Players, owners share blame for baseball’s steroid culture
December 13th, 2007
George Mitchell’s report about steroids in baseball will be released today. A couple of attorneys familiar with the report say that it indicates that players and owners are both to blame for the ongoing problem.
I’m going to be out of pocket for much of the day today, so consider this the Mitchell Report topic. If someone would be so kind as to post a comment with a link to the story once the report has been released, I’d appreciate it. I’m sure there’s going to be much to discuss.
Let me go on record before this report comes out and say this: I will certainly be interested in the details of this report, but I am not sure if I can put any stock in what it says. The fact that steroid use was rampant in baseball is not a new revelation. From what I know of this report so far, it is much hear-say. The report is not proving anything! I do not see how this report accomplishes anything other than feeding the desire of the American people for scandal and intrigue. So I will certainly be interested in the report, but I will take everything it says with thousands of grains of salt.
I’m guessing this is accurate, though it appears to be a leak.
I couldn’t argree with you more Chad.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3153129
Clemens named early.
Wow, looks like Petitte will be named too. Thats really sad. He’s a Christian and has recently wrote a book for teens where he talks a lot about integrety. It seems celebrity Christians just let us down all the time.
ESPN also said Andy Petite is on the list…. That’s really disappointing given that he has talked a lot about his faith in Christ. I saw a list that included a name of another very prominent player who talks openly about his faith and has been lauded by a lot of evangelicals. That would be equally disappointing.
Leaked Names
Brady Anderson, Manny Alexander, Rick Ankiel, Jeff Bagwell, Bar ry Bonds, Aaron Boone, Rafaeil Bettancourt, Bret Boone, Milton B radley, David Bell, Dante Bichette, Albert Belle, Paul Byrd, Wil Cordero, Ken Caminiti, Mike Cameron, Ramon Castro, Jose and Ozz ie Canseco, Roger Clemens, Paxton Crawford, Wilson Delgado, Lenn y Dykstra, Johnny Damon, Carl Everett, Kyle Farnsoworth, Ryan Fr anklin, Troy Glaus, Rich Garces, Jason Grimsley, Troy Glaus, Jua n Gonzalez, Eric Gagne, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi, jackkindregan (9:54:45 AM) :
Jose Guillen, Jay Gibbons, Juan Gon zalez, Clay Hensley, Jerry Hairston, Felix Heredia, Jr., Darren Holmes, Wally Joyner, Darryl Kile, Matt Lawton, Raul Mondesi, Ma rk McGwire, Guillermo Mota, Robert Machado, Damian Moss, Abraham Nunez, Trot Nixon, Jose OffermanAndy Pettitte, Mark Prior, Neifi Perez, Rafael Palmiero Albert Pujols, Brian Roberts, Juan Rincon, John Rocker, Pudge Rod riguez, Sammy Sosa, Scott Schoenweiis, David Segui, Alex Sanchez , Gary Sheffield, Miguel Tejada, Julian Tavarez,Fernando Tatis, Maurice Vaughn, IJason Varitek, Ismael Valdez, Matt Williams and Kerry Wood
I apologize for injectng some humor into this, but:
Does the report include anyone from Baptist church softball leagues?
MITCHELL REPORT
http://files.mlb.com/mitchrpt.pdf
Some mentioned players:
Roger Clemens, Miguel Tejada, Andy Pettitte, Barry Bonds, Mike Stanton, Chuck Knoblauch, Jason Grimsley, Brian Roberts, David Justice, Mo Vaughn, Paul Lo Duca, Eric Gagne, Glenallen Hill, Gregg Zaun, Rondell White, Hal Morris, Todd Hundley, Larry Bigbie, Lenny Dykstra, David Segui, Matt Herges, Kevin Brown, Mike Lansing, Nook Logan, Randy Velarde
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/12/13/mitchell.news/index.html?bcnn=yes
So Rondell White was juicing and STILL managed to post the lowest BA for a DH ever?!
Very funny, Peter.
Alex, Could you please list the name of other “very prominent player who talks openly about his faith and has been lauded by a lot of evangelicals. That would be equally disappointing.” I am a M living overseas and not sure who you are referring to. Thanks!
Joe Ragan: I’m glad I didn’t mention it because, as it turns out, the player was not in the report.
Andy Petite and Paul Byrd, however, are rather vocal Christians who are in the report. Disappointing indeed.
Official list.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3153646
Anyone remember the cocaine scandal in the 80’s that culminated in trials being held in Pittsburgh?
Cocaine & steroids are both illegal. What’s the difference here? In response to the “performance-enhancing/cheating” portion of the argument, remember the game is still see the ball, hit the ball.
I don’t deny it’s possible for steroids to enhance performance, but the guys who suddenly hit 50 homers in a season might have benefitted from a juiced ball as well…..except for Brady Anderson. I still don’t understand his 50 homer season.
McGwire’s rookie season was 1987. He hit 49 homers. With a lot less bulk. Wade Boggs, the noted singles hitter, had 24 home runs. Hmmmm.
Names I was surprised not to see -
Brady Anderson
Jeff Bagwell
Bret Boone
So now that McGwire is not in this list - Is he hall worthy again?
A sad day for MLB for sure. I have to say that sadly I am not too suprised at the names that came out. I was sad to see that Petiite and Byrd were on the list.
Hey Alex, Byrd’s name has already been brought up and he was cleared b/c it was a legitmate use under a doctors care for a real medical problem.
Bill Nettles,
I always like it when you inject humor! (It must run in the family.) You are not, however, trying to get the SBC to pass a motion at this years convention are you? The CCC’s softball team might be negatively effected you know. With all the buff elders that you have there!
Scott V
How reliable are some of the sources cited in the report? Have to wonder about the credibility of some of these guys naming names. A problem surely exists, but who can really tell what the truth is. It is quite a shame if there are actually innocent guys who have had their reputation soiled. MLB should have kept this in house and got to the bottom of it, dealt with it, and then gave a report. If they would suspend anyone caught from this point on for life, it would be an end to this business, at least until they find another way to cheat. A sad day for baseball.
“Byrd’s name has already been brought up and he was cleared b/c it was a legitmate use under a doctors care for a real medical problem.”
LOL. He’s full of dung. “Receipts showed Byrd spent $24 850 on hGH prescriptions through the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center, an anti-aging clinic that was investigated for illegally distributing anabolic steroids and hGH with bogus prescriptions. PBRC vice president, Joe Raich, and Dr. Robert Carlson, a physician associated with the clinic, have both pleaded guilty to felony drug and fraud charges in the case.”
He also received shipments from a dentist.
Total garbage.
to be clear, I was speaking about Byrd and not you Paul S.
I think the funniest thing I read through all this and the website coverages was a guy in Philadelphia (a Phillies fan) that said he saw David Bell and Abraham Nunez on the list and was surprised. Not because of their character, but because even using them, they still weren’t good players. Ah gotta love those Phillie fans…