Patterico's Pontifications

12/13/2007

The Mitchell Report exposes MLB’s “Steroids Era”

Filed under: General — DRJ @ 1:39 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Today’s release of the Mitchell Report details the widespread use of steroids in Major League Baseball and describes the past two decades as the “Steroids Era”:

“Roger Clemens, Miguel Tejada and Andy Pettitte were among 75 players 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, and Gary Sheffield also showed up in Major League Baseball’s most infamous lineup since the Black Sox scandal.

The report by former Senator Majority Leader George Mitchell, who was hired by commissioner Bud Selig to examine the Steroids Era, blamed both players and management for the problem.

“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 in summation of his 20-month investigation. “There was a collective failure to recognize the problem as it emerged and to deal with it early on.”

There were lots of big name players named in the report (a complete list is here):

“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 — in fact, there’s an All-Star at every position. Some were linked to human growth hormone, others to steroids.
***
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, Mo Vaughn and Todd Hundley.

Mike Stanton, Scott Schoeneweis, Ron Villone and Jerry Hairston Jr. were among the other current players identified.”

Mitchell’s recommendations include “that the drug-testing program be made independent, that a list of the substances players test positive for be listed periodically and that the timing of testing be more unpredictable.”

I agree with former Commissioner Faye Vincent. The use of illegal substances is “cheating of the worst sort.”

— DRJ

33 Responses to “The Mitchell Report exposes MLB’s “Steroids Era””

  1. Oooo! I want the All-Roids lineup for my fantasy league team.

    JayHub (d839b5)

  2. I’m a libertarian. I oppose (most) drug use on medical grounds and the remainder on, “I can’t be bothered to take the damn pills,” grounds.

    Christoph (92b8f7)

  3. Having skimmed the report, it struck me that they might have listed the players they didn’t think were drugged, rather than the ones they had evidence were. It might have been shorter.

    In any case, I believe that keeping the sport clean is impossible. They should probably just come to grips with that and have some sort of program where things can be controlled. For example, in the report it mentions that with steroid testing the players have mostly switched to HGH, and makes the (plausible) claim that HGH doesn’t build muscles like steroids. And in the risks of using it, some of the risks come from using bad quality HGH.

    But it’s unquestioned that HGH helps with recovery, both of just general wear and tear and certain injuries. And in the long season that has to be beneficial to the player. Because there’s no test, of course they’re going to keep doing it. They’d be far better off having a program where players could use the stuff in a controlled fashion.

    Skip (c69414)

  4. This has got to be seen in relation to increased steroid use throughout the culture — not just in baseball and other sports.

    David Ehrenstein (5f9866)

  5. And then we have this gem.

    “NYPD mulls steroid tests for cops

    BY ALISON GENDAR
    DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF

    Friday, December 7th 2007, 4:00 AM

    NYPD brass is considering joining the ranks of pro sports and giving cops random tests for anabolic steroids, sources told the Daily News.

    Performance-enhancing drugs would be added to the list of banned substances the NYPD tries to ferret out in its drug tests.

    The proposal comes after 27 NYPD officers cropped up on the client lists of a Brooklyn pharmacy and three doctors linked to a pro sports steroid ring. ”

    Cops on Roids

    TC (1cf350)

  6. And so what?

    Their records won’t be erased or noted with an asterisk, those still under contract will receive the multi-million dollar balances of their paychecks, and the fans of whatever team they are on will still cheer for them, just as SFG fans last year cheered their hearts out for Barry Bonds (as would have, had he not gone to jail, Atlanta Falcon fans for Michael Vick). The owners won’t bench or release a single one of these players and will consider this a little (and passing) bit of bad publicity, a small price to pay for the revenue they took in from fans cheering on the likes of McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, Clemens and so on, just as the sportswriters and commentators, for all of their hand-wringing now, know that their own paychecks kept coming in no small part due to their fawning over the very players named today.

    Except for their violating the law and being lousy role models, I don’t care if they took steroids. If they want to screw up their bodies for money, that’s their choice. What I hate is the pretense that organized sports (all of them, and so-called amateur as well as the professional) care anything about the ‘purity’ of the game. All they care about is convincing people to spend their money coming to and watching games. The only reason baseball did even this much is because they thought they were at risk of losing their anti-trust exemption if they didn’t show Congress they were sufficiently concerned (anybody want to guess why George Mitchell was chosen?). And the fans don’t care about the purity of it all either, all they want is a winning team that somehow, for some inexplicable reason, makes them feel better about themselves because the players wearing the local laundry won a trophy (think Arkansas fans are upset because their new coach is a jerk who jumped ship in Atlanta with 3 games left in the season or that New England fans care that their coach violated NFL rules and was fined $500,000?).

    Sure, there may a kid somewhere crying ‘say it ain’t so, So….sa’… but not many.

    stevesturm (d3e296)

  7. I have never had a problem with roids. People have been gaming the system in baseball as far back as one can look. Gambling, cheating, sharpening spikes, corked bats, spitballs, vaseline, emery boards, sand paper, etc … Who cares if a roided up hitter is facing a roided up pitcher? The number of pitchers was no surprise to me, but is generally less reported in the media, as they have focused almost exclusively on Bonds to this point. Roids would actually help pitchers more than hitters.

    JD (d660a2)

  8. How about ambitious Federali going after these guys for illegal use of controlled substances? I could just see the union telling a Judge that the CBA protects players from the provisions of federal law.

    great unknown (c36902)

  9. #6 > those still under contract will receive the multi-million dollar balances of their paychecks

    A problem for the teams is that players like Gagne who got big contracts because of chemically enhanced performance are now playing without being able to use those chemicals and can’t perform at the level they’re being paid. I’m not crying for the team, just pointing out how the corruption impacts many things.

    Arthur (61bf6e)

  10. great unknown – I think that the evidence used for this report and the evidence needed for trial would not necessarily be of the same standard. I also do not know that the statute of limitations would not have expired on many of these.

    In addition to my not really having much concern of the use of these substances, the idea that baseball might try to penalize some players now for what they did, which was legal under the rules of baseball back then, is preposterous.

    JD (d660a2)

  11. Heh. Except for Chuck Knoblauch and Denny Neagle, who involved themselves after they left for other teams, there are no Minnesota Twins listed.

    Hardly surprising, when you consider this: from the start of the 1998 season to late in the 2007 season, no Twin hit 30 home runs in an era when hitting 50 became blase.

    Paul (2ca51d)

  12. unknown — illegal possession/use of a controlled sustance is only a misdemeanor under federal law. Only manufacturing or trafficking is a felony.

    Don’t believe it when you’re told that all those poor non-violent offenders behind bars in drug cases are there merely for use or possession. It ain’t true.

    WLS (dfa1f1)

  13. I’ve always thought Brady Anderson was the “Canary in the Coal Mine.” The guy is a skinny lead-off hitter who had never hit for power in his entire career, yet jacked out 50 in 1996. What’s wrong with this picture:

    21
    13
    12
    16
    50
    18
    18
    24
    19

    And it wasn’t the product of more ABs or more hits. He had 172 hits in 1996 and 170 hits in 1997. Yet in 1996, 1 out of every 3.44 hits was a HR, yet in 1997, 1 out of every 9.44 hits was a HR.

    Jim Palmer called him out for having used steroids, but was made to apologize the next day.

    You could put Lenny Dykstra in the same category.

    WLS (dfa1f1)

  14. I guess I should have noted that those are his HR totals between 1992 and 2001.

    WLS (dfa1f1)

  15. What I found most interesting about this report, outside of the obvious stars implicated, was the number of average to below average pitchers, utility players, and 3-rd string catchers implicated. Especially the pitchers.

    JD (d660a2)

  16. JD — juice was the way guys with marginal talent were able to stay in the league a couple extra years. It meant big money to them — compared to what their job prospects outside baseball offered.

    WLS (dfa1f1)

  17. that would be fay vincent.

    bonds’ 73 homers in a season will seem out of reach to post-steroids sluggers if it’s allowed to stand, unless a ballplayer shows up with superpowers.

    assistant devil's advocant (2ec06a)

  18. Roids are not the real subject matter here.

    Roids are used everyday in almost every clinic you can even know exists. They are helpful to many people every day just to get by and past some health challenges. Even professional athletes!

    Roids have only been illegal and controlled for a very short time! So many of your heroes are sitin fine with whatever they accomplished with or without them. I remember way back in HS some of the kids taking some things that led to bulking up a bit. Nothing illegal I’m sure, all marketed openly. Dietary supplements. We have many such things on store shelves today. Rull of all kinds of things, roids as well?, I don’t know, but the potential is there.

    But I’m still way more concerned about our police force using them than any sports participant at any level! In fact MUCH more concerned about it!!! Oh and if the cops are doing it, the firemen are doing so as well. Must be a club thing. Eh?

    TC (1cf350)

  19. Interesting point about the cops. Could some of the (hopefully isolated – right, Patterico) police misbehavior trumpeted lately be the result of …Roid Rage?

    great unknown (c36902)

  20. I as a young player of baseball it is disappointing to hear steroids in the games play. but Roger Clemens i can’t agree. the rocket to me is some one true and not a lier. his game play is something I Would like to play as i can’t see him doing this.

    Tanner Andrade

    tanner (2fd68f)

  21. What is the comment 18 talking about he must not be a fireman or police man and not have a real job.

    Tanner Andrade

    tanner (2fd68f)

  22. Tanner, do they teach english composition at your school?

    Minturn (2a8465)

  23. It’s a baseball-player thing, Minturn. I played soccer at my (public) high school, and, as you can see, I have impeccable composition.

    Leviticus (5097a7)

  24. Was a jock in H.S. and college from 1968 to 1976.
    ‘Roids were being used in B-ball, F-ball and Baseball back then. Am guessing they were being used before that, too.
    Only thing thats changed is the dosage and the frequency.

    KobeClan (15782c)

  25. Pablo would say: Is the reputation of Roger Clemens ruined by an injection in the butt that took only 35 seconds?

    Oh, wait, that’s the waterboarding torture thread. My bad!

    As far as I’m concerned, MLB can cancel the last few seasons’ records.

    Andrew J. Lazarus (cb063f)

  26. Support your AA or A league teams screw the “Show”! Baseball in the farm leagues is purer and more enjoyable to watch.
    Overpaid, molly-coddled performers (and the cloying fealty we pay them with our adoration.)bespeaks the worst of modern society.
    All the druggies, gambling freaks and affectation laden showboats should be fired and replaced with guys who just want to play the game.
    well I can dream can’t I?
    yeeeesh.

    paul from fl (47918a)

  27. This is old news. I’ve lost interest in professional sports anyway. For the most part they’re overpaid oafs who have enough cash to be REALLY stupid about a lot of things(e.g., Michael Vick). Curiously, the Cubs had the most druggies in Chicago and it didn’t help them win anything. The White Sox druggies had no effect on their winning the World Series in 2005 and the subsequent collapse this year. It’s not obvious that any of this actually gives any one team an advantage over another.

    Tom Marciniak (277d9d)

  28. This is a witch hunt. Why is the government involved in sports anyways? the guys that are complaining about the aas usage in sports are the ones that were too weak to play themselves…..the non-athletes…..i think Mitchell needs a shot of trenbolone…..a strong one at that…..

    jason jones (617ef7)

  29. Of most sports,baseball would be one of the last sports were performance inhancing drugs would be all that important.It basically a kids game played by well paid adults who will do whatever it takes to hold on to their job.Compare sliding into second base to get knocked down by a 300 lb lineman.You are looking at the wrong sport if you want to see drug usage.But who relly cares!

    Sport (aa8d11)

  30. I would estimate this report reveals less than 10% of the players using in the last 10 years or so. The Mitchell report doesn’t even include the laundry list of players on file at the (now re-named) Palm Beach Rejuvenation center. Funny thing about that place is that it was only shuttered for about a week after the raid and then they changed their named and started right back up shipping anabolics and HGH complete with prescriptions. These prescriptions are whipped up easily provided a perfunctory, remote physical and quick blood work. Apparently, since the drugs come with the (however dubious) prescriptions, those users have not broken any laws. That is why it is incorrect for some of the press and legislators to use the blanket statement “illegal drug use”. In fact, in many cases the use, however ill-advised, is entirely legal.

    The other alarmingly naive and presumptuous statement made by Mitchell is that this is somehow the end of an era or that there are less offenders of late, than there were a few years ago. There will be undetectable forms of juice and HGH for a long time to come and until there is a lifelong ban for first offenders, use and abuse will remain rampant. Sorry to all the purists, those days are gone forever.

    JayP (aed98e)

  31. The report poses a problem for Selig, the media, etc. When it was just Bonds, it was convenient… the steroids issue gave people an excuse to discredit a black man who threatened to become the greatest hitter in history. But now, the list includes one of white america’s beloved players, Clemens. For the sake of fairness, before anyone targets Bonds, do set an example of Clemens (e.g., banning him from the hall of fame). Otherwise, it is all racist talk.

    Martin (b69035)

  32. Does anybody know why Mitchell was chosen to do this report? I have searched everywhere and I have no answers. Please help me!

    dancerbabe234 (373442)

  33. Does anybody know why Mitchell was chosen to do this report? I have searched everywhere and I have no answers. Please help me!

    dancerbabe234 (373442)


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