RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
Baseball's top officials are in Washington, D.C. today. Lawmakers want to know what Major League Baseball is doing to address the widespread use of banned and illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Former Senator George Mitchell released a report last month revealing that use of these drugs was common. He is one of the witnesses who will be testifying today, along with baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and Don Fehr, head of the players' union.
Eric Fisher covers the business of baseball for the Sports Business Journal.
Good morning.
Mr. ERIC FISHER (Reporter, Sports Business Journal): Good morning. How are you?
MONTAGNE: Fine. Thank you.
Now, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig requested the Mitchell Report. In fact, he's testified in front of Congress about this very subject before. But this is a whole another order today.
Mr. FISHER: That's right. We just know a whole lot more about use of steroids and performance-enhancing substances. The last time that Selig was on Capitol Hill on this subject in March of 2005, the congressmen were not happy with the progress that baseball had made up into that point. And since that hearing, Major League Baseball and the players' union had twice reopened its labor deal with the players to implement some tougher standards and tougher testing procedures.
And so when Selig gets down there, you know, the hope and expectation is that he'll have a better story to tell, and certainly, Major League Baseball is hoping that the reception that they get this time around goes much better than it did in 2005.
MONTAGNE: Now, the union's leader, Don Fehr, will testify today as well. He's there to protect the interests of the players, one - but what are the interests of the players?
Mr. FISHER: Historically speaking, the union has had an issue with random-base drug testing, i.e. drug testing without cause. They have felt that to be an unlawful certain procedure that violates their bill of rights. And they have now agreed to widespread testing without cause. But the union wants to see their players operating under a structure that is somehow consistent with the bill of rights and U.S. labor law.
MONTAGNE: Why is baseball under the microscope? I mean, looking around other news, we have Marion Jones going to jail, you know, runners have been scrutinized, doping scandals in the world of cycling. Baseball, at this moment in time, what gives?
Mr. FISHER: Well, it's been going on for a bunch of years. Baseball, even though it is not quite as large economically as National Football League, it is still the national pastime and it is still the favorite sport of a lot of congressmen on Capitol Hill. And you'll see at the start of this hearing that when a number of these individual congressmen get their turn to speak, they'll sort of wax on about their relationship with baseball personally, how they follow their team on radio or in TV or what have you.
Baseball still occupies a very important place in our culture. And Major League Baseball often sort of calls it its greatest blessing and its greatest curse. It's a blessing because it means it insulates them from any sort of loss of relevance among its fan base and keeps it a very strong entity on that realm. It's also a curse because it keeps them under the microscope and under pressure on issues such as this.
MONTAGNE: In the end, what can Congress really do about all of these? What power does Congress have as regards baseball?
Mr. FISHER: Well, what we're seeing is a way to implement some public pressure, so Major League Baseball and the players' union can implement reforms privately. This is certainly what happened the last time where we had this hearing in 2005. It's just keeping the feet to the fire more than anything else.
MONTAGNE: Eric Fisher is a reporter for the Sports Business Journal.
Thanks very much for joining us.
Mr. FISHER: Sure.