Mitchell Report Press conference at 2; Clemens to be named

[stringer bell 32]

I feel a huge let-down looming

 

[senatorjeffsmith]

Looks like PapelBonds' career ends Thursday around 2 pm

http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/section?id=bei http://
[h1]Mitchell to announce results of steroid probe at news conference[/h1]
Associated Press

Updated: December 12, 2007, 12:06 PM ET

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NEW YORK -- George Mitchell called a news conference for Thursday to announce the results of his 20-month investigation into drug use in baseball.

Bud Selig does not plan to attend the 2 p.m. ET news conference at a Manhattan hotel a few blocks from the commissioner's office.

Mitchell said Wednesday he will release his report then, and it will be posted online at MLB.com shortly after that. Selig will hold his own news conference 2½ hours after the one by Mitchell.

Baseball reviewed a draft Tuesday at the Manhattan office of DLA Piper, the law firm that Mitchell chairs, a baseball official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because Mitchell hasn't authorized any statements.

Baseball officials have said for several weeks that management would be able to examine the report on performance-enhancing drugs a few days before it is made public to make sure it does not contain confidential information that if released would violate the collective bargaining agreement between players and owners.

The joint drug agreement, which has been part of the labor contract since September 2002, prohibits the commissioner's office, teams and consultants from disclosing player test results, treatment and other information except in very limited, specified circumstances.

Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader, is a director of the Boston Red Sox and served on one of Selig's economic study committees. Selig hired him in March 2006 to investigate drug use in the sport.

He's expected by many in baseball to be critical of the sport for being slow to react to its drug problem in 1990s and beyond. What they will be looking to see in his report is how he parcels blame among Selig, club owners, general managers, other team employees, the players' association and players themselves.

The revelation of players who have not yet been publicly linked to drug use figures to be the most sensational part of the report. Media reports have linked an array of All-Stars and MVPs to performance-enhancers in recent years, among them Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Ken Caminiti, Juan Gonzalez and Mark McGwire.

Bonds, indicted last month for perjury and obstruction of justice over his 2003 testimony in the BALCO drug case, has denied knowingly using performance-enhancers, as have Gonzalez and McGwire.

Mitchell is a former Director of the Walt Disney Company, the parent company of ESPN.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

 

[gerber baby 44]

A-Rod will def. be on that list.

 

[tmay407]

Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader, is a director of the Boston Red Sox

A-Rod will def. be on that list.

 

[GreenNGold89]

I want to see the list but I have a feeling it could be a let down.

 

[allen3xis]

I'm very interested to see if anyone associated with the BoSox is on it

 

[doublejs07]

I've posted this a couple times, but for all you conspiracy theorists it makes for a GREAT read....plus, its fitting on the eve of the MitchellInvestigation...I don't think anyone will be shocked if a couple of O's make this list.

Steroid City: The culture of cheating in Baltimore and Dallas
Over the years, scuttlebutt and hearsay has passed through the Internet and media about steroids, particularly who is using. Not necessarily who isn't using. Craig Counsell's diminutive frame doesn't make headlines, nor does he hit 60 home runs a year.

Always at the center of a lot of steroid take is the Texas Rangers. What could be considered coincidence transitioned to a certifiable trend. For one reason or another, the Texas Rangers had a lot of steroid users or suspected steroid users to go along with it's inflated offensive stats.

First it was Jose Canseco in his book "Juiced" implicated Ivan Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez. Then Rafael Palmeiro comes up with a positive drug test. Then Gary Matthews Jr. and Jerry Hairston Jr. are implicated with Florida doctor who was dealing the junk.

Of course, if I were in Baltimore, I could say the same about the Orioles. From Brady Anderson, Palmeiro to Jason Grimsley, Miguel Tejeda and Brian Roberts, there's a lot of proven cheaters and suspected ones.

Then I began to sift through these names and stats and try to find some connection and it was rather shocking the connections that the Rangers and Orioles held together. It's quite extraordinary. Well, I should say, maybe all teams have just as many players that played for both teams, but, needless to say, I think it's rather surprising.

There are a couple of points:

1. Any implication that the Rangers and Orioles are just knowingly swapping 'roid users is pretty crazy. They may or may not know. But the point is to show that somehow, sometime 'roids were introduced and the inbreeding between the clubs made them hotspots for use.

2. Only a handful of players have been caught or admitted to using. Others have been implicated. Still many have been neither implicated or caught, but their careers suggest some kind of unnatural goings-on.

Let's start with what we know:

Known Users
Players, through testing or admission, are known steroid users.

Rangers
Jose Canseco
Rafael Palmeiro
Carlos Almanzar

Orioles
Jason Grimsley
Rafael Palmeiro


Suspected Users
Rangers and Orioles that through implication of court records or books, are rumored to have used steroids.

Rangers
Gary Matthews Jr.
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Juan Gonzalez
Wilson Alvarez
Ivan Rodriguez
John Rocker
Jim Leyritz
Sammy Sosa
David Segui
Manny Alexander
Randy Velarde

Orioles
David Segui
Sammy Sosa
Gary Matthews Jr.
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Jay Gibbons
Brian Roberts
Miguel Tejeda
Manny Alexander

Suspected/Proven Players That Played For Both Teams
Players that have played for both the Rangers and Orioles and have admitted to, been proven to or implicated as having taken steroids.

David Segui
Rafael Palmeiro
Gary Matthews Jr.
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Sammy Sosa
Manny Alexander

Other Players That Have Played For Both Teams
Players that one time or another played for both the Rangers and Orioles who may or may not have career anomalies or any steroid suspicion.

Mark McLemore
Damon Buford
Harold Baines
Jamie Moyer
Kevin Brown
Jeff Huson
Scott Erickson
Terry Clark
Billy Ripken
Pete Incaviglia
David Dellucci
Terry Mathews
Greg Zaun
Roger McDowell
Esteban Yan
Todd Zeile
Matt Riley
Rick Bauer
Bruce Chen
Craig Worthington
Sam Horn

Orioles-only Suspects
Players that have anomalies in their career stats

Brady Anderson
Melvin Mora
B.J. Surhoff
Jeffrey Hammonds
Geronimo Berroa
Lenny Webster
Mike Bordick
Chris Hoiles

Rangers-only Suspects
Players that have anomalies in their career stats

Dean Palmer
Herbert Perry
Kevin Elster

Of all these names, taking into account everyone's career year (determined by me), 24 (almost half) took place between 1995-2000.

Honestly, I don't know what any of this means. If there is some random connection between steroids and members of the Rangers and Orioles, one must wonder where it all began. Was it Palmeiro, consorting with Canseco in Texas, who took to the Orioles in 1994? Who knows?

Additionally, I would doubt that any one team (more less any two different teams) have had their names more associated with 'roids than the Rangers and Orioles (maybe Oakland with the Giambis, Canseco, McGwire, Tejeda, Velarde, etc.). Factor in how many players the two squads shared and how many of those players are already known users, it's pretty evident that a strong presence of steroids looms large over the two franchises.

It goes without saying, however, how rampant steroid use is and how much faster usage can proliferate through trades, free agency and the clubhouse mentality -- a bunch of dudes locked up together over a summer with nothing better to do but play ball and make money.

There is, however, one name that has not been mentioned particularly because he wasn't a player, but his influence on both teams throughout the 1990s is pretty evident:

Manager Johnny Oates
Baltimore Orioles -- 1991-94
Texas Rangers -- 1995-2001

I'm just saying ...

 

[jordan201]

If A-Rod's on it, it's because of Mitchell's connections with the Sox.

 

[dajoka004]

When was Sosa implicated in anything?

 

[DeadsetAce]

Originally Posted by allen3xis

I'm very interested to see if anyone associated with the BoSox is on it

Me too. Allen, weren't you the one who brought up the fact that Mitchell is a big BoSox fan? For that reason, I'm waiting to see if any of my boysare on the list. I pray none of them are.

 

[703 hwy]

I've seen the list and this is all that matters, its ranked accordingly.

1. Barry Bonds

 

[fede dpt]

If Griffey is on that list, I hope he gets his money back.




And I'll throw the signed ball I got in 1997 in the Port of Miami.

 

[DeadsetAce]

Nomar
Gabe Kapler
Possibly Mike Lowell depending on how far back his research goes

 

[am 1 fiend]

If A-Rod's on it, it's because of Mitchells connection with the Sox?

I swear some of the things these homers type is straight pitiful. With asmuch hype as MLB has created for this, I am surprised they didn't create a trailer for it

 

[allen3xis]

Wasn't he more than a fan? like some sort of director?

 

[DeadsetAce]

well if it was a director...hes not director now, right? cause thats def a conflict of interests

 

[bjm5295]

Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader, is a director of the Boston Red Sox

I did not know that.

If ARods on the list, its because hes on roids, not because of any connection to the Red Sox.





However, if there isnt one single Red Sox player on the report, feel free to rip him for that.

 

[DeadsetAce]

Originally Posted by bjm5295

Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader, is a director of the Boston Red Sox

I did not know that.

If ARods on the list, its because hes on roids, not because of any connection to the Red Sox.





However, if there isnt one single Red Sox player on the report, feel free to rip him for that.

Damn. Yeah I would find it tough to believe that there are no Red Sox on that report given the number of names that are supposedly mentioned.

 

[jordan201]

Originally Posted by AM 1 FIEND

If A-Rod's on it, it's because of Mitchells connection with the Sox?

I swear some of the things these homers type is straight pitiful. With as much hype as MLB has created for this, I am surprised they didn't create a trailer for it

Some people take the internet so serious. It was a joke. Relax.

In through the nose.....out through the mouth.

 

[barondavis5]

im sorry i dont know anything about baseball but what is this mitchell report?

 

[tmay407]

im sorry i dont know anything about baseball but what is this mitchell report?

basically bud selig (commissioner of the mlb) hired george mitchell (a former senator) to do an investigation on steroids in baseball. its gonna be released ati think 1 tomorrow (might be a different time, but i think thats what i heard), and is supposedly gonna include some major names.

Some people take the internet so serious. It was a joke. Relax.

haha i know thats all that my comment was meant to be too.

and yes, george mitchell is currently the director of the red sox front office.

 

[mez 0ne]

That's not that many names. You have 700+ players in the league on active rosters at any one time. Carry that back to the early 1990s, and you're probably talking about 3500-4500 different guys who have been through the majors.


Not a lot of names, but its impossible to try to interview 1000s of people from players currently in baseball and retiree's.

I have a feeling that this list will create some buzz for 3-4 days and thats about it, because all of the players mentioned on that list will say (if they evenspeak AT ALL) that the list is bogus, or take the Barry Bonds route and say "I never failed a drug test". In my opinion, I don't think any playerwill talk, and once spring training comes, the buzz will arise for another few days because the players will actually have to talk then.

I also don't think there will be some BIG names, just don't have any high expectations and say "Damn, the list is a let down" because theplayer you hate is not on it.

Sadly Canseco, the ONE GUY who is credible on speaking on this subject and the players involved in it, was not even contacted by Mitchell's team one time. He came out and said so recently.

Things like this make me laugh.


Mitchell's team attempted to contact every single person on that list as well as others multiple times, (I doubt someone like Canseco was not at leastapproached), and no player wanted any part of the list or wanted to comment at all. The only thing that is funny to me are going to be the players saying (forthose few who actually do speak) "they never spoke with Michell, never failed a drug test, blah blah"....I could see that lie coming a mile away.

 

[pacmagic2002]

Im only going to check for ONE NAME tomorrow..................Albert Pujols..............If my main man is on this list................im throwing both of mypujols jerseys and signed baseballs in the mississippi river.

 

[darthska]

RyGuy45 wrote:

---

Sadly Canseco, the ONE GUY who is credible on speaking on this subject and the players involved in it, was not even contacted by Mitchell's team one time. He came out and said so recently.

Things like this make me laugh.

And that's the boneheaded Canseco I've grown to know and love, sans the love. Dude is an arrogant airhead... but I applaud him forcracking this crap open. If he never does another thing right, I will always be thankful for him for releasing The Game of Shadows.

But as far as people investigating something like this and checking in with Canseco, I wouldn't expect that to happen at ALL.

 

[ballinboykz]

2PM EST

This is going to be great. I write a final at 9 AM, come home around 1 to catch the report. I cant wait to see some of these names.

I just hope Barry isnt on the list....

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