Steroids A Mainstay In Baseball's Lineup

Mitchell Report Exposes Performance-Enhancing Drug Use At Every Level, Every Position

(CBS/AP)  The long-awaited report slammed home what many had long suspected: illegal drugs were part of the lineup of every team in Major League Baseball beginning in the mid-1990s.

"Those who have illegally used these substances range from players whose major league careers were brief to potential members of the Baseball Hall of Fame," former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell wrote in his much-anticipated report on performance-enhancing drugs.

"They include both pitchers and position players, and their backgrounds are as diverse as those of all major league players."

Seven MVPs, two Cy Young Award winners and 31 All-Stars - one for every position. In all, the 409-page report identified 85 names to differing degrees, putting question marks if not asterisks in the record book and threatening the integrity of the game itself.

"I didn't learn everything there is to learn about performance enhancing drugs in baseball. There are many other suppliers, many other dealers, no doubt many other users," Mitchell said Friday on CBS News' The Early Show.

According to CBS News' chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian, the extent of drug use revealed in the report calls for what may prove to be a daunting task: finding some way to detect the new drug of choice in sport - not steroids, but Human Growth Hormone, or HGH, craved by athletes driven to enhance performance and avoid positive drug tests.

"The use of human growth hormone has risen because, unlike steroids, it is not detectible through urine testing," Mitchell said.

HGH is a protein produced by the pituitary gland to stimulate cell development. The synthetic form is prescribed by doctors to treat dwarfism and other serious illnesses.

But in recent years HGH has become widely-available over the Internet or though anti-aging clinics. In Hollywood, it's seen as a fountain of youth for reducing fat and wrinkles. In sports, it's used to build muscles, speed recovery, and extend careers, despite serious side effects.

Nearly half of the 86 athletes implicated in Mitchell's investigation were tied to HGH through documents and testimony, including Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and 16 other All-Stars, sparking this reaction from Commissioner Bud Selig:

"We will announce shortly an HGH summit whose mission will be to fight and detect this undetectable substance."

If so, baseball will join forces with the NFL, which recently gave a half-million dollars to former Olympic drug chief Dr. Donald Catlin to discover a foolproof urine test to end the advantage that is HGH..

"we've got to get to place where we are finding things and people aren't slipping through. We have a net with too many holes in it," Dr. Donald Catlin told Keteyian.

But it will likely be years before that net is completely closed, when a reliable test for HGH is found. Until then, it's open season.

Reaction To The Naming Of Names

President Bush Friday cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the individuals named.

"My hope is that this report is a part of putting the steroid era of baseball behind us," he said, surrounded by Cabinet members in the Rose Garden.

Mr. Bush, who once co-owned the Texas Rangers, said, "I've been troubled by the steroid allegations."

The Mitchell Report, he said, means that "we can jump to this conclusion: that steroids have sullied the game."

"The players and the owners must take the Mitchell Report seriously," the president said. "I'm convinced they will."

Page after page, Roger Clemens' name was all over the Mitchell Report.

Count them, 82 times.

Barry Bonds showed up more often. So did Jose Canseco. Andy Pettitte, Eric Gagne and Miguel Tejada also became part of baseball's most infamous lineup since the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

But they didn't get the worst of it Thursday. That infamy belonged to Clemens, the greatest pitcher of his era.

The Steroids Era.

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

Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Troy Glaus, Gary Matthews Jr., Paul Byrd, Jose Guillen, Brian Roberts, Paul Lo Duca and Rick Ankiel were among other current players cited. Some were linked to Human Growth Hormone, others to steroids. Mitchell did not delve into stimulants in his 20-month investigation.

While he vehemently denied it through his lawyer, Clemens was the symbol.

"Roger has been repeatedly tested for these substances and he has never tested positive," Clemens' attorney, Rusty Hardin, said in a statement. "There has never been one shred of tangible evidence that he ever used these substances and yet he is being slandered today."

Considered a lock for the Hall of Fame earlier this week, Clemens' path to Cooperstown was thrown in doubt after he was singled out on nearly nine pages.

Seven-time Cy Young Award winner, eighth on the career list with 354 victories, an MVP and All-Star himself, Clemens suddenly had more to worry about than simply whether to play next season.

"It is very unfair to include Roger's name in this report," said Hardin. "He is left with no meaningful way to combat what he strongly contends are totally false allegations. He has not been charged with anything, he will not be charged with anything and yet he is being tried in the court of public opinion with no recourse. That is totally wrong."

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Read the full Mitchell Report here.

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Much of the information about Clemens came from former New York Yankees major league strength and conditioning coach Brian McNamee.

"I have a problem with relying in this situation on what somebody says now all of a sudden while being threatened by criminal prosecution," Hardin told reporters.

According to the report, 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."

The report was unlikely to trigger a wave of discipline. While a few players, such as Bonds, are subjects of ongoing legal proceedings, many of the instances cited by Mitchell were before drug testing began in 2003.

Mitchell said punishment was inappropriate in all but the most egregious cases, and Selig said decisions on any action would come "swiftly" on a case-by-case basis.

"The most alarming thing that I learned was that hundreds of thousands of American teenagers are using steroids. That's not just involved with baseball, youngsters look up to all great athletes, and they emulate them," Mitchell told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.

[heartlight3]

I would like to know who, in the recent baseball record books, did NOT use steroids? Did anyone make it into the list of the best without them?

[shoebox119]

The New York Yankees... #1 in payroll, but still can''t buy a championship.

Now they''re #1 in juiced players... Clemens, Pettitte, I count at least 22 current or former pinstriped supermen.

All their achievements are now tarnished and the Yankees'' four World Series championships can kiss my drug-free *ss!!

[gkc99]

As if Bud Selig and George W. Bushit haven''t known all about this for decades! Typical criminal behavior--when they get caught, it''s always the "first time"--they "never did anything like that before."

More evidence that George Bushit is a lying cockroach!

[marcpcbs]

jeff_friend

I couldn''t agree more with you.

Mandatory, random drug testing is what keeps the friendly skies safe and many other businesses to boot. I think it''s criminally irresponsible that we don''t have drug testing in our schools and in many other areas of society.

and congress is worried over sports?

this is sick

[jeff_friend]

Lying cheaters using drugs to get ahead-- that''s news? What''s worse: a steroid slugger pumping iron, or a drug-addicted healthcare worker pumping morphine into patients? The government is wasting our time and taxdollars cleaning up pro sports, when it should be requiring random drug tests at all public health facilities and *any* teaching hospital receiving government money. When challenged, lying junkies refuse testing, get fired, but save their licenses and just get hired elsewhere. Sadly, shortages for nurses are so high, hospitals don''t bother checking with previous employers. Here in the City of Brotherly Love, there''s one such untrustworthy heroin-addicted RN mistreating a trusting ICU patient with her chemically-clouded judgment and ethics-compromised care. Last year, Men''s Health reported a staggering 20+% rate of addiction amongst US anesthesiologists-- the people we trust to keep us alive during surgery. And we''re worried about friggin baseball? Why no congressional hearings and government policy REQUIRING random testing for health workers-- especially for students in clinical rotations training with the sick & dying? Hospital risk management and neglect oversight are a farce until that happens. Think about that, the next time you take your kid into a hospital-- where they resist random testing moreso than the MLB union, to protect their students and staff. THIS NEGLIGENCE WOULD STOP WITH UNIFORM RANDOM TESTS AND LICENSE-SUSPENSIONS FOR FAILURE OR REFUSAL.

[marcpcbs]

Hay! I''ve got an idea.

If we legalize and tax all the drug sales that are poisoning our kids we could do away with our national debt in short order.

[marcpcbs]

One way we could shorten the size of the steroid list is to list only those players who didn''t use steroids. And of course no one in football ever uses steroids. Or any other sport for that matter. Miss Jones was just making it all up to get attention.

Did you know that there are tens of millions of our kids having their health, educations and futures destroyed by all the drugs we allow in our High Schools, Junior High Schools and Grade Schools? Yes, that%u2019s right, I said "allow" we could stop it but we don''t cause there''s just too much money in it.

$$$$$$$$$$$$ BILLIONS $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[pilgrimsway-2009]

Why has this list all of the sudden come out now? Why? I think because someone was found guilty in the first place. Remember He does not want to lose His records that he broke through steroids so now everyone else is named so everyone else is to blame. Thus he gets to keep his HR records. Home run records!

[fstop100]

A lifetime ban on all of them. Lets send a message this will not be tolerated.

[myidoncbs]

cheddarboy82 says, "you can''t over dose on steroids, your not gonna get high on steroids and hurt anyone."

Sorry, WRONG! You can definitely take an overdose of steroids. Did you mean to say that it probably won''t immediately kill you when you overdose? That would be true. HOWEVER, didn''t you hear about the professional wrestler, Chris Benoit, who got "roid rage" from the excessive amount of steroids he was taking and killed his wife and kid, and then himself? This happened just 6 months ago!

"Roid Rage", caused by taking too many steroids, causes paranoia, depression and violent, explosive outbursts. It''s just "wishful thinking" on your part to say, "your[sic]... not going to hurt anyone."

[rohink-2009]

What about all the players that took steriods that didn''t go on to achieve greatness in sports. I still think that natural ability plays a huge part in athletes success. I think health wise,obviously they would be better off not taking them.

[cheddarboy82]

No smart guy, what I meant by that is you can list side effects for everything. you people crack me up. talking about stuff your clueless about.

[cheddarboy82]

you ever hear the side effect of say levitra ? Everything has "possible" side effects. From pain medicine to blood pressure meds to common cold over the counter meds

[cheddarboy82]

Those are when used wrong, there is a "right" way to use them. you can also have a laundry list of side effects for legal stuff. Thats just jibber jabber. Alcohol can cause liver damage and a bunch of other things but people still drink more than not right. that means nothing

[cheddarboy82]

jh6379 - you have seen it first hand huh ? I have been there first hand buddy. Alcohol has killed 100 times more people then any steroid has but you can go into any liquor store and get blasted and go drive and kill people...but thats all gravy and steroids is a much bigger issue ? thats nuts...meth labs, crack houses rampant throughout america and this is what congress and cbs is obsessed with. Messed up society we have

[cheddarboy82]

aspirin can kill you if taken wrong. people act like these guys are the devil. you can''t over dose on steroids, your not gonna get high on steroids and hurt anyone. you do a few cycles your not gonna get cancer. Everyone just believes whatever the media tells them. Sure it is a drug, but the harms of it are getting blown way out of proportion. You guys really think in the 80''s and 70''s nobody juiced in baseball ? if thats what you think then your retarded

[denn034]

This has already been said. Why harp on it, CBS?

[excoachken]

This is not news. Any high school coach can tell you that since the late 80''s we have had to deal with students taking steroids, Creatine (sp), and now HGH. The Genie is out of the bottle.

[bogusbones]

Where''s McGwire? He seems to have gone into the gutter far below the radar.

We know a baseball prospect for the minors and he says everyone is doing steroids to get the edge. Big leagues, big money. If you don''t do it, the guy next to you will and he will get the opportunity because you stayed clean. Catch 22.

If Mr. Bonds were as smart as everyone says, why pay big dollars for flaxseed oil? I can get that at the corner grocery. Also if my body appendages began to grow massively in some areas and shrink in others, I''d start asking questions about the stuff.

Treat these guys like the international sports bodies treat the transgressors - strip them of their medals.

The Rocket Clemens. Big bucks period.

[cheddarboy82]

jh6379 - um in mexico you can buy them over the counter at pharmacy''s. You dont need a script. So what are you talking about ?