Alright. I read the whole summary and the section where the players implicated by Kirk Radomski are enumerated. Here is my take:
I think Sen. Mitchell should be commended for doing such an even handed job in the report. It seems clear he collected a preponderance of evidence before releasing any names, and gave all of the accused a chance to tell their side of the story...if they had one.
It also becomes clear that the players from the start have been stonewalling, and not just in the sense of trying to keep illegal activities from coming to light. The players or, maybe more accurately, the Players Association have attempted to obfuscate and wrongdoing to the point that they no longer care of the integrity of the game is at stake.
For example:
The report goes over all of the information on various drug related matters that have come out over the years, but there were still many things I had never heard before. For example, despite what I have heard and read numerous times, it turns out that MLB had banned all prescription drugs obtained without a valid prescription in 1971. So, while steroids were only banned by name in 1991, their use under the prior policy would have been against the rules of baseball as well.
The report seems to indicate that Gene Orza has been working to undermine the existing testing program by deliberating dragging out the mandated notification process for testing so that players could have the drugs cleared from their system by the time, several months later, when tests were actually adminstered. Mitchell is right that the oversight for the testing program should be removed from the control of the players and the owners and entrusted to an independent body. The incentives are too great for the players to "game" the system.
Of the players whose drug involvement was already open news in the press (Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Jeremey Giambi, Armando Rios, Gary Sheffield, Benito Santiago, Marvin Bernard, Randy Velarde and Bobby Estalella) the only thing new I learned was that Estalella was taking the female fertility drug Clomid.
I don't think I wanted to know that.
Of the new(ish) names that have come to light because of the Radomski information, a lot of them are/were marginal major leaguers. You can understand the pressure they must have felt to try to hold onto or gain a spot on the 40 man roster. It's hard to get too pissed off about those guys. The big names?? Well, its hard not to want to spit at them.
The list: (Click here for Baseball-References links to all the players mentioned in the report.)
I think Sen. Mitchell should be commended for doing such an even handed job in the report. It seems clear he collected a preponderance of evidence before releasing any names, and gave all of the accused a chance to tell their side of the story...if they had one.
It also becomes clear that the players from the start have been stonewalling, and not just in the sense of trying to keep illegal activities from coming to light. The players or, maybe more accurately, the Players Association have attempted to obfuscate and wrongdoing to the point that they no longer care of the integrity of the game is at stake.
For example:
- Of the 500 former players the Mitchell investigation attempted to interview, only 68 agreed to do so. That is 13.6%.
- The Players Association refused to supply any documentation on any matter whatsoever.
- They refused to make chief operating officer Gene Orza available to be interviewed. (Something to hide one has to presume.)
- They refused full access to the director of the current drug testing program.
- They sent memos "discouraging" players from cooperating with the investigation.
- They refused to respond to any of the specific allegations.
The report goes over all of the information on various drug related matters that have come out over the years, but there were still many things I had never heard before. For example, despite what I have heard and read numerous times, it turns out that MLB had banned all prescription drugs obtained without a valid prescription in 1971. So, while steroids were only banned by name in 1991, their use under the prior policy would have been against the rules of baseball as well.
The report seems to indicate that Gene Orza has been working to undermine the existing testing program by deliberating dragging out the mandated notification process for testing so that players could have the drugs cleared from their system by the time, several months later, when tests were actually adminstered. Mitchell is right that the oversight for the testing program should be removed from the control of the players and the owners and entrusted to an independent body. The incentives are too great for the players to "game" the system.
Of the players whose drug involvement was already open news in the press (Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Jeremey Giambi, Armando Rios, Gary Sheffield, Benito Santiago, Marvin Bernard, Randy Velarde and Bobby Estalella) the only thing new I learned was that Estalella was taking the female fertility drug Clomid.
I don't think I wanted to know that.
Of the new(ish) names that have come to light because of the Radomski information, a lot of them are/were marginal major leaguers. You can understand the pressure they must have felt to try to hold onto or gain a spot on the 40 man roster. It's hard to get too pissed off about those guys. The big names?? Well, its hard not to want to spit at them.
The list: (Click here for Baseball-References links to all the players mentioned in the report.)
- Lenny Dykstra - Long rumored, now looking like a slam dunk.
- David Segui
- Larry Bigbie - Bigbie did say that members of the Cards clubhouse could hook him up with more drugs if he wanted them. That's real encouraging.
- Brian Roberts - This hurts. I always admired Roberts' game.
- Jack Cust - So much for that "breakout" season?
- Tim Laker
- Josias Manzanillo
- Todd Hundley
- Mark Carreon
- Hal Morris
- Matt Franco
- Rondell White - No wonder he breaks down whenever anyone looks at him.
- Roger Clemons - The biggest name and the proof that the steroids investigations are not just the "man" trying to keep Barry Bonds down.
- Andy Pettite - The biggest surprise to me.
- Chuck Knoblauch - You would have thought he would have focused more on the whole "throwing from second base to first base" problem first.
- Jason Grimsley
- Gregg Zaun
- David Justice - Didn't his career seem to just pop like an over-inflated balloon?
- F.P. Santangello
- Glenallen Hill
- Mo Vaughn - Didn't his career seem to just pop like an over-inflated balloon?
- Denny Neagle - Really?
- Ron Villone
- Ryan Franklin - Oops.
- Chris Donnels
- Todd Williams
- Phil Hiatt
- Todd Pratt
- Kevin Young
- Mike Lansing
- Cody McKay - Oops again.
- Kent Mercker
- Adam Piatt
- Miguel Tejada - Enjoy Houston. Enjoy.
- Jason Christiansen
- Mike Stanton
- Stephan Randolph
- Jerry Hairston, Jr.
- Paul Lo Duca - Too bad. Such an enjoyable player to watch.
- Adam Riggs
- Bart Miadich - Never heard of him.
- Fernando Vina - Will ESPN return his calls? Or will he wind up with Harold Reynolds in Baseball Tonight purgatory?
- Kevin Brown - He should ask for a refund.
- Eric Gagne - A theme is delevoping.
- Mike Bell
- Matt Herges
- Gary Bennett, Jr. - One more and we've hit the Cardinals backup catcher trifecta.
- Jim Parque
- Brendan Donnelly
- Chad Allen
- Jeff Williams
- Howie Clark
- Exavier "Nook" Logan - Always liked Nook. Damn.
The other thing I take from this report is the obvious pressure that the Player's Association has been putting on current and former players alike to keep their mouths shut. This makes the performace of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa before Congress more understandable. Not anymore right, but more understandable. I wonder if the media that has spent so much time crucifying McGwire and Sosa will visit the same venom on all the big names in the list above? Clemons and Pettite will face a shit-storm just because they are Yankees, but there are others.
I also wonder if all the pious sportwriters who claimed they could never vote for Rafael Palmeiro for the Hall of Fame will hold the Rocket to the same standard. We will see.
This is a awful day for baseball; an awful and absolutely necessary day.
2 comments:
The Palmeiro question is spot on. It brings no end of joy to my heart to know that Clemens not only didn't get his ring until joining a loaded Yankees team but that he was juiced as well.
Too bad he wasn't pitching for the Sox in 2004...that could have helped ease the old wounds.
Post a Comment