Sammy Sosa clean as a whistle
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- December
- 13
Just did a search of The Mitchell Report and Sammy Sosa’s name appears once, to say that he refused to talk.
As far as investigators go, these guys weren’t exactly Jim Rockford.
Mentioning Sammy Sosa once in a report on steroids on baseball is like forgetting to mention the Beatles in the history of rock and roll.
Meanwhile, kudos to Brian Cashman. He didn’t get mentioned once. Joe Torre was mentioned only in passing. As far as I can see, no Yankees coach or front-office person is mentioned.
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Peter Abraham
Hey I have to hand it to Mitchell he was very through in his investigation and didn’t leave one stone unturned.
You have to hand it to Boston for running a clean program.
Winning two championships in four years, and only one player (Gagne) was tainted, and he’s no longer with the team.
Hats off to Theo, Larry Lucchino, John Henry, and Red Sox Nation for fighting the good and clean fight.
Not mentioning Nomar is like not mentioning The Stones in the history of rock.
Not mentioning Varitek is like not mentioning The Doors.
Not mentioning Trot Nixon is like not mentioning Flock of Seagulls.
got to hand it to David Ortiz I should eat more rice and beans like he said
Yup those Red Sox, such upstanding citizens. That’s a team full of Eckstein-types: all grit, guile, heart and stick-to-it-iveness. Guys like Lowell, Nixon, Varitek, Timlin, Gagne and Papi are all above reproach.
Peter Gammons told me that George Mitchell told him so.
... or without The Boss for that matter.
“Boston George” Left Him Off The List
December 13th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Not mentioning Nomar is like not mentioning The Stones in the history of rock.
Not mentioning Varitek is like not mentioning The Doors.
Not mentioning Trot Nixon is like not mentioning Flock of Seagulls.
HA!
“You have to hand it to Boston for running a clean program.”
Actually…I have to hand it to them for knowingly acquiring players that had done steroids (Gagne, Donnelly).
The only reason there are so few Sox-related players is that very few players who’ve been on their club were in the NY clubhouses when the two sources were working there.
Yeah I’m also impressed that the Red Soxs knew not to tender a contract to Donnely. They had no clue he was on the report, but had enough baseball knowledge to not tender him.
The giantic head and a s s
The meteoric spike in performance
The rash of recent injuries
Any doubt that Ortiz is on Steroids??
Good thing “Boston George” didn’t spend too much time “investigating” ORTIZ:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ortizsteroids
Yeah shows he doesn’t hold players under him to a higher standard. Good for him.
Why would Clemens buy roids and ask someone else to inject him? Why wouldn’t he do it himself.
Where is Brady Anderson in the report? He’s not mentioned once either.
Ah thre he is Jose is going to be on fox 5 shortly.
Peter,
Why are you so cynical of the report? I think it makes the issue more apparent in main stream news and fans. It is better than nothing and that was what was getting done in 2001. Did you ever write a story about steroid use before it became big news? So I guess you were also part of the problem? Maybe that is why you dislike the report so much? You had a chance to say/do something but you sat back like everyone else in MLB did. I thought Mitchell’s statements were very interesting and sent a strong message. Maybe you are mad that people you knew and maybe are/were friends with are cheaters?
I personally think it is a good start. The MLBPA would never approve more stringent testing unless they were publicly shown to be a major roadblock to more thorough testing. I find it hilarious how much MLBPA will protect cheaters. Maybe now Fehr and his boys will actually admit steroids is an issue in baseball. If the report achieves that alone, it was worth the money and effort.
The red sox are the only clean team in MLB. David Ortiz, Schilling and Manny are all angels and never even saw a needle.
Found this on the Red Sox MLB site. If you read this instead of what the dopey trolls are posting here you’d have to think the Red Sox had a pretty bad day too.
http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071213&content_id=2324810&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos
Yeah, hats off to Theo for running a clean operation and winning the “right way.” Yeah, sure.
what about mark big mac mcgwire?
Jennifer please let us know when The Gran Puba comes on
What the F@*# is steriods??? uhh duhh
Is Mota on there? Or did I miss him?
We fooled em again Poppy… hehehehehhe
Steve:
There was a testing program in place in 2003 and it was toughened up considerably in 2005. This isn’t a start of anything, it’s a rehash of the past. That’s fine, now Selig can say he attacked the problem. That’s what he wanted.
As for me being mad, why would I be mad? Nobody accused me of anything. I started covering baseballl full time in 2002. I’m not sure exactly what I was supposed to do as the beat writer of the Mets at that time. Had I learned of something, I would have written it. I didn’t. If that puts me at fault, I have a lot of company.
I dislike the report because it’s basically a Google search of stories and the testimony of two guys trying to stay out of jail. That took 20 months and $20 million?
Just curious, Steve, do you watch games on TV or in person? Then you’re at fault, too, for supporting the steroids culture. Nobody is clean here. It was a huge mess.
My point all along has been to look ahead, not behind. Make the testing tougher and find a test for HGH. Then test the hell out of the players and play the games.
I am 58 years old and pitch better than Roger and never even heard of roids…
Speaking of Red Sox players (or, more specifically, recently retired ex-Red Sox players) that should have been named in the report…Gabe Kapler. A ridiculous roid-boy. Just check out this pic: http://www.survivinggrady.com/uploaded_images/gabe-kapler-pics-008-752605.jpg
Yep, and the Red Sox were just eating their Wheaties all these years. If you’re foolish enough to believe that, there’s a bridge in Brooklyn that I’m dying to sell you…
RE-POST
The ALL STEROID TEAM – Unidentified Suspected Players
C – Piazza & Pudge & Varitek
1B- McGwire & Sexson
2B- Kent & Vidro
SS- Garciapara
3B- Pujols & Beltre & Lowell
OF- Sosa & S. Finley & S. Green
OF- Albert Belle & Guerrero & T. Nixon
OF- Brady Anderson & M. Ramirez & L. Walker
DH- D. Ortiz
SP- Schilling
SP- A. Burnett
SP- Mulder
SP- Hampton & B. Colon
SP- Chuck Finley
RP- Dotel & timlin
CL- Foulke & Mantei & Nen
“Found this on the Red Sox MLB site. If you read this instead of what the dopey trolls are posting here you’d have to think the Red Sox had a pretty bad day too.”
I saw that article too. That’s just a ploy by Red Sox officer George Mitchell to make people believe he did a fair and balanced job with his “investigation”.
Sure, site a couple of emails, name a couple 3rd tier players that are no longer on the Sox.
But, on the evening news in every city, the lead story is “Evil Yankees Players Caught Cheating”
Check out the .JPEG on my link and spread it around. I believe my “investigation” is just as valid as “Boston George’s”!
Does anyone on here really care which Yankees were named? Or think any less of them? I don’t, next year when Andy takes the mound I will get up and cheer him! I still love him, and don’t care about something he did years ago.
Jenn- Agreed!
In case no one’s posted this yet, some fella named Lester Munson on ESPN.com has a neat column summing up the legal issues involved in the Mitchell Report investigation.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?id=3153516
Jenn- Agreed!
Anti-Trust Exemption = Kowtow to Washington to protect your financial interests.
The Mitchell report is a mean spirited and politically motivated waste.
I’m still gonna cheer loud and hard for Andy.
Anyone else hear the David Justice interview tonight on Yes Yankees Hot Stove??? Thoughts?
BOSTON—The Boston Red Sox did not tender a contract to reliever Brendan Donnelly on Wednesday, hours before he was named Thursday in the Mitchell report about the illegal use of performance-enhancing substances in baseball.
The move, which makes him a free agent, was announced in an e-mail sent at 12:03 a.m. EST Thursday. The Mitchell report was released at 2 p.m.
“The club had no idea about names prior to release of this report,” Red Sox spokesman John Blake said. “We didn’t get anything until Mitchell released it at 2 o’clock. So there’s no way that anybody had any inkling that Donnelly would be mentioned in that report.”
The Red Sox tendered contracts to the 20 other unsigned players on their major league roster. The deadline for making such offers was midnight.
The Mitchell report said Kirk Radomski, a former clubhouse attendant for the New York Mets, got a call from Donnelly in 2004 seeking Anavar, an anabolic steroid. According to the report, Radomski made one sale of Deca-Durabolin for which the reliever paid $250 to $300.
The report also said personnel in Boston’s baseball operations department, while considering whether to trade for Donnelly, discussed concerns that he was using performance-enhancing substances.
The Red Sox acquired Donnelly from the Los Angeles Angels last Dec. 15. In 27 games, he was 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA. But he didn’t pitch after June 10 and had reconstruction surgery on his right elbow on Aug. 14.
Hey Guys!! I started drinking this shake every morning & my muscle size doubled and my strength seemed to put an extra 50 feet on my flyballs. I don’t know what is in those Dominican Shakes, but I’m sure glad that the Red Saux George gave me new ones that I know I can trust!
What a shame if some of these guys(aka Pettite) are innocent..
Canseco on fox 5 right now!!!
What a jerk Canseco is
Andy taking HGH before it was banned and for the specific purpose of rehabbing his elbow is no big deal in my book. However, the way his name is being so frequently spoken by those discussing the Mitchell report makes him seem like Barry Bonds. It’s unwarranted and unfair.
Actually, I was just watching BBC America’s report on all this. They called the list of names in the report a “virtual Hall of Fame” of current players, and cited Clemens, Andy P. and Tejada as support for this claim. Shows you what a Brit knows about baseball! Clemens a potential HOFer? I’ll give them that. Andy and Tejada? That’s stretching it…
Ah Duke another one who is in the Red Soxs pockets.
Jose looks like he is still on roids, book coming out in st. What a slimey astard.
Scott C:
Didn’t hear Justice. What did he say?
Boston George, I like the way you think!
Basically, he threw a few players who were on the Red Sox in the “report” to try and make it look somewhat valid. He failed miserably because anyone with half a brain knows that it just isn’t Gagne, Donnelly, and Tavarez who used ‘roids in the recent years.
Murphy he said he didn’t do hgh, was offered by that moron trainer to recover from an injury. But didn’t do them when he saw he would need to inject it. Also it was claimed that he wrote a check for it, he denied, wants to see the check.
The Mitchell Report has about as much value as a discarded Chinese take-out menu. Interesting how Mitchell,once a paid shill for Big Tobacco is expressing outrage over the use of PED’s.
I have nothing but respect for his role in implementing the Good Friday Accords in Northern Ireland and his work with the Columbia University Center for International Conflict Resolution, but I just really don’t see a point to all of this.
That was another disappointing thing about the report. As far as I can tell, they did not investigate the hotbeds of PED abuse. Well, okay, they covered the metropolis of New York. But steroids are supposedly rampant in the Dominican Republic, especially during winter ball. Just like Rasmussen the cyclist, who went “training” in Mexico, players go out of the states, do their cycle, and then let it pass out of their system by the time they return.
Yeah, Donnelly is the single player they didn’t tender a contract to, but it was just blind luck, right? PLEASE!!! When is someone going to have the cajones to explicitly call Mitchell and the Red Sox out on this in public (rather than just whispering about it)?!
I love the analogies. Rockford is one of my favorite shows, and the Beatles are my favorite band.
I guess Sosa was left out because he wasn’t part of the New York connection?
Jennifer – Save Phil Hughes! (win valuable prizes?), do you really not care about players cheating just because they’re on the Yankees? I’ve never been a Clemens fan and I’m not surprised he’s the star of the report, but I’m sure disappointed to hear about Pettitte and Justice and Stanton and the rest. It’s not going to stop me from attending 20+ games again next year, but it’s one more thing to chip away at my enjoyment of the game.
Justice was furious. Denied everything and seemed to handle himself pretty well.
I dont necessarily trust him for some reason, but he made some very good points about the credibility of the reports.
Stated he was offered HGH, and it was put in his locker, but as soon as he saw it was needles he said no way.
Said at the time he didnt know much about HGH and if it were pills he may have taken it. Claimed that he told him that it was prescirbed by Dr’s all the time and would help him heal.
Hey dave even a blind squirell finds a nut.
I can understand them not tendering Donnelly. He had elbow surbgery 4 months ago. That was a prudent move.
Murphydog:
Why the snark? Are you saying the report is bogus?
Not buying the Mitchell RS bias argument, are ya?
I really don’t care what Canseco says, but he is more believable & has more integrity than this report. I use to like George Mitchell! I was uninformed!!! I believe the first book of Canseco more than his 2nd to be.
I realize it is ok to name names of the Evil Empire (NYY) BLUE states but not of the Saux RED states!
Konerko is now on the block, how does a swap of Matsui or Damon for Konerko sound?
WHAT DID CANSECO SAY?
I’m not saying I am not disappointed. But I will still go to games, and travel to see games. This will not stop me from cheering on the Yankees. Plus it remains to be seen how accurate this report is.
Picture of Big Papi on the Twins, pre roid usage:
http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/271029.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF1934A2752006EF5F0EDCDBEE2C305FCC94D284831B75F48EF45
Picture of Big Papi on the Red Sox, post roid usage:
http://thesituationist.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/david-ortiz-complaining.jpg
There’s not much of a difference there… anyone else have any thoughts?
Ray I agree, he might have been more truthful in his first, he saw the reaction he got with it. And he may stretch the truth to get even more play.
Jennifer – I guess by “nut” you meant Donnelly? I still think the serendipity (i.e. the Sox not tendering to Donnelly right before the report was released) is highly questionable.
Greg you can watch the “entire” interview on fox5ny they said they posted it.
He said he thought they left a lot of people off the list, was asked why he was at the meeting “no comment”
Then
He said “no hable Englis”..(if that is how you spell it) What a jerk
No Sosa, Luiz Gonzalez, Brady Anderson, etc? It’s all a farce. Unless every team is represented, than I don’t much care. B/c EVERY team has users, you can be sure of that. All those names in the report came from only 2 rats. And there are many, many more of them selling to players.
Btw, good article looking back on the Yankees deal with the Reds to acquire Paul O’Neill. I miss him!
http://mlbfleecefactor.com/2007/12/13/great-moments-in-fleece-history-yankees-acquire-paul-oneill/
“Konerko is now on the block, how does a swap of Matsui or Damon for Konerko sound?”
I wouldn’t be surprised if Konerko also used the sauce at one point.
LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!!
I think I am going to start a fund to investigate the PURE SAUX BB team players. I believe there may be a real opportunity here to uncover & expose the Selig – Mitchell smear campaign. Both are spineless! I don’t think it would be too hard to uncover.
What do you think?
Not that anyone cares but takin off work to go boarding 2morrow!!!
Hunter anyone???
Okay, I found the Dave Justice interview on the YESnetwork website. Sorry, but he sounded pretty shaky about Radomski. He sounded less shaky about McNamee.
The exclusion of Manny Alexander is an absolute joke, in 2000 when a Red Sox bat boy was stopped by police while driving Alaexander’s car the police found steroids & syringes in the trunk, but somehow he isn’t mentioned, c’mon.
Yankee Hot Stove on Yes again. David Justice interview will be on again in a few..
Ray – Not a bad idea. You’d need to find some ex-Senator WITHOUT ties to the Red Sox to conduct the investigation, though!
Thanks Jennifer.
As a reporter, Pete will have his chance to mention the Mitchell/Red Sox conflict…but you can guarantee he won’t open his mouth. No reporter has the cojones to do so, but that’s expected. Pete knows that anyone who goes against the Red Sox, or tries to expose them, will lose their job immediately.
The report confirms how teams like the Red Sox can win without succumbing to temptation and breaking the rules.
They should be applauded for their integrity.
Lose their job immediately lol riiigghhhttt
Relatively pointless, I think. Matsui and Damon have less years than Konerko, and the Yankees have some low-cost first base options (okay, one, Juan Miranda) coming through their system.
I mean, Matsui has a better bat than Konerko, and worst-case scenario I see their bats being about even over the life of Matsui’s contract. On the other hand, even though Damon’s bat is slipping, he provides above-average defense in the outfield (even with a weak arm).
I suppose Konerko would add some value as someone who would give you consistent first base production, and that might provide some roster flexibility, but I just don’t see him as filling a major need. A straight-up trade just doesn’t seem to make much sense to me.
Ray:
I hear Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams are looking for an apartment in the Boston area, something with a lease for a year or so. Something about a new book with a working title of Full of Beans, the Truth Behind the Pure Red Sox.
The “report” ran by the Director of the Red Sox. That sounds great, I love it. How nobody on ESPN will mention this is amazing to me. If it was the Director of the Yankees running this “investigation,” you better believe that people would be going for Selig’s head if he allowed it.
murphy dog
Sorry to burst your bubble but Mark Fainaru-Wada works for ESPN now. There wont be any expose done on the Red Sox now. He has been indoctrinated.
Canseco the phrophet video
Red Sox will be exposed in due time.. Not to worry.
Geez will you give it a rest already, Pete. We get it, you don’t like the Mitchell report. You don’t need to devote multiple posts to bashing it, that just makes you look like a sourpuss.
Krusty – “integrity” and “without breaking the rules”...That’s hilarious. Really, I’m rolling on the floor laughing right now. 1) The guy who ran the investigation was essentially on the Sox payroll. Surely, that wouldn’t have affected the way he ran the investigation or the findings he ultimately reported, though, right? Ummm…yeah…that’s it! WRONG!!! 2) Ever heard of J.D. Drew? He used to play for the Dodgers before the Sox engaged in blatant tampering to lure him away. But the Sox are just honest fellas who eat their Wheaties every morning. Real bastions of honor and integrity. God, you are a fool.
I think Ted Kennedy is available to do the next MLB investigation but there are concerns that his bar tab alone could cost more than the Mitchell Report.
Scott C, what world are you living on? I hope that was a joke.
THIS JUST IN:
Cheney appointed to head up investigation into Haliburton scandal.
Konerko is signed for 3 more years at $12M each year. I can’t imagine Matsui going, but Damon may be worth it, plus you get some more righty power, not sure about his defense.
actually Manny Alexander was mentioned in the report
Jimmy- Not sure what post you r reffering to, but no to both…
Arrowz-
If he was then the report now has full credibility. Lol
The one where you state the Red Sox will soon be exposed.. That’ll never happen.
In Bud’s press conference, he said ”...as a fan of the Red Sox (cough) excuse me, I’m sorry…as a fan of baseball…”
Love the “Rockford File” reference, Pete.
In all actuality, I’ve seen better, more thorough investigations carried out by Duckman and Cornfed Pig.
Why would Pettitte/Clemens trust anyone to inject them? They are best of friends, they could’ve just done it themselves.
Frank Discussion – Now that was a funny post!
I dont think they will be exposed by MLB, but ya never know what will be in Canseco’s book or whatever else may come up in the next few years…
Ya never know…
Steve:
I understand your concern about the evil that is ESPN, but I think Fainaru-Wada’s integrity is beyond question.
From Wikipedia re Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams:
“On Sept 21, 2006, the journalists were sentenced to 18 months in prison for contempt of court. The two have repeatedly stated that they would go to prison before revealing their sources. The two avoided jail time, however, when attorney Troy Ellerman pleaded guilty on Feb. 14, 2007, to leaking the information, lying to prosecutors, obstructing justice and disobeying a court order not to disclose grand jury information.”
If Mark FW was willing to go to jail to protect sources, he won’t take any crap from those ex-jock, pseudo-journalists at ESPNESN and will continue to report the right way.
Thanks for the link to the Canseco video. That reporter was a retard.
Frank Discussion – Make that funny posts, plural.
Brandon-
thanks for the vid link.
So, Canseco just showed up at the press conference trying to get attention? Whoever said he looks like he’s roiding right now was spot on. His neck is the exact width of his head. Yeesh…
Obviously this wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination a comprehensive investigation. But it is still painfully clear that you haven’t read the report.
Canseco has become a professional party-crasher since he retired. He shows up everywhere he’s not wanted and tries to bribe and cajole his way in. What a tool…
I don’t think a politician can do a fair job! LOL! Maybe a Soprano can direct things. LOL!
Canseco showed up because he wanted to hear the press conference. Big deal. He started the ball rolling on this with his book. I’d want to be there too if I were him.
Who was that reporter? Was this his first assignment ever?
I’m surprised Clemens didn’t burst into the press conference and throw a bat at Mitchell.
Arrowz-
I haven’t seen Manny Alexander’s name anywhere in the report. Post a link since you have read it so thoroughly.
Why was Canseco not willing to say anything on that video, but later on he said stuff about A-Rod?
Why doesn’t he just come out and say Jeter, Posada, and Mariano used ‘roids too? If he could only throw Papi in the mix
“I mean, Matsui has a better bat than Konerko, and worst-case scenario I see their bats being about even over the life of Matsui’s contract.”
That’s just not really true. Their career numbers are pretty similar. Konerko had a dismal slump last year, but he was still solid. He’s several years younger than Matsui, righty, and a solid defender at a position where the Yanks could use some shoring up.
I’d gladly make that trade, unless there’s some health-reason that makes the Yanks think he’s actually turned into a .260 hitter.
murphydog,
I’d love to believe that, but Fainaru-Wada sits very low on the integrity pole.
He took confidential grand-jury testimony and made it public information. AND he profited from it in the form of book sales.
If that’s not selling out then I don’t know what is.
Buddy Biancalana, page 97.
You can download the report yourself from just about any where (cbs, espn, etc). The first mention of Manny Alexander is on page 49 of the report (which is actually Page 97 within the .pdf file)
I haven’t had a chance to say it yet, but, nice work Pete. Your earlier analysis of the whole thing seems spot on. You’re one of the few, if not the only I’ve heard, who really seems to get it.
You’re not grandstanding and trying to play this likes it some great sweeping remedy for the ills of the past, you’re calling it for what it is…in terms of an investigation, severely lacking. Bravo to you. You’ve really shined today.
Page 139-140 of the pdf as well
CG, but if Pete were interviewed by ESPN, I will GUARANTEE you his opinion completely changes.
They are talking about Clemens reaching a certain age and getting better, but what about Papi being pathetic when on the Twins, and then all of a sudden being the most feared hitter in baseball when coming to the Red Sox? You’ve got to be kidding!
Jimmy-
What are you talking about?
“What are you talking about?”
Are you referring to my Clemens comment?
Why would Pete change his opinion if he were interviewed by ESPN?
If so, Kruk said he wasn’t surprised Clemens was listed on the report. He said his reason was that Clemens gradually got better as he got older, and you never see that as a pitcher. I am saying, if he can say that, he should also say that you aren’t just a scrub fighting for some PT, and then come to a team and become the most feared hitter in all of baseball. (I am referring to David Ortiz).
Oh, OK. Well, just like any reporter, none of them actually have the cojones to come out and say something about it. That’s just the way it is…Pete doesn’t want to get fired, and he knows that if he dare open his mouth in a negative way towards the Sox, there goes his job…
Look at Ortiz’s stats, he was a good hitter with the Twins, I don’t what the Twins were thinking when they released him. It wasn’t all of the sudden he became a great hitter though.
Yeah, definitely agree Pete would use different words or have to edit his thoughts & I understand this venue gives a lot of freedom as well.
Ortiz became who he is overnight. He came to the Red Sox, and they showed him how to inject his own @$$ without getting caught. Ortiz just blew up and gained like 50lbs overnight, right?
Honestly, Pete probably wouldn’t even mention the way it truly is a sham since the whole “investigation” was run by the Director of the Red Sox… He’d then have a whole state after his throat.
Pete Sosa has one sentence when it comes to giving any testimony.
No hablo ingles as per his lawyer,remember the senate hearings?
whozat—Konerko’s only two years younger than Matsui. The reason why I’d make that trade if I’m the Yankees is if I think Konerko’s peak is going to continue for a few more years while Matsui experiences a sharp decline.
It’d be one thing if you’re getting Konerko for two years, but you’d be getting him for four. That doesn’t sound too appetizing for me, especially if Konerko experiences a sharp drop-off.
But personally, warning bells are going off if the White Sox are looking to move him. I mean, unless this signals that the White Sox are looking to rebuild (which isn’t a bad idea), I can’t see how unloading Konerko makes much sense (particularly if it’s straight-up for a Matsui or Damon).
So in that respect, I suppose the debate’s rather meaningless.
...and you can bash the Mitchell Report all you want (there are certainly lots of things wrong with it), but I’m not sure if I can read in Red Sox-bias. As far-fetched as it seems, there’s a better-than-even-money chance that Ortiz became the hitter he was without steroids. First, he was entering his peak years when he joined the Red Sox (and he’s still only in his early-30s), and second, his evolution as a hitter is attributed to the Red Sox fixing a hole in his swing. Personally, I can buy that. I’m not saying Ortiz isn’t on PEDs, or that there’s zero chance of it, (I don’t think I’d be more or less surprised if it turned out that Ortiz was or is on PEDs), but I don’t think he’s the sure-fire lock to be some Yankees fans hope him to be.
Yes, question whether it was a good idea for a man who has such ties to one of the organizations to lead the report: that’s certainly a valid question. But don’t try reading into the report for biases that might not actually be there. I think there are far more troubling aspects of the report (like it’s ease at publishing relatively weak allegations at players of all stripes and colors) than a supposed Red-Sox bias. Indeed, in light of the weak allegations, I’m actually glad there are so relatively-few people called out by name for using PEDs. The entire Red Sox roster could have gotten named in Mitchell’s report, but if it came with the same “evidence” the rest of the alleged users had levied against them, it wouldn’t really make a difference.
...and even if the evidence were fool-proof, let’s be honest, what purpose does it serve? What’s really more important here, the future integrity of the game of baseball-
which doesn’t hinge at all on past PED usersor outing people who may or may not have used PEDs over the last two decades? Considering we could never have a full list of players who did or did not use PEDs over the last two decades, why even bother trying to investigate that facet of the scandal? That’s my problem with the Mitchell report, at the end of the day-I just don’t see what possible use it serves, except to further poison relations between labor and management. And that’s the absolute worst thing you can be doing when trying to fix the problem.seriously when hack was the Report written??? Did Mitchell put this together overnight or somethin? Gagne was mentioned signing with the Brewers. I know he could just edit it out but it goes to show you him mentioning a couple of red sux players just for the hacking of mentioning them. What a f..ing tool.
Peter,
I am not a beat writer for a MLB team. You must have known steroids were pretty rampant in baseball although never wrote anything about it. I am a common fan, what power do I have to expose the issue???? Yes, I watch and go to games in person. I do not have nearly the clout you do to expose a serious issue in MLB. If I am at a game and see a guy use a corked bat, you really think I can make that much of a difference as opposed to you writing an major article about it?
Stories and testimonies?? I believe there is quite a bit of tangible evidence in the report. Cancelled checks, packages being delivered, multiple witnesses (Piatt) etc.
Test the hell out of players??? You think the MLBPA would allow that???? It was a miracle they have approved any kind of testing and punishment. Only after the congressional hearings did MLBPA finally cave in a little.
There is no test for HGH currently except a blood test and again, MLBPA would never have allowed that or will ever allow that.
I agree with you that the report has it flaws and was a dog and pony show but in the end it opens up a can of worms that needed to be opened publicly. More and tougher testing would never have been approved by MLBPA and would not have gotten the press this report has/will.
Maybe now with some pressure on the players they will work towards tougher and more frequent testing. If the report succeeds in doing that alone, I think it was worth the 20 million.