All-Star Roster Linked To Steroids

Clemens And Bonds Among 80+ Players Named In Report; Commissioner Vows Swift Action

(CBS/AP)  Roger Clemens, Miguel Tejada and Andy Pettitte were named in the long-awaited Mitchell Report on Thursday, an All-Star roster linked to steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs that put a question mark, if not an asterisk, next to some of baseball's biggest moments.

Barry Bonds, already under indictment on charges of lying to a federal grand jury about steroids, and Gary Sheffield also showed up in baseball's most infamous lineup since the Black Sox scandal.

The report culminated a 20-month investigation by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, hired by commissioner Bud Selig to examine the Steroids Era.

"Everyone involved in baseball over the past two decades - commissioners, club officials, the players' association and players - shares to some extent the responsibility for the steroids era," Mitchell said. "There was a collective failure to recognize the problem as it emerged and to deal with it early on."

During his entire 21-month investigation, Mitchell faced staunch resistance from baseball's powerful player's union, reports CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian.

So Mitchell put pressure on coaches, trainers, even clubhouse attendants, to talk.

The keys to the investigation: evidence seized during a raid last February of an online pharmacy in Florida and, most importantly, a wad of checks provided by former New York Mets clubhouse attendant turned government informant Kirk Radomski, adds Keteyian.

In April, Radomski pleaded guilty to selling anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs to dozens of Major League Baseball players from 2003 to 2005 and began cooperating with authorities and Mitchell.

Eric Gagne, Jason Giambi, Troy Glaus, Gary Matthews Jr., Jose Guillen, Brian Roberts, Paul Lo Duca and Rick Ankiel were among other current players named in the report - in fact, there's an All-Star at every position. Some were linked to Human Growth Hormone, others to steroids.

Clemens was singled out in nearly nine pages, with much of the information on the seven-time Cy Young Award winner coming from former New York Yankees major league strength and conditioning coach Brian McNamee. More than a dozen Yankees, past and present, were among the 80-plus players identified.

Players were linked to doping in various ways: some were identified as users, some as buyers and some by media reports and other investigations. Jose Canseco's book "Juiced" also was cited.

"According to McNamee, from the time that McNamee injected Clemens with Winstrol through the end of the 1998 season, Clemens' performance showed remarkable improvement," the report said. "During this period of improved performance, Clemens told McNamee that the steroids 'had a pretty good effect' on him."

McNamee also told investigators that "during the middle of the 2000 season, Clemens made it clear that he was ready to use steroids again. During the latter part of the regular season, McNamee injected Clemens in the buttocks four to six times with testosterone from a bottle labeled either Sustanon 250 or Deca-Durabolin."

Mitchell called for an independent agency to oversee drug testing in the game, adds Keteyian.

But he urged Selig to hold off on punishing players in the report "except in those cases where he determines that the conduct is so serious that discipline is necessary to maintain the integrity of the game."

"If there are problems, I wanted them revealed," Selig said. "His report is a call to action, and I will act."

Selig said discipline will be determined in case by case basis, and actions will be taken "swiftly."

Several stars named in the report could pay the price in Cooperstown, much the way Mark McGwire was kept out of the Hall of Fame this year merely because of steroids suspicion.

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Read the full Mitchell Report here.

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"Former commissioner Fay Vincent told me that the problem of performance-enhancing substances may be the most serious challenge that baseball has faced since the 1919 Black Sox scandal," Mitchell said in the 409-page report.

"The illegal use of anabolic steroids and similar substances, in Vincent's view, is 'cheating of the worst sort.' He believes that it is imperative for Major League Baseball to 'capture the moral high ground' on the issue and, by words and deeds, make it clear that baseball will not tolerate the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs."

Rafael Palmeiro, who tested positive for steroids, was among the former players named. So were Kevin Brown, Benito Santiago, Lenny Dykstra, Chuck Knoblauch, David Justice and Mo Vaughn.

"We identify some of the players who were caught up in this drive to gain a competitive advantage," the report said. "Other investigations will no doubt turn up more names and fill in more details, but that is unlikely to significantly alter the description of baseball's `steroids era' as set forth in this report."

"The illegal use in baseball of these substances also victimize the majority of players who don't use them. We heard from many former players who believe it was grossly unfair that the users were gaining an advantage," Mitchell said.

"The players' union was largely uncooperative for reasons that I thought were largely understandable," Mitchell added.

Union head Donald Fehr made "no apologies" for the way they represented players.

"Many players are named. Their reputations have been adversely affected, probably forever," he said. "Even if it turns out down the road that they should not have been."

Mitchell is a director of the Boston Red Sox, and some questioned whether that created a conflict.

"Judge me by my work," Mitchell said. "You will not find any evidence of bias, special treatment, for the Red Sox or anyone else. That had no effect on this investigation or this report, none whatsoever."

Giambi, under threat of discipline from Selig, was the only current player known to have cooperated with the Mitchell investigation.

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Baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez says if there is truth in the Mitchell report accusing dozens of players of using steroids, it will be a "huge black eye" for the game of baseball. Katie Couric also speaks with Rodriguez about his new record-breaking, 10-year contract with the New York Yankees. On 60 Minutes this Sunday, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

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Roger Maris' record of 61 homers had stood since 1961, but McGwire hit 70 in 1998 year and Sammy Sosa had 66. During the chase, the AP reported McGwire had used androstenedione, a supplement then available over the counter that produced testosterone.

A bulked-up Bonds then shattered McGwire's record by hitting 73 homers in 2001.

Victor Conte, the founder of Balco, says he never provided Bonds with undetectable anabolic steroids known as "the cream" and "the clear" but did give them to Greg Anderson, Bonds' personal trainer, reports Keteyian.

About two hours after Mitchell released his findings, two congressmen at the forefront of Capitol Hill's involvement in the steroids issue asked Mitchell, Selig and Fehr to testify at a House committee hearing next week.

California Democrat Henry Waxman and Virginia Republican Tom Davis - the leaders of the panel that held the March 17, 2005, hearing at which McGwire, Palmeiro and Sosa testified - want to know "whether the Mitchell report's recommendations will be adopted and whether additional measures are needed," they said.

Another representative who sponsored a bill and held hearings on the topic in 2005, Florida Republican Cliff Stearns, called on Selig to resign.

"Certainly, a lack of leadership and oversight in MLB enabled these abuses to continue," Stearns said Thursday. "After 15 years of slow action, a new commissioner is needed to guide the league out of this era of drug abuse."

[keithle1]

I will admit to liking Reggie Jackson when he hit those home runs for the Yankees. And I''m not a Yankee fan. Happened to be living in Princeton, NJ at that time. My father likes baseball. Reggie. Had his own candy bar. "The straw that stirs the drink."

Did Reggie take anything he shouldn''t have taken or was he pure, natural hitting talent/skill?

[keithle1]

I hate baseball. It could disappear tomorrow & I wouldn''t miss it. Like hockey.

If steroids & performance enchancing drugs did not exist, how many home runs would these players hit in a season?

Give me the felons of the NFL any day.

[kiskis1]

Sunday is the day targeted by GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul''s supporters for another fundraising push.



So, I''ll be sending my money in on Sunday for the simple reason Ron Paul is an honest man among charlatans and power seekers. And he gives me hope when it is in short supply.

It is also fun to think of what a Paul administration would do if the establishment allowed him to get that far.

Hope, truth and justice are in short supply in what is now the United States. When they are offered, they should be grabbed and protected like the rare treasures they have become. Ron Paul offers those things.

Certainly it is another David and Goliath struggle, and the Davids have rarely won since the original face-off. But, that is why we have hope.

[tibu987]

Uh, let''s see.
Sports corruption, drug use, rapists, creeps, and scudgeballs.
National, State, and City governments, corrupt, nepotism, pork, *** scandals, entitlement, etc.
Church corruption, *** scandals, theft.
Business corruption, theft, *** scandals, CEO immorality,lack of good business practices.
Show business, drug use, *** scandals, nepotism, sham marriages, etc.
Um, did I forget anything? Well, there''s the media.
Too much money, too little morality, patriotism, idealism, compassion, honor.
Creeps, sleazeballs, drug and *** addicts, convicts, etc.
Where did we go wrong? Where is this leading us as a nation?
Cynical, you betcha.

[sgtrds]

"68 Tigers fan, are we? Also Gates Brown, Don Wert, Willie Horton (not that one, the ball player) Jim Northrup (4 HRs in one game), John Hiller, Jim Stanley, Joe Sparma, and the coach, Mayo Smith.

Posted by brianbwb at 02:19 AM : Dec 14, 2007

When the ''68 Tigers were in the World Series (no playoffs back then) I was in living in a very small town (600 people) in Western Michigan. During every day game the teachers would bring in radios and school ground to a halt while the game was on. When you walked down the street the sound of the game, either on TV or radio came out of every open door of every home and business. The cashier at the local store would stop for every pitch and every one sipping beer at the bar screamed every time a Tiger hit the ball or made a great catch. Every man, women and child in the whole town was glued to the sounds of the games and it was all anyone talked about. I can still hear the sweet tones of Ernie Harwell announcing the play by play and remember the entire school and town holding it''s breath with every play. It was a magical Norman Rockwell type experience and one of my favorite childhood memories.

Scandals like this one mean that little leaguers like I was then will never have that same feeling of joy and pride and that''s the biggest shame these "players" should be feeling. They''ve killed off baseball for kids of all ages.

Oh and don''t forget Stormin'' Norman Cash.

[sgtrds]

I leave out Denny McLain for gambling...

Ahh, the good old days...

Posted by brianbwb at 02:19 AM : Dec 14, 2007

And he was really bad at it too! LOL

[iceman_1960]

[cpaide was quoting Stefan87462]

[iceman_1960]

"Micheal Jordan on steroids? NO WAY!

He was pure talent."
- Posted by cpaide at 11:06 AM : Dec 14, 2007

That"s right. And his easygoing personality -- I never saw him in any kind of fistfight in his long career, despite all the rough defenses used against him -- was not that of an angry steroid user.

His talent was all natural. It was a pleasure to watch him work.

[cpaide]

Micheal Jordan on steroids? NO WAY!

Jordan''''s numbers when he came into the league were even better than his numbers at 27 or 28 years old. He was pure talent. His numbers didn''''t just increase as he got older as Bond''''s numbers did. Jordan''''s head never became abnormally large either.

Micheal Jordan was the real deal.

Posted by Stefan87462

no, brother. he was wearin that magic morman underpants--like half the nba today.

[cheddarboy82]

I love the people here who are surprised. Reality check, it happened and will continue to happen. Drugs are a part of sports now and this will not stop anything. This is all blown way out of proportion. And like mentioned why does congress get involved ? It''s steroids, not like there using heroin and killing there families. Most the listed played im sure are good human beings. Blame the people who pay these guys 30 million a year.

[chitown639]

Quite easy??? If professional ball was easy...everybody would be doing it. A-Rods new contract is 252 million, that''s about $46,000 per at bat. In a country with a population of over 299 million, only about 1200 men are actual players in MLB. Being in that very select group of 1200 is a extremely difficult task.

[lucy-in-tx]

''I don''''t follow sports too closely so I was wondering about this. Are steroids use in other sports? In particular the NFL?
According to Lucy that is the case. If so, that''''s going to make it really difficult for baseball players to fall in line. They must feel they''''re being picked on and, it seems to me, they are.''
Posted by closethippy1 at 07:49 AM : Dec 14, 2007

Pardon me, closethippy1, but I did say ''most likely'' and did not intend for my phrasing to be taken out of context, nor did I entirely target the NFL, but did say ''college athletes'' and also, ''other sports,'' but if one looks closely and takes note of the physical build of lots of the players in lots of sports, it does make one wonder if performance enhancing drugs are being used by some of the athletes, does it not?

[honestabe8]

degrass: i would agree with most of the stuff you have said, other than the instant replay. those are not necessarily about honest, rather another eye (or two) on a close play. two players can, while being totally sincere, see a play from different angles. for example, the defensive back who claims vigorously that the reciever''s feet were on the sideline, and the receiver who just as sincerely says he was in bounds. things happen fast out on the field.

[honestabe8]

There are many people speaking of the purity of the game, as they remembered when they were kids. Well, the money has killed it. The money makes the risk worthwhile.

[honestabe8]

grammawhamma: i agree with your statement about sports heroes. however, if they are just entertainers, why should we drug test them? do we drug test singers? actors? and, continued testing will just drive the creation of substances that won''t be discovered, until they are found, then others will be created, until they are found, ad nauseum.

brianbwb: don''t forget mickey lolich.

[DaveGress]

Speak for yourself. I was actually quite good at sports ---- college ball. Turns out it''''s really not that hard to catch and throw

anyone can catch and throw. you didn''t make it because you couldn''t hit the ball.

[DaveGress]

psy_war - are you new to boards. First rule - don''t critcize the spelling. Most comments are written in haste. So go f yourself for that.

[fstop100]

It is cheating, if we don''t give all these players a lifetime ban from sports we are telling our children it''s OK to cheat! Time for MLB to care more about values than money. Maybe all us fans should boycott baseball on June 1st 2008 to show what we think

[DaveGress]

formrusmcsgt - I agree. Cheating is a part of baseball, always has been. From a players ealiest age they are taught to cheat. For example, if an umpire makes the wrong call and you know its wrong you are tought that its the other teams tough luck and you don''t say a word about it.

That type of mentality is in every sport. If people were honest there wouldn''t be a need for instant-replay. The need to WIN overrides everyone''s ethics. Take Bill Belichik for example. It''s not enough to put superstar atheltes on the payroll, he had to use cheating to gain more of an advantage. People like him look the other way when performance enhancing drugs are invlived. They just NEED TO WIN!

[DaveGress]

to psy_war - I disagree that these players have no talent. I doubt that there are enough steroids on the planet to make you or me a good baseball player.