By Mark La Monica
Heck of a thing, this Mitchell Report.
It set off all the alarms in all the media outlets around the country.
First the Clemens info leaked. Then Pettitte. Then Albert Pujols. Oh wait, that last one, yeah, hang on. WNBC made a bit of a boo-boo when they leaked on their Web site what they thought to be the list of named players. That list included Pujols, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, Aaron Boone, Bret Boone and others.
That same story on their site (which has since been removed) also mentioned that MLB disputed their list and then this special disclaimer: "We're checking into it."
Wow! That just might be the most awful display of news judgment since the TV executive who approved "Cop Rock" way back in the day.
They did, however, land an accurate arrow with Darren Holmes.
Darren Holmes!
I'll take "Memorable trades the Yankees made where they received cash back for Ben Ford and Izzy Molina for $100," Alex.
This highlights the big stuff and fluff of this Mitchell Report. To be sure, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte being named is big news. Not surprising, though, given the circulation of their names when Jason Grimsley (!) got busted, but big nonetheless.
This is only Day 1 of this story and much will develop in the next few weeks and months. What's true? What's not? Nobody really knows right now. George Mitchell's report is based heavily on the unchallenged testimony of two trainers who have just-sharpened Ginsus ready to chop up their onions. Still, it could all be true. It could all be a bunch of yang.
If the Pettitte thing is proven true, that would be upsetting. I always liked him. Sick pickoff move. I practiced it all the time, But at least we can always think back to Game 5 of the 1996 World Series and his 1-0 gem against John Smoltz -- easily the greatest playoff game in the Yankees' latest dynasty. That was before Clemens, the biggest big-game jinx in sports (doing a commercial for "The Power of Living" book is second) joined the Yankees.
However, Canseco, Palmeiro, Bonds, the Giambis, Sheffield and Tejada shook no worlds. Not even their own. Most of the names in the Mitchell Report rest have either been mentioned and rumored about publicly or were just so insignificant in their careers, that you wonder how people outside of the baseball pension office could even remember them now.
All the days and dollars spent on this investigation and we get hit with Mark Carreon, Manny Alexander, Ricky Bones, Dan Naulty, Tim Laker and Ken Caminiti, who happens to not be alive anymore (because of admitted steroid use). Stunning work, George.
Carreon did hit 69 home runs, though. Of course, it took him 739 games.
The Mitchell Report set off more waves than Michael J. Fox on top of a truck, but it's also full of as much fluff as the Stay Puf marshmallow man. In the coming weeks, we'll find out if the streams get crossed.
Comments (4)
Why is everyone (including all sports writers) taking the word of this ex-cop slime ball McNamee saying that Clemens and Pettitte are users, if McNamee said that Clemens and Pettitte commited a murder without finding the body would we convict them both of murder? This is America I thought you were innocent until PROVEN guilty, wheres the proof??????? One sad thing about this country, it seems like almost everyone loves a Salem Witch Hunt.
That's what I'm saying, John. In the court of public opinion, this is big stuff. In the legal system, they'd need a heck of a lot of corroboration.
Funny the same people who convicted Bonds on circumstantial evidence are now trying to exonerate Clemons on circumstantial evidence. It must be just a coincidence that Pettitte and Clemons shared a personal trainer that happened to deal in steroids and HGH. To all those that want to asterisk the home run record, I say asterisk Joe Torre's record. Joe Torre was the manager with the most players in the Mitchell report. How many of his wins were the result of steroids?
Not anything close to Rose betting on his team's games. Rose set the pitching rotation, he selected the pitchers out of the bullpen. When he had a lot of money on the game he burned out his top starers and top relievers and didn't rest his tired but top players. When he didn't bet, he went soft with the bullpen and rested his top players. Was it a signal to the bookies and gamblers who he owed tons of money? People say he always bet to win, but he didn't bet the same amount on his team every night. He bet some nights, bet some nights big, and didn't bet others. That's a huge problem. He may have tanked games that he didn't bet because he had to pay someone back for the debts he owed. The actual competition was skewed. The Reds may not have had their best out there at the most important times because of the financial implications of winning some games. That calls into question the integrity of the competition itself.
The players who took steroids made themselves better, every game. Some of them were great- Clemens and Bonds, some of them were average, and some of them were Manny Alexander and Adam Piatt. But they all gained something, helped their teams more, and made the teams more competitive. While the players violated the law, not necessarily the rules since the rules didn't exist yet, they did so to make their teams win MORE. They violated personal integrity, but they didn't call into question the integrity of the competition itself.