December 14, 2007...11:35 pm
George Mitchell issues report on steroids in MLB
As most Americans are already aware, Senator George Mitchell released his report on steroid use in Major League Baseball this week. If you choose to read through 400 pages of investigation and legaleze, by all means be my guest — I want a full 10-page summary on my desk by tomorrow morning. If instead you are like myself and have limited time to peruse 400-page PDF files, I would advise skipping the minor details like out of place commas and players no one has ever heard of, and just concentrating on the major issues at hand, mainly the big names and those players pertaining to Detroit.
Upon its initial release, I saw Mitchell determined that 5-7% of players who played in 2003 used steroids illegally (though this figure has since disappeared from CNN’s coverage, not sure where it came from) — a statistic that is a high rate for substance abuse, though not one surprising considering that some estimations by players came near or exceeded 30%. Of course, Tigers slugger Gary Sheffield is mentioned in the report, as he was part of the original BALCO investigation. The Iron Shef maintains that he never knowingly took any illegal performance enhancing drugs. Surprisingly enough, ex-Tiger Nook Logan is in the report, possibly for purchasing HGH, which makes sense given his compact frame, though he hardly appeared to bulk up during his tenure in Detroit. Other former Tigers include Fernando Vina, Rondell White, Mark Carreon, Phil Hiatt, and Hal Morris (hat tip to Bless You Boys). Fortunately for those of us in Detroit, most of the media attention will be focused on Miguel Tejada, Roger Clemens, and, of course, Barry Bonds. Each has attended the All-Star game at least four games. Barry Bonds was indicted this past November for perjury for testimony regarding use of performance enhancing drugs to a federal grand jury in December 2003. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig is not discounting the prospect of punishing players who illegally obtained an edge, saying “Discipline of players and others identified in this report will be determined on a case-by-case basis. If warranted, those decisions will be made swiftly.”
As for the Tigers, they have released a statement that essentially states that the team is reviewing the report and is not making a statement at this time. Sheffield is the only player who might draw fire, though there is technically no official evidence. He did train with Barry Bonds several years ago, and Bonds arranged for him to use “the cream” and “the clear.” In a classic move, Sheffield claims he never came into direct contact with BALCO bigshot Victor Conte, and was never told by Bonds that the products he was given contained steroids. One would think that with any kind of drug or substance, it would be advantageous to know what you are putting into your body, but Sheffield claims to have used the products without questioning their chemical makeups. Sheffield appears to be the only individual who may come under scrutiny. The only other significant mention regarding the Tigers is an incident with unknown perpetrators (turn your PDF reader to page 159 of the file, which can be found below):
At the end of the 2004 season, a clubhouse employee was cleaning out the Detroit Tigers locker room when he found a black toiletry kit that was locked. He and another Tigers employee opened the bag and found unused syringes and vials that they determined were
anabolic steroids. They did not report the incident. The employee said that he could not remember who the bag belonged to.
Similar kits were probably found in every Major League clubhouse at one point or another, and without knowing to whom it belonged, this part serves only to show how widespread the problem truly was. It would not surprise me if Mitchell’s 5-7% range is an underestimate.
It will definitely be interesting to see how MLB acts on this newly acquired information. There is no question steroids has been a problem in baseball, and if the league wants to avoid government intervention, they will have to show even further progress in the fight against the use of illegal drugs in MLB. It is hard to say how retroactive any punishments may be — it is easy to say players in the report should be punished, but there were likely hundreds of additional players who were using similar products who were able to escape detection by Mitchell. After all, he did not have the power to subpoena — there truly was no way to force any players to cooperate. Answers to many secrets may disappear as players from the era in question begin to retire and disappear from the public radar.
Definitely check out the reading I’ve compiled below. With any lucky I will be able to catch up a little on what has happened over the past few months in the next couple of weeks. Winter break for me starts at the end of next week, though I may be swamped with school projects, shifts at work, and holiday festivities — I will try to get things back on track here, however.
The Complete Mitchell Report (PDF) [MLB.com]
The Mitchell Report, and the Tigers [Mack Avenue Tigers]
Clemens, Pettitte named in baseball steroid report [CNN]
Interactive list of players named in baseball steroid report [CNN]
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