Well, the George Mitchell Report has been release and so has some pretty big names in major league baseball, including one sure fire hall of famer. Some of the names may shock you, some may not, but rest assured ESPN will be talking about it from now until the World Series next year. Here are some highlights from George Mitchell's report.
Mitchell said: "For more than a decade there has been widespread anabolic steroid use" in baseball.
Response to the problem from both baseball and its players slow to develop. There is evidence the problem wasn't isolated to one club. Many players were involved. Each club has had a player involved.
Recommendations focused on three areas. The first was investigations without a failed drug test. Mitchell recommended a department of investigations, appointed by the commissioner. Secondly, he recommended improved educational programs. And third, Mitchell recommended that drug testing remains an important element to combat illegal drug use, but asks that it be an independent testing authority.
So it looks like the Orioles did the right thing player wise for a change and got rid of Miguel Tejada right before this came out, sadly it may be the last good thing their personnel department will do in the next ten years. Some of the names mention, and my responses to those names.
Miguel Tejada-He's had a dark cloud over him ever since Rafael "Period" Palmero suggested that Tejada poisoned him with steroids. No one really believed that and until I read this document and read how they came to their conclusion I won't know what to think. So I have read it, and they mention the B-12 incident (and Larry Bigbie) but the steroids portion comes in on page 250 and involving former teammate Adam Piatt.
Roger Clemens-I don't know if anyone is really shocked, seeing that Clemens looks like baseball's Hulk Hogan at his age. There is a big difference between what Nolan Ryan looked like at 40 and Roger Clemens. His story comes in at page 215 of the pdf. It appears that Clemens began using steroids once he got to Toronto, so apparently the Red Sox GM may have been right when he thought Clemens' best days were behind him.
Andy Pettitte-Apparently he began using HGH (pdf 175) after his elbow injury in 2001. Much like Roger Clemens he used the same gentleman, Brian McNamee, to help inject himself with the items. I wonder, if the reason the players have McNamee inject them with it is so they have plausible deniablity so when they say I've never injected they literally mean it.
Chuck Knoblauch-The third person in the McNamee clann, he began (as far as we know) when he joined the Yankees and started working out with McNamee, Clemens and Pettitte.
David Justice-Another Yankee linked to McNamee, he bought the stuff after the World Series in 200. My question is, why were these guys stupid and continually writing checks? He was interviewed before they found the checks, said he didn't know BUT did give them names of folks he thought, operation human shield in effect.
Mo Vaughn-The most shocking name on this list in my opinion. Hell, this morning my co-worker and I were joking about all the fat men in baseball being on this list because they mixed up steroids and a syrup IV. No worries Red Sox Nation, the evidence they have are from when he was a Met, though reading the name GlenAllen Hill was a blast from the past.
Denny Neagle-Yes, THE Denny Neagle was named in this report as well. Sadly this wasn't when he was with the Yankees, but when he was a Colorado Rockies player.
Chris Donnels-Yeah, I don't remember him either, but they have pages of dirt on this kid. Clemens was long, this kid almost went as long as Clemens.
Mike Stanton-I bring him up so the Nationals have some kind of representation on this list. Can you guess where he began using? If you said the Yankees you're at least paying attention. From the Evil Empire to the Juice Empire, well they do offices in Florida perhaps Citrus can become a sponsor.
Paul LoDuca-From a former National to the Nationals latest acquisition. He apparently was using when he was a Los Angeles Dodgers, and stopped after his comments after Ken Caminitti came out about his use. Dodgers officials believed he would go back on after they traded him.
Kevin Brown-Apparently LoDuca referred him to the supplier, but I wonder if this completely busts the notion that HGH and Steroids help you heal faster, this guys is still broken.
Eric Gagne-Perhaps it is something with New York, or teams that came from there. LoDuca, once again, facilitated Gagne getting the steroids from the Mets guy. Theo Epstein asked his scout about it, and knew what they would be getting if he was clean, and by appearances by his performance in Boston, he was.
Nook Logan-At least Logan was smart and paid by money order. His number was still in the cell of the main distributer when he was picked up, so he could still be using.
There you have it, just a small sample of what George Mitchell found. There seems to be rampant steroid and HGH usage in major league baseball, but then again are we surprised? The question has always been, does the American public really care?
