Hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Panel II - Report on Performance Enhancing Substances in Major League Baseball

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REP. DANNY DAVIS (D-IL) (?): Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

The focus of this committee's work on baseball has mainly been with regards to its drug-testing policy. But Senator Mitchell notes that improvements to the drug testing program by itself will not be sufficient and that the commissioner's office should place a higher priority on the aggressive investigation of non-analytical evidence — that is evidence of possession or use.

Commissioner Selig, you acted quickly on this recommendation and I commend you for it, because on Friday of last week you appointed a new Office of Investigations for your office. Could you tell us the purpose of that office and what it's intended to do?

MR. SELIG: I can.

That was -- I think Senator Mitchell found in the course of our history, Congressman, that we didn't have enough of an independent arm, so-to-speak, just doing investigation, which would help us overall. So we've taken two people -- one is a former deputy police chief from New York; the other and FBI man for over 30 years. They're here today. They have over 53 years of experience in law enforcement. They are to track every possible rumor, every -- everything that's said on this subject so that I can say to myself and to people in baseball and to all of you: We now have a department that will do nothing but that so that nothing escapes. And that will be their primary and really sole responsibility.

REP. DANNY DAVIS: Mr. Fehr, let me ask you: Will the Players Association cooperate fully with this new office and urge players to do the same?

MR. FEHR: One of the difficulties I have in responding is I don't yet know what the department is going to do. I don't know what techniques it's going to follow. It's my understanding that the protocols have not yet been developed.

One of the things we've indicated to the commissioner we'd like to talk about is how is this going to work.

We have developed, for example, procedures to handle investigations for the non-analytical positives that have resulted in suspensions the last several years. I don't know whether there will be differences or not. I can't evaluate it until we look at that.

I certainly hope that we're going to be in a position to say, at the end of the day, that we'll represent our players in connection with any such investigations, but the investigations are going to be conducted in a way which does not suggest there are fundamental problems with it. We'll let you know.

REP. DANNY DAVIS: Earlier this morning, Senator Mitchell indicated that he did have some faith and confidence that baseball would be able to adequately police itself. Could the two of you tell me what, as a team, that you expect to do that you have not already done that's going to vindicate this kind of faith that the senator expressed?

MR. SELIG: Well, in the case of the department, these people's sole responsibility really will be to investigate all these things. They won't have to go through layers of people. I think the senator was a little bit troubled by that. There are people with, as I said, 53 years of law enforcement experience, so that they will not only be in touch with all the law enforcement departments everywhere and where all of our franchises are, but here in Washington and everything else.

And that is their job now, and it is a big one, so that we can never again say, "Wow, we didn't know," or "This guy told this guy something else," or "Labor said this to security, and security said this." That's their report to Mr. DuPay, the president of Major League Baseball, directly. And there will be no question about it. And as I said, both of these very well-trained people will do nothing but follow this subject in every way, shape, form and manner.

MR. FEHR: Congressman, in all the years I've been in baseball and in the 30-odd years I've known the commissioner, I don't think anybody has ever previously referred to us as a team, either actual or potential. (Laughter.)

MR. SELIG: Nor will they again, probably. (Laughter.)

MR. FEHR: Given the conflicting interests that our relative constituencies have, especially on the economic matters, and the adversarial nature of the collective bargaining process that our law enshrines, it may not happen again. Mr. Selig may be right.

All I can tell you is this. Since the strike in '94-'95, which was horrible and ugly and ended as a result of an injunction as a result of unfair labor practices, and it took a long time to get an agreement afterwards, there's been a change in the relationship. We were able to reach agreements in 2003 and in 2006, although not without difficulty, but without stoppages and without, the last time around, threats of stoppages.

We have been able to negotiate agreements dealing with performance-enhancing drugs and to amend those a number of times, both administratively and formally. What I can tell you is that we should be in a position to cooperate where we can. Where we can't, where the constituencies differ, I assume that we'll have to work those out. That's the nature of bargaining. But the object is to cooperate where we can and minimize the areas of dispute.

For my part, I had a long time with a lot of disputes with Major League Baseball. I'm willing to have another one if we have to. That's far from my first choice.

REP. DANNY DAVIS: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

And I just hope that you can find enough common ground to protect and preserve not only the integrity of the game, but also to promote the public interest and send the right signals and the right messages to our young people. Thank you very much.

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