Alex Rodriguez, both culprit and victim

Fans and writers have reacted to the news harshly and rightfully so. Five days ago, the three-time MVP was the game’s best player, a lock to bring a Babe Ruth-like purity back to the home-run crown and a common counterexample to the assertion that steroids have become pervasive in the modern era of baseball. Fans, though, should also be angry at both the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and the U.S. government. Both should be criticized equally for the dark cloud that currently hangs over America’s pastime.

Back in November 2003, while debating whether or not to implement a full-scale drug-testing policy, MLB and the MLBPA conducted a “survey” of the 1,438 players in the Majors, testing them for anabolic androgenic steroids. For the players, the conditions for taking part in the test were simple: While the tests were mandatory, the players were guaranteed both anonymity and immunity from any sort of punishment. MLB only wanted to know how many of its players were juiced — a straw poll to see how widespread the problem had grown — and the results were to be destroyed immediately after the numbers were calculated.

Whoops.

As part of its investigation into the 10 players involved in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) scandal, the government seized the results of the test in 2004, and last week, after some impressive investigative work from Roberts, the biggest name on the list of the 104 players who tested positive was leaked.

A number of questions immediately come to mind. First, if the league guaranteed players that the results would be destroyed and that their identities would remain secret, how did federal agents get their hands on the names? Second, how corrupt or incompetent — honestly, which is better? — are federal investigators if they cannot keep highly controversial, potentially libelous information like as a result of these tests from the public?

And third, why was A-Rod’s name the only one leaked? As Tony Massarotti said in a Boston Globe column on Sunday, “Is it even remotely possible that Rodriguez’ name appears on a list with 103 utility men and bit players … [o]r has it reached the point now that we get to pick and choose whom we decide to smear, deconstruct and castigate?” The whole ordeal reeks of conspiracy, stringing up the game’s biggest star as an example to those who used steroids in the past as well as those who are considering using steroids in the future.

Ken Davidoff of Newsday is absolutely right: “No matter how much you despise him, A-Rod is as much a victim as wrongdoer in this ugly saga ... Whatever level of embarrassment A-Rod feels today, the U.S. government should be 20 times more ashamed.”

In fact, the government has its fingerprints all over the ongoing steroid saga. Back in 2004, regarding the federal raid of the test results, U.S. district court judge Susan Ilston condemned the actions of IRS agent Jeff Novitzky, the leading investigator on the BALCO case.

Ilston said, “The government has displayed … a callous disregard for constitutional rights … [The raid is] a seizure beyond what was authorized by the search warrant, therefore it violates the Fourth Amendment.”

Ilston and three of her colleagues will be behind the bench for the upcoming Barry Bonds hearings, and there is speculation circulating that because of the actions of investigators, the court will reject much of the evidence compiled against baseball’s career home-run leader. If that happens, the test results will be struck from the record, their contents declared inadmissible in court.

But the truth is that some things cannot be unlearned, and for Rodriguez, whose implication was an unexpected by-product of the BALCO investigation, the consequences are dire. A-Rod is not in danger of official punishment — he took steroids at a time when MLB had no official drug policy in place — but the damages to his reputation and legacy will be immeasurable. Already the questions are swirling: Is he worthy of induction into the Hall of Fame? How will the Yankees approach the remaining nine years of his contract? How should we evaluate his incredible stats? Are they all fraudulent?

MLBPA executive director Donald Fehr addressed the question of why the survey data was not destroyed in a statement issued Monday. Fehr said that the MLBPA received the lab results on Nov. 11, 2003, and that MLB had not fully finalized its findings until two days later. He added that the league concluded that roughly 7 percent of its players were doping, a result that warranted the institution of an official drug policy. On Nov. 19, 2003, the U.S. government issued a subpoena on steroid-related data, and the MLBPA, Fehr explained, decided that “it would be improper to proceed with the destruction of the materials.”

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Well, Donald, that response is not good enough, and it sure as hell does not absolve you of responsibility. There was more than a week between the finalization of the results and the federal subpoena. What happened during that time? I am no expert on the technicalities of drug testing, but I cannot imagine it taking more than seven days to destroy the results. I cannot see how it would be any harder than simply shredding the documents, deleting the computer files and disposing of the actual vials.

Destroying those results should have been the MLPBA’s priority. It does not take a genius to understand — especially since they also knew the magnitude of some of the names on the list — that if those results were leaked, the credibility of the league, as well as the reputations and careers of its players, would be forever tarnished.

The MLBPA was established in 1953 to protect the interests of the players, and in this regard Fehr and his association have utterly failed, leaving players like A-Rod — and anyone else on the list whose name might be leaked tomorrow — vulnerable to vicious public condemnation.

Please don’t get me wrong: I do not condone Rodriguez’ steroid use, but there is a right way and a wrong way for the truth to surface. The leaking of one name from a five-year-old drug test that was guaranteed to be anonymous and non-punitive is a perfect example of the latter, especially considering that this leak came from a well-established source within a high-profile federal investigation.

It is a question of accountability, and in this regard A-Rod has outshone those in higher positions of power. In an emotional interview with ESPN’s Peter Gammons on Sunday, A-Rod admitted to his sins and expressed regret for misleading fans and teammates. It does not make things right, but it is certainly a start.

So, where is the apology from Donald Fehr? Instead of hiding behind his paper-thin subpoena defense, why can’t Fehr stand up and say, “Mr. Rodriguez, we apologize. You trusted our word, and we let you down?” And where is the apology from the federal investigators, whose sorry attempt at confidentiality has brought the issue — illegally — to the forefront of public discourse.

Alex Rodriguez screwed up. There is no doubt about that. Public outrage from the fans and media will forever burden him. In a scathing piece on espn.com, Jayson Stark said that Rodriguez was “a man who has committed a crime he doesn’t even understand: A crime against the once-proud history of his sport.”

But let’s also direct some rage towards the MLBPA and the U.S. government. Integrity within baseball comes from a variety of different sources. Sure, a large onus falls on the players to respect the game — which Rodriguez did not — but the sport’s peripheral institutions are also obligated to conduct their business in a professional manner. That sacred obligation has fractured in the Steroid Era. So for everyone so quick to criticize A-Rod, know that the players are only half the problem.

Baseball can only be fully repaired if every guilty party accepts responsibility. As such, the MLBPA and federal investigators must emulate the very man they condemned, honestly admit fault and stimulate the discussion on how to bring baseball toward a brighter future.