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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 14, 2007

Download The Mitchell Report (.pdf)

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Test Your Knowledge: Juiced Or Not Juiced?

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Steroids Timeline

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Bonds, Baseball And Balco

About Steroids

In a shocking announcement, a 20-month investigation led by former Sen. George Mitchell has revealed that baseball ... was rampant with drug use.

That's right.

It looks like Barry Bonds really might have used steroids.

Across America, people stood dumbfounded. A woman entering a post office in Des Moines, Iowa, pushing a baby in a stroller, shook her head.

"You mean, they might have taken drugs?""

Who knew?

In other news, Alex Rodriguez finalized his 10-year, $275 million contract with the Yankees, the Rays avoided arbitration with relief pitchers Grant Balfour and Gary Glover (whew, that was close) and neither baseball commissioner Bud Selig nor players union chief Don Fehr resigned, which they should do as soon as possible.

Time To Name Names

The names were the thing Thursday. We'd all done our fantasy dirty drafts in our heads. What players would surface in the great unveiling of Mitchell's findings and recommendations? Suffice to say, it was powerful stuff. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if George Mitchell didn't wind up on "Dancing With The Stars."

There were those who expected the end of baseball as we know it.

It isn't.

But it's in the ballpark.

Some of the names were quite big (Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Gary Sheffield, Miguel Tejada, the Brothers Giambi) and some were quite small (Nook Logan).

If this pans out, should we be as angry at Clemens as we are at Bonds?

Yowza.

Cut to the kid standing on the courthouse steps.

"Say it ain't so, Nook."

Lacking subpoena power or cooperation from players, Mitchell did his best, but teeth were lacking. A first-year law student might be able to help an accused player fend off canceled checks and a clubhouse guy's word.

Clemens was outraged, or at least his lawyer was. We wonder about the cases against the names mentioned and the standard of proof.

Without test results, players will deny away, even if they're guilty, in which case they'll only have to live with themselves, easy to do in a 12,000-square-foot house, since you can walk around the place all day and never bump into your conscience.

The Feds are hot on Bonds' trail, so that's a different deal. Chasing down everyone else, separating fact from fiction, might prove impossible.

But the Mitchell Report paints a valid picture, one that needs to be painted.

This game was poisoned by drugs and indifference.

But the report recommends that Selig forego punishment of past abusers unless the game's integrity is at stake.

Its what?

The point is you can't go back in time and start hanging asterisks or stripping records, it's all too murky, though Bonds' case might become crystal clear.

Baseball missed its chance. The time passed as Selig and the owners and Fehr and the players failed to react to this epidemic. It's too late to close that barn door. Baseball lost the barn door years ago. I think someone traded it for a hit of HGH.

Selig is looking for closure. He is worried about the game. He is worried about his legacy. It's about time. It's also too late. The only hope is a clean break.

Make us proud, Bud.

Step aside.

Union Shares The Blame

The same goes for the union chief. Fehr did his membership wrong by not pushing for testing long ago in the name of saving the reputations of the clean. He looked the other way as much as Selig.

If anything, Mitchell's proposals don't go far enough. Baseball should make its testing tougher than the rigid standards for Olympic sports. That way, it can do all the Marion Jones record-stripping it wants in the future.

There can't be a hint of compromise.

Selig and Fehr are just such hints.

Fehr and the union surely will fight the Mitchell recommendation for independent drug testing. Selig will seek pounds of flesh, as if anything can erase the stain.

Nook Logan, we're on to you.

And, as ESPN first reported, Major League Baseball had, by chance, scheduled its annual Christmas party for Thursday night.

Party on.

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