THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: With the New York Times reporting that Sammy Sosa’s name is on the list of 104 players who tested positive in 2003 for using a performance-enhancing drug, the question becomes: When will it end? If and when the entire list is released, do you believe baseball will finally start to cleanse itself of the stain brought on by PEDs or will the topic continue to rear its head for years to come?

RICK HUMMEL
This will be a topic for as long as baseball is played. Not that baseball can’t learn a lesson from this, but what we have here is an era — and baseball is nothing but a collection of eras.

JEFF GORDON
Even releasing the whole list wouldn’t shed complete light on the situation. By now, we know that PED abuse was rampant. The Commissioner looked the other way, owners looked the other way and so did general managers and managers. We know now not to be surprised by any name that emerges in this ongoing story. What happened happened. All baseball can do is remain vigilant, improve its testing program on the fly and nab some additional big-name cheats to discourage wholesale abuse. The players association could help by aggressively educating its members on this issue and former abusers could help by stepping up to discuss the matter.

GERRY FRALEY
Major League Baseball faces a true dilemma here. Release the list, and MLB sets back what has been an improving relationship with the Major League Baseball Players Association. Test results were to be kept secret, but the players for generations have never trusted the owners to keep their word. Players had nothing to gain from leaking names, but ownership did. Hold back the list, and everyone in the game during the 2003 season falls under suspicion, keeping the issue alive. Better to do that than publish the names.

In moving forward, it is more important to keep a good working relationship between management and the players’ union than it is to revisit the past. Baseball has not had a work stoppage since 1994-95, but that could change if distrust and suspicion return as the sides get ready to work on a new basic agreement. The current deal expires in December, 2011.

Most in the industry believe only a handful of players still in the game would be on a list of those who tested positive.

TOM TIMMERMANN
If names keep trickling out, this topic will keep popping up, though at some point, all the famous names will be out and the remaining players will be people most fans don’t care about. The stain won’t go away for a long time. Even those who never failed a drug test will be suspect because they played at the same time. They may have just been lucky not to have been caught. And as the Olympics show, even having tight drug testing doesn’t mean people will stop using drugs. They’ll just use different drugs and hope to be one step ahead of the law. I don’t think baseball will ever by free of the stain of performance enhancing drugs. You’re looking at a 20-year swath of baseball history where the records set can’t be trusted, and everyone else will play under a cloud. But baseball fans also have shown that, at a certain level, they don’t care about steroids and keep rooting for the home team. Baseball has shown itself to be pretty hard to kill.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: With much more strident testing policies in Major League Baseball now, and with all the negative publicity and fan backlash that comes with being exposed as a user of an illegal substance, what do you think would compel a player today to keep using performance enhancers? And what could possibly make them think they are not going to get caught?

JOE STRAUSS

The discussion shouldn’t be limited to the use of PEDs themselves but also to masking agents, such as what Manny Ramirez attempted. Anyone who believes MLB is on top of cutting edge PEDs is naive. For example, there is no testing for HGH, which has benefits of its own. (HGH users have only been caught via federal investigators tracking mailed substances by quacks and outlaw pharmaceutical firms. Discipline has been virtually non-existent.) Manny likely was told a substance would slip detection and either abused it or plain got unlucky. There are all kinds of reasons for continued use. Greed and stupidity top the list. At least outing Ramirez punctures the argument that MLB will hold back on disciplining a superstar 50 games.

QUESTION: “Speaking of PED’s, would you be surprised if….”

ANSWER: “Don’t even finish the question. The answer is no.”

RICK HUMMEL

I don’t know if there is all that much fan backlash. Certainly there is from the media but I think the fans want production and tend to forgive and almost forget if a player produces. Why a player uses may, in some cases, be as simple as trying to keep up with — and get ahead — of his peers. As to the last point, historically, athletes have deemed themselves invisible.

JEFF GORDON

This is a big step forward for baseball. It discourages players from experimenting with the stuff. It warns owners and GMs to stay away from suspected juicers. It reassures fans that MLB is serious about this issue. World-class athletes have stayed a step ahead of testing technology for decades. So the cat-and-mouse game will continue. After Ben Johnson went down hard after the Seoul Olympics, track and field stars continued to juice. Even he resumed juicing, after serving a two-year ban. So, no, the ManRam suspension won’t totally clean up baseball. If a player is really committing to juicing, this suspension just makes him be more careful.

DAN O’NEILL

Let’s see now, what would compel a major league baseball player to use performance-enhancing drugs. Hmmmm? Could it be the $24 million a year Manny Ramirez signed for, or maybe the $275 million Alex Rodriguez plays for, or is it maybe the $72 million Miguel Tejada got a few years ago? Players are going to do whatever it takes because one good season, or one good stretch can result in a lifetime of wealth. Players have been trying to find an edge throughout the history of the game, from spitballs, to corked bats, to steroids. And some will continue to try because there will always be that enticement of a giant payoff. Yes, some have been caught. Most likely, many more have not.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)

Two things compel the guys who are willing to cheat to succeed: money and fame.

To them, the risk is worth the reward. Even if they get caught all they have to do is serve a 50-game suspension and give up 50 game checks, which isn’t all that big a deal if your performance has already netted you more than $150 million over the years. They deal with the shame by cruising around South Beach in their $150,000 sports cars.

What makes them think they won’t get caught? People cheat on their taxes, cheat on their spouses, steal from their companies and flat out just take what they want all the time. What makes anyone think they’ll get away with it?

There are four possible explanations — too stupid to realize they’ll get caught, too arrogant to think anyone could outsmart them, plain old crazy or they just don’t care about getting caught.

Take your pick with Manny…