For Americans fond of pro sports, who see them as fabric of Americana, the recurring scandals over performance-enhancing drugs could hardly be more galling. To such fans, there is no stardom or career more privileged and envied than the big-league athlete, whatever the sport.

Professional sports have become big business — not one great industry, but several — solely because of fan support. Football has become the largest entertainment investment, even as baseball and basketball draw larger total audiences. These enormous audiences have every right to feel betrayed by the players who use drugs they think might give them an edge in the game.

What the fans can’t forgive is gifted people behaving so selfishly and stupidly that they make a joke of both their talent and the game that rewards them so handsomely. And the industries themselves can afford it even less. Players who make fools of the game and themselves make fools of the fans also. To fail to act is to make P.T. Barnum right: suckers born every minute.

Major League Baseball finds itself now embroiled in a doping scandal it not only must put to rest, but also must cremate, to avoid becoming ashes itself.  As many as a score of stars and other players currently on Major League rosters purportedly have been doing business with a drug dealer in Florida, who wants to head off a lawsuit against him by naming names.

The game’s integrity will be tested by the harshness of the penalties. If Pete Rose, the all-time hits leader, can be banned from the Hall of Fame for gambling on games during his playing days, should the dopers fare any better?

Frank Mensel — August, 2013