Baseball: U.S. Congress summons players to testify in steroid probe

Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi were among seven current and former baseball stars that a congressional committee plans to subpoena as soon as Wednesday to testify about steroids.

Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Frank Thomas also were asked last week to testify. Thus far, only Canseco and Thomas have said they were willing to appear.

"We hope subpoenas won't be necessary, but we are prepared to move forward with subpoenas tomorrow if we receive information that witnesses are not willing to appear voluntarily," David Marin, a spokesman for House Government Reform Committee chairman Rep. Tom Davis, said Tuesday.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, union head Donald Fehr, baseball executive vice president Sandy Alderson and San Diego general manager Kevin Towers also were asked to testify.

Also Tuesday, the parents of two amateur players who committed suicide were added as witnesses.

www.sportsline.com...


This could get really interesting, and possibly could answer alot of questions.

The subpeonas have gone out.

As much as I hate to see Congress have to step in here, at least now we can hope for a solution to the on-going debacle that has become MLB's relationship with steroids.

it looks like the only "player" who will horor the subpeonas is jose canseco, this is sure to keep his name in the headlines and sell more copies of his book, baseball is going to fight the other subpeonas, i've got to wonder how baseball thinks they will regain their credibility when the keep stonewalling and stickinking their head in the sand, i think they owe it to the fans to come clean in this matter and get it behind them once and for all

sports.yahoo.com...;_ylc=X3o'___'Bpbmdmam0wBF9TAzI1NjY0ODI1BHNlYwN0bQ--?slug=ap-steroids&prov=ap&type=lgns

So, baseball feels it is above the Constitution of the US??


forget me trying to become a fan of this worthless game.

Whoa, hold on a minute.

Why was Barry Bonds not subpoened???

I'm not the only one wondering....


JT the Brick, NBCSports.com

The Congressional House Committee on Government has picked seven current and former baseball players' names out of a hat to testify at the nation's capitol March 17 to discuss steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Now do you think Jose Canseco's book wasn't relevant?

"Juiced" is why Congress wants to bring the group of seven to the Hill and grill them. This now-illegal product might be the primary reason why the single-season home-run record fell in 1998 and again in 2001. The overall home run record of Henry Aaron (755) might be broken in the next two seasons by Barry Bonds.

But Bonds not on the Congressional list, which includes Curt Schilling, Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Frank Thomas, Mark McGwire and Canseco. Why not?

Bonds' friend and former trainer Greg Anderson is at the center of the government's case against BALCO. Bonds shattered McGwire's single-season record for home runs with 73 in 2001, and will soon pass Babe Ruth (714) and eventually Henry Aaron (755). Why is he getting a free pass from Congress?

Most fans I interact with don't trust the opinions of politicians or players at the center of this controversy. If Bonds isn't going to receive a subpoena, then why embarrass Sosa and McGwire? I already smell something fishy in the halls of Congress and can't understand why Bonds is getting a free pass.

msnbc.msn.com...










[Edited on 3-9-2005 by ProudAmerican]

good question PA, i had missed that entirely, why isn't barry being called in to answer some questions?

I forget, was Barry mentioned in Canseco's book? I'm thinking he wasn't, so maybe that's the reason, they are only talking to people mentioned in the book? Not that he shouldn't be, but thatmay be the reasoning.

I just heard it suggested that Congressman Davis may be using this committee for purposes of self promotion. It is a high profile situation, and his name will be all over the news associated with it.

As the theory goes, having Bonds invovled would cast a shadow over Rep. Davis's star, clouding his chances of being seeen in the national spotlight.

Gotta love politics, eh?



PS- Here's a link an ESPN article on this subject -

link

[Edited on 3/10/2005 by Gibbs Baby!!!]

WASHINGTON -- The chairman of a House subcommittee said Thursday that all major U.S. sports leagues should work toward a single drug-testing plan, and the heads of a congressional committee that subpoenaed stars said baseball players should not be "above the law."

"Our elite athletic organizations, both professional and amateur, should establish uniform, world-class, drug-testing standards that are as consistent and robust as our criminal laws in this area," said Rep. Cliff Stearns, chairman of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. "Nothing less should be tolerated."

Labor lawyers from the commissioner's office and the NFL testified before the panel, which also heard from Donald Hooton of Plano, Texas, whose son was a steroid user and committed suicide, and Dr. Ralph Hale, chairman of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which oversees drug testing for Olympic sports.

Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Rep. Joe Barton said this could be the first of a series of hearings on the issue and that at some point subpoenas might be issued for commissioners of the major sports leagues.

"The time has come to put an end to this mess and reclaim sports as competition," he said.

source

ESPN

Again, I don't feel that it's the duty of our Congress to put these controls in place. However, the sports community has failed to properly police itself, so they are stepping in.

This seems like bad timing for MLB. The season is just about three weeks away from starting and all of the headlines are about the steroid scandals. And even worse, this looks to be a historic year for baseball with Bonds approaching the HR record.

here is the official reason why bonds hasn't been called to testify, smells fishy to me

Waxman said Bonds, who wouldn't comment Thursday, wasn't among the players asked to appear because ``the feeling was that if he were invited, all the attention would go to Barry Bonds and would distract from the overall mission of the hearing.''

Originally posted by toejam
Waxman said Bonds, who wouldn't comment Thursday, wasn't among the players asked to appear because ``the feeling was that if he were invited, all the attention would go to Barry Bonds and would distract from the overall mission of the hearing.''

hmmm, sounds a lot like

having Bonds invovled would cast a shadow over Rep. Davis's star, clouding his chances of being seeen in the national spotlight

Don't you think?

Originally posted by toejam
the feeling was that if he were invited, all the attention would go to Barry Bonds and would distract from the overall mission of the hearing.''

That's one of the biggest loads of crap I've heard. Poor excuse, try again.

NEW YORK -- Curt Schilling plans to attend a congressional hearing on steroid use in baseball next week.

Speaking at Boston's spring training camp in Fort Myers, Fla., the Red Sox ace said Friday that he has "nothing" to offer the panel.

"I'm still real confused as to why I was put in this group and why there are others players that aren't in this group," Schilling said.

Curt sounds like he's questioning why Barry isn't there, too...

And props to Moose for not balking at the investigation. If you guys have nothing to hide, why be concerned?

source

ESPN

Originally posted by Gibbs Baby!!!

"I'm still real confused as to why I was put in this group and why there are others players that aren't in this group," Schilling said.

Curt sounds like he's questioning why Barry isn't there, too...

Curt is absolutely right. He's there but Bonds isn't? That doesn't make any sense. I'm sure Curt would rather continue preparing for the upcoming season, not wasting his time testifying to something that he has nothing to do with. Like he said, he really has nothing to offer them.

The head of the committee holding a hearing this week on steroids in baseball predicted Sunday the full House easily would pass a contempt of Congress resolution if subpoenaed players such as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa don't show.

Government Reform Committee chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., told NBC's Meet the Press that one or more of the seven active and former players called to testify might be excused from appearing, though he did not specify which players might be excused.

But Davis said his panel would vote to find players who fail to appear Thursday in contempt, and said he thinks the House would approve such a resolution by a large margin. The last contempt of Congress prosecution was in 1983.

"These people are not above the law," Davis told NBC. "You know, they may fly on private planes and make millions of dollars and be on baseball cards, but a subpoena is exactly what it says it is. They have to appear."

cbs.sportsline.com...

ANd they should be punished!

:approve:

Jason Giambi was excused from testifying at Thursday's congressional hearing into steroid use in baseball, but attempts by Rafael Palmeiro and Frank Thomas to avoid appearing were rejected.

Giambi does not have to come to Washington because of his involvement in the ongoing federal investigation into illegal steroid distribution, House Government Reform committee chairman Tom Davis and ranking Democrat Henry Waxman said. The New York Yankees slugger testified before a grand jury in the case in 2003.

"I appeared in front of the federal grand jury a year ago. I answered every question, told the truth and cooperated fully," Giambi said in a statement released by his agent. "I appreciate that the members of the committee evaluated my situation, and I will now continue to focus on playing the best baseball I possibly can for the Yankees and our great fans."

www.sportsline.com...

sounds like things are heating up in washington, congress has said that it will not give immunity to jose canseco, jose's lawyer has answered that he will have to invoke his 5th ammendment right often during the hearings, mark mcGwire has said that he will be at the hearings to testify, the big news to me is that there is apparently a clause in the new baseball steroid that says if the government investigates drug use in baseball the steroid testing will immediatly stop.....just gotta wonder what baseball is trying to cover up, sounds to me that they are afraid the big story is still to be uncovered

sports.yahoo.com...;_ylc=X3o'___'BpNWZic251BF9TAzI1NjY0ODI1BHNlYwN0aA--?slug=ap-steroids&prov=ap&type=lgns