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Well, that monstrous stack of papers finally arrived and even for those who feel the Mitchell Report fell short of “Black Thursday” status- Did we really learn anything we didn’t already know?- the sky certainly turned a shade considerably darker than blue.

Lot o’ ball players named. Even more that escaped mention, but aren’t playing the game while squeaky-clean. For now, despite requests by Mitchell himself, the focus will undoubtedly be the “names.” Whether biggies like Bonds, Tejada or Clemens or marginal “talent” like F.P. Santangelo, as Don Henley once said, “give us dirty laundry.” And I get it. The “who” is sexy and puts a face to the scandal. But once the dust settles, the information is digested and our nation’s collective fifteen-second attention span is spent, where do we go from here? If Bud Selig starts making an effort to punish those named, I have a sneaking suspicion I won’t see the answer I’m looking to hear:

“We go forward.”

I agree wholeheartedly with Mitchell that baseball’s first (or even tenth) instinct shouldn’t be suspending the likes of Paul Lo Duca and Eric Gagne. Beyond the notion that it’s punishment based on second-hand testimony and circumstantial evidence (albeit believable second-hand testimony and circumstantial evidence), as opposed to actual proof, seriously, what’s the point? More than half of the people named are out of baseball or barely good enough to register a blip on your average fan’s radar. And for many of those remaining, the alleged transgressions are a few years removed. Does baseball really gain ground by punishing Jerry Hairston for a check written in 2003? If so, please share, because cracking the whip retroactively strikes me as nothing more than cosmetic chest-thumping. Taking the easy way out as opposed to a legit stand, which is stopping this epidemic. Employing every measure possible to prevent us from ever having to sift through 400+ pages of “Mitchell Report II: Electric Bugaloo.” When I see Selig take a hard-line stand against the Player’s Union, stating that it’s either blood testing or explaining to fans why they essentially allowed baseball to be postponed in an effort to shield cheaters from detection, I’ll be convinced of any quest to give fans a pure contest played on a level field.

Assuming fans are truly outraged in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t doubt fans are as sick of hearing about their sport being tainted as I am. A poll conducted yesterday on espn.com showed that 81.2% of baseball enthusiasts care whether players use performance enhancing drugs. 84.7% felt that juiced big leaguers influence the younger set to follow suit. That’s not a shrugging reaction. But that’s still a step or two removed from actual outrage, declaring that you’re as mad as hell and you’re not going to take this anymore. Doing so doesn’t even require a window, ear-splitting shouting or Faye Dunaway. Just stop showing up to the games. Make it perfectly clear to those running the league and your favorite team that, while painful and heartbreaking, until baseball’s culture changes, you (and your wallet) will no longer patronize the park. Enough people do that, believe me, everyone from Bud Selig to Donald “Axis of Evil” Fehr will sit up and take notice. They’ll have no choice.

But should fans settle for a less proactive approach, I’m hoping to hear nada yearning from them (or the media) about “the days of old.”

Mind you, I’m not saying that unless fans take it to the streets like the Doobies, they’re hypocrites. Again, I don’t doubt any sincerity when it comes to cheated feelings and emotions. But you can’t have it both ways. It’s pointless for fans to call for change while seated in primo seats along the first base line. For all intents and purposes, they’re accepting the situation. And if that’s the case, so be it. I’m not the Morality sheriff. But I also won’t buy it when I read the next columnist drone on about fans mourning the “innocence lost.” The public couldn’t be that upset if they’re still footing the bill for peanuts and Cracker Jack. Want a return to the time when baseball was labeled sports’ Garden of Eden (incorrectly, but so be it)? Leave the powers that be no choice but to change the climate. Leaving the choice in their hands is basically saying any/all of the following:

“I don’t like the state of baseball, but I’m not really upset enough to do anything about it.”

“We’re overblowing this whole “steroids” thing. These are grown adults and if they want to take potentially dangerous steps to improve or lengthen their career, let ‘em.”

“Yeah, the drugs are illegal, but it’s a stupid law and I don’t really care about people breaking stupid laws.”

“I go to a baseball game to be entertained. Nothing more, nothing less. A dinger blasted out of the park is entertaining. Nobody complains when some A-List actress starves herself to make it in the entertainment industry, so what’s the difference? Back off.”

“Stop worrying about my kid trying to emulate his juiced idol or risking his health as a D-1 player. It’s my job to keep my children off steroids, not the government’s. For that matter, don’t these political fat cats have more important things to do than police a sport?”

By the way, these are reasonable and defensible positions. I don’t agree with them all (at least not entirely at face value), but I understand the logic. My point is simply that once you emulate that stand, it’s impossible to wish for anything else. The ticket to “Status Quo, USA” has been punched. Grab your seat and be sure to ask your flight attendant what comes in the five dollar snack box.

Here’s an example along these lines. I know many Jewish people who refuse to see another Mel Gibson movie until they are convinced of contrition following his drunken anti-Semitic rant. And they’re not the only ones, because I was at a Laker game recently with Gibson in attendance and when his face popped up on the jumbotron, it was met with a sea of razzin’. Some of those movie nuts will never be swayed, but you better believe Mad Max will jump at every opportunity to prove he’s a changed man. If fans force Gibson-esque damage control from baseball, the chance of getting what they want greatly increases. But if they choose to thumb their nose with one hand while hailing the beer man with the other, they’re going to be left with the exact same situation.

It’s up to you to decide whether that’s for better, for worse or for neutral.

AK

Andrew Kamenetzky hosts Lakers Blog and Blue Notes: A Dodgers Blog for LATimes.com. In addition to his work with the Times, he is a contributing writer for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com and EXPN.com, and co-authored Fishing on the Edge, the autobiography of B.A.S.S. fishing bad boy Mike Iaconelli. He is also a regular contributor to “The Steve Mason Show” on ESPN Radio (710 AM, 1-4 pm PST).

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