At a time when BARB fans should be reveling in the heroics of the post-season, reality intrudes in the ugliest way. The Mitchell Report has named names, casting a shadow on the feats of some Hall of Fame talent, among them three Yuma stars: RHP Roger Clemens, 2B Brian Roberts and SS Miguel Tejada. The full text of the report can be found here. What, if anything, will be the outcome of this?
"As your Commissioner, I'm committed to a clean, honest, game," claimed Scott Hatfield, the Sage Czar of Baseball. "If this was back in Judge Landis's day, hearsay would be sufficient for a lifetime ban. But it isn't. I'm reluctant to punish teams for the alleged sins of the players. But I have to say this: all of the owners who have not-so-quietly been lobbying for sanctions against Barry Bonds, what do they think I should do about this can of worms?"
The can of worms is extensive, as the following list shows:
Chad Allen Mike Bell Gary Bennett Larry Bigbie Kevin Brown Alex Cabrera Mark Carreon Jason Christiansen Howie Clark Roger Clemens Jack Cust Brendan Donnelly Chris Donnels Matt Franco Eric Gagne Matt Herges Phil Hiatt Glenallen Hill Todd Hundley Mike Judd David Justice Chuck Knoblauch Tim Laker Mike Lansing Paul Lo Duca Nook Logan Josias Manzanillo Cody McKay Kent Mercker Bart Miadich Hal Morris Daniel Naulty Denny Neagle Jim Parque Luis Perez Andy Pettitte Adam Piatt Todd Pratt Stephen Randolph Adam Riggs Armando Rios Brian Roberts F.P. Santangelo Mike Stanton Ricky Stone Miguel Tejada Ismael Valdez Mo Vaughn Ron Villone Fernando Vina Rondell White Jeff Williams Todd Williams Steve Woodard Kevin Young Gregg Zaun
Manny Alexander Rick Ankiel David Bell Marvin Benard Barry Bonds Ricky Bones Paul Byrd Ken Caminiti Jose Canseco Paxton Crawford Lenny Dykstra Bobby Estalella Ryan Franklin Jason Giambi Jeremy Giambi Jay Gibbons Troy Glaus Juan Gonzalez Jason Grimsley Jose Guillen Jerry Hairston Jr. Darren Holmes Ryan Jorgensen Wally Joyner Gary Matthews Jr. Rafael Palmeiro John Rocker Benito Santiago Scott Schoeneweis David Segui Gary Sheffield Derrick Turnbow Randy Velarde Matt Williams
"For my part," Hatfield said, "I would hope teams would voluntarily choose to cut their ties with players who have admitted steroid use. It saddens me that two former Finches, Gary Sheffield and Scott Schoeneweis, were named in the report. From this point forward, Darwin will not employ any of the active players listed above, but I don't want to hear about any talk of a 'blacklist'. I'm not telling others what to do. I just think hiring players who have been publicly linked to steroid use sends the wrong message, and until baseball can do a better job of policing itself, I'm just going to have to draw a line for my ballclub."
3 comments:
Do not misunderstand me, I wholeheartedly agree with the commissioner's decision to not pursue any members named in the report, or at least those guilty and have admitted. Having said that, why the change of heart? Does Darwin not have Juan Salas and Jeremy Jeffress, two players who were banned during the season due to positive urine tests? Furthermore, Brooklyn has been very outspoken against such usage of performance enhancers, but has been shot down by Barry Bonds' supporters and the commissioner. I remember almost verbatim that the commissioner claimed that performance enhancers do not affect the actually results of a person, thus in Bonds' case, the HGH or steriods did not produce more home runs. Great! I point to Harold Reynolds, a multiple all star secondbasemen, who said his best year he hit less than 15 homeruns, now a 2B and SS cannot be in the majors as a starter with less than 15-20 homeruns. The proof is there, and unfortunately, steriods affect more than just the users. This people have tarnished the league and check out my site for Brooklyn's actions. It's also a promo for a cool feature I found and added now that finals are over.
The Moabs make good points.
Darwin drafted Salas and Jeffress, and we are very disappointed in their conduct. However, we had no inkling that either would run afoul of drug testing when we drafted them. We believe in giving every player at least one strike. Rest assured the Finches will tolerate another such episode.
Darwin would also like to point out that the author of the Moabs' most recent post, John Rocker, was also named as an alleged steroid user in the Mitchell Report. Seems sort of strange for him to be leading the cheerleading against steroid usage now.
WOW! Did not see John Rocker's name, must have missed it. Besides I think all of us know that Rocker's insanity stems from deeper issues than that of steriods. The front office will be speaking to John Rocker and will ask him to make a statement through the BRooklyn Moabs' site.
Post a Comment