Celebrity Court

The long awaited list of major league players suspected of using human growth hormone, steroids, and other illegal substances was finally released today.

The Mitchell report is a culmination of a lengthy investigation to determine what players were using banned substances. Many of the names were gathered from Kirk Rondonski who worked as a clubhouse attendant for the New York Mets and sold illegal substances to many players. The list of players implicated, which includes both current and former players includes:

Roger Clemens
Miguel Tejada
Andy Pettitte
Barry Bonds
Mike Stanton
Chuck Knoblauch
Jason Grimsley
Brian Roberts
David Justice
Mo Vaughn
Paul Lo Duca
Eric Gagne
Glenallen Hill
Gregg Zaun
Rondell White
Hal Morris
Todd Hundley
Larry Bigbie
Lenny Dykstra
David Segui
Matt Herges
Kevin Brown
Mike Lansing
Denny Neagle
FP Santangelo
Ron Villone
Kent Mercker

In his presentation of the report, George Mitchell recommended that baseball look forward and not punish players for past conduct. He said that ongoing, lengthy disciplinary proceedings will draw out the matter and will prevent everyone from moving forward. He stressed, however, that testing going forward is the key to righting baseball and assuring that players will be clean. Richard McLaren added that the current testing is imperfect, as it does not catch everything and players have learned how to circumvent it.

Mitchell pointed out that the report is in no way comprehensive and does not implicate all of the players who have in the past, or are currently using performance enhancing drugs. He stated that his source revealed that he talked with many players who told him that they had other sources for getting the drugs and did not need his services.

Certainly there are many other players who never had contact with Rondonski, so this list could just be the tip of the iceberg in terms of violations.

Given that so many of the players named in the report are now retired, I am not sure what will happen to those listed. The current players will likely be under more scrutiny and if they continue to play, I am sure that they will hear it from the fans at opposing stadiums, much like Barry Bonds did this last season.

Should championships or post-season awards be taken away? Should these players be kept from the Hall of Fame? These are questions I don’t know the answer to. All I know is that many of the successes by players during the time of rampant steroid use will always be questioned and have an asterisk, if only in our minds.

The full report is here. (pdf)

Mitchell Report, Major League Baseball, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Miguel Tejada, Andy Pettitte