Ask Doug: Being Clean in a Dirty Clubhouse
Doug Glanville is working with the Baseball Factory and Team One Baseball as a Special Consultant. He will be writing articles and looking for your questions and feedback. If you have a question for Doug, please email him at [email protected]
Q: Doug, long story short an old friend of yours that I worked with in late 90”s said back then that you knew Sammy Sosa was using steroids. I guess my problem is, if this is true, than what was a player who was clean like yourself supposed to do in this situation. You obviously benefitted as a team by him using. Wasn”t silence similar to being complicit for so many major leaguers? Thanks, Randy
A: Randy,
There has been a lot of discussion about the responsibility of the players that weren”t on the juice and some of the questions are valid. Any conclusion I made about a player based on my own observations was purely speculation even though I wondered when certain players could hit the ball 450ft when the year before they couldn”t. But speculation is not evidence and I think it was the right step by the union to first figure out the extent of the problem, by testing.
There were a lot of reasons for the silence of a lot of players partly because for a while, no one could tell us what was legal and what was not legal. Remember, McGwire was taking Andro which at the time was for sale at GNC over the counter. There is also that code which you have to be really sure about if you are going to call out players without 100% evidence.
Certainly, no one is responsible for what another grown man is choosing to do with his body, but I do think more could have happened sooner in addressing this issue, including by players that were always annoyed by what was going on. I think someone”s team could have benefited by having a juiced lineup, but then again, the other team was probably juicing too, so it may be a wash. I do think the power numbers jumped up the salaries which kind of trickled down to players like myself, but the trade-off is players like myself couldn”t stay in the game as long since there was another guy ready to take your place who would choose to juice up.
I hope the game stays on this issue until it is more of a non-issue, but without persistent pressure, it will stay a big part of the game as the science continues to evolve.
If you have a question you would like to “Ask Doug,” please email [email protected].
Doug Glanville attended and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Systems Science and Engineering. Glanville was drafted 12th overall by the Chicago Cubs in the 1991 amateur draft. Glanville played nine seasons in the Majors, getting his break with the Cubs. He also spent six seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and a portion of the 2003 season with the Texas Rangers. In 1999, Glanville batted .325 with 204 hits, 101 runs, six homeruns, 73 runs batted in and 34 stolen bases. He led the league in singles with 149 that year. Glanville joined the Baseball Factory as a Special Consultant at the end of 2007.
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