Bud Selig claims that he began pushing for a steroid policy in 1995.  It was not until the 2005 season, that baseball had a testing regime with meaningful penalties.  Selig doesn’t “know how anyone could have done more than we’ve already done.€

The commissioner underestimates the human capacity for achievement.  Forgive me for besmirching Mr. Selig’s own Herculean effort, but here are four accomplishments that took less time than baseball needed to enact a coherent steroids policy.

Landing on the Moon: On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy challenged NASA to land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth.  The Apollo Space Program began in 1963 and landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon in July 20, 1969.  NASA did not need to be called before Congress to explain themselves.

Winning the Second World War: Whether you date from the beginning of the Second Sino-Japenese War on July 7, 1937, Hitler’s invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939 or the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the Allied victory in World War II took less time than the steroid policy.  (Nazi Germany + Imperial Japan > Donald Fehr and Gene Orza)

Paradise Lost: John Milton began Paradise Lost in 1658.  His epic was published in 1667.  Blind by this point, Milton dictated the entire ten-book, blank verse poem to his daughters and assistants.  This took less time than it took baseball to implement a steroid policy.

Sistene Chapel Ceiling: Between 1508 and 1512, legendary artist Michaelangelo painted over 300 figures on 12,000 square feet of ceiling in the Sistene Chapel.  One of mankind’s greatest artistic endeavors in scale and in skill, it took less than half as long as the steroid policy.

The IOC banned anabolic steroids in 1973 and the NFL did so as well in 1987.  Essentially, every other major sporting body in the world had a steroid policy in place well beforehand. MLB finally implementing a real enforcement regime in 2005 is hardly “farther than anyone ever dreamed possible.€