More Public Relations - Accept or Reject a Client

       “It's no secret what's going on in baseball.  At least half the players are using steroids,” says Major League Baseball (MLB) player Ken Caminiti (Caminiti, 2015).  Ken Caminiti, deceased, was a former Houston Astro third baseman and National League Most Valuable Player, who had bouts with drug usage and addiction (Ruiz, 2004).  He was the first baseball player to go public about his steroid use (Verducci, 2014).  His cause of death (lethal combination of cocaine and opiates) (ESPN.com News Service, 2004) had nothing to do with steroids; nevertheless, and as unfortunate as it is, his death was due to substances forbidden for professional athletes to participate in and/or consume.  This is why the Major League Baseball Association has taken steps to ensure compliance with the drug usage of all players because of its detrimental effects on the user and others around them, the unequal playing ground it causes for teammates and opposing team players, and the unethical stance to have a chemical enhancer to promote sports performance that ultimately wastes the sports industry’s time and money and brings about unnecessary shame and embarrassment.

            Recently in the news, a well-known professional baseball player was assumed to have used/taken steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs (PED).  As of today, he has not been legally charged.  I have been approached by his agent asking if I could advise and handle his public relations agenda surrounding this situation.  The agent is asking for a positive and favorable halo of light on his client; tell positive stories of the baseball player sports career, speak of any charitable dealings he may be involved in, show endearing family relationships, etc., but the agent has informed me the player admitted to engaging in an unknown substance that could have been PED. 

In recent years, there have been a of couple well-known MLB players that have said they did not use steroids or PED, but later admitted to the usage: New York Yankee’s Alex Rodriguez (a third baseman like Caminiti), (Kuty, 2014) and Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun, (USA Today, 2013).  Philadelphia Phillies Antonio Bastardo admitted taking PED and was suspended for 50 games (Shorr-Parks, 2013).  According to the Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, “All Players shall be prohibited from using, possessing, selling, facilitating the sale of, distributing, or facilitating the distribution of any Drug of Abuse, Performance Enhancing Substance, Stimulant and/or DHEA (collectively referred to as “Prohibited Substances”)” (Major League Baseball Association, 2015). 

Based on the above mentioned premises, I have decided not to represent this professional baseball player.  It would not be in the best interest of this firm to take the chance of jeopardizing its reputation and credibility on an individual that has willingly engaged in a forbidden substance whether he was aware of its purposes or not.  He has already admitted to his participation.  When asked the question of his innocent, we would be obligated to tell the truth; guilty - we cannot pretend that he is not (Seitel, 2014).  This may have been his first time of indulgence, but the bottom line is, the MLB has specified what you can and cannot do while in this profession.  Engaging in any drug activity is prohibited. 

           

           

References

Caminiti, K. (2015, August 31). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved from BrainyQuote.com: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/k/kencaminit404391.html?src=t_steroids

Carter, J. (2013, November 5). Falcon-Software Blog. Photo retrieved from Top 10 Reasons to Reject an RFP Revisited: http://blog.falcon-software.com/2013/11/05/revisited-top-10-resons-to-reject-an-rfp

ESPN.com News Service. (2004, November 1). Sports.espn.com. Retrieved from MLB: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1913942

Kuty, B. (2014, November 5). nj.com. Retrieved from nj.com: http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2014/11/yankees_alex_rodriguez_i_used_steroids_from_biogensis.html

Major League Baseball Association. (2015, August 31). Retrieved from mlb.mlb.com: http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/pdf/jda.pdf

Ruiz, R. (2004, October 10). Chron. Retrieved from Chron.com: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-deaths/article/Former-Astro-Ken-Caminiti-dead-at-41-1956743.php

Seitel, F. P. (2015). Public relations & promotional writing [Electronic version]. Retrieved from

http://outboundsso.next.ecollege.com/default/launch.ed?ssoType=CDMS&redirectUrl=ht

tps://content.ashford.edu/ssologin?bookcode=AUCGD318.15.1

Shorr-Parks, E. (2013, August 5). Antonio Bastardo suspended 50 games for PEDs. Retrieved from nj.com: http://www.nj.com/phillies/index.ssf/2013/08/antonio_bastardo_suspended_50_games_for_peds_according_to_report.html

USA Today. (2013, August 22). Sports. Retrieved from usatoday.com: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2013/08/22/ryan-braun-statement-apology-steroids-suspension/2690041/

Verducci, T. (2014, September 9). Si.com. Retrieved from MLB: http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/09/09/totally-juiced-tom-verducci-ken-caminiti-si-60