THE MITCHELL REPORT

The long awaited Mitchell Report was finally released on Thursday. This is the report that was supposed to "rock the baseball world" and add closure to the scandalous Steroid Era which has lasted at least two decades. For Bud Selig, it was the engine to help vindicate him from forever being branded as the leader of a tarnished Era.

MLB's revenues are at an all-time high with countless fans appearing in droves at the ballpark, the game appears to be thriving despite the black cloud that hovers above. Daily, there are images of Barry Bonds accompanied by subtitles containing the words "steroids", "BALCO", and "asterisk" among many others serving to cast a black eye on his legacy and the game itself. It is no mystery to this baseball fan, (and hopefully any others with a pulse) that this controversy ranges far further than Barry Bonds and the 80+ names listed in the Mitchell Report. To assume that this report offers any sort of closure and that the names stop here is about as wise as drafting Carl Pavano in your fantasy drafts next year.

While the initial purpose of the Mitchell Report can certainly be commended, Mitchell's inability to subpoena and/or persuade players and officials to testify made it impossible to achieve the initial goals of the report. This 400 + page document transformed an investigation of the scope and range of the steroid pandemic into an all-out witch hunt with the testimony of two disgraced drug lords serving as its "Malleus Maleficarum." In what was seemingly a last minute decision, the inclusion of names appears only to serve as justification for the immense cost of this otherwise shallow report.

Among the names listed in the report, 22 of them had worn Yankee pinstripes at one time or another. To many Yankee fans, the two most sacred names on the list were that of Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte -- perhaps Pettitte stings the most, as he is a "true Yankee" (whatever that means anymore), a home-grown product with seemingly immeasurable integrity and character. While the only "evidence" linking these two to performance enhancers is the questionable testimony of former trainer Brian McNamee, it is hard for this fan to believe allegations are truly false.

The book on Clemens is quite detailed, earmarking separate cycles including Winstrol and HGH on separate occasions. This report paints the picture of Clemens as a habitual steroid user who took advantage of the drug's recuperative effects during the latter part of the season in the late stages of his career. All that remains for Clemens, is the Hall of Fame. After he blew that final fastball past Victor Martinez in Game 3 of the ALDS, it seemed that Roger walked off the mound for the last time. The next five years will center around debate and counter debate on whether Roger is Hall worthy. To me, it will go hand in hand with the fate of Barry Bonds, who once seemed to be Roger's foil. In this fan's opinion, Roger and Barry were HOF's long before anyone can link them to PED's, and therefore, belong in the Hall. While so many have branded them as cheaters, do not forget that they played on a field with an immense number of players who were also using performance enhancers -- and they were still, by far, the best.

Andy's inclusion in the report is isolated to a 10-day visit from McNamee in which Pettitte apparently used HGH to help return from elbow tendinitis. I don't know about you, and maybe I'm just a stubborn "Yankee Mark", but I do not view this as performance enhancing. The guy used the stuff to heal (similar to the other players mentioned as HGH users, see Matt Williams and Gagne). I only wish Carl Pavano had tried the stuff, maybe I'd actually remember what the guy looked like in a baseball uniform. Anyone who read Mitchell's report -- and I'm talking the whole report, not just pages 200 on (where players are mentioned), would have seen the research he did on the drugs mentioned in the report.

Pages 57-58: "
A number of studies have shown that use of human growth hormone does not increase muscle strength in healthy subjects or well-trained athletes.31 Athletes who have tried human growth hormone as a training aid have reached the same conclusion. The author of one book targeted at steroid abusers observed that “[t]he most curious aspect of the whole situation is that I’ve never encountered any athlete using HGH to benefit from it, and all the athletes who admit to having used it will usually agree: it didn’t/doesn’t work for them.”32

HGH is an illegal substance; however, was not banned for use by MLB. This passage suggests it is NOT performance enhancing -- so why be branded as a cheater? How is this different than someone smoking a joint before a game because it helps them "harness their Zen??" (yes, it does happen, I've played with guys who do).

Pettitte's inclusion in this report does make one wonder if it all stopped here. To me, this is an acceptable question -- of course, with no answer as of yet.

In summation, I think the report was useless. The recommendations made could have been made by anyone. Hell, this could have been accomplished at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville at the winter meetings while Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein were downing Irish Carbombs. The blame is not on Mitchell, the report is as comprehensive as possible given the resources available. Several people believe Mitchell is biased due to his Red Sox ties; I do not think this is a fair assumption. The reason for the overwhelming exclusion of Boston sports stars and inclusion of so many NY players is simple -- the "sources" were either from BALCO (hence the Oakland and Baltimore players named), or directly related to Radomski and McNamee (both worked in the NY markets).

If an excess of 80 players were named solely on 3 sources of information spanning two sports markets -- perhaps the number of players involved is even larger than we imagined. More will be named, some will fess up, others will fight back. This thing isn't over -- not by a long shot

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