Steroids, HGH and Drug Culture in Baseball … The Mitchell Report Names 60 to 80 Players (UPDATE: Mitchell Reports Names Names … Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield …)

“MLB’s not going to love it, the union’s not going to love it.”

On the eve of the release of the 400 page Mitchell Report, the baseball world waits in anticipation of what is contained in the report and who is named. Barry Bonds has become the poster child for the steroid age in baseball; however, according to reports some 60 to 80 names will be released ranging from MVPs to All-Stars.

That’s all 60 to 80 since 1985? Are you joking? How much could really come from this report when Mitchell had his hands tied behind his back?  60 to 80 names seems like hardly scratching the surface of the real issue in baseball. Here is the worst kept secret in sports … baseball players use steroids and HGH and have done so for years.

George Mitchell plans to release his report at 2 p.m. ET Thursday at a news conference in New York City.

The Mitchell Report exposes a “serious drug culture within baseball, from top to bottom,” fingers MVPs and All-Stars and calls for beefed-up testing by an outside agency to clean up the game, The Associated Press learned Wednesday.

The report by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell will include names of 60 to 80 players linked to performance-enhancing substances and plenty more information that exposes “deep problems” afflicting the sport, one of two sources with knowledge of the findings told the AP. Both sources said the report would not address amphetamines. (Yahoo News)

Major League Baseball, both players and owner, has no one to blame for this embarrassment but themselves. Also include the media and the folks at ESPN who were more concerned with showing 500 foot HR’s for ratings than they were asking why and how all these HR’s were suddenly possible. They all looked the other way for years just as long as ball players hit home runs, put fans in the seats and viewership increased. Did they really think that career 15 home run a year hitters were capable of suddenly hitting 40 or 50 in a season? Did they really think that 73* was possible? Hell, did they really think 70 was realistic? Obviously Cooperstown did not as Mark Mc Gwire was denied induction in to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

One person familiar with the final version would only speak anonymously but described it as “a very thorough treatment of the subject” and said some aspects were surprising. He said the report assigns blame to both the commissioner’s office and the players’ union.

Why did baseball look the other way when it came to steroid and HGH use? What else … MONEY!!! Obviously MLB was going to do everything and anything to make amends for the 1994 Baseball strike that lasted 232 days and canceled the 1994 World Series.

Proponents say the report, unprecedented by an American sports league, could serve as a lasting document that can restore the game’s moral credibility and will burnish the legacy of a commissioner whose league’s towering financial achievements have been paralleled by an equally devastating drug culture during his tenure. On the same day the U.S. Justice Department indicted home run king Barry Bonds on four counts of perjury and one of obstruction of justice, Bud Selig announced that baseball generated a record-breaking $6 billion in revenue this season.

Jayson Stark on What to Expect From the Mitchell Report

UPDATE I: Mitchell Report Released.

If you have a spare couple of hours, The Mitchell Report, all 409 pages can be read HERE.

UPDATE II: MLB report outs stars; Selig vows action

No one was hit harder than Clemens, who denied the allegations through his lawyer. The seven-time Cy Young Award winner was singled out in nearly nine pages, 82 references by name. Much of the information on Clemens came from former New York Yankees major league strength and conditioning coach Brian McNamee.

“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.”

UPDATE III: Mitchell report: Baseball slow to react to players’ steroid use

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.

 Gagne, Giambi, Gary Sheffield, 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.

“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.”

A total of 22 Yankees, past and present, were identified. Players were linked to doping in various ways — some were identified as users, some as buyers and some were noted for their inclusion in media reports and other investigations

UPDATE IV: Mitchell Report Names Names …

The list can be read HERE.