The Mitchell steriods report came out last week and everyone is having a field day with the so-called "results." Over 80 current and former players have been named and half of the people mentioned are no longer playing baseball. It's being picked apart to see where the Olympic links may lead to.
Roger Clemens is especially mad as hell. There are rumors he's going to sue. The problem with the players mentioned is that over half allegedly used 'roids when there was no definitive policy in place by MLB. Former Senator Mitchell said every team had players that "had used" (his words) and that had made it sounds like every team with a current roster had users. This was a misnomer as some teams(such as the Atlanta Braves)did NOT have any players mentioned.
So...you've got a bunch of guys, half of them retired who allegedy used. Even Mr. Mitchell by his own admission said that there should be no action taken against the players that were mentioned. Then that begs the question, why mention anyone, especially when he says "this only scratches the surface" of the problem?
This sort of thing has disappointed me. I expected so much more. Solid answers to a growing problem. Instead, we got a half-hearted attempt to say "well, we ARE trying to tackle the problem, we will name names and hopefully, that will start us on the road to resolving this issue." But naming someone who's been out of the game for twenty years, enjoying his retirement on a farm in Arizona somewhere...what does that do to solve the problem?
Not much, if at all. I do think Senator Mitchell's heart was in the right place. But the modus operandi was all wrong. Sure, only one current player agreed to talk. You've got the word of some guy who claims he sold to a bunch of players while working in a team's clubhouse. The testimony of another person in addition who is coming under question.
The next time someone wants to do a hatchet job on long-gone players, let us know beforehand.
Then I won't get my hopes up when the so-called "results" come out---because it will amount to nothing but hot air, with no backbone.
Just like the people accusing Roger, years after he retired from the game.
