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2009-2010
Major League Baseball Players’ Association Incoming Executive Director Michael Weiner Speaks at Blair Academy
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
By NICK PIZZINO
The Express-Times
BLAIRSTOWN | Michael Weiner, the incoming executive director of the Major League Baseball Players’ Association, spoke at Blair Academy on Tuesday about his role with the league, the current state of baseball and the future of America’s pastime.
“When I first started this job my friends and family said to me ‘You’re not going to be a baseball fan anymore because you’re going to know too much about the game and it’s going to spoil it for you,’” Weiner said to the crowd of about 150 students and faculty in the Cowan Auditorium. “It’s been just the opposite. Getting to know the guys and getting to know more about the game has just enhanced my feelings for it.”
Weiner, an Oxford Township resident who has worked for the players’ association since 1988, was appointed by the association’s executive board after Donald Fehr’s resignation in June.
The Harvard Law School graduate has served as general counsel to the players’ association since 2004 and is replacing Fehr at a time when the league must confront issues ranging from performance enhancing drugs to the onset of instant replay.
“The players’ association has advocated that the United States Congress should do everything they can to clean up the supplement industry,” Weiner said. “It would be a phenomenal thing not only for professional athletes but for high school athletes and college athletes if the FDA and federal authorities were able to regulate these supplements.”
While he is optimistic about working with the government toward this common goal, Weiner also spoke about the ongoing court battles the union has waged with federal authorities over the seized list of players who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003.
“The government came in and raided the lab that maintained our test records and took all of it before it could be destroyed,” Weiner said. “We’ve been in court fighting with the government for five-plus years, arguing that those raids were unconstitutional and unlawful searches and seizures.”
As Weiner talked about progress the union has made against the government, he also touched on some of the concerns that both players and fans have had following the 2009 World Series.
“As a fan I don’t like instant replay because I am a traditionalist, but the players are fine with using it during home run calls,” he said. “And if the commissioner’s office wants to do it the players would be willing to expand its use as well.”
And what about the umpiring in this fall’s postseason?
“I think players understand that umpires have a very difficult job and that, for the most part, do a phenomenal job,” Weiner said. “Sometimes they are going to get it wrong, but the players have a lot of respect for what the umpires do.”
Despite the serious issues that await the new head of the union, the father of Blair Academy graduate Margie (’08) and current junior Grace lightened the mood and talked about the personal aspects of the game.
“I am a Yankee fan,” Weiner said to a chorus of cheers. “I know Joe Girardi very well, and talking not as a Yankee fan but someone who knows him personally, I am a big fan of Joe.”
Weiner also spoke about his respect and admiration for baseball agent Scott Boras, and argued that Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson both deserve to be in the hall of fame.
Weiner covered many topics, but the underlying theme of the evening was his enthusiasm for the job.
“The joy of this job is representing the players,” Weiner said. “They are humble and incredibly appreciative, and I just love their sense of connection. And I can assure you that they love this game and love their place in the game.”
Nick Pizzino can be reached at npizzino@express-times.com.
Updated 11/12/2009
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