The Mitchell Report

Down goes the Rocket

Judgment day arrived for baseball's steroids era, with the Mitchell report set to be released and posted on the Internet for all to see.

The first name to emerge Thursday was seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens.

ESPN.com reported that Brian McNamee, a former trainer for the Yankees and Clemens, said information he gave Mitchell on supplying the pitcher with steroids is in the report. The Web site, citing an unidentified source close to the trainer, said McNamee told investigators he supplied Clemens with steroids.

Randy Hendricks, Clemens' agent, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Mitchell's report exposes a "serious drug culture within baseball, from top to bottom," fingers MVPs and All-Stars and calls for beefed-up testing by an outside agency to clean up the game, The Associated Press learned.

The report by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell will include names of 60 to 80 players linked to performance-enhancing substances and plenty more information that exposes "deep problems" afflicting the sport, one of two sources with knowledge of the findings told the AP. Both sources said the report would not address amphetamines.

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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

Thoughts?

ESPN's Bill Simmons just had an orgasm. No doubt he will devote an entire column to this revelation, unless the report also implicates Manny, Big Papi, and Schilling, in which case not a peep.

This afternoon is going to be interesting, that's for sure.

Gee. An athlete adds 20 pounds of muscle in the off season. Must be the conditioning program. Clemens on steroids, hard to imagine.

Originally Posted by Ambulance Chaser

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ESPN's Bill Simmons just had an orgasm. No doubt he will devote an entire column to this revelation, unless the report also implicates Manny, Big Papi, and Schilling, in which case not a peep.

I gather from your posts that you hate Bill Simmons and Boston sports fans in general, and there's no doubt Simmons is a homer, but I'd be very surprised if he shies away from writing about the report just because some Red Sox players are implicated. He's as critical about Boston sports teams as anyone. Actually, the only player I'd be truly stunned about if named is Schilling, just because he's been so vocal about it. Of course, hypocrisy is nothing new in sports, but Schilling generally strikes me as too smart (though a blowhard, no doubt) to dig himself in this kind of hole.

As for the report itself, while the reputations of the players who are named will no doubt be tainted, the report seems to be based largely on third party hearsay (most notably a former Mets clubhouse attendent or trainer, or whatever). As such, many are already questioning its viability. It doesn't help that George Mitchell, who I think generally is a good man, has ties to the Red Sox. Also, if all the report names is 60 to 80 players in total, doesn't this mean that the steroid issue has been overblown (or, more likely, doesn't it mean that the report is deeply flawed)?

He did name Jason Varitak I believe.

Originally Posted by JBZ

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I gather from your posts that you hate Bill Simmons and Boston sports fans in general, and there's no doubt Simmons is a homer, but I'd be very surprised if he shies away from writing about the report just because some Red Sox players are implicated. He's as critical about Boston sports teams as anyone.
I actually like Bill Simmons a lot. His Sports Guy columns and chats are the only must-read on the internet for me other than StyleForum, and his column on the death of Len Bias is the best piece on that subject I have read. I do find him a bit annoying when he goes into homer mode, but he gets a pass for being a lifelong NE resident. I just can't stand the bandwagon hoppers.

Given Simmons's transparent man crushes, I cannot imagine him ever writing something negative about Big Papi. Or Basketball Jesus, Tom Brady, or KG, for that matter.

These are the names I saw posted on the Houston Chronicle website (copy and paste). Don't put too much specualation into this, given this info came from the comments section, however I'm not surprised by some of the players listed.

gblakeb wrote:
here is the list
Manny Alexander
Rick Ankiel
Jeff Bagwell
Barry Bonds
Aarn Boone
Rafael Bettancourt
Bret Boone
Milton Bradley
David Bell
Dante Bichette
Albert Belle
Paul Byrd
Wil Cordero
Ken Caminiti
Mike Cameron
Ramon Castro
Jose Canseco
Ozzie Canseco
Roger Clemens
Paxton Crawford
Wilson Delgado
Lenny Dykstra
Johnny Damon
Carl Everett
Kyle Farnsworth
Ryan Franklin
Troy Glaus
Rich Garces
Jason Grimsley
Juan Gonzalez
Eric Gagne
Nomar Garciaparra
Jason Giambi
Jeremy Giambi
Jose Guillen
Jay Gibbons
Juan Gonzalez
Clay Hensley
Jerry Hairston
Felix Heredia, Jr.
Darren Holmes
Wally Joyner
Darryl Kile
Matt Lawton
Raul Mondesi
Mark McGwire
Guillermo Mota
Robert Machado
Damian Moss
Abraham Nunez
Trot Nixon
Jose Offerman
Andy Pettitte
Mark Prior
Neifi Perez
Rafael Palmiero
Albert Pujols
Brian Roberts
Juan Rincon
John Rocker
Pudge Rodriguez
Sammy Sosa
Scott Schoenweiis
David Segui
Alex Sanchez
Gary Sheffield
Miguel Tejada
Julian Tavarez
Fernando Tatis
Maurice Vaughn
Jason Varitek
Ismael Valdez
Matt Williams
Kerry Wood

Originally Posted by Southern-Nupe

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These are the names I saw posted on the Houston Chronicle website (copy and paste). Don't put too much specualation into this, given this info came from the comments section, however I'm not surprised by some of the players listed.

gblakeb wrote:
here is the list
Manny Alexander
Rick Ankiel
Jeff Bagwell
Barry Bonds
Aarn Boone
Rafael Bettancourt
Bret Boone
Milton Bradley
David Bell
Dante Bichette
Albert Belle
Paul Byrd
Wil Cordero
Ken Caminiti
Mike Cameron
Ramon Castro
Jose Canseco
Ozzie Canseco
Roger Clemens
Paxton Crawford
Wilson Delgado
Lenny Dykstra
Johnny Damon
Carl Everett
Kyle Farnsworth
Ryan Franklin
Troy Glaus
Rich Garces
Jason Grimsley
Juan Gonzalez
Eric Gagne
Nomar Garciaparra
Jason Giambi
Jeremy Giambi
Jose Guillen
Jay Gibbons
Juan Gonzalez
Clay Hensley
Jerry Hairston
Felix Heredia, Jr.
Darren Holmes
Wally Joyner
Darryl Kile
Matt Lawton
Raul Mondesi
Mark McGwire
Guillermo Mota
Robert Machado
Damian Moss
Abraham Nunez
Trot Nixon
Jose Offerman
Andy Pettitte
Mark Prior
Neifi Perez
Rafael Palmiero
Albert Pujols
Brian Roberts
Juan Rincon
John Rocker
Pudge Rodriguez
Sammy Sosa
Scott Schoenweiis
David Segui
Alex Sanchez
Gary Sheffield
Miguel Tejada
Julian Tavarez
Fernando Tatis
Maurice Vaughn
Jason Varitek
Ismael Valdez
Matt Williams
Kerry Wood

There are really only 5-6 big names here. Doesn't Milton Bradley make board games? And why take steroids if you are still going to just be a mediocre player?

Originally Posted by Ambulance Chaser

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I actually like Bill Simmons a lot. His Sports Guy columns and chats are the only must-read on the internet for me other than StyleForum, and his column on the death of Len Bias is the best piece on that subject I have read. I do find him a bit annoying when he goes into homer mode, but he gets a pass for being a lifelong NE resident. I just can't stand the bandwagon hoppers.

Given Simmons's transparent man crushes, I cannot imagine him ever writing something negative about Big Papi. Or Basketball Jesus, Tom Brady, or KG, for that matter.

I like Simmons too -- he's really the only sports writer I make an effort to read semi-regularly. He's obviously a homer, but it doesn't really bother me because he's very up-front in identifying his biases (often in a very funny way), and I've known him to acknowledge when one of his previously-articulated statements is proved to have been wrong.

Originally Posted by edmorel

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There are really only 5-6 big names here. Doesn't Milton Bradley make board games? And why take steroids if you are still going to just be a mediocre player?

Yes, should we assume that steriod use added 10 mph to Paul Byrd's heater?


I had heard rumors about Rick Ankiel before, which is a shame because otherwise his comeback is such a compelling story.

Originally Posted by edmorel

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There are really only 5-6 big names here. Doesn't Milton Bradley make board games? And why take steroids if you are still going to just be a mediocre player?
To keep from being a lousy player (by MLB standards). I suppose it could made the difference between a shot at "The Show" and languishing in the minors. Besides, I can see how a journeyman would expect to fly under the radar and not have anyone take notice. Harder to understand why a marquee player would take the risk.

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

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Yes, should we assume that steriod use added 10 mph to Paul Byrd's heater?
As I understand it, the primary appeal for pitchers is reduced recovery time.

Aside from the obvious(Bonds, Palmeiro, Sheffield, Sosa. Giambi, McGwire etc.), we now know about Clemens, Pujols, Pettite, Pudge Rodriguez, Tejada, Bagwell, Garciaparra, Gagne, Glaus... At least 10 potential future HOFers in there. All I have to say is: good work, (former) Sen. Mitchell.

Is that a list about steriods or HGH? I thought Mitchell was investigating both?