Editorial: Baseball’s dark hour

Thursday, March 17, 2005 | 9:07 a.m.

For decades the mood of the nation has always been lifted in mid-winter as Major League Baseball teams begin spring training. It's exciting to catch glimpses of the teams on TV and to begin reading in the sports pages about the season ahead. The excitement is tempered this year, however, as an investigation by Congress into the use of steroids by major leaguers is making as much news as the teams themselves.

The House Government Reform Committee was hearing testimony today from Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, and also from players and former players who had been subpoenaed -- Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Schilling and Frank Thomas. Excused from the hearing was Yankee slugger Jason Giambi. The Justice Department argued that Giambi is needed as a witness in criminal cases, which could be compromised by anything he said before the committee. These are some of the biggest names in baseball, and more is being written about their links to steroids than their links to the game and its fans.

It's disheartening that baseball, one of the great American pastimes for children and adults alike, is sliding into a scandal whose ultimate scope may eclipse the infamous Black Sox scandal of 1919. That Congress is involved is an indication of how serious the country takes Major League Baseball, and of the seriousness of the allegations about widespread steroid use. So far, interest in the game has not waned. But this could change depending on what is learned as the investigations by Congress and the Justice Department unfold.

If Major League Baseball is harmed and the glorious on-field feats of the past few years must be "annotated" in the record books, the team owners and league officials will have themselves to blame. All sports, including Olympic sports, had to begin dealing with "doping" issues at least 20 years ago. Baseball did virtually nothing to police its players. And now we have a growing scandal, and many ball players in high school and college believing that illegal and harmful steroids are the ticket to the next level.

Drives to break home-run records put fans in the seats and send TV ratings soaring. But what will the smell of tainted records do? Baseball can't afford to find out. It must get serious about cleaning up the game.