The Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball, informally known as the Mitchell Report, is the result of former Democratic United States Senator from Maine George J. Mitchell's 20-month investigation into the use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) in Major League Baseball (MLB). The 409-page report, released on December 13, 2007, covers the history of the use of illegal performance-enhancing substances by players and the effectiveness of the MLB Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The report also advances certain recommendations regarding the handling of past illegal drug use and future prevention practices. In addition, the report names 89 MLB players who are alleged to have used steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.

Background

A former Senate Majority Leader, federal prosecutor, and ex-chairman of The Walt Disney Company, George Mitchell was appointed by Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig on March 30, 2006[1] to investigate the use of performance-enhancing drugs in MLB.[2] Mitchell was appointed during a time of controversy over the 2006 book Game of Shadows by San Francisco Chronicle investigative reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, which chronicles alleged extensive use of performance enhancers, including several different types of steroids and growth hormone by baseball superstars Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi. The appointment was made after several influential members of the U.S. Congress made negative comments about the effectiveness and honesty of MLB's drug policies.[2]

Investigation

Mitchell's investigation focused on high-profile players, without investigating the role teams played. Mitchell reported that the Major League Baseball Players Association was "largely uncooperative".[3] According to Mitchell, the Players Association effectively discouraged players from cooperating with the investigation.[3] In a memorandum to players, the Association advised:

Report findings

The report describes motivations for its preparation, including health effects of steroids, legal issues, fair play, and reports that baseball players acted as role models for child athletes. For example, after the news broke in August 1998 that Mark McGwire had used androstenedione, a steroid precursor whose use was legal at the time, sales of the supplement increased more than tenfold; in 2001, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that 8% of male high school senior athletes had used androstenedione.

Mitchell reported that during the random testing in 2003, 5 to 7 percent of players tested positive for steroid use. Players on the forty-man roster of major league teams were exempt from testing until 2004. One player is quoted: "Forty-man [roster] guys already have all of the [major league] club advantages, and then they could use steroids...it was not a level playing field."

According to the report, after mandatory random testing began in 2004, HGH became the substance of choice among players, as it was not then detectable in tests.[13]

The report noted that at least one player from each of the thirty Major League Baseball teams was involved in the alleged violations.[14]

Players listed

In all, 89 former and current MLB players are named in the report,[2][15] including well-known players such as Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada, and Éric Gagné. Many of them are connected through a relatively small social network centering on Kirk Radomski.[16]

Recommendations

  1. Major League Baseball should use an independent testing administrator to improve their capability to investigate the use of performance-enhancing drugs, above and beyond the current urine testing program. Additionally, Major League Baseball should improve their methods of barring the drugs from the clubhouse.[17]
  2. Major League Baseball should improve their efforts to educate the players and others regarding the grim health dangers that result from this drug use.[17]
  3. When the club owners and the Players Association take up negotiations regarding the league's drug program again, they should be guided by modern and first-rate standards.[17]

Conclusions

Mitchell expressed his hope that readers of the report would look past the players' names that are included in the report and focus on the conclusions he reached during his investigation.

Mitchell presents his conclusions in five sections.[18]

  1. Major League Baseball's 2002 response to steroid use resulted in players switching from detectable steroids to undetectable human growth hormone.[18]
  2. The use of performance-enhancing substances by players is illegal and ethically "wrong".[18]
  3. While players that use illegal substances are responsible for their actions, that responsibility is shared by the entire baseball community for failing to recognize the problem sooner.[18]
  4. An exhaustive investigation attempting to identify every player that has used illegal substances would not be beneficial.[18]
  5. Major League Baseball should adopt the recommendations of the report as a first step in eliminating the use of illegal substances.[18]

Reactions

The release of the Mitchell Report is reported on the front page of The Baltimore Sun the day after its release.

After the report was released, Selig held a news conference in which he called the Mitchell Report "a call to action. And I will act."[15][19] Selig indicated that it is possible that some of the players named in the report may face disciplinary actions. "Discipline of players and others identified in this report will be determined on a case-by-case basis. If warranted, those decisions will be made swiftly," said Selig.[20]

Donald Fehr, executive director of the MLB Players Association, also held a news conference where he expressed his disappointment that the union was not given a chance to read the report beforehand. He accepted some responsibility for the steroid problems but expressed concern about how the league would treat the players named in the report.[21]

Roger Clemens has been deemed the list's standout name.[22] The seven-time Cy Young Award winner issued a response through agent Randy Hendricks, saying "I want to state clearly and without qualification: I did not take steroids, human growth hormone or any other banned substances at any time in my baseball career or, in fact, my entire life."[23]

The day after the report was released, then-President of the United States George W. Bush, a former co-owner of the Texas Rangers, said, "We can jump to this conclusion: that steroids have sullied the game." He said he had no prior knowledge or awareness of player steroid use. He added, "My hope is that this report is a part of putting the steroid era of baseball behind us."

Strangely enough, the Mitchell Report disappeared from both MLB and Baseball Reference, as Swing Completo LLC noted in their reference to the report.[24]

Drug testing after the report

Major League Baseball's drug testing policy became more strict after the Mitchell Report came out, allegedly in hopes of stopping steroid use in professional baseball.

Before the Mitchell Report came out, MLB had one unannounced mandatory test each year for every player and random tests for selective players during the season and the off-season. Each drug test examined each player for steroids, steroid precursors, and designer steroids. If caught, suspensions without pay occurred. The first positive tests resulted in a suspension for ten days, the second for thirty days, the third for sixty days and the fourth positive test resulted in a one-year suspension.

After George Mitchell's report came out, MLB markedly increased testing and punishments. Now baseball tests unannounced twice a year for all players and random testing still occurs for selected players. MLB also tests for more substances. As of 2015, the MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program tests for eight different abusive drugs, 74 performance-enhancing drugs, and 56 stimulants.[25] One of the 74 performance-enhancing drugs is Human Growth Hormone (HGH), a substance that was never tested for before the Mitchell Report because no reliable test existed. Along with the increase of substances tested for came an increase in suspensions without pay. The first positive test now results in an eighty-game suspension, the second is 162 games (a full season), and the third positive results in a lifetime suspension from MLB.[25]

Conflict of interest allegations

Some questioned whether being a director of the Boston Red Sox created a conflict of interest for Mitchell, especially because no prime Red Sox players were named in the report,[22] despite the fact that Red Sox stars David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were later alleged to have used performance-enhancing substances during the 2003 season, as reported by The New York Times on July 30, 2009.[26] Likewise, the report was commissioned by Selig, and no members of the Milwaukee Brewers, whom Selig once owned, appeared in the report.

The report was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle shortly prior to the deciding game seven of the 2007 American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox, although it was not officially released until December, months after the series was over. This was cause for some players and media members to note the curious timing of the leak. In particular, Indians pitcher Paul Byrd, along with some of his teammates, felt that the timing of publicizing Byrd's alleged steroid use was suspicious.

Former U.S. prosecutor John M. Dowd also brought up allegations of Mitchell's conflict of interest. Dowd, who had defended Senator John McCain of Arizona during the Keating Five investigation in the late 1980s, cited how he took exception to Mitchell's scolding of McCain and others for having a conflict of interest with their actions in the case and how the baseball investigation would be a "burden" for him when Mitchell was named to lead it.[27] However, after the investigation, Dowd later told the Baltimore Sun that he was convinced the former Senator had done a good job.[28]

The Los Angeles Times reported that Mitchell acknowledged that his "tight relationship with Major League Baseball left him open to criticism".[29] Mitchell responded to the concerns by stating that readers who examined the report closely "will not find any evidence of bias, of special treatment of the Red Sox".[29]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bloom, Barry M. (December 13, 2007). "Mitchell Report to be released today". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 Wilson, Duff; Schmidt, Michael S. (December 13, 2007). "Baseball Braces for Steroid Report From Mitchell". The New York Times.
  3. 1 2 3 "Mitchell Report" (PDF). pp. SR7. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  4. ↑ "Mitchell Report" (PDF). pp. B9–B10. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Mitchell Report" (PDF). pp. SR25. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  6. 1 2 Zeigler, Mark (December 14, 2007). "Call it the 'Radomski Report'". San Diego Union Tribune. Archived from the original on February 11, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Radomski finds shipping slips under TV". The San Diego Union-Tribune. July 16, 2008.
  8. 1 2 "Florida Today". Florida Today. Archived from the original on January 27, 2008. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Former Reds trainer watches steroids debate with great interest [Archive] – RedsZone.com – Cincinnati Reds Fans' Home for Baseball Discussion". www.redszone.com.
  10. ↑ "Journal-News – Local News for Hamilton, Middletown". journal-news.
  11. ↑ "Former MLB Trainer Larry Starr Criticized Commissioner Selig". www.steroidsources.com. 2009. Archived from the original on June 30, 2009.
  12. ↑ Michael O'Keeffe; Teri Thompson (December 11, 2007). "MLB receives Mitchell Report". Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Mitchell Report" (PDF). pp. SR2. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  14. ↑ "Mitchell report: Baseball slow to react to players' steroid use". ESPN.com. December 13, 2007. Archived from the original on December 16, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  15. 1 2 Davidoff, Ken; Jim Baumbach (December 13, 2007). "Many high-profile names will make Mitchell Report". Newsday. Archived from the original on December 15, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  16. ↑ "The Steroids Social Network". Slate.com. December 21, 2007. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved December 21, 2007.
  17. 1 2 3 "Mitchell Report: Summary and Recommendations" (PDF). p. 6. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Mitchell Report" (PDF). pp. 310–311. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  19. ↑ DiComo, Anthony (December 13, 2007). "Selig: Report is a 'call to action'". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  20. ↑ "Clemens, Pettitte named in baseball steroid report". CNN. December 13, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  21. ↑ Ian Browne (December 14, 2007). "Fehr wants time to review Report". mlb.com. Retrieved December 14, 2007.
  22. 1 2 "Mitchell report: Baseball slow to react to players' steroid use". ESPN.com. December 14, 2007. Archived from the original on December 16, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  23. ↑ "Clemens fires back, denies taking steroids or HGH". ESPN. Associated Press. December 18, 2007. Archived from the original on January 4, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
  24. ↑ "OFICIAL: Lista completa con peloteros vinculados a sustancias prohibidas (Mitchell Report)". Swing Completo. December 24, 2011. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
  25. 1 2 "Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program" (PDF). Major League Baseball. MLB. December 31, 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 24, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  26. ↑ Schmidt, Michael S. (July 30, 2009). "Ortiz and Ramirez Said to Be on '03 Doping List". The New York Times.
  27. ↑ Dodd, Mike (March 31, 2006). "Is George Mitchell independent enough?". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 25, 2011. Retrieved December 24, 2007.
  28. ↑ Walker, Childs (December 11, 2007). "Some question Mitchell as report draws near". Baltimore Sun.
  29. 1 2 Johnson, Greg (December 14, 2007). "Mitchell cites unbiased history". The Los Angeles Times.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Report_(baseball)