I scanned through the Mitchell report today and found it to be interesting. Most of the evidence seems to be hearsay and wouldn't stand up in a court of law. Nevertheless 76 players are named in the report, many of them Mariners at some point in their career. The big names in the report are Clemens, Pettite and Tejada with many other prominent players being named also like :Lenny Dykstra, Dave Justice, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Kevin Brown, Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Guillen, Paul Lo Duca, and Mo Vaughn.
Unlike some teams no major former or current Mariners were named in the report and no current roster members were named. Despite our speculation, Bret Boone wasn't in the report. That doesn't mean he did or didn't do steroids. It simply means he wasn't connected to the limited amount of sources that the Mitchell report got their names from. Personally I think that this report was a necessary step in baseball overcoming the steroid era and moving on to better times. However, the handling of the release of the report and the threshold of proof for including names in the report seems questionable. I made a full list of players but didn't want to waste space by posting it. If you really want it you can email me and I'll send it to you.
That being said here is a list of former Mariners that were named in the report:
David Segui
Josias Manzanillo (I've never heard of him either)
Glenallen Hill
Ron Villone
Ryan Franklin
Todd Williams
Fernando Vina
Jose Guillen
David Bell
Ismael Valdez
Fernando Vina
Most of these guys weren't with the team for more than a couple of years and none of them are really guys whom members of the Mariner Nation belove. The same cannot be said for the Yankees whose former trainer, Brian McNamee, was a prominent figure who linked Clemens and Pettite, among many Yankees, to steroids.
Here is the list of current and former Yankees that were named, the list is long (it contains 20 of the 76 players named) and contains many distinguished players:
Andy Pettite
Roger Clemens
Gary Sheffield
Randy Velarde
Bobby Estalella
Josias Manzanillo
Hal Morris
Rondell White
Chuck Knoblauch
Jason Grimsley
David Justice
Glenallen Hill
Denny Neagle
Ron Villone
Todd Williams
Mike Stanton
Kevin Brown
Daniel Naulty
Jose Canseco
Darren Holmes
The backlash of the naming of Clemens and Pettite has already started. While I wouldn't call the evidence against both pitchers incredibly strong, I still think it will be interesting to see fans reactions. Clemens and Pettite, unlike some other players that have been linked to steroids (Barry Bonds) are beloved and held in high regard by a lot of fans. It seems fitting to me, however, that perhaps the two best players that current baseball fans have seen grace the field have now been linked to steroids...
That other New York team, the Metropolitans, also was a prominent figure in the report. One of their former clubhouse workers, Kirk Radomski, was a prominent distributor of steroids and gave testimony to Mitchell, giving up many names. Here is a list of Mets that were named in the report:
Lenny Dykstra
David Segui
Josias Manzanillo
Todd Hundley
Mark Carreon
Matt Franco
Mo Vaughn
Chris Donnels
Todd Pratt
Mike Stanton
Paul Lo Duca
Fernando Vina
Gary Bennett, Jr.
Paul Byrd
Gary Matthews, Jr.
Scott Schoeneweis
The best thing that I think came out of this report is that it places blame for the steroids era on three main entities: MLB, the MLBPA and the press. All these groups seemingly turned a blind eye to steroids while baseball prospered from baseballs flying out of the park. This report places the blame where it belongs, directly upon the major players who had the power to induce change yet chose to ignore the truth for so long.
At the least this report is going to create a lot of talk over the next week to month. I'm really interested to see what repercussions may come about because of it. Personally, I just can't wait for this to be past us and for next season to start.
12/13/07
Mitchell Report
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9 comments:
Manzanillo was the pitcher who got hit in the crotch with a batted ball in the mid 90s. I believe he lost a testicle as a result.
Nice entry! It will indeed be interest not only to see how fans react, but to see the reactions of major league baseball, players, and coaches.
Wasn't Barry Bonds' name in there? How come he wasn't mentioned in your blog?
Either way, great post.
I personally think if this report is a failure, it is the media's fault, and the way the report was released. I disagree with the name giving, and the public release, but I'm not Mitchell or Selig.
Well yeah, Bond's name was in there but that was a given...Like I said in the post I went through the report and got all 76 names and listed them by team but didn't feel like listing them all since it would make the post really really long...So I just listed the Mariner names and the Yankees and Mets since the New York names surfacing was the bulk of the new stuff in the report...
Dustin: i agree that the names should not have been released, especially the ones with nothing behind them. Brian Roberts? The guy's reputation is ruined now because he supposedly said to Larry Bigby that he tried it once or twice.. c'mon! that's ridiculous. Roberts lived with Segui and Bigbie and so he gets fucked. Trying it once or twice shouldn't get you lumped into the same sentence as Barry Bonds or Rafael Palmeiro. No, it's not right, but sometimes you make little mistakes. It's like calling someone that smoked a little pot "once or twice" a stoner.
I was just glad not to see junior on there... Dustin knows what I'm sayin.
There was definitely a questionable threshold of evidence used for some of the players...However, I think that using names was necessary because it actually holds some players that used steroids partially accountable for their actions...This investigation will let players know that baseball is now willing to risk it's reputation to clean up the game...I think that this could act as a deterrant from players using HGH since they can essentially use it right now without much consequence since there is no test...The best thing that came out of this is Mitchell's suggestions on how to improve baseball's drug policy...If those suggestions are implemented it will go a long ways towards restoring full integrity to the game of baseball...
I'm surprised that the list was only 76 names.
QUINN: I would have hung myself.
JON: What did you think of the report? I agree with the need for the report, but not the way it was handled and released. I loved the recommendations! Selig should take the advice. I hope this crushes the steroid era.
My only con to this report was it ruined the name of Roger Clemens, arguably one of the greatest pitchers of all time. Clemens, although has been ever consistent, has shown signs of massive success late in his age. I think that it was 100% possible that he did, and I believe he did, but I just feel bad for the guy. His Cooperstown Plaque just got raped.
Roger Clemens Cooperstown plaque got raped just like Barry Bonds' did and with about the same amount of evidence...I just love how the media just about bends over backwards to defend Clemens but crucified Barry Bonds...Just goes to show how differently the media treats people who have held them in their favor in the past...
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