It happens in real life, on the big and small screens, the “good” wanting to chase down the “bad” and dole out punishment. But in baseball, as in other sports, the “good” was often a willing partner to the “bad” until Congress, and the media spotlight was too much to ignore.

Thus it is with the monarchs of all sports, especially those rulers of baseball and their relentless quest to punish users of PEDs.  What differentiates baseball’s mission to rid its game of players using banned substances from other sports is that it easily can be used as a post-graduate course in hypocrisy.  

Ever since baseball became a big money making business, and for decades before, cherished players have behaved badly without being punished for their unsportsmanlike conduct and are still celebrated by the baseball establishment and the media.
    
However, baseball’s punishment also equates to  witch-hunting, especially in the A-Rod situation, because for years during the home run “steroid era” the teams, leagues, sports marketers, the commissioner’s office and much of the media turned the other way when it was obvious players weren’t hitting longer balls because they were eating more spinach.

But are players’ uses of PEDs or other banned substances as bad as the National Football League and National Hockey League, which for years turned a blind eye to life-altering “big hits” to the heads of their warriors? Not in my opinion.  PEDs only affect baseball’s treasured records book.  Hits to the head can affect lives. (A New York Times article on October 13 said researchers from the Mayo Clinic determined that the way hockey is played must be changed because it causes too much brain trauma and the NFL concussions problems are not new; it has been covered for years.)

 When it comes to multi-image problems, The NFL is in a league of its own: concussions, players use of banned substances and a gangster aura.  The Aaron Hernandez murder problem is not new to the N.F.L, whose league rap sheet includes other players who have been involved in murders. What the NFL needs instead of a commissioner is a warden.

While concussion-causing hits to the head haven’t been a big problem in what once was known as the “street game,” basketball, let’s not forget the National Basketball Association has had a cast of its own bad actors.

There is a long tradition among American sports entities of trying to establish a good citizen and patriotic image by wrapping themselves around the flag to create an aura of patriotism and by supporting various charities.  But these do-good endeavors are similar to eyewash in an effort to cleanse their sports from their sordid history of scandals, abetted by the leagues that for years have refused to admit that they are part of the problem regarding their stars sorry behavior.

USA Today reported that baseball particularly targeted Ryan Braun and Rodriguez in its “clean up the game” investigation, which baseball denied.  If the report is true, it seems like discriminatory punishment. Other published reports said money was offered for information, which makes me wonder what price revenge?  Even if the reports are untrue is there any doubt that baseball wanted to make Braun and A-Rod examples because they dared challenge the commissioner’s office?

Should athletes be held to a higher level of behavior and receive more punishment for unlawful acts, as defined by commissioners of leagues, than Joe and Jane Citizen? In a just society justice should be equal and most people deserve a second chance. But the sports cabals have provided athletes with numerous second chances, sending the wrong message to sports-crazed future athletes and young people in general. 

So yes, some punishment is warranted. In the August 2 USA Today, baseball columnist Bob Nightengale pointed out that Manny Ramirez is allowed to play despite being suspended twice for testosterone use and former pitcher Steve Howe was suspended seven times for cocaine problems.  Is there any doubt that other players fall into the same category?

I believe the fairness of the punishment doled out by the sports leagues has some troubling elements: nonathletes who have broken laws and caused monetary and physical injury to others receive fairer treatment in the civilians’ justice system then do athletes, whose major crime was embarrassing their leagues while hurting no one but, maybe,  themselves.

Bad behavior by athletes on the field is obviously a league matter. But when the commissioners punish players for off-the-field behavior before a non-prejudiced jury decides on the guilt of the person, that is a step too far for me.  Also, “the good of the game” punishment is especially troubling. It is so broad that it can be used for any situation by a commissioner.  In effect, it not only gives the commissioner the power of the judge and jury but places sports in a judicial league of its own.

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Arthur Solomon was a senior VP/senior counselor at Burson-Marsteller. He now is a frequent contributor to public relations and sports business publications, consults on public relations projects and is on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee. He can be reached at [email protected].