.

“To do this right away — there are labs, there are samples and there are records,” Fehr said. “And we were advised (on Nov. 19) that there was a grand jury subpoena. Once that happens, you can’t do it.”

What the union can do is continue to play its power card.

The union last week sent a memo to players advising them to be careful “answering questions sparked by the media frenzy.” Fehr said he doesn’t think recent events have damaged the organization.

“Public perception is whatever it is,” he said. “Unions have been in disfavor in this country for virtually 30 years. The question is: Does any of this stuff damage the union’s standing with the players? And I don’t think so.”

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