I downloaded and had the opportunity to read a decent portion of the Mitchell report today, which details some of baseball’s steroid activity. Basically Mitchell has been investigating since last March and produced this 400+ page report. Over 80 names are mentioned, and there’s some really interesting stuff in there. Also some unsettling stuff. My quick comments:
- Wow on Roger Clemens. The investigators went out of their way to be very detailed. If it’s true he didn’t dope, then there was an awful lot of lying going on. Clemens’ section is very damning and will tarnish his image forever. It’s really sad. The worst part is, looking back on his career path and reading this report, you can kinda see from the swings in his performance when this might have occurred.
- Very interesting section on Eric Gagne, in which a Boston scout’s assessment of him basically says he is roiding up about a year ago… and yet Boston still traded 3 prospects for him and now Milwaukee is paying him $10 mil. The evidence with the Dodger links was quite strong too with many canceled checks and shipping labels that were taken from the main witness’s home.
- Other than the Radomski and McNamee names, the rest is a big yawn honestly.
- I think the suggestion of an investigative committee is a great idea. The fact is you will always be behind the curve, people will always be evading the tests. Then people can say ‘I never failed a test’ and continue doing the next thing to evade while they juice up. It’s no different than airport screening. Yes, you may make a stop there… but it’s more effective using investigative techniques to catch the people while they’re making the bombs… in this case, you have a team to investigate and track down users, and interface with law enforcement. Maybe the most important piece of smart that comes out of the 400+ pages of the report. Also, independent testing is a must, and the investigative group needs scientists on their team as well.
- Definitely some sketchy names, that really didn’t have enough evidence to be ruined by being named. Download the report and look at Brian Roberts. He had lunch with a guy, used to live with a guy, and had a conversation with a guy where he admitted to trying them twice. The evidence on Gagne, LoDuca, Clemens, etc. is strong, but this was not even close to that. If you didn’t have a canceled check, at least some detailed testimony by the source would have been helpful before ruining a career.
I hope this is the beginning of the end of this. Baseball and the players union have to get over their bruised feelings toward each other, and get done some of these recommendations. Too important to the game not to. The eye has been blind long enough. I’m in favor of granting all players amnesty starting today, implementing the fixes suggested by the report, admitting as a sport that mistakes were made, and move on.
I doubt that is what will happen. But you can always hope!
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