Baseball Mitchell Report on Steroid Use Released

zippyjuan · 12-13-2007, 01:51 PM

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10526271

Quote:

Clemens, Bonds, Tejada, Pettitte named in Mitchell Report
Dec. 12, 2007
CBSSports.com wire reports

NEW YORK -- Roger Clemens, Miguel Tejada and Andy Pettitte were named in the long-awaited Mitchell Report on Thursday, an All-Star roster linked to steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs that put a question mark -- if not an asterisk -- next to some of baseball's biggest moments.

Barry Bonds, already under indictment on charges of lying to a federal grand jury about steroids, also showed up in baseball's most infamous lineup since the Black Sox scandal.

The report culminated a 20-month investigation by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, hired by commissioner Bud Selig to examine the steroids era.

"Everyone involved in baseball over the past two decades -- commissioners, club officials, the players association and players -- shares to some extent the responsibility for the steroids era," Mitchell said. "There was a collective failure to recognize the problem as it emerged and to deal with it early on."

Eric Gagne, Jason Giambi, Troy Glaus, Gary Matthews Jr., Jose Guillen, Brian Roberts, Paul Lo Duca and Rick Ankiel were among other current players named in the report. Some were linked to Human Growth Hormone, others to steroids.

Clemens was singled out in nearly nine pages, with much of the information on the seven-time Cy Young Award winner coming from former New York Yankees major league strength and conditioning coach Brian McNamee. More than a dozen Yankees, past and present, were among the 75-plus players identified.

"According to McNamee, from the time that McNamee injected Clemens with Winstrol through the end of the 1998 season, Clemens' performance showed remarkable improvement," the report said. "During this period of improved performance, Clemens told McNamee that the steroids 'had a pretty good effect' on him."

McNamee also told investigators that "during the middle of the 2000 season, Clemens made it clear that he was ready to use steroids again. During the latter part of the regular season, McNamee injected Clemens in the buttocks four to six times with testosterone from a bottle labeled either Sustanon 250 or Deca-Durabolin."

Mitchell urged Selig to hold off on punishing players in the report "except in those cases where he determines that the conduct is so serious that discipline is necessary to maintain the integrity of the game."

Several stars named in the report could pay the price in Cooperstown, much the way Mark McGwire was kept out of the Hall of Fame this year merely because of steroids suspicion.

"Former commissioner Fay Vincent told me that the problem of performance-enhancing substances may be the most serious challenge that baseball has faced since the 1919 Black Sox scandal," Mitchell said in the 409-page report.

"The illegal use of anabolic steroids and similar substances, in Vincent's view, is 'cheating of the worst sort.' He believes that it is imperative for Major League Baseball to 'capture the moral high ground' on the issue and, by words and deeds, make it clear that baseball will not tolerate the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs."

Rafael Palmeiro, who tested positive for steroids, was among the former players named. So were Kevin Brown, Benito Santiago, Lenny Dykstra, Chuck Knoblauch, David Justice and Mo Vaughn.

"We identify some of the players who were caught up in this drive to gain a competitive advantage," the report said. "Other investigations will no doubt turn up more names and fill in more details, but that is unlikely to significantly alter the description of baseball's 'steroids era' as set forth in this report."

"The illegal use in baseball of these substances also victimize the majority of players who don't use them. We heard from many former players who believe it was grossly unfair that the users were gaining an advantage," Mitchell said.

Mitchell is a director of the Boston Red Sox, and some questioned whether that created a conflict.

"Judge me by my work," Mitchell said. "You will not find any evidence of bias, special treatment, for the Red Sox or anyone else. That had no effect on this investigation or this report, none whatsoever."

Giambi, under threat of discipline from Selig, was the only current player known to have cooperated with the Mitchell investigation.

"The players union was largely uncooperative for reasons that I thought were largely understandable," Mitchell said.

Prngr44 · 12-13-2007, 02:48 PM

I downloaded the report and read through it a bit. Pretty interesting stuff.

Only ~80 players named both past and present so it's not as bad as I thought it to be.

cheapie · 12-13-2007, 03:36 PM

crazy that they claim they can't test for ghb. they can. just not with urine test.

guiseppewv · 12-13-2007, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prngr44

I downloaded the report and read through it a bit. Pretty interesting stuff.

Only ~80 players named both past and present so it's not as bad as I thought it to be.

Those are only the ones that they found out were taking roids. That does not mean that was the extent of the roid usage in MLB. I would estimate that he would have been lucky to have identified 1/2 of the ones using. JMHO.

Scorpio006 · 12-13-2007, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prngr44

I downloaded the report and read through it a bit. Pretty interesting stuff.

Only ~80 players named both past and present so it's not as bad as I thought it to be.

When I watched some of the report, Mitchell said the count was about 250 past and present, from the majors down through the minors !!!!!!

johnnymk · 12-13-2007, 06:41 PM

Eh, maybe they oughta legalize it. For the guys who think their bodies can handle it, let them take the steroids. For the others who think they don't need them, that's their decision.

I know guys who play billiards who need a few drinks to play well. Others do worse with a few drinks.

Let them be. After all, the notion that playing ball is a sport was proven false decades ago.

It's entertainment!! But mostly, it's business.

ShawnLee · 12-13-2007, 07:20 PM

The issue with legalization is that it would only encourage kids who want to be ball players to put all of their bodies at risk, which would even more highly tragic considering the large numbers of individuals who won't make it into professional sports that would want to take the drugs and have their bodies ruined already.

Beyond that, there's also the basic question of sportsmanship and competition. That sports were proven false, I'll not agree with - but yes, it's a business. And for trust in that business, this needs to prosecuted fully - especially when you take it up to the international level.

EDIT: I misspelled some things, and have fixed what I noticed.
Also, ZJ, it's cool that we hit the same points at about the same times.

zippyjuan · 12-13-2007, 07:24 PM

One of the converns about legalizing it is the impact on young athletes who want to emulate their idols. Kids are trying steroids and other substances at younger and younger ages already- when developing physchs are more harmed by them. They are also not being paid lots of money in compensation for taking on the risks that using things like steroids can have on their longterm health.

Oops. Looks like ShawnLee raised some of these points.
For men:

And for the ladies (yes, some of them use them too):

Sirrich3 · 12-13-2007, 08:25 PM

Surprised there aren't more...

guiseppewv · 12-14-2007, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirrich3

Surprised there aren't more...

There are. They just have not been identified.

zippyjuan · 12-14-2007, 06:50 PM

An interesting point I heard on the radio tonight was that most of the players were older ones. Not sure if that is because they come from a different generation or just that they are trying to get their bodies to keep doing things they used to be able to do when they were younger.

VTGreg · 12-15-2007, 03:22 PM

Does anybody else not think this is as big of a story as ESPN is making it out to be? Don't get me wrong, it is news, but I don't know if it warrants a 6 hour special to cover it.

I'm also concerned about the reputations of these players. If they actually did use performance enhancing drugs then their reputations should be sullied. However, alot of these accusations are simply based on the questioning of one or two individuals.

eSDee · 12-15-2007, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VTGreg

Does anybody else not think this is as big of a story as ESPN is making it out to be? Don't get me wrong, it is news, but I don't know if it warrants a 6 hour special to cover it.

I think it's a huge deal, because the fact that Baseball is considered "America's Game" and it could change the sport forever.

Jeffbx · 12-17-2007, 07:32 AM

It should. Either clean it up by imposing HARSH penalties (I'm in favor of a lifetime ban for repeat offenders), or admit they can't control it & put it in the entertainment category along with professional wrestling.

VTGreg · 12-17-2007, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eSDeeLoco

I think it's a huge deal, because the fact that Baseball is considered "America's Game" and it could change the sport forever.

How is it going to change the sport forever? The damage has already been done and both the owners and players have taken steps to institute policies to curb this type of activity in the future. There was actually very little new information to surface as a result of the report.

zippyjuan · 12-18-2007, 11:11 AM

My initial impression is that the use may indeed be more limited as far as steroids. They are most helpful to power hitters (strength) and pitchers (particularly relievers- they help with recovery of their arms from throwing every day) and older or injured players trying to recover faster. The NFL has probably bigger numbers of users. Not excusing anybody from using them but for some people, there is a great incentive to use them- and for certain cases, they can be very helpful. I think after McGuire they tapered off.

cheapie · 12-18-2007, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VTGreg

How is it going to change the sport forever? The damage has already been done and both the owners and players have taken steps to institute policies to curb this type of activity in the future. There was actually very little new information to surface as a result of the report.

how are they going to curb the use of HGH?

VTGreg · 12-18-2007, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheapie

how are they going to curb the use of HGH?

My statement was more directed at drug testing targeted at steriods. Until a urine test for HGH is developed or the union caves on blood testing (never going to happen), MLB won't be able to test for HGH.

12-13-2007, 02:48 PM	#2
Prngr44 Rear Admiral Lower Half Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: St. Louis Posts: 2,620	I downloaded the report and read through it a bit. Pretty interesting stuff. Only ~80 players named both past and present so it's not as bad as I thought it to be. __________________ http://otthouse.blogspot.com

12-13-2007, 03:36 PM	#3
cheapie Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: raising my pimp hand strong Posts: 13,038	crazy that they claim they can't test for ghb. they can. just not with urine test. __________________ 70% of the world is covered by water. The rest is covered by Bob Sanders

12-13-2007, 07:24 PM	#8
zippyjuan Picture of the Day Guru Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Sunny San Diego Posts: 8,756	One of the converns about legalizing it is the impact on young athletes who want to emulate their idols. Kids are trying steroids and other substances at younger and younger ages already- when developing physchs are more harmed by them. They are also not being paid lots of money in compensation for taking on the risks that using things like steroids can have on their longterm health. Oops. Looks like ShawnLee raised some of these points. For men: And for the ladies (yes, some of them use them too): Last edited by zippyjuan : 12-13-2007 at 07:28 PM.

12-13-2007, 08:25 PM	#9
Sirrich3 Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: In Sunny Southern California Posts: 3,950	Surprised there aren't more... __________________

12-15-2007, 03:22 PM	#12
VTGreg Rear Admiral Lower Half Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 2,533	Does anybody else not think this is as big of a story as ESPN is making it out to be? Don't get me wrong, it is news, but I don't know if it warrants a 6 hour special to cover it. I'm also concerned about the reputations of these players. If they actually did use performance enhancing drugs then their reputations should be sullied. However, alot of these accusations are simply based on the questioning of one or two individuals. __________________ It only ends once... Anything that happens before that is just progress. Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.

12-13-2007, 06:41 PM	#6
johnnymk Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: May 2000 Location: LEVITTOWN< PA> USA Posts: 13,621	Eh, maybe they oughta legalize it. For the guys who think their bodies can handle it, let them take the steroids. For the others who think they don't need them, that's their decision. I know guys who play billiards who need a few drinks to play well. Others do worse with a few drinks. Let them be. After all, the notion that playing ball is a sport was proven false decades ago. It's entertainment!! But mostly, it's business.

12-14-2007, 06:50 PM	#11
zippyjuan Picture of the Day Guru Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Sunny San Diego Posts: 8,756	An interesting point I heard on the radio tonight was that most of the players were older ones. Not sure if that is because they come from a different generation or just that they are trying to get their bodies to keep doing things they used to be able to do when they were younger.

12-17-2007, 07:32 AM	#14
Jeffbx Fleet Admiral Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Michigan Posts: 9,390	It should. Either clean it up by imposing HARSH penalties (I'm in favor of a lifetime ban for repeat offenders), or admit they can't control it & put it in the entertainment category along with professional wrestling.

12-18-2007, 11:11 AM	#16
zippyjuan Picture of the Day Guru Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Sunny San Diego Posts: 8,756	My initial impression is that the use may indeed be more limited as far as steroids. They are most helpful to power hitters (strength) and pitchers (particularly relievers- they help with recovery of their arms from throwing every day) and older or injured players trying to recover faster. The NFL has probably bigger numbers of users. Not excusing anybody from using them but for some people, there is a great incentive to use them- and for certain cases, they can be very helpful. I think after McGuire they tapered off.

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