Yesterday, the long awaited Mitchell Report was released. The final product was a 409-page tome that documented the steroid-era in baseball from the 1980's to present day. While highlighted with stars like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, etc... many of the players mentioned were either long retired, Mo Vaughn, Denny Nagle, and the laughable Lenny Dykstra or players I never even heard of (if anyone knows about Nook Logan...please tell me). At the end of the day, it's my opinion that this report was nothing more than an attempt to force Major League Baseball to admit something that they knew was going on, but ashamed to admit: that there were athletes under their banner doing whatever it took to gain an advantage.
The Mitchell Report reminds me of the C. Estes Kefauver Committee hearings in 1950. Carey (hence the C) Estes Kefauver was a United States Senator from the state of Tennessee, and in the year 1950 he led the Kefauver Committee Hearings. The purpose of the Senate Committee was to investigate organized crime in the United States. The Hearings were held in 14 cities and had around 600 witness including mob boss Frank Costello, who infamously walked out of the hearing, and politicians such as Mayor of New York City William O'Dwyer, who was suspected of taking patronage from certain mafia figures. The result of the hearings and subsequent report forced Federal Bureau of Investigation Czar J. Edgar Hoover to publically admit that the Mafia did have a presence in the United States, but did absolutely nothing in the end to stop its influence.
The parallels between Mr. Kefauver and Mr. Mitchell are startling. Mr. Mitchell a former Senator from Maine, and a former chair of Disney, was appointed by Commissioner Selig in 2006 to investigate the alleged usages of steroids in Major League Baseball. Mr. Mitchell also held hearings, behind closed doors unlike Mr. Kefauver, with many unwilling witnesses but also like Mr. Kefauver, he did find many who were willing to cooperate. As previously mentioned the result is a 409 page legal document stating what we already knew: steroids and human growth hormones are a presence in Major League Baseball. What a shocker, right?
In conclusion, have we learned anything new? No. So, why are we outraged? Do we feel lied to, or because like Mr. Bud Selig, and Mr. J. Edgar Hoover we are all forced to admit something that many of us already knew existed. I do not feel betrayed, I feel relieved. Let the truth be free, but with that truth, may there finally be consequences. Do not be like your predecessor Mr. Mitchell; let your work actually have bite.
As always, thank you for reading.
Marisa Miller
Danica Patrck
Back in Time: December 3
Special Olympics
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Thanks Pimpylooka. I have a bachelors in History and a masters in Poli Sci. I do not say this to show off, because those degrees forced me to be a good writer, and to explain myself properly. Plus, my parents always forced home good grammar, so I got that both ways.
J. HOVA: DEVILS…
Brooklyn, NY
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Good blog. Amazing how history repeats itself. I guess the Mayans had something in their astrological calendar concept. Maybe we better look out for 2012.
Oso Famoso
Palinville, AK
Total Comments (18064)
Hova... great article... apt metaphorical analysis, and I really appreciate the insight. Certainly in this instance, "silence is acceptance" in the case of MLB and the Commissioner's Office. Coupled with a players' union more interested in the largest slice of the revenue pie possible at the complete behest of athletes' health, baseball has spiraled into one big web of illicit complicity...
Still reading the report, so it is tough to make a full analysis for myself, yet... but from everything I have read and seen so far, this has appeared to be nothing more than a name-dropping endeavor aimed at discovering the past without applying the lessons to the future. I find it hard to believe either Selig or Fehr when they say that more should have been done sooner... why fix it if it isn't broke, eh?
Bigalke
Eugene, OR
Total Comments (13814)
History always repeats itself, and History never dies. All day yesterday, I kept thinking about the Kefauver Committee and then I started reading some books, and going on-line and all the similarities came to mind.
J. HOVA: DEVILS…
Brooklyn, NY
Total Comments (14026)
Good Blog Hova
Mitchell has already asked that no action be taken against the players involved. My question is, if they don't intend to do anything, why bother? I think that this list is simply the ones they think they caught. Nothing significant will happen to them because all they have for the most part, is hearsay evidence. I also believe that the problem is so pervasive that the overwhelming majority of the league is juicing. If they were to suspend or expell all the guilty parties, there would be no season next year. As long as a 3, 4, or 5 year contract will set a player up financially for the rest of his life, players will do whatever they can to gain an edge. As soon as this passes, there will be another substance or "cocktail."
Hllywd: Old…
Columbus , OH
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Also you are definitely to be commended for your knowledge of history. In a time when 35% of the people your age cannot find Washington, DC on a map, it speaks volumes about you to hear you speak of Kefauver.
Hllywd: Old…
Columbus , OH
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I am the happiest man in the world today!!!
Regards,
Barry Bonds
Odenator...I'm…
Total Comments (1083)
Thanks Hllywd. Ironically enough The Godfather 2 is my favorite movie, and one of the key moments to the movie is when Michael Corleone is in front of the Senate Committee. When I was in the 7th Grade my History teacher asked me what my favorite movie was and when I told him Godfather 2, he told me about Kefauver and to read about him.
So, I did.
Odenator: Funny!
J. HOVA: DEVILS…
Brooklyn, NY
Total Comments (14026)
AS far as clemens goes, and any other pitcher in my opinon, the point could be raised that hey were only keeping up with the juiced hitters and tried to level the playing field through roids. it is a valid point.
jeevs BS
Schenectady , NY
Total Comments (4094)
some estimates say 80% of players took roids, so was the playing field level all along? no one knows. Clemens was my favorite player and will always be. but he may have done just as much wrong as 80% of the rest of the mlb
jeevs BS
Schenectady , NY
Total Comments (4094)
Asterisk for one, asterisks for all!!!
Regards,
Barry Bonds (again)
Odenator...I'm…
Total Comments (1083)
Good blog J.
We've all known for months now this thing was coming out, and that there would be 60-80 names on it. To me, it almost feels like we're all gandering at the National Enquirer or something - so we can get the "dirt" on these guys. So we can feel justified in our feelings toward Bonds or Clemens. To go "Aha!, I knew he was on the juice!"
Reading the report, I feel like I'm reading Snopes.com or something. Instead of Mug shots we get grainy images of receipts. Sickens me a little bit. I suppose this was a necessary thing, that it had to happen. I just can't see it making a major change. Athletes by nature, will always look for something that can give them an edge. Hopefully, the next thing will be something legal and not as damaging as steroids.
But I doubt it.
Thugmeister
State Of Jefferson, CA
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