The Mitchell Report: Links and Initial Thoughts on its Impact
Before we even get started discussing what I believe will become the most influential scandal in the history of baseball, the NY Times has created an incredibly informative and interactive tool to get people “in-the-know” about the Mitchell Report. (Shout out to my sis for the link)
This is so much larger than any gambling problem baseball has ever experienced. I would even say that it could have just as much an impact on the game, relatively speaking, as the breaking down of the color barrier. Thoughts?
A link that is sure to get a few clicks is an eBay item which features a baseball card set with the 86 players who were cited in the Mitchell Report! Sick, but great…no fucking mercy! (Shout out to E-Mar for the link) Now you too (!) can own 86 cards from the world’s foremost steroid users and idoits!
What makes me angriest about this isn’t the fact that the players involved were hiding their steroid use. I am positive (get it?) that there are so, so, so, so many more current and former baseball players who are breathing a sigh of relief (until the next witch-hunt, that is). That doesn’t make me nearly as angry as I am about the fact that the game’s history will likely become so tainted: Bond’s homers; almost every pitch that arguably the best pitcher of my lifetime has thrown will now be scrutinized; Mo Vaughn, well, hey, it’s Mo Vaughn - he is, and always will be the man. Talk about a man that loves the booze and the ladies!
This will undoubtedly bring more attention to the game (which is in desperate need of PR, good or bad due to its thrifty fall from grace in minds of American-sport popularity ), but it will be that which makes people talk about the game in jest, as though it is and has been played for years by men who were and are now frauds. How long will it take before the public forgets these allegations and looks at the games’ athletes for being, well, real athletes? This will be the most talked about story for a long, long time. Between Vick and this, American sports have a long and (could be quite) boring road ahead before they put in place a system that protects itself from, uh, itself.
December 15th, 2007 at 11:43 am
This is a problem that will continue throughout time. As long as the lure of the million dollar contracts are out there, minor leaguers, who make peanuts, will juice to make it to the bigs.
I have a hard time believing this will have the same impact as the breaking of the color barrier. When Branch Rickey allowed Jackie Robinson to play, he made people take a hard look at racial attitudes and stereotypes. This changed the game of baseball as it was known then, and baseball has benefited immensely from it. It also impacted people’s lives within the realm of civil rights. This steroid issue isn’t on the same level. This scandal only helps us realize that baseball is a game, and people will do whatever it takes to win. This issue won’t have much of an impact on other aspects of society. The Mitchell report is a nice $20 million book report, but it won’t necessarily change anything. For every drug testing policy, someone will develop a steroid to beat it. Some players listed have been cleared or will be due to having only circumstantial evidence against them. This report will not benefit the game. I hope it does, however. I hope it changes the way people view athletes and I hope that people realize that is not some new problem. It has been a recurring problem that commissioners chose to ignore until Congress threatened to intervene.
December 16th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I say let the players take ‘roids…no, not let them, MAKE them. If I’m paying 40 bucks for a ticket, I want to see some home runs. Seriously though, this shouldn’t be such a big problem. If they want to get rid of steroids, just outline which substances are banned and test the players…it’s not that complicated.