DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Mitchell Report to be Released Thursday (yahoo news)

NEW YORK - George Mitchell called a news conference for Thursday to announce the results of his 20-month investigation into drug use in baseball.

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Bud Selig does not plan to attend the news conference at a Manhattan hotel a few blocks from the commissioner's office.

Mitchell said Wednesday he will release his report then, and it will be posted online at MLB.com shortly after that. Selig will hold his own news conference 2 1/2 hours after the one by Mitchell.

Baseball reviewed a draft Tuesday at the Manhattan office of DLA Piper, the law firm that Mitchell chairs, a baseball official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because Mitchell hasn't authorized any statements.

Baseball officials have said for several weeks that management would be able to examine the report on performance-enhancing drugs a few days before it is made public to make sure it does not contain confidential information that if released would violate the collective bargaining agreement between players and owners.

The joint drug agreement, which has been part of the labor contract since September 2002, prohibits the commissioner's office, teams and consultants from disclosing player test results, treatment and other information except in very limited, specified circumstances.

Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader, is a director of the Boston Red Sox and served on one of Selig's economic study committees. Selig hired him in March 2006 to investigate drug use in the sport.

He's expected by many in baseball to be critical of the sport for being slow to react to its drug problem in 1990s and beyond. What they will be looking to see in his report is how he parcels blame among Selig, club owners, general managers, other team employees, the players' association and players themselves.

The revelation of players who have not yet been publicly linked to drug use figures to be the most sensational part of the report. Media reports have linked an array of All-Stars and MVPs to performance-enhancers in recent years, among them Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Ken Caminiti, Juan Gonzalez and Mark McGwire.

Bonds, indicted last month for perjury and obstruction of justice over his 2003 testimony in the BALCO drug case, has denied knowingly using performance-enhancers, as have Gonzalez and McGwire.
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I have to admit that i am curious to see if any teams make any strange moves today, signalling a player may be named tomorrow.

Also there area a few players I am curious to see if they are named or not. I am especially curious of guys like Jim Thome who was a twig when he was drafted in 1991, and got bigger and bigger.

Anyone care to guess who's name might be on the report?

I am pretty interested in reading the report. I imagine a lot of it will be dry lawyerese reading with some juicy tidbits..

"twig" may have been overzealous but he has put on as much as 60 pounds during his career

True, he's definately bigger than he was when he was a teen or in his young twenties....but then again, so am I.

Jayson Stark of ESPN says the Roger Clemens is mentioned in the report as taking PEDs with his time before, and during, his Yankees stint. Going to be an interesting day...

Yeah, in a train wreck sort of way it will be interesting.

As long as Barry Larkin isn't on it, I'll be okay.

Barry who?

I can't wait for all the Tribe names to come out. Although, they all clearly wasted their money.

Two words...Adam Dumb.

Harangatang wouldn't be pleased with you.

I just looked at MLB.com where the Mitchell Report will be posted.. the top part of the website is blank and looks like they are waiting for the uploaded report.. should be interesting reading..

I heard ESPN was starting the coverage at 1:00, I'm guessing that's when it's supposed to hit? I've missed the time if it's been posted.

Should be interesting.

Mitchell will read the report at 2 I think, ESPN will start coverage at 1.

He's going to READ it?? How long is this thing anyway, any idea?

I think thats correct..

web page

Mitchell, a Boston Red Sox director, planned to release his report at 2 p.m. Thursday during a news conference in New York City. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig was to hold his own news conference a few blocks away 2 1/2 hours later.

Well, I think *hope* he lists just the names, because I think it's a 300+ pages report.

I'm hoping there's no braves on the list

Sen. Mitchell will giving a statement and taking questions at a news conference at 2 PM, which is when the report will be posted on MLB.com. Not giving reporters a lot of time to prep and ask questions. Bud Selig will have his press conference at 4 PM and the MLBPA will have one at 6 PM. 60-80 names are in the report, Clemens and Andy Pettite are two of the names that have leaked, from their own private trainers.

web page

Mitchell report may name All-Stars, MVPs

By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer
20 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Judgment Day arrived for baseball's steroids era, with the Mitchell report set to be released and posted on the Internet for all to see.

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Many questions from a decade of doping will be answered, but many will remain and perhaps new ones will emerge.

The Mitchell Report exposes a "serious drug culture within baseball, from top to bottom," fingers MVPs and All-Stars and calls for beefed-up testing by an outside agency to clean up the game, The Associated Press learned Wednesday.

The report by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell will include names of 60 to 80 players linked to performance-enhancing substances and plenty more information that exposes "deep problems" afflicting the sport, one of two sources with knowledge of the findings told the AP. Both sources said the report would not address amphetamines.

The two sources were familiar with discussions that led to the final draft but did not want to be identified because it was confidential until its scheduled release. They said the full report, which they had not read, totaled 304 pages plus exhibits.

One person familiar with the final version would only speak anonymously but described it as "a very thorough treatment of the subject" and said some aspects were surprising. He said the report assigns blame to both the commissioner's office and the players' union.

MLB's "not going to love it, the union's not going to love it," he said.

One source said that while the report will cite problems "top to bottom," it also will expose "deep problems, the number of players, high-level MVPs and All-Stars," as well as clubhouse personnel who allowed steroids and other banned substances in clubhouses or knew about it and didn't say anything.

The rest of the report, the sources said, focuses on recommendations that include enhanced year-round testing and hiring a drug-testing company that uses the highest standards of independence and transparency. Baseball's program currently is overseen by a joint management-union Health Policy Advisory Committee, with an independent administrator approved by both sides.

Mitchell, a Boston Red Sox director, planned to release his report at 2 p.m. Thursday during a news conference in New York City. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig was to hold his own news conference a few blocks away 2 1/2 hours later.

The report comes at the end of a year when San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds broke the career home run record, only to be indicted 100 days later on charges of lying to a federal grand jury about steroid use.

It also was expected to recommend that baseball develop a credible program to handle cases with evidence of athletes receiving or taking drugs but not testing positive for them.

Just last week, Kansas City's Jose Guillen and Baltimore's Jay Gibbons were suspended for the first 15 days of next season, and media reports said they had obtained human growth hormone in 2005, after baseball banned it.

Much of the first part of the report will be based on evidence obtained from former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, and from information gleaned from the Albany district attorney's investigation into illegal drug distribution that focused on Signature Pharmacy of Orlando, Fla., the sources said.

Radomski was required to cooperate with the investigation as a condition of his federal plea agreement last April. Radomski pleaded guilty to illegally distributing steroids, HGH, amphetamines and other drugs to players and is awaiting sentencing. Some professional athletes have been linked to the Signature probe, though none have been charged.

Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president of labor relations, reviewed at least part of the report this week to ensure no confidential information from the drug-testing program was disclosed, a person with knowledge of the union's discussion with Mitchell said, also on condition of anonymity.

Despite repeated requests by the players' association to Mitchell's law firm, the union had not been allowed to review the report, that person said.

"I certainly hope after 21 months and getting zip by way of cooperation from the players' association that they'll come up with some recommendations for improvement," said World Anti-Doping Agency chairman Dick Pound. "If not, it's a complete waste of time."

But he said he's not sure baseball would follow any recommendations.

"My guess is that the management side probably would, but the players' association will dig in and continue its steel-town union approach to life," he said.

Agents have said they expect the report to be highly critical of players and the union for largely refusing to cooperate with Mitchell.

Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, sent an e-mail to owners and team presidents in advance of the report with instructions how to respond to media inquiries.

"We look forward to carefully reading the results of Sen. Mitchell's investigation," the recommended response said. "Protecting the integrity of our game is vital, and we intend to study his findings and recommendations, and will not comment until we have done so."

Baseball did not have an agreement to ban steroids until September 2002, did not have testing with penalties until 2004 and did not ban HGH until 2005, when it also instituted a suspension for a first positive test.

Mitchell was hired by Selig in March 2006 after the publication of "Game of Shadows," a book by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters about Bonds' alleged steroid use. The rise in power in the 1990s, which drew national attention when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chased Roger Maris' single-season record in the Great Home Run Race of 1998, was accompanied by a rise in suspicion.

Maris' record of 61 homers had stood since 1961, but McGwire hit 70 that year and 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.

___

AP Sports Writers Eddie Pells in Denver and John Nadel in Los Angeles, and AP Sports Columnist Jim Litke in Chicago contributed to this report.

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Mitchell, a Boston Red Sox director

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Clemens won't be alone. It will be full of yankees. Current and past yankees.

I am interested in what "criteria" this report uses that constitutes "truth". Hear say? Documentation?

The thing that worries me is that they may use very scantily traced circumstantial evidence to trash the careers and names of a bunch of players without the "proper evidence".

I think this will end up being more of a witch hunt than a "report of fact". Hope Mitchell and Selig have their attorney's on speed dial. I think they're going to need them in a hurry!



And the real life soap opera people call Baseball carries on.................................

I think your gonna be a bit upset when the list hits. Thome came up as 3B who hit for average, then went to a guy hitting bombs, I don't think it was the corn either, there are signs he's used, just look at his forehead.

Also I wouldn't be surprised to see Pronk's name on the list.

Don't be surprised of the MLB Golden Boy, A-Rod is on the list.

Remember

Sen. Mitchell was also the one who leaked Paul Byrd's name on game 7 of the ALCS...I would expect to see ZERO Red Sox names on the list.

I could see Manny on the list, he is dumber then a brick, so I could see him being involved knowing or unknowing.

Oh my.. I just checked MLB.com.. quite a bit of coverage..

Apparently, WNBC.com released the list of players named.. then MLB disputed the list.. WNBC went back and confirmed.. then challenged MLB.. then withdrew the list pending official release.. sheez..

Take a peek at MLB.com if you get a chance

Here's the WNBC.com story..

http://www.wnbc.com/news/14845845/detail.html

Mitchell's Steroid List Leaked, Disputed By MLB Official

POSTED: 11:23 am EST December 13, 2007
UPDATED: 1:08 pm EST December 13, 2007


NEW YORK -- WNBC.com's Jonathan Dienst has obtained names expected to be on George Mitchell's list of baseball players linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball officials are refuting some names on the list.

Two separate sources provided WNBC.com with a detailed list of names of ballplayers expected to be included in the Mitchell report, which will be released at 2 p.m. Thursday.

After WNBC.com posted this list, a spokesman for Major League Baseball told WNBC.com that there were several discrepancies between the list posted and Mitchell’s list.


WNBC.com’s Jonathan Dienst went back to the two sources with access to Mitchell's findings. Both sources maintain the list given to WNBC.com is complete and accurate.

WNBC.com made a second call to the MLB official refuting the list. He would not say which names on the list provided by two separate sources are incorrect.

The list contains multple MVP and Cy Young award winners. The list is littered with names of All-Stars past and present and included two sets of brothers.

ESPN.com has been reporting New York Yankees pitchers Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte are on the list.

As an abundance of caution, WNBC.com is no longer posting the list as we work to make sure each and every name that were originally posted on our Web site will be the ones Mitchell will be name later today. Yet another source suggests WNBC.com was given a draft copy by our two original sources, not the final copy being released today.

WNBC.com caught up with former clubhouse worker Kirk Radomski today and will be posting that interview shortly.

See what he had to say about questions about his steroid dealing to players or watch it later tonight on Newschannel 4 tonight. We will continue to work to keep you updated on the steroids report as details become available.

WNBC.com will livestream Mitchell's complete steroids report live at 2 p.m. You can view it at 2 p.m. by clicking this link

My guesses for my team (Red Sox):

David Ortiz
Curt Schilling
Jon Lester