At long last, the Mitchell Report on steroid use in Major League Baseball finally has been released. The first paragraph of the report is as “no shit” as some of the players allegedly named:
For more than a decade there has been widespread illegal use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances by players in Major League Baseball, in violation of federal law and baseball policy.
For far too long, steroids usage has been baseball’s dirty little secret, one that got a little less secretive as names slowly leaked out. Now that the metaphorical faucet has been turned on and we have even the slightest idea of the scope of doping, perhaps we as baseball fans can finally move on. Perhaps we can finally stop suspect who’s using and who isn’t and get back to appreciating just how badly the Cubs suck the beauty of the game of baseball.
Ever since former Sen. George Mitchell began his research, I have been salivating in anticipation about which players will be named. I’m watching the news conference live, but I guess he’s not going to rattle them off.
There are names in the released report, but I haven’t seen a comprehensive list. Some news organization needs to comb the report and post the “official” list. This morning, WNBC-TV in New York posted a list of players allegedly in the report, but MLB disputed that report and the list later was removed.
UPDATE 1:55 pm: The Mitchell Report goes into lengthy and rather disgusting detail about Roger Clemens’ steroid use:
Clemens asked [strength coach Brian] McNamee to inject him with Winstrol, which Clemens supplied. McNamee knew the substance was Winstrol because the vials Clemens gave him were so labeled. McNamee injected Clemens approximately four times in the buttocks over a several-week period with needles that Clemens provided.
Gee, Roger Clemens on steroids? His is probably the biggest “no shit” name I’ve seen so far. What the hell… I’ll start combing the list myself. In the meantime, Rotoworld’s player news index lists many players fingered by McNamee or former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, both central figures in the Mitchell Report.
UPDATE 2:15 pm: Finally… someone’s posted a list of names in the Mitchell Report.
UPDATE: 2:55 pm: Hmmm… in going through the list, there are only two super-duper stars on it: Clemens and Barry Bonds, players whose steroid usage was obvious to anyone with functioning eyeballs. There also are a few I’ve had sneaking suspicions about: Kevin Brown, Eric Gagne, Troy Glaus, Andy Pettite and Miguel Tejada.
But the bulk of the list is made up of a bunch of stiffs, luminaries such as Gary Bennett, Larry Bigbie, Nook Logan, Cody McKay, Adam Piatt and others. These are marginal major-leaguers, known as Quadruple-A players. These are guys that are too good for the Triple-A minor leagues but not good enough to stick in the majors. It is these players who have the biggest incentive to take steroids, the thinking being is that if they can get an edge that they’ll stick on a big-league roster. Or as Nate Silver at Baseball Prospectus puts it:
(I)t’s the guys who are trying to become millionaires — not those who are millionaires already — who have the most reason to cheat.
So there you have it, folks. I think the release of the report has been a bit of an emotional letdown; my expectations were very high going in, and I don’t think you can automatically assume that players not on the list are clean. The fallout in the days and weeks ahead should be very interesting.