Blogging the Mitchell Report: Part 4 ... I'm DONE.

I'm done reading the Mitchell Report. I didn't finish it and I never will, and I'm not going to post the rest of the info here. Why? Because it's all a huge waste of time.

For one, exactly what I said would happen ended up happening. ESPN ran a full list of "named names" on their ticker, with no explanations, grouping in Brian Roberts with guys like Paul Lo Duca and David Segui, which is absolutely ridiculous. Roberts is only in there because Larry Bigbie said that Roberts told him he did it. Not quite the same as having scans of signed checks or sworn testimony to federal investigators. Meanwhile, it seems Segui and Lo Duca were the "hook up" everywhere they went.

But more than anything, at some point while reading the report I stopped feeling angry or even disappointed in the players whose names I was seeing. I just felt bad for them.

At first I couldn't really figure out why, but then it hit me. Out of THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of players who played during the "steroid era," all of 62 names were listed.

What portion of one percent of the players who are or were actually juicing do you suppose that represents?

I used to really hate the thought that guys I liked and rooted for might be on performance enhancers. But if the report did anything, it was make me realize once and for all that this is not just a few players. It's not a couple guys, or a couple teams, or a couple guys on each team. And it sure as hell is not just 62 players over the last 15 to 20 years.

The biggest thing I took away from the report is that, as much as the media plays up the outrage, it's not like these guys were running around in their little steroid cliques, shooting up in dark alleys so no one would see. It was out in the open. It was joked about in the clubhouse.

If I were named in the report, I'd be the first one demanding the best testing available. I'd be screaming for the implementation of daily piss tests for everyone in the league, because there's no way I'd let people go on assuming that I'm part of some tiny portion of the baseball playing world that is so unscrupulous as to take steroids. I'd be saying, "You've got 60 names? Great. Now let's get 1,000 so you can really start to see."

I'm done being outraged about specific players. I'm done listening to other people's outrage about Mr. ABC and Mr. XYZ and how "now there's proof!" Because the names in the Mitchell Report are meaningless.

The fans will relish this opportunity to shun the players that have been named.

You'll say, "Miguel Tejada's a dirty cheater! I KNEW Roger Clemens was a jerk! Brian Roberts and his squeaky clean image are DONE FOR," and then boo them and make signs and yell "CHEATER" every time they visit your team's ballpark.

But it's stupid.

Because the names listed are nothing more than a few fish hooked in an ocean of performance enhancing drug users, and you're blind if you think there aren't at least four or five on your favorite team. Even if none of the names made it into the Report or onto ESPN's ticker. That's the real lesson from the Mitchell Report.

Blogging the Mitchell Report: Part 3 ... Including Brian Roberts and Miguel Tejada

You can get to a collection of all the posts in this series by clicking here.

Download a PDF of the full report here -- 6.5 MB, 409 pages.

I'm just now getting into the beefier part of the report, with some names you might not have heard (although you've probably read them on other sites by now). The report includes substantial evidence on these names provided by former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, including scans of signed checks from players.

Here's the list:

Lenny Dykstra:
Report page 149, PDF page 197

"After the Phillies lost the 1993 World Series, Dykstra called Radomski and asked whether Radomski could get Dykstra steroids. Although Radomski does not remember the exact time frame, he recalled providing Dykstra with Deca-Durabolin, Dianabol, and testosterone.
...
In order to provide Dykstra with information about these allegations and to give him an opportunity to respond, I asked him to meet with me; he never agreed to an interview."

David Segui again. With a scanned check.


Larry Bigbie (another former Oriole, and all incidents reported here are from his time with the O's):
Report page 152, PDF page 200:

"Radomski’s first contact with Bigbie was in 2003. Thereafter, Radomski sold a variety of performance enhancing substances to Bigbie on a number of occasions. Bigbie consistently paid by check. Because Bigbie was young and “not making that much money,” Radomski said he charged Bigbie no more than his cost for the substances.

Radomski retrieved from his banks three checks written by Bigbie.

...

Bigbie’s account of his use and interaction with Radomski was consistent with Radomski’s account."

I was fearing this one, and it's disappointing but not shocking. Also, in comparison to others listed in the Radomski section it's not too bad. There's no hard evidence, just Larry Bigbie's word, and even he wasn't very hard on B-Rob. Read on...

Brian Roberts (the first CURRENT Oriole to be named):
Report page 158, PDF page 206:

"Roberts and Larry Bigbie were both rookies in 2001. According to Bigbie, both he and Roberts lived in Segui’s house in the Baltimore area during the latter part of that season. When Bigbie and Segui used steroids in the house, Roberts did not participate.

According to Bigbie, however, in 2004 Roberts admitted to him that he had injected himself once or twice with steroids in 2003. Until this admission, Bigbie had never suspected Roberts of using steroids."

More from Radomski before I run out of time... These people are all included with pretty hard evidence in the report. I'll try to include more if I get the time later:

Jack Cust (former Oriole)
Tim Laker (former Oriole)
Josias Manzanillo
Todd Hundley
Mike Carreon
Hall Morris
Matt Franco
Rondell White
Roger Clemens
Andy Pettitte
Chuck Knoblauch
Jason Grimsley (again)
Gregg Zaun (former Oriole)
David Justice
F.P. Santangelo
Glenallen Hill
Mo Vaughn
Denny Neagle
Ron Villone
Ryan Franklin
Chris Donnels
Todd Williams (former Oriole)
Phil Hiatt
Todd Pratt
Kevin Young
Mike Lansing
Cody McKay
Kent Mercker (former Oriole)
Adam Piatt
MIGUEL TEJADA (for real this time ... with evidence)
Jason Christiansen
Mike Stanton (former National)
Stephen Randolph
Jerry Hairston Jr. (former Oriole)
Paul Lo Duca (brand new National)
Adam Riggs
Bart Miadich
Fernado Vina
Kevin Brown (former Oriole)
Eric Gagne
Mike Bell
Matt Herges
Gary Bennett Jr. (former National)
Jim Parque
Brendan Donnelly
Chad Allen
Jeff Williams
Howie Clark (former Oriole)
Nook Logan (current National)


 

Blogging the Mitchell Report: Part 2

You can get to a collection of all the posts in this series by clicking here.

Download a PDF of the full report here -- 6.5 MB, 409 pages.

What you've all been waiting for, but not as juicy as people thought it'd be...

Miguel Tejada (an Oriole until yesterday, this incident IS from when he was with the Orioles, stemming from the Palmeiro suspension): Report page 105, PDF page 153.

"Tejada told investigators that he generally brought injectable vitamin B12 with him to the United States when he returned each season from the Dominican Republic.
...
Larry Bigbie, a former Orioles player who we interviewed in our investigation, confirmed that he observed Tejada injecting himself with vitamin B12 in the clubhouse restroom. The report that four players on a major league team were self-administering an injectable substance should have been a cause of concern, even if the players said that the substance they were injecting into themselves was vitamin B12."

So not a whole lot on Tejada we didn't already know, and no clear evidence. Maybe there's more later in the report.

More real shockers...

Ken Caminiti and David Segui (another former Oriole) are in the report. They both admitted their steroid and HGH use, and the report acknowledges that.

Paxton Crawford (no-name Red Sox pitcher who made all of 15 appearances from 2000 to 2001): Report page 111, PDF page 159.

"Crawford admitted to using steroids and human growth hormone while with the Red Sox. He described an incident in which syringes he had wrapped in a towel were spilled onto the floor of the Red Sox clubhouse, which he said caused laughter among his teammates."

(Emphasis added.)

Outed of the raid of Balco:

Barry Bonds
Jason Giambi
Jeremy Giambi
Armando Rios
Garry Sheffield
Benito Santiago
Marvin Benard
Randy Velarde
Bobby Estalella:

Report page 113, PDF page 161.

"Among those baseball players brought to Balco by [Bonds trainer Greg] Anderson was Barry Bonds. Bonds has received 'the clear' and 'the cream' from Balco on a 'couple of occasions'. According to Valente, Bonds does not like how 'the clear' makes him feel.

Other players that Anderson has obtained 'the clear' and “the cream” for from Balco are Benito Santiago, Gary Sheffield, Marvin Benard, Jason Giambi and Randy Velarde. Sometime [sic] the substances are given to Anderson to give to the athletes and sometimes the athletes are given the substances directly. . . .
...
The Giambi brothers came to Balco and informed them that they had taken a steroid some time ago and wanted to see if it was still detectable in their systems. Valente recalled that the particular steroid they took can stay in a person’s system for up to 18 months. The urine that Balco collected and sent out for testing came back positive for steroids."

Those quotes are from federal investigator interviews of Balco Vice President Jim Valente. He has since denied saying what was attributed to him in the federal investigation reports.

"Anderson eventually admitted that he had supplied performance enhancing substances to Benard, Estalella, Rios, and Santiago. Anderson also stated that 'Barry Bonds never took any of the clear or the cream from Balco.' Anderson said that he provided Santiago with human growth hormone a few months before the interview and had sent that substance by FedEx 'in the past' to both Estalella and Rios. During their search of Anderson's home, agents found documentary evidence 'corroborating these admissions.'"

More to come...
 

Quick Hits: Segui bulks up, Bowden schemes, hockey (finally) ends

AN UPDATE ON THE SEGUI STORY can be found at Roch's blog on the Baltimore Sun. Segui apparently had an insulin-like growth factor of 114, which Roch said is "fine if you're 120 years old." He also noted that Segui didn't get that prescription until he was 37. He was pretty jacked before he was 37... I can't say whether he was clean or not otherwise, but his HGH use appears to be on the level.

Your early-week quick hits...

The Orioles HGH name you've been dreading: David Segui.

I don't believe it. Noooooo way. David Segui was on performance enhancing drugs? Get right outta town! Let's do a side-by-side comparison, shall we?

1st time with O's:	2nd time with O's:

Yeah... he got big.

He told ESPN it wasn't dirty, though, because he was found to have a hormone deficiency in some bloodwork and he was prescribed HGH by a doctor. Then when Jason Grimsley asked him about it he told Grim, "If you're going to do it, do it the right way."

I don't know about you, but I think it's kind of shady to tell someone who DOESN'T have a hormone deficiency to go get a prescription for it. Just how did you get that prescription, David?

Oh well. It doesn't exactly crush the baseball world that David Segui's reputation is forever tarnished.

---

Jim Bowden you dirty scheming bastard.

The Washington Times is saying that Nats GM Jim Bowden tied himself to the Lerner group long ago and that when they take over the team, he's much more likely to stick around than Frank Robinson.

Say what you want about Frank Robinson's sometimes maddening in-game management, but anyone who could get last year's Nats to .500 deserves a job. Please realize that any success the Nats have on the field is completely in spite of Jimbo drunk-driving them into the ground. (Cheap shot. Couldn't resist.)

On a funny side note, Cincinnati Reds TV broadcaster Chris Welsh said in an interview with Redleg Nation that the Reds used to make fun of Jimbo when he was their GM. " For the most part, the players saw the phoniness of Jim Bowden," he said.

Lerner Group priority list:
1) Hot dogs.
2) Fire Jimbo. FRANK.

Not good.

---

A team from North Carolina beats a team from Canada to take the Stanley Cup.

The Carolina Hurricanes hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup last night, so for the second straight season (not year), a team from the Southeast Division wins it all.

That's right, Caps fans. Here's what you have to look forward to if this trend continues:

2006-2007: Lockout year.
2007-2008: Atlanta Thrashers win Stanley Cup.
2008-2009: Lockout year.
2009-2010: Florida Panthers win Stanley Cup.
2010-2011: Lockout year.
2011-2012: Indianapolis Capitals win Stanley Cup.

So there you have it. Your wait is almost over ... kind of.

I have to admit that, as exciting as this season was, I only watched about half of the third period of game seven, and that's all I saw of the finals. Sorry. It was June 19. Hockey can have my attention until about June 1, then it's too late. It's a WINTER sport. There's no excuse for it to take nine months, and there's no excuse for the playoffs to be two-and-a-half of those. I'm not suggesting changing the format, but why do they have to take one or two days off between games? Those guys are big athletes. They can play back-to-back nights.

I guess the beards wouldn't grow as long, though.