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Herzog: Baseball let steroids flourish

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Back in the early '90s, it was always amusing when the Athletics got off their team bus in spring training and walked past the Cubs' dugout.

Inevitably, at least one Cubs player would say, "There goes the Oakland Raiders again."

That's how big the Mark McGwire/Jose Canseco Athletics were, and it wasn't just the big boppers.

It was a monstrous team, one that didn't go unnoticed by Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog, who had his own take on steroids this past weekend and remembered when several NFL and MLB teams inhabited the same facilities.

"I think you have to look at the baseball teams that shared stadiums with the football teams," Herzog said, while not specifically naming the Athletics, since the Raiders were in L.A. from 1982 to 1996. "There's a lot of cities where they worked together in the training rooms. The football players were going from 250 to 335 and they got faster.

"Baseball players watched that and next thing you know they had something going.

"I was fortunate I didn't have to manage during the steroid era. I managed during the drug era. I had players with problems. Everybody knows that.

"I often wonder how many games we lost as managers in the '80s because of drugs. But by the same token I wonder how many victories managers got in the '90s because of steroids."

Herzog pointed to the work stoppages of 1990 and 1994 as another factor in the performance-enhancing explosion.

"Baseball was down after the strike and McGwire gets all those home runs (in 1998) and it brought baseball back," Herzog said. "Everybody goes back to the ballparks. So maybe that's where the mistake was made.

"If they stopped it then, maybe we wouldn't have the situation we got. I don't know the answer to that.

"Baseball looked the other way because they didn't want attendance to fall. I don't think it was right, and I don't like that a lot of records were broken. It's hurt a lot of retired players trying to get here (to Cooperstown), and I think it's just plain wrong.''

The cap flapThere were still a lot of Expos jerseys and caps spotted Monday morning on Main Street as fans flocked to the Hall of Fame to view the new plaques of Andre Dawson, Whitey Herzog and Doug Harvey.Dawson got to see his complete with an Expos insignia, and he took the high road while praising Montreal fans."I was proud that they all came down here and I have a lot of respect for the fans up there," Dawson said. "I was surprised in 1987 when I went back and I was having the best year of my career and they booed me."But that was frustration on their part. They didn't know the real story of why I left. They were quite misinformed about the contract situation."But in later years when I went back they were very polite and I heard a lot of applause."Slow showCubs management had virtually no participation in the weekend's festivities, aside from throwing a party for Dawson on Saturday night.Tom Ricketts and Crane Kenney flew in for the bash and flew right out again, not staying for Sunday's induction.Oddly, the Cubs were noticeable by their absence in the Hall of Fame program, which contained five full-page ads congratulating Hall of Famers and award winners.Kansas City and St. Louis each had a page for Herzog, ESPN honored Jon Miller, the N.Y. Daily News bought space for Bill Madden, and the Florida Marlins had one for Dawson.The Cubs, who desperately lobbied the Hall for Dawson to go in as a Cub, had nothing, even though it's a long-standing tradition that teams do this for their Hall of Fame players.Stengel easeWhitey Herzog probably spent more time praising Casey Stengel than any other individual over the weekend."Fundamentally, there's never been anyone better at managing, or smarter about baseball than Casey," Herzog said. "People don't realize he was a brilliant baseball man and taught me as much about the game as anyone ever did."The memoryAndre Dawson tipped his cap to Don Zimmer in his speech and always remembered something Zimmer stressed to all his players."The thing I learned from Zim was that you have to be able to look in the mirror at the end of the day and be able to say you didn't disrespect the uniform or the fans, and that meant doing things right and giving your best effort," Dawson said."You're blessed with an ability, and I always felt like it would be a waste not to get the most out of it."Play ballUmpire Doug Harvey was legendary for playing through the rain because he hated doubleheaders and would do anything to finish a game, no matter how bad the storm. When he retired, he said the Mets gave him a complete set of grounds-crew rain gear.The quoteAndre Dawson on being the first to mention doctors, trainers and physical therapists in a Hall of Fame speech: "That's only because nobody here's ever spent so much time with all those people."And finally -Whitey Herzog on his election: "I'm just glad I'm still on this side of the grass to enjoy it."bull; Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM.