The President Gets In On The Act

It appears as though the battle over steroids is continuing. When the Mitchel report came out, one of the players in it was Paul LoDucca. I have not read the report in its entirety and could not tell you what is factual and what is not. I do know, however, that LoDucca was linked with steroids.

The former Met catcher now plays for the Washington Nationals. The Nationals are moving into a new stadium this year. Since they play in D.C., it is not surprising that President George W. Bush is going to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. It is a nice symbolic gesture for opening up the new stadium.

Now, apparently President Bush is getting in on the act. He is still going to throw out the first pitch but he is refusing to throw it to LoDucca. Instead, Bush will throw the pitch to Manny Acta, the manager of the Nationals. No official reason has been given as to why he won’t throw to LoDucca.

I believe this is all tied into the steroid scandal and Bush does not want to look like he is embracing steroid use. If that is not the reason, then the President should be aware it will appear that way to the general public. Steroids is a black eye for baseball but it is now time to put this behind and focus on the game. This is not to suggest baseball should be tolerant of drug and steroid use and abuse but if everyone linked to steroids is going to be treated this way, we probably should just forget about the season.

Again, I urge the elected officials, put this behind you and let baseball take care of cleaning up the game.