WASHINGTON -- He has become known for challenging baseball's mightiest players and officials about steroids, the man who memorably told superstar Roger Clemens on Wednesday: "It's hard to believe you, sir. I hate to say that. You're one of my heroes."
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings said it pains him each time he sees another baseball superstar accused of using illegal performance-enhancing drugs. That's because Cummings, 57, a Baltimore Democrat, is a devout baseball fan.
In some ways, he's still a kid - these days a heartbroken one - when it comes to the sport he played as a boy, wearing a jersey donated by a local business and using a broomstick because he couldn't afford a bat.
A 12-year congressional veteran and trial attorney before that, Cummings sounded more like a fan than a House member when he spoke Friday about his encounter with Clemens. "I was not trying to hurt Roger Clemens," Cummings said. "Never did I think my first meeting with my hero would be over something like this."
But Cummings said he understands from his experience growing up in South Baltimore how much power sports figures hold over youths, and he worries that many stars are failing as role models.
"I looked up to guys like [ballplayers] Whitey Herzog and Jim Gentile," he said. "I'm getting emotional just talking about it. If 48 years later I can still feel the emotion, then what does that say about the impact that star players have on kids?"
For those who wonder why he devotes so much time to baseball hearings, Cummings said his passion for the cause might be rooted partly in his baseball-adoring past, but the issue is really about kids and their futures.
"I take it seriously to support and defend the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic," he said, reciting from the oath administered to members at the start of each new Congress. "Well, sadly some of our players have become enemies of our kids."
He paused, took a breath, then said, "I feel as strongly about that as I do about finding bin Laden."
Drug education
Cummings recently called Orioles star Brian Roberts and recruited him to volunteer with Powered by ME, a program that educates middle school and high school students, coaches and teachers about the dangers of steroids.
"Most people think the issue is only done in professional athletics and it's not something an inner-city congressman should be concerned about," said Michael Gimbel, a Powered by ME consultant. "But what I'm finding is the kids most vulnerable are high school kids who want to use steroids to get out of the ghetto."
