Mitchell's List

Former Senator George Mitchell delivered his long-awaited (and long-dreaded in some quarters) report on the use of performance-enhancing substances in Major League Baseball. We've known for some time that this was happening. What we didn't know was who was allegedly using steroids and growth hormones for career purposes.

Wonder no more. Besides names that have come up in previous investigations (Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire), current players such as Roger Clemens (whose attorney disputes the inclusion), Andy Pettite and Miguel Tejada made Mitchell's list.

What's telling here is that, according to Mitchell, there would have been a lot more names on the list if only the players, their attorneys and the union that represents them had agreed to cooperate in the investigation. But with no subpoena powers, the former Senator must have felt fortunate to get as much information as he could.

Mitchell did not recommend any type of punishment for the players that were named in the report. He left that up to MLB commissioner Bud Selig, who said he's going to step up the drug testing (which was one of the recommendations) and decide on some kind of disclipinary action depending on the player. Provided, of course, that Selig reads the report first. All 409 pages of it.

Does this really change things in baseball? Probably not. Attendance went up at major league parks this past season, but TV ratings for the World Series dropped to record lows. You can't blame steroids for that. It just proves that we still want to see the long ball. And if the guys who hit and pitch them look more like Frankenstein monsters than normal human beings, so much the better.

The only question is what will happen to the record books. If Marion Jones is forced to give back her Olympic track medals and the NCAA takes away a university's national championship because of recruiting violations, Major League Baseball, if they're truly serious about cleaning up the sport, can put an eraser to a player's record and deny him admittance to the Hall of Fame. That's what you get for better athletic careers through chemistry.