Mitchell's Report - Baseball

[Indio]

No doubt it will be an interesting but loooooong ride. I guess we better buckle up and hold on.

[PEI Golfing]

If the evidence is a strong as you think it is then tell me why no one is facing charges? Steroids are illegal so these lads should be going to trial......fact is, it is one thing to make claims and a totally different thing to be able to PROVE those claims in a court of law............

But you missed my point, my point was that this Steroid Witch Hunt is a total joke when compared to some of the "Real" problems facing the US such as the street drug problem and poverty

Using steroids will not land you in jail. However, trafficking in steroids will.......

Yeah your right, I guess the players must have been purchasing "vitamins" from Radomski with the copies of the cheques which are printed in the report........

Hey Hacker guess F.P. Santangelo's usage will have to be PROVED............. I do not respect him for using steroids, but do respect the fact he was "man enough" to admit it.
Read today's Ottawa Sun article. http://www.ottawasun.com/Sports/Base...25631-sun.html


"Santangelo admitted in an interview with radio station Sports 1140 KHTK-AM in Sacramento that he not once, but twice, took human growth hormone to help him recover from career-threatening injuries.
In 1998, some bone from that knee cap, shattered by a pitch in Shea Stadium, shredded his patella tendon. He played the rest of the season with the injury.
After surgery and rehab, his quadriceps muscle remained the size of his forearm, he said. He was staring in the abyss, his career slipping away with each day.
'AGAINST STEROIDS'
"Basically, I panicked. My whole career I was against steroids and against performance-enhancing drugs. That's why I spent seven years in the minor leagues. "There were guys there who were doing it that I knew of or who I suspected were doing it, at least. It was a moral thing for me. I never wanted to do it, but then when I was faced with no job ... I panicked and turned to Kirk Radomski.".................
"I decided if it worked once, it would work twice and I did it again," he said. "I'm not proud of it. It went against everything I believed in. If you knew the culture of baseball at that time and you knew what was going on, I almost had to do it to stay in the game." ......................
"When you're caught up in it and you're right in the middle of it, in that fantasy land, that fantasy world, and you want to stay in it and it's the greatest thing you could ever possibly imagine," said Santangelo, "You would do almost anything to stay a major league baseball player." ............

"I don't want to be like (pitcher Roger) Clemens and sit here and deny everything," he said. "I want to wear it and then just move on."
Seeing his name on the report or facing the TV news crews was not the most difficult part of this ordeal, said the former Lynx star. "The hardest part was about a month ago, when I sat my 12-year-old and 10-year-old down and told them," he said. "Once I got through that, the rest was kind of easy..........
"If it means I'm embarrassed for a couple of weeks or a couple of months or a couple of years and the generations behind me," said Santangelo, "And my kids, if they're lucky enough to play at that level, don't have to make the same tough decisions I had to take, it will be a good day."

[PEI Golfing]

This thread has nothing to do with "the street drug problem and poverty"

There are always concerns that someone thinks are more important. Sure they may well be more important, but that does not mean this should be swept under the rug and ignored.

Exactly Dan !!! Thread is about Performancing Enhancing drugs in MLB.

Yes there are many more important issues in the World (ie. War in Iraq, war against terror, World Poverty, Starvation in Africa, Global Warming.............and the list goes on).

[mpare]

And your point is what, exactly? Are you suggesting that MLB, which enjoys a tenuous and anomalous anti-trust exemption that Congress could end, should be left to its own devices. If that's your point, I don't buy it and the US Congress certainly won't buy it either.

Exactly Dan !!! Thread is about Performancing Enhancing drugs in MLB.

Yes there are many more important issues in the World (ie. War in Iraq, war against terror, World Poverty, Starvation in Africa, Global Warming.............and the list goes on).

[PEI Golfing]

And your point is what, exactly? Are you suggesting that MLB, which enjoys a tenuous and anomalous anti-trust exemption that Congress could end, should be left to its own devices. If that's your point, I don't buy it and the US Congress certainly won't buy it either.

My POINT is that when someone does not agree with something, they should not just deflect the issue by saying there are more important issues to deal with. (ie. "this Steroid Witch Hunt is a total joke when compared to some of the "Real" problems facing the US such as the street drug problem and poverty")

[mpare]

THANKS. I hadn't realized that we were in agreement. I thought that your point was exactly the opposite.

My POINT is that when someone does not agree with something, they should not just deflect the issue by saying there are more important issues to deal with. (ie. "this Steroid Witch Hunt is a total joke when compared to some of the "Real" problems facing the US such as the street drug problem and poverty")

[PEI Golfing]

THANKS. I hadn't realized that we were in agreement. I thought that your point was exactly the opposite.

We are in complete agreement. MLB should be embarressed that they did not take any measures 10 years ago to keep the sport clean. However, they benefited $$$$$ from the 70 homerun plus seasons etc. Looks like greed got ahold of everyone from the F.P. Santangelo's who were just trying to hold on to a Major League job to the players who wanted to be stars, and to the Stars who wanted to be even bigger stars breaking records...................VERY SAD.......

[Hacker]

"this Steroid Witch Hunt is a total joke"

Whether you or anyone else agrees with me doesn't change the fact that, IMO, the US Congress is paying way too much attention to a GAME and the cheaters which play it - it is pathetic plain and simple.

Forum Rules prevent me from engaging in the political discussion which forms the basis of my opinion, and that is fine with me, but I certainly won't let that stop me from expressing it and defending my right to have such an opinion

[Indio]

Well Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte has now admitted he used them twice......

[jonf]

Worst admission EVER.

http://tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=225273&hubname=

''If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize,'' Pettitte said Saturday in a statement released by his agent. ''I accept responsibility for those two days.''

IF? He still doesn't think he's done anything wrong. He's not sorry he did it, he's sorry he got caught.

[Kiwi]

If you use an Advil to get you through the round of golf... is that a performance enhancing drug? Thought not ILLEGAL, it can do harm over time (sorry Advil did not mean to suggest that you are the only over the counter drug, used to the extreme, that will cause damage). Just wonder if we are all not taking this a little to serious. I am with you HACKER. It's a game, but some take it as serious as a religion. This reminds me of the teddy bear named Muhammad... tempest in a teapot me thinks... good for clearing out the arteries though. On a related topic, did anyone see Bill Daly (VP NHL??) quote that there is no problem in the NHL. Anyone buy that??? <stir the pot><stir the pot>

[PEI Golfing]

Worst admission EVER.

http://tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=225273&hubname=

''If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize,'' Pettitte said Saturday in a statement released by his agent. ''I accept responsibility for those two days.''

IF? He still doesn't think he's done anything wrong. He's not sorry he did it, he's sorry he got caught.

Agree..............that statement was pathetic. Pettitte can call cheating by "error in judgement"......."obligation to get back to the team" whatever he wants but it was CHEATING and he got caught !!!!

So in the past two days we now have two players (FP Santangelo and Pettitte) stepping forward and admiting they used HGH. Wonder how many more will now follow. I suspect once the floodgates open more and more big names will join......... Sadly suspect Clemens may be one of the last hold-outs proclaiming he never touch any Steroids or HGH.............

[PEI Golfing]

Just wonder if we are all not taking this a little to serious. I am with you HACKER. It's a game, but some take it as serious as a religion.

It is alittle more than a game. Its big business with huge contracts riding on the ability to perform. When there is big $$ involved unfortunately people will try to get any edge they can to get it.

I can think of $16,000,000 (2007 Salary) reasons why Pettitte would want to prolong his career. Check out his Salary over his career
http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pettian01.shtml

[PEI Golfing]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm...............Lets try and guess who else this week is going to publicly admit they used Steroids or HGH...................................

Should be interesting.......................

[fundonny]

Haven't read it, but was Big Mac in there?

[mpare]

The mea culpas being offered by individual players is not the best strategy in my humble opinion. I still think that a joint announcement by MLB and the Players Association, as I half-jokingly suggested in a previous post, would slake the political thirst for vengeance and, more importantly, muster public support. Once the public mood changed, there'd be no incentive for the politicians to continue pursuing this. At the same time, a collective acknowledgment would take the heat off the individual players. Then again, what do I know. The advisors, who siphon off millions and millions from the players, must know best.

[PEI Golfing]

Former player and current ESPN analyst Fernando Vina admitted today that he used HGH in 2003 to recover from injury.............
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns
The report also said that Vina purchased Steroids which he denies.

Perhaps we should start a thread titled "Player of the Day to admit Steroid/HGH use"............

[jonf]

I'll be impressed when someone who WASN"T mentioned in the report comes forward to admit cheating. Until then, it's too little too late.

[PEI Golfing]

I'll be impressed when someone who WASN"T mentioned in the report comes forward to admit cheating. Until then, it's too little too late.

I would not be impressed.............I would be "SHOCKED" !!!

Thats very unlikely to happen, unless one of the following is occurring in their life:

(i) Writing a tell-all book $$$ (like Jose Canseco did)

(ii) Have a terminal illness and are dying so they want a clear conscious.

(iii) New found Religion dictates they come forward.

[Big Shooter]

who cares....all are overpaid millionaires...they'll be alright!

[Golfbum]

who cares....all are overpaid millionaires...they'll be alright!

That is the spirit right there!

WHO CARES????

NOT I

Gee I got caught doing Roids. Oh well I have $50 + million in the bank, I guess I can retire now and try to get my CHAMPIONS TOUR CARD Hey MLB, don't forget to deposit my pension in the bank every month.

[PEI Golfing]

So who was it going to be today from the Mitchell Report list that would admit they used Steroids or HGH..........

Well..........its two time American League All-Star and current 2nd baseman for the Baltimore Orioles, Brian Roberts.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3159406

"In a statement issued Tuesday to The Associated Press, Roberts said he tried steroids four years ago.
"In 2003, when I took one shot of steroids, I immediately realized that this was not what I stood for or anything that I wanted to continue doing. I never used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing drugs prior to or since that single incident," he said.
"I can honestly say before God, myself, my family and all of my fans, that steroids or any performance-enhancing drugs have never had any effect on what I have worked so hard to accomplish in the game of baseball."

The admission statements are also starting to sound very similiar. Usually starts off by saying, I made a mistake and only used steroids or HGH once or twice in Pettitte's case.

Reminds me of when a drunk driver is pulled over and the Officer asks him how many drinks he had tonight. Answer is usually one beer..............

Roberts even went farther to bring "God" into his appology...........

And yes Rocket Roger came out flatly denying any drug use..........
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3160063

[PEI Golfing]

Roger Clemens posted a video repeating his denials of steroids use and will interview with "60 Minutes" to answer questions about allegations against him in the Mitchell Report.

You can view the posted interview on Youtube or Roger's website.


http://www.rogerclemensonline.com http://www.youtube.com/wrclemens

In the video Roger says:

"Let me be clear, the answer is no. I did not use steroids, or human growth hormone and I've never done so," Clemens said. "I did not provide Brian McNamee with any drugs to inject in to my body. Brian McNamee did not inject steroids or Human Growth Hormones into my body either when I played in Toronto for the Blue Jays or the New York Yankees. This report is simply not true."

"After Christmas, I'm going to sit down with Mike Wallace of `60 Minutes,' and I'll do an interview, and he'll ask me a ton of questions on this subject, and I'll answer them right there in front of him, and we'll do all of this again," Clemens said. "I'm angry about it. To be honest with you, it's hurtful to me and my family, but we're coming upon Christmas now, and I have been blessed in my life. I've been blessed in my career, and I'm very thankful for those blessings."

[mpare]

The shame of it is that we've heard so many apparently sincere and vehement denials from athletes in the past that many of us are likely to treat Clemens' response with skepticism, if not outright disbelief.

... In the video Roger says:

"Let me be clear, the answer is no. I did not use steroids, or human growth hormone and I've never done so," Clemens said. "I did not provide Brian McNamee with any drugs to inject in to my body. Brian McNamee did not inject steroids or Human Growth Hormones into my body either when I played in Toronto for the Blue Jays or the New York Yankees. This report is simply not true."

"After Christmas, I'm going to sit down with Mike Wallace of `60 Minutes,' and I'll do an interview, and he'll ask me a ton of questions on this subject, and I'll answer them right there in front of him, and we'll do all of this again," Clemens said. "I'm angry about it. To be honest with you, it's hurtful to me and my family, but we're coming upon Christmas now, and I have been blessed in my life. I've been blessed in my career, and I'm very thankful for those blessings."

[PEI Golfing]

The shame of it is that we've heard so many apparently sincere and vehement denials from athletes in the past that many of us are likely to treat Clemens' response with skepticism, if not outright disbelief.

Especially when Clemen's friend/teammate and training partner Andy Pettitte admitted that he(Pettitte) did obtain and use HGH from McNamee.............

So if Clemens is to be believed, McNamee was lying about him, yet telling the truth about Pettitte............?????? Sounds very improbable IMO............