The Mitchell Report

My Character Profiles · December 15, 2007, 6:24 AM

If there are any of you who pay frequent attention to sports news, then you'll know that the Mitchell report was made public yesterday. The Mitchell report is a 400+ page inquiry following George Mitchell's investigation towards anabolic steroids and HDH (human growth hormone) being illegally used by current and former MLB players. The report has mentioned the names of 89 MLB players who have allegedly been linked to use of steroids during their MLB careers.

For a list of player's names listed on the report, see here:
The Mitchell List

Former US senator George Mitchell offered confidentiality in his report, but he did not offer total confidentiality over all of the information that was gained in his investigation. In other words, he would respect the those who didn't wish to be mentioned in the report by not releasing their names. On the contrary, any information that Mitchell gained during his investigation was not guaranteed to be kept confidential, should a federal prosecutor request it.

The numbers...
Number of people interviewed during the 20 month investigation: 700+
(500 of which were former MLB players.)

Number of former MLB players who consented to be interviewed: 68

Number of non MLB players who were associated with the MLB such as managers, coaches, physicians, etc that were interviewed accounted for an additional 550+ interviews.

Follow up...
Baseball commisioner Bud Selig mentioned recently in a press conference that punishments will come on a case-by-case basis.

Your thoughts...
The number one controversy over the Mitchell Report is that some of the names mentioned are not necessarily guilty of steroid use. The report mentions personal testimonies from former players and people linked with current MLB players that may prove some players guilty of substance abuse; but it also gives possible insight on players who are linked to possible substance abuse.

The controversy that falls hand in hand with the release of this report is that some of the names mentioned, though they may not even be guilty of substance abuse to begin with, will have their names sullied (possibly) for the rest of their lives, even if they don't deserve it.

The down side is also that following this publication, the MLB will surely face a tremendous downfall; plenty of people will turn their backs in the MLB in regards to this controversy.

April 22, 2008, 4:18 AM

I'm surprised I didn't catch this thread earlier.

I believe the report is accurate. Clemens tried to disprove it, but that didn't work out so well. I guess he would have had a better chance if he--you know--was actually telling the truth.

It's a shame that baseball has become what it is today. There are many players guilty of using HGH...many who were fortunate enough not to be mentioned in the Mitchell Report.