Dec

16

Missing from Mitchell Recommendations: Start Prevention Earlier

Posted by Greg | Filed Under News | 

george-mitchell-richard-drew-ap.jpgHow do you stop steroid use in baseball? Start preventing its use much earlier in a player’s career.

I got around this weekend to reading former Sen. George Mitchell’s report to the baseball commissioner on his investigation into the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing substances in major league baseball.

I am a great admirer of Sen. Michell. His book about negotiating a settlement in Northern Ireland, Making Peace, is inspirational. A more credible investigator for baseball could not have been found. But I think his 311-page report (plus appendices) missed an important opportunity to take more of a public health approach to this public health problem. In other words, why is there not more of a focus on prevention — starting earlier in baseball at the high school and college level.

Mitchell is right to recommend investigations, an education program and testing, but I think the education program section falls short. It speaks of major leaguers as role models for young players, which is true, but I believe the three-part recommendations should be extended beyond the MLB to the NCAA, summer leagues and high school. Now, admittedly, I am ignorant of what college baseball already does with respect to stopping steroid use, but I feel the Mitchell Report could have beefed up its recommendations on the need to start prevention earlier.

Baseball America is the only news coverage and analysis that has picked up on implications of the Mitchell Report on leagues prior to the MLB.

The Cape Cod Baseball League is a living monument to the role of developing young talent into tomorrow’s major leaguers. As a New England man, Sen. Mitchell probably has taken in a Cape game or two. The talent and culture we see in major college baseball, including competitive summer leagues, are harbingers of what we will see in the Major Leagues soon enough. The Cape League is a pipeline to the Bigs.

In fact, Mo Vaughn, Ron Villone and other Cape Cod Baseball League greats are implicated in the Mitchell Report. On page 158, the Orioles’ Brian Roberts (Chatham ‘98), son of the Cotuit Kettleers field manager, is reported to have used steroids.

Use of steroids and performance enhancing substances begin before the MLB — just like tobacco use. The Cape League has struggled to enforce its own tobacco use policy as others have reported before. So asking the league to enforce a steroid ban would also be difficult.

The Mitchell report does say that there is a decline in steroid use in high schools (SR-8) but it goes on to say that thousands of high school aged young people still use steroids (SR-22).

Comments

7 Responses to “Missing from Mitchell Recommendations: Start Prevention Earlier”

  1. Dave on December 16th, 2007 9:01 pm

    It was interesting to hear Curt Schilling speak on this issue on Boston radio station WEEI yesterday. Schilling is very upset at the mention of Brian Roberts name in the Mitchell report. He said he considers Roberts to be a close friend. He is upset that Roberts name is mentioned only in the context that Larry Bigbie told Mitchell that Roberts used steroids in 2003. I would be very upset if my name ended up in this report only because “so and so” said I used something.
    In yesterday’s interview, Schilling answered a question many people have been asking. A few years ago, Schilling made a comment about steroid use being rampant in the major leagues. That comment landed him a seat at a congressional hearing. When given the opportunity, Schilling did not name names and seemingly backtracked from his earlier public comments. When asked about this yesterday, he said that he was comfortable making the statement about so many ballplayers using steroids in an interview but, when under oath, he could not say what he felt so sure of. His comment yesterday was that “in his heart of hearts” he knows of a certain level of abuse and he knows specific players who used the banned substances. However, at the congressional hearing, he could not name names under oath because he did not actually see that person use the banned substance.

  2. CapeMan on December 18th, 2007 9:29 am

    Now that Brian Roberts has admitted to using steroids, you have to wonder how Schilling; and from a CCBL perspective, Mike Roberts feels about the situation. To date, this is the closest that the Mitchell report has come to the CCBL. I could be wrong, but I believe Mr. Roberts has sponsored an annual CCBL player, optional education seminar that touched on this subject.

    I applaud Schilling for backing a friend and for calling out the report for reporting what seemed to be a very weak case against Brian Roberts. In fact, I’ve heard many others, including Peter Gammons, come down very hard on the report for how Robert’s name was mentioned. However, I think what might appear as weak evidence in the report, at least in this case, is right on the money and validates the report. Based on Petitte and now Roberts admissions, you can only assume that Mitchell’s report is accurate.

    Lastly, while I endorse them coming forward, both Pettite and Roberts have admitted to doing HGH and/or steroid only once or twice. I have a hard time believing that claim. It seems like they are trying to sway public opinion by admitting to their mistake while also trying to instill a public opinion of “well, they only did it once or twice” in hopes that it simply goes away. At the end of the day, they are applauded as being stand-up guys because they came forward.

  3. Dave on December 18th, 2007 1:36 pm

    You’re absolutely right, CapeMan. I heard the report about Roberts’ admission just a short time ago. I couldn’t help but wonder about many of the same things that you mentioned.
    I also find it very hard to believe that some of these players only used the banned substances once or twice. Some of them, including Roberts, are saying that the moment they were injected they knew this was wrong. C’mon. Did they really give so little thought to the idea of taking steroids or HGH ? That’s hard to believe, and shame on them if they did give little thought to it. It seems like a pretty long process from the time you decide to go that route, to contacting someone, making the purchase, receiving whatever substance was used, before actually getting to the point where the substance is taken. Are we really to believe that after all that, only at the time the deed was done, did the lightbulb go off to make these guys think that what they were doing “isn’t what I stand for ?”
    No one should be surprised that so many ballplayers have so little respect for baseball fans’ intelligence.

  4. CapeMan on December 18th, 2007 2:10 pm

    I just can’t help but think, as I stated earlier, that this report has much more validity now than when originally released.

    When you think that the list of players that were included in the report, by all accounts, represents only a small percentage of the players that were or are actually using, it only further supports the report. It seems that they listed only those players against whom they had significat evidence.

  5. Dave on December 18th, 2007 5:09 pm

    True. With each passing day, the report gains more validity with Andy Pettitte, Fernando Vina, Brian Roberts and others admitting to certain levels of guilt.
    Pettitte’s admission has really cut the legs out from Roger Clemens. The person who named Pettitte is the same person who named Clemens so if it was true about Pettitte, is there any reason to think he didn’t speak truthfully about Clemens too ?
    I hate to say it, but now it looks like Jose Canseco wasn’t as far off base as most people (certainly including myself) thought he was. Canseco may be in this to sell books and to promote himself (Pay to have dinner with Jose !! Pay to have your picture taken with Jose !!) but at least some of what he said is proving true.

  6. CapeMan on December 18th, 2007 6:34 pm

    Agreed. Of all the things that I’ve heard from all of the “talking heads” since the report was released, Steve Phillips said that the best way to may deter steroid and HGH use is to save the test samples. There may not be a test available to detect the use of HGH and some steroids but you ahve to think that some day there will be a valid test. A player that otherwise would take HGH because there was not test might think twice if he could get caught in the future. Might not deter everyone but it was the best idea that I’ve heard up to this point.

  7. Greg on January 26th, 2008 6:13 pm

    A friend just brought to my attention Malcolm Gladwell’s blog in which there is a very interesting conversation underway about steroids and performance enhancement more generally.

    http://gladwell.typepad.com/gladwellcom/

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