Roger Clemens. Andy Petite.

Seeing those two names in the report crushed a lot of spirits here in their home town -- especially after the exciting seasons we had with the two men playing here. But of greater concern to many of us is the presence of Miguel Tejada, who the Houston Astros acquired just Wednesday.

A 21-month investigation into use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball concluded Thursday a culture of secrecy and permissiveness gave rise to a "steroids era" in the game that included some of its biggest names, most prominent among them superstar pitcher Roger Clemens.

The report criticized team officials across the league who did little to police their own clubhouses and high-ranking officials in management and the players' union which, the report said, had little motivation to interfere with the surging popularity and economic growth experienced by the game over the last decade. It spread blame for the rise of the use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone in baseball among the players, team officials, the union and Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig.

"Everyone involved in baseball over the past two decades -- commissioners, club officials, the players association, and players -- shares to some extent in the responsibility for the steroids era," the report said. "There was a collective failure to recognize the problem as it emerged and to deal with it early on. As a result, an environment developed in which illegal use became widespread."

Among the most prominent current and former players fingered in the report were Barry Bonds, Miguel Tejada, Gary Sheffield, Andy Pettitte, Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire.

"Players who used [performance-enhancing] substances were wrong," the report said. "They violated federal law and baseball policy, and they distorted the fairness of competition by trying to gain an unfair advantage."

The problem, of course, is that none of these players really has the ability to fight the charges made in the Mitchell report. There won't be any day in court, nor will there be any sort of due process for those accused. That troubles me -- especially given the intimate involvement of federal prosecutors in the investigation that culminated in this report. Indeed, it appears that only Barry Bonds will ever get a chance to present a legal defense to charges related to steroid use.

Regardless, though, I still hope that the game can be redeemed by this report, and the response to it.

Posted by: Greg at 11:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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