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Selig Will Decide Fate Of Players

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 14, 2007

What does the report mean?

Former Sen. George Mitchell's investigation concluded that baseball had experienced a "collective failure" to deal with the problem of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. The report named 86 players, including All-Stars Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Miguel Tejada, as connected to the use or possession of steroids or other performance enhancers.

The list also included eight players (Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield among them) whose names were linked to the BALCO investigation. Several other players were alluded to but not named within the report. Mitchell recommended that Major League Baseball employ an independent party to conduct future drug testing, that the program should be transparent and the scope should expand to year-round testing.

What will Major League Baseball do now?

Commissioner Bud Selig announced he has has adopted one of Mitchell's recommendations, which was the elimination of the 24-hour warning given to team officials before a player's random drug test. Selig also said he embraces the other recommendations made by Mitchell and would seek to collectively bargain with the players union to institute those changes. Selig did not say he would follow Mitchell's recommendation that the players involved not be disciplined, insisting that each case would be investigated on "an individual basis."

What will happen to the players named in the report?

Selig said that if discipline is warranted, it will be levied. Many of the players mentioned, including former All-Star Mo Vaughn, are no longer under Selig's jurisdiction. Union head Don Fehr expressed concern that those players' reputations have been damaged, perhaps permanently. In particular, Clemens' future Hall of Fame candidacy could be in jeopardy if last year's rejection of Mark McGwire by Hall voters is any indication.

How will Congress respond?

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has called for a hearing to take place Tuesday in Washington to learn more from Mitchell, Selig and Fehr about the investigation's findings. Waxman and Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., have sponsored legislation in the past aimed at strengthening drug policies in sports, and could do so again. Past hearings and threatened legislation have led to Major League Baseball and the union agreeing to revise the drug policy.

Carter Gaddis

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