Mitchell Report and Baseball

Some say it’s a token gesture while others applaud baseball for addressing the steroid era. The Mitchell Report was released last week and tips the scales at a stout 409 pages. It names 88 players alleged to have taken steroids or human growth hormones over the past decade to improve their baseball prowess. While the report has no judicial power, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has stated that he will consider punishing the players mentioned. How this affects the future of baseball is uncertain. Congressional hearings are slated for January to discuss the findings of the Mitchell Report. Depending on those findings, the 2008 season might have a different look to it, namely missing a few notable players. Amid this confusion, one thing is for sure: baseball is still popular. Major League Baseball set a league-wide attendance record last year while grossing over $6 billion and expects to surpass that in 2008.

If you’re looking to catch up on the hoopla concerning performance enhancing drugs and baseball, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams’ Game of Shadows is an excellent read. Noted steroid-user and home-run basher, Jose Canseco released a 2005 tell-all called Juiced that reveals his and others rampant steroid use throughout the past two decades. Canseco has another tell-all on the way and is promising to name more names. I wonder if he’ll mention his refusal to toss me a batting practice ball in 1988?