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| MLB: Former senator George Mitchell calls on a reporter during a New York news conference on Thursday, about his report on
the illegal use of steroids in baseball. Richard Drew/AP |
Mitchell report could spark move to rid baseball of steroids
Use of performance-enhancing drugs ensnared not just All-Stars like Bonds and Clemens but also fringe players trying to hang on.
from the December 14, 2007 edition
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"The program is almost as if it were designed not to catch the folks that are doing this," says Dick Pound, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency in Montreal.
One of Mr. Pound's principal objections is that baseball's off-season drug tests are so few and far between that for all practical purposes the winter is free play for drug cheats.
Yet the physical improvement wrought by steroids can persist for up to four or five years, after the detectable residue of the drug itself has left the system, he says. For that reason, any player who resorted to them during the season, when testing is more random and widespread, is "an idiot," says Pound.
"If you get caught during the season, you've actually failed two tests – the dope test and an IQ test," he says.
Indeed, Mitchell underscored the need for adequate year-round, unannounced testing. But he also emphasized the importance of investigations based on evidence other than positive tests – phone records, receipts, and testimony from witnesses, for example.
Mitchell called for baseball's antidoping efforts to be administered by "a truly independent person who holds exclusive authority."
Little progress can be made so long as a sport is both promoting and policing itself, says Travis Tygart, head of the US Anti-Doping Agency, which tests US athletes who compete in the Olympics and other international venues. "Our experience has been – and this is a lesson the Olympics learned almost 10 years ago – you can't do both."
In some ways, it is understandable that athletes are tempted to cheat, given the money involved. A mediocre major league starting pitcher is worth upwards of $8 million a year. By contrast, a starter at AAA, the top level of the minor leagues, might earn $80,000.
And a player who falls out of baseball altogether? What's the minimum wage?
"Baseball should recognize that, at least in the past, people have been taking any advantage they could," says Geoffrey Rapp, a sports-law expert at the University of Toledo College of Law.
Professional cycling is currently in chaos, Professor Rapp points out, because of revelations of drug use. Corporations are dropping team sponsorships, television coverage is down, and dozens of riders have been slapped with fines and suspensions.
Cycling now has tough testing. Yet riders keep getting caught. The cash difference between finishing first and finishing third may be just too great.
"One of the big lessons of cycling is that cheating is far more pervasive than you want to acknowledge," says Rapp.
Meanwhile, as to punishing past offenders, baseball might do well to simply let bygones go by, said Mitchell. He urged that the major leagues forgo discipline in all but the most egregious cases.
"There was a collective failure to recognize the problem as it emerged and to deal with it early on," said Mitchell.
Adds Mr. Tygart: "On some level, while none of these players should be able to look their young fans in the eyes again, it's the establishment that has allowed this to occur that must be changed."
Baseball players named in Mitchell report
Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell's investigation into steroids
use in Major League Baseball released Thursday implicated several dozen
current and former players for using performance-enhancing drugs.
Among the big-name players implicated were:
Roger Clemens, 45, New York Yankees pitcher. Regarded as one of the
greatest pitchers ever. A seven-time winner of the Cy Young Award given to
the league's best pitcher, who has also been named a Most Valuable Player,
Clemens may retire after pitching for the New York Yankees in 2007.
Andy Pettitte, 35, Yankees pitcher and close friend of Clemens. They
shared a personal trainer who admitted in the report with supplying them
with performance-enhancing drugs.
Miguel Tejada, 31, Houston Astros shortstop. Formerly with the Baltimore
Orioles, where several current and former players were also named, including
Rafael Palmeiro, David Segui, Brian Roberts and Larry Bigbie.
Eric Gagne, 31, Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher. Winner of the 2003
National League Cy Young award, he holds the all-time record for 84
consecutive saves.
Barry Bonds, 43, San Francisco Giants outfielder. Major League Baseball¹s
all-time homerun leader, Bonds was indicted in November and charged with
perjury and obstruction of justice for lying about use of anabolic steroids
and other performance-enhancing substances during his testimony before a
federal grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative. Bonds
has pleaded not guilty.
Jason Giambi, 36, Yankees first baseman and a former Most Valuable Player.
Giambi admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs in an interview in May.
The 13-year veteran then discussed his drug use with Mitchell and
Commissioner Bud Selig let Giambi off the hook because of his cooperation.
Gary Sheffield, 39, Detroit Tigers outfielder. Sheffield had admitted
using steroids, but claimed he thought they were vitamins. Mitchell
submitted a series of questions to Sheffield but they went unanswered by the
time the report was issued.
Mark McGwire, retired, first baseman. A prolific slugger with the Oakland
Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, McGwire at one time held the single
season homerun record when he hit 70 in 1998. That mark was later eclipsed
by Bonds, who thumped 73 homers in 2001.
Jose Canseco, retired, outfielder/designated hitter. A slugger with the
Oakland Athletics and former teammate of McGwire, Canseco, admitted steroid
use in his 2005 book "Juiced."
Kevin Brown, retired, pitcher. A six-time All Star with the Los Angeles
Dodgers, he went to the World Series with the San Diego Padres and Florida
Marlins. Also played with the Texas Rangers and the Yankees.
David Justice, retired, outfielder. Three-time All-Star with the Cleveland
Indians, Atlanta Braves and the Yankees.
Chuck Knoblauch, retired, second baseman, a Minnesota Twins 1991 Rookie of
the Year. Also played with the Yankees and Kansas City Royals.
Mo Vaughn, retired, first baseman. 1995 American League MVP and three-time
All-Star with the Boston Red Sox, California Angels and New York Mets.
–Compiled by Gary Crosse, editing by Patricia Zengerle, Reuters
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