The New Republic Asks Whether Baseball is Already Losing the Next Doping Battle
Senator George Mitchell's 20 month investigation and subsequent report on the use of steroids, HGH, and other performance enhancers in baseball has rocked the sport to its knees. The proverbial asterisks no longer belongs solely to Barry Bonds, as fan favorites such as Miguel Tejada and Roger Clemens are also on the long list of players who are suspected of cheating their way to the top. But the folks over at The New Republic blog have shifted the focus of baseball's scrutiny from past to future by asking whether the sport is already losing the next big doping battle. In addition to the medical exemption loophole and the growth of HGH use in the absence of any tests to detect it, TNR takes a good look at gene doping, noting
This is the most speculative, but far-reaching, cheating strategy on the horizon: the possibility of using gene therapy to improve athletic performance. It's certainly unrealistic to expect baseball to have any well-defined strategy yet for dealing with it, but when Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) asked [Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud] Selig about it, Selig seemed not to understand what Souder was talking about. He asked Souder to repeat the question three times, and then gave a brief, generic answer about baseball having hired the best anti-doping doctors in the country. This doesn't inspire much confidence that baseball will be ahead of the curve.