Thursday, December 13, 2007
Mitchell mania
I haven't had much of a chance to digest the news from the Mitchell report, but I did check out a PDF of the complete release on the NYT site. One very brief segment that really says it all:
By 2003, baseball officials were incorporating the steroid issue as just another tool in their player evaluations. Good arm, poor speed, hits for power, no longer on 'roids (or something like that). This will take a long time to undo, if baseball really wants to undo it.
According to the notes of an internal discussion among Los Angeles Dodgers officials in October 2003 that were referred to above, it was reportedly said of Lo Duca during the meetings:
Steroids aren’t being used anymore on him. Big part of this.
Might have some value to trade . . . Florida might have interest.
. . . Got off the steroids . . . Took away a lot of hard line drives.
. . . Can get comparable value back would consider trading. . . . If
you do trade him, will get back on the stuff and try to show you he
can have a good year. That’s his makeup. Comes to play. Last
year of contract, playing for 05.
By 2003, baseball officials were incorporating the steroid issue as just another tool in their player evaluations. Good arm, poor speed, hits for power, no longer on 'roids (or something like that). This will take a long time to undo, if baseball really wants to undo it.
# posted by Budds @ 3:44 PM 
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I skimmed through it -- there are multiple instances of the Dodgers a player based on steroid use (I believe Kevin Brown and maybe Gagne are mentioned in this way). There are also internal emails among Red Sox baseball people that speak similarly of players.
I'd also note that the list of players that is being published is nowhere near exhaustive. The majority of the list comes through interviews of two guys: Brian McNamee, who was with the Blue Jays and the Yankees, and Kirk Radomski, who was first with the Mets, and then provided juice to a whole bunch of players (many on the Dodgers).
To think that these two guys were providing anything more than a small fraction of the total steroids taken in MLB would be foolish.
To think that these two guys were providing anything more than a small fraction of the total steroids taken in MLB would be foolish.
Yeah, it's funny listening to the sports radio guys. They seem to be taking this list as the be-all and end-all of users. As far as I'm concerned this is just the tip of the iceberg.
I don't know if any of you heard Kruk commenting on it yesterday, but he was hilarious. He'd start arguing something, totally disprove it with his comments, then conclude with his original statement.
I've also never heard so many people throw around the term "hearsay" before. I'm proclaiming that the word of the day.
I don't know if any of you heard Kruk commenting on it yesterday, but he was hilarious. He'd start arguing something, totally disprove it with his comments, then conclude with his original statement.
I've also never heard so many people throw around the term "hearsay" before. I'm proclaiming that the word of the day.
By the bye, I guess we've cleared up the mystery of why they call Lo Duca "Captain Red Ass."
If guys from other teams were buying from Macnamee and Radomsky, then maybe there wasn't a dealer in every clubhouse. But there must have been more than two (or three if you count the Conte connection). If a few more key dealers had been busted, you could easily have a quarter of the league on the list o' shame.
As for Clemens -- The line (on 60 Minutes and other news outlets) always was that he was better because he worked harder. I don't doubt that he worked his ass off and did all those crazy workouts that we heard so much about. Just like I don't doubt that he took a shot in the tush to be able to do them.
If guys from other teams were buying from Macnamee and Radomsky, then maybe there wasn't a dealer in every clubhouse. But there must have been more than two (or three if you count the Conte connection). If a few more key dealers had been busted, you could easily have a quarter of the league on the list o' shame.
As for Clemens -- The line (on 60 Minutes and other news outlets) always was that he was better because he worked harder. I don't doubt that he worked his ass off and did all those crazy workouts that we heard so much about. Just like I don't doubt that he took a shot in the tush to be able to do them.
What killed me was some of the names on the list -- Randy Velarde, Wally Joyner, Todd Pratt??!! Then there were the no surprises - Clemens, Gagne, Dykstra (did they ever come up with a steroid in chewing tobacco form).
Of course, while some of these are well-sourced, others are based solely on the testimony of McNamee and Rodomski. I'm all for going after anyone who cheats the game, but in many cases, this report is closer to an accusation than proof of guilt.
By the way, did you see that the Bull Durham director is making a movie out of Game of Shadows? Who plays Bonds? (and will he need two actors, pre- and post-HGH)?
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Of course, while some of these are well-sourced, others are based solely on the testimony of McNamee and Rodomski. I'm all for going after anyone who cheats the game, but in many cases, this report is closer to an accusation than proof of guilt.
By the way, did you see that the Bull Durham director is making a movie out of Game of Shadows? Who plays Bonds? (and will he need two actors, pre- and post-HGH)?
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