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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, December 14, 2007

Clemens in Mitchell Report

 •  Selig says he might discipline players
StoryChat: Comment on this story

By Ronald Blum and Ben Walker
Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Roger Clemens

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Despite criticism of the players' union being "largely uncooperative," Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Donald Fehr made "no apologies" for the way the players were represented.

GARY HE | Associated Press

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell

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MITCHELL REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

Summation of Mitchell Report's recommendations:

  • Higher priority should be placed on investigating non-testing evidence.

  • A department of investigations should be established, led by a senior executive who operates independently but reports directly to the president of Major League Baseball.

  • MLB should more effectively cooperate with law enforcement agencies.

  • MLB should use the clubs' powers as employers to investigate violations.

  • Teams should have clear policies relating to substance violations.

  • There should be logging of packages sent to players at ballpark.

  • MLB should improve its educational program on the risks of using performance-enhancing substances.

  • MLB's drug-testing program should be regularly updated in cooperation with the league and the players' association.

  • The program should be independent of the league, teams and players' union.

  • Transparency of the program should be achieved by outside audits and the publishing of periodic aggregate reports.

  • The testing program should be year-round and unannounced.

  • The program should be able to employ the best testing practices as they are developed.

  • Teams should perform background checks on prospective clubhouse personnel and random drug testing after they are hired.

  • Establish hot-line or ethics committee for reporting anonymous tips.

  • Top 100 prospects should be tested before June's annual draft.

  • The commissioner should not discipline players for past violations except in those cases where it is determined "the conduct is so serious that discipline is necessary to maintain the integrity of the game."

    Los Angeles Times

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    NEW YORK — Seven MVPs and 31 All-Stars — one for every position — and that still wasn't the worst of it for the long-awaited Mitchell Report.

    That infamy belonged to Roger Clemens, the greatest pitcher of his era.

    The Steroids Era.

    Seven-time Cy Young Award winner, eighth on the all-time list with 354 victories, an MVP and All-Star himself and once a lock for the Hall of Fame, Clemens now has another distinction: the biggest name linked by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to illegal use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.

    In all, yesterday's 409-page report identified 90 names to differing degrees, but, while he vehemently denied it through his lawyer, Clemens was the symbol.

    Barry Bonds, already under indictment on charges of lying to a federal grand jury about steroids, Miguel Tejada and Andy Pettitte also showed up in the game's most infamous lineup since the Black Sox scandal.

    "If there are problems, I wanted them revealed," commissioner Bud Selig said. "His report is a call to action, and I will act."

    Doping was widespread by stars as well as scrubs, the report said, putting a question mark if not an asterisk next to baseball records and threatening the integrity of the game itself.

    Eric Gagne, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Troy Glaus, Gary Matthews Jr., Paul Byrd, Jose Guillen, Brian Roberts, Paul Lo Duca and Rick Ankiel were among other current players in the report. Some were linked to Human Growth Hormone, others to steroids. Mitchell did not delve into stimulants.

    "Those who have illegally used these substances range from players whose major league careers were brief to potential members of the Baseball of Hall of Fame," Mitchell wrote. "They include both pitchers and position players, and their backgrounds are as diverse as those of all major league players."

    No one was hit harder than Clemens, singled out in nearly nine pages, 82 references by name. Much of the information on him came from former New York Yankees major league strength and conditioning coach Brian McNamee.

    At 45, Clemens has not said whether he hopes to pitch next season.

    The report was unlikely to trigger a wave of discipline. While a few players, such as Bonds, are subjects of ongoing legal proceedings, many of the instances cited by Mitchell were before drug testing began in 2003.

    Mitchell said punishment was inappropriate in all but the most egregious cases, and Selig said decisions on any action would come "swiftly" on a case-by-case basis.

    "We have approached these cases by looking at the period of time during which the conduct occurred and what our policy looked like for that point in time," said Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president for labor relations.

    Mitchell said the problems didn't develop overnight and there was plenty of blame to go around.

    "Everyone involved in baseball over the past two decades — commissioners, club officials, the players' association and players — shares to some extent the responsibility for the Steroids Era," Mitchell said. "There was a collective failure to recognize the problem as it emerged and to deal with it early on."

    Mitchell recommended that the drug-testing program be made independent, that a list of the substances players test positive for be listed periodically and that the timing of testing be more unpredictable.

    "The illegal use of performance-enhancing substances poses a serious threat to the integrity of the game," the report said. "Widespread use by players of such substances unfairly disadvantages the honest athletes who refuse to use them and raises questions about the validity of baseball records."

    Jose Canseco, whose book "Juiced" was cited throughout, was mentioned the most often — 105 times. Bonds was next at 103.

    Players were linked to doping in various ways — some were identified as users, some as buyers and some by media reports and other investigations.

    "According to McNamee, from the time that McNamee injected Clemens with Winstrol through the end of the 1998 season, Clemens' performance showed remarkable improvement," the report said. "During this period of improved performance, Clemens told McNamee that the steroids 'had a pretty good effect' on him."

    McNamee also told investigators that "during the middle of the 2000 season, Clemens made it clear that he was ready to use steroids again. During the latter part of the regular season, McNamee injected Clemens in the buttocks four to six times with testosterone from a bottle labeled either Sustanon 250 or Deca-Durabolin."

    Clemens' lawyer, Rusty Hardin, responded: "It is very unfair to include Roger's name in this report. He is left with no meaningful way to combat what he strongly contends are totally false allegations. He has not been charged with anything, he will not be charged with anything and yet he is being tried in the court of public opinion with no recourse.

    "There has never been one shred of tangible evidence that he ever used these substances and yet he is being slandered today," said Hardin, who called McNamee a "troubled man."

    Rafael Palmeiro, who tested positive for steroids, was among the former players named. So were Kevin Brown, Benito Santiago, Lenny Dykstra, Chuck Knoblauch, David Justice, Mo Vaughn, Wally Joyner and Todd Hundley.

    One player mentioned but not expressly accused was Mark McGwire. His use of Androstenedione during his 1998 home run race with Sammy Sosa set off baseball's first concerns about steroids.

    Testifying before Congress in 2005, McGwire refused to talk about his past, and refused as well to cooperate with Mitchell. The report recounts all that without making any accusations.

    Sosa, who testified with McGwire and denied knowingly using steroids, also was spared by Mitchell.

    The report took issue with assertions that steroids were not banned before the 2002 collective bargaining agreement.

    They had been covered, it said, since management's 1971 drug policy prohibited using any prescription medication without a valid prescription, and were expressly included in commissioner Fay Vincent's 1991 drug policy.

    "Steroids have been listed as a prohibited substance under the Major League Baseball drug policy since then," the report said, although no player was disciplined for them until the 2002 labor agreement provided for testing.

    Giambi, under threat of discipline from Selig, and Frank Thomas were the only current players known to have cooperated with the Mitchell investigation.

    "The players' union was largely uncooperative for reasons that I thought were largely understandable," Mitchell said.

    Union head Donald Fehr made "no apologies" for the way they represented players.

    "Many players are named. Their reputations have been adversely affected, probably forever," he said. "Even if it turns out down the road that they should not have been."

    • • •

    90 PLAYERS NAMED

    An alphabetical list of the 90 players named in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in major league baseball:

    Manny Alexander
    Chad Allen
    Rick Ankiel
    David Bell
    Mike Bell
    Marvin Benard
    Gary Bennett Jr.
    Larry Bigbie
    Barry Bonds
    Ricky Bones
    Kevin Brown
    Paul Byrd
    Alex Cabrera
    Ken Caminiti
    Jose Canseco
    Mark Carreon
    Jason Christiansen
    Howie Clark
    Roger Clemens
    Paxton Crawford
    Jack Cust
    Brendan Donnelly
    Chris Donnels
    Lenny Dykstra
    Bobby Estalella
    Matt Franco
    Ryan Franklin
    Eric Gagne
    Jason Giambi
    Jeremy Giambi
    Jay Gibbons
    Troy Glaus
    Juan Gonzalez
    Jason Grimsley
    Jose Guillen
    Jerry Hairston Jr.
    Matt Herges
    Phil Hiatt
    Glenallen Hill
    Darren Holmes
    Todd Hundley
    Ryan Jorgensen
    Wally Joyner
    Mike Judd
    David Justice
    Chuck Knoblauch
    Tim Laker
    Mike Lansing
    Paul Lo Duca
    Nook Logan
    Josias Manzanillo
    Gary Matthews Jr.
    Mark McGwire
    Cody McKay
    Kent Mercker
    Bart Miadich
    Hal Morris
    Dan Naulty
    Denny Neagle
    Rafael Palmeiro
    Jim Parque
    Andy Pettitte
    Adam Piatt
    Todd Pratt
    Stephen Randolph
    Adam Riggs
    Armando Rios
    Brian Roberts
    John Rocker
    F.P. Santangelo
    Benito Santiago
    Scott Schoeneweis
    David Segui
    Gary Sheffield
    Mike Stanton
    Ricky Stone
    Miguel Tejada
    Derrick Turnbow
    Ismael Valdez
    Mo Vaughn
    Randy Velarde
    Ron Villone
    Fernando Vina
    Rondell White
    Jeff Williams
    Matt Williams
    Todd Williams
    Steve Woodard
    Kevin Young
    Gregg Zaun

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