Repairing baseball’s image

Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

It would be hard to find anyone connected with Major League Baseball who is more revered than Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron. Ever since retiring as a player after the 1976 season with what was then a record 755 career home runs, Aaron has been a worthy ambassador for the sport.

It is understandable, then, that he would be willing to go to great lengths to protect baseball’s image. That image has been tarnished by the widespread use among players of performance-enhancing steroids.

The drugs’ performance capabilities are subject to fierce debate, but it is widely believed that steroids help a batter hit a baseball farther. Former slugger Barry Bonds’ image has been tarnished because of allegations that he used steroids on the way to breaking Aaron’s home run record.

Though careful not to criticize Bonds, Aaron clearly has grown tired of the gradual disclosure of star players who either admitted they took steroids, failed drug tests or have been suspected of being on the “juice.”

The latest leaks have come from a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003 but were promised anonymity. The list, now under court seal, was seized by federal authorities in an investigation of a California laboratory linked to steroids. The players union, though, is claiming in court that the seizure was illegal and wants the players’ identities protected.

Aaron disagrees with the union. He told the Associated Press on Tuesday: “I wish for once and forever that we could come out and say we have 100 and some names, name them all and get it over and let baseball go on.”

We agree with Aaron that the entire list should be released because it could help baseball get past the steroid era. Keeping the list under seal has had the effect of putting all players under a cloud of suspicion. Players who are clean should no longer be tainted by those who are not.