December 13, 2007: The Mitchell Report Is Released

December 13, 2007: The Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball is released the public. Since the leader of the investigation was George J. Mitchell, the document becomes popularly known as The Mitchell Report.

Mitchell had a distinguished career in politics. He was a U.S. Attorney in his native Maine, and a Judge of the U.S. District Court. When his mentor, Senator Ed Muskie, resigned in 1980 to become U.S. Secretary of State, Mitchell ran for his seat, and won it, being elected to a full term in 1982 and re-elected in 1988. At that point, his Democratic colleagues elected him to be the Senate Majority Leader, a post he held for the rest of his term. He did not run again in 1994.

Instead, being of Irish descent, he accepted a post as U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, and was among the negotiators of the Good Friday Accord that ended "The Troubles" in 1998. His ancestral homeland was grateful, and he was appointed the Chancellor of the Queen's University in the Northern Irish capital of Belfast. Officially, he held this post for nearly 10 years, from 1999 to 2009, even as he served as Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission in November and December of 2002.

In 2006, in the wake of Congressional hearings the year before that tainted the reputations of several current and former players, Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig asked Mitchell to lead an investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs by players.

After 20 months of investigations, Mitchell released a report running 409 pages, and including the names of 89 former and (then) current players, claiming evidence of use of steroids or other substances prohibited by MLB. Among them were former Yankees Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and David Justice; and some stars from other teams, including Barry Bonds, who already held the records for most home runs in a season and most home runs in a career.

This was just a few weeks after the Boston Red Sox had won their 2nd World Series in 4 seasons. And it did not escape the notice of some people in the media that Mitchell was a member of the board of directors of the Fenway Sports Group, owners of the Red Sox. But the report mostly let the Red Sox off the hook. It was as if Mitchell was trying to say, "The Red Sox are clean, and their recent victories were won fairly. But the Yankees, the team that Red Sox fans hate the most, won their recent Pennants and World Series unfairly."

It was a dark moment for Yankee Fans. Just 3 years and change earlier, they could legitimately say that their last title was in 2000, and Boston's last was in 1918. Now, it was generally accepted by baseball people, official and unofficial alike that the Red Sox had won 2 of the last 4 World Championships, while the Yankees hadn't "really" won one since 1978.

On July 30, 2009, The New York Times reported that 104 players had failed steroid tests in 2003, and that 2 of them were David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, the 2 biggest hitters on those Boston title teams. Just like that, the Sox' 2004 and 2007 titles were exposed as frauds.

What's more, The Mitchell Report was also exposed as a fraud, because it said nothing about Ortiz and Ramirez. Mitchell, already a behind-the-scenes political operative when Richard Nixon was digging himself a deeper hole in the Watergate scandal, should have known: It's not the crime that really gets you, it's the cover-up. He had accused, with evidence that held up better with some players than with others, but had covered up the "crimes" of players for his own team.

It is a tremendous stain on the career of a great public servant. And it destroyed The Mitchell Report's credibility completely.

*

December 13, 2007 was a Thursday. And, wouldn't you know it, New England beat New York that night. The New England Patriots beat the New York Jets, 20-10 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. Speaking of cheating: This was the year that the Patriots had been exposed in the "Spygate" scandal.

I have to give Bill Belichick credit for one thing: He didn't lie about it. Whereas the Red Sox and their fans still insist that everything they've won since 2004 is legit, Belichick basically said, "Yeah, I cheated. What the hell ya gonna do about it, huh?"

There were 2 games played in the NBA that night. The Washington Wizards beat the Miami Heat, 104-91 at the American Airlines Arena (now named the Kaseya Center) in Miami. And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 102-97 at the Staples Center (now named the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

There were 10 games played in the NHL that night:

* Here's one where the New York Tri-State Area beat New England: The New Jersey Devils beat the Boston Bruins, 3-1 at what's now named the TD Garden in Boston. The Scarlet & Black got a goal from Brian Gionta, and 2 from Jamie Langenbrunner.

* The New York Islanders beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 3-2 at the Nassau Coliseum. (The New York Rangers were not scheduled.)

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1 at the Wachovia Center (now named the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh (then known as the Mellon Arena, before reverting to its original name).

* The Calgary Flames beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 9-6 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Nashville Predators, 2-1 at the Sommet Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Edmonton Oilers bear the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3 in a shootout at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Florida Panthers beat the St. Louis Blues, 1-0 at the ScotTrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-1 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 at the HP Pavilion (now the SAP Center) in San Jose, California. 

July 30, 2009: The Boston Red Sox Are Exposed As Cheaters

July 30, 2009: The New York Times and Sports Illustrated publish reports that reveal that David Ortiz tested positive for a banned substance during survey testing in 2003.

"Big Papi," the biggest reason why the Boston Red Sox won the 2004 and 2007 World Series, cheated.

It was also revealed that Manny Ramirez, another big bat behind those titles, had failed the same test. But this was not new: He had been exposed as using performance-enhancing drugs earlier in the year, after having been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It was "nice" of the Times and SI to reveal it 6 years after the fact, 5 years after the Red Sox finally ended "the Curse of the Bambino," and 2 years after they won a 2nd World Series as well.

Still, those World Series wins are hereby invalidated.

Let's be blunt, shall we? Let's be brutally honest.

The linchpin to saying that the Yankees "cheated" their way to winning the 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 World Series is Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.

For Pettitte, we have an admission of PED use to come back from an injury in 2002, a season in which the Yankees did not win a Pennant, much less a World Series.

For Clemens, we have the word of Brian McNamee. Translation: Even if Clemens is a louse (and we have many reasons to say that he is), McNamee isn't exactly trustworthy, either. He submitted evidence that has not been revealed to the public. The 2000 WS, and the '01 and '03 Pennants, can be attributed in part to Clemens' use, if in fact McNamee is being completely honest. But 1999? Clemens wasn't all that hot that year. Either he wasn't using, or it wasn't working.

Alex Rodriguez? At this point, he had never played on a Pennant winner, and, besides, all we had on him is an admission of an accusation that he used before becoming a Yankee. He would become the most-tested player ever, and did not test positive in 2009, when he finally helped the Yankees win a World Series. Even afterward, when evidence as to his guilt came again, and he got a lengthy suspension, he still didn't test positive.

Gary Sheffield? He never helped the Yankees win a Pennant, either, and all we have on him is an admission of something that happened before becoming a Yankee.

Jason Giambi? He helped the Yankees win the '03 Pennant – against those same cheating Red Sox – but in '04, it was obvious that steroids weren't helping him.

Compare also the Yankees' postseason opponents:

The 1995, 2000 and '01 Seattle Mariners: Jay Buhner (probably), Edgar Martinez (possibly), and, for the latter two, Alex Rodriguez (using then? who knows). They almost certainly used steroids, but the Yankees still beat them 2 times out of 3.

The '96, '98 and '99 Texas Rangers: Rafael Palmeiro (caught), Juan Gonzalez and Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez (almost certain). Still, the Yankees beat them 3 times, going 9-1 in games in the process (though those 1st two, in '96, were awfully dicey).

The '96 and '97 Baltimore Orioles: Palmeiro (caught) and Brady Anderson (not official, but, come on). The Yankees beat them in the '96 ALCS, but lost the '97 Division Title to them. Still, in those two years combined, they won a grand total of 1 home game in ALCS play, so I don't want to hear about how the Yankees "cheated" -- either with steroids or a kid in right field.

The '96 and '99 Atlanta Braves: On the second occasion, John Rocker, even though he did nothing against us. Besides, the Yankees beat them.

The '97 and '98 Cleveland Indians: Manny Ramirez (caught), Matt Williams (mentioned in the Mitchell Report) and Jim Thome (suspected). Split 2 series.

The '98 San Diego Padres: Ken Caminiti (admitted). Swept in the World Series, so it didn't matter.

The '99 Red Sox: Hard to tell. Manny wasn't there yet, nor Papi, nor Curt Schilling, nor Mark Bellhorn, nor Kevin Millar. But Pedro Martinez? So skinny, but now you have to wonder. Jason Varitek was there. So was Trot Nixon. And Nomar Garciaparra: He's fallen apart since, so was Nomahhhh using? In this case, it didn't matter, because the Yankees beat them in the ALCS.

The 2000 and '01 Oakland Athletics: The aforementioned Jason, and also Jeremy, Giambi, and that's just the ones I know of. It didn't matter, because the Yankees beat them both times.

The '01 Arizona Diamondbacks: Matt Williams, and the heavily suspected Schilling and Luis Gonzalez.

The '02 Anaheim and '05 Los Angeles Angels: As far as I know, they were clean.

The '03 and '04 Minnesota Twins. As far as I know, they were clean, and it didn't matter because the Yankees beat them both times anyway. In fact, after those two ALDS, the Yankees now have a better postseason record in the Metrodome than the Twins do.

The '03 Florida Marlins: Pudge Rodriguez again.

The '03 and '04 Red Sox: Papi and Manny, and rumors abound about Schilling, Millahhhh, Bellhorn, Trot and Tek.

The '06 Detroit Tigers: Pudge again.

The ’07 Indians: As far as I know, they were clean.

And, of course, the 2000 New York Mets: Mike Piazza. It didn't matter, because the Yankees beat them anyway.

Put it all together, and not only have the Yankees been helped less by steroid use than any of those teams (if they were helped by it at all), but the Yankees have been hurt by steroid use more than any other team!

*

But as big a story, and as underreported a story, as that is, the biggest story right now is that the Red Sox cheated. They couldn't win honestly, so they cheated.

The Yankees didn't cheat: They had no control over how to use the Curse, and then again, as one of the River Avenue T-shirts says, maybe there never was a Curse, the Sox just, uh, underachieved for 86 years! (As long as we're being honest, I checked once, and they were within range of the postseason in September in 43 of those 86 years, exactly half. They didn't "suck for 86 years.")

But the Red Sox cheated. Sox fans can throw away those "Got rings lately?" T-shirts -- if not in the trash, then I can suggest other places to stick them -- and Yankee fans could bring back the "1918" T-shirts, just add an asterisk. (Not sure if Roger Maris would approve, but I'll bet the Babe would laugh at it!)

All their smack talk these last five years, and it was all a big fat lie. Red Sox fans on July 30, 2009 are roughly in the same position as Richard Nixon fans were on July 30, 1974: They know now, their guy is a crook!

In 1967, during the Sox' "Impossible Dream" season, the young Bee Gees, not yet the hideous avatars of disco, sang a lovely song called "Massachusetts." They sang "The lights all went out in Massachusetts." I'm sure a few Yankee Fans have sung that one over the years.

On this historic day, the lies all came out in Massachusetts.

Of course, when the 2022 election for the Baseball Hall of Fame took place, David Ortiz, eligible for the 1st time, was elected. Alex Rodriguez, also eligible for the 1st time, was not.

It's been said that the greater offense of Pete Rose isn't that he bet on baseball, but that he lied about it for 15 years after getting caught, before coming clean.

For his steroid use, both times he was accused, A-Rod came clean quickly.

Big Papi has lied about it for 13 years -- almost as long as Rose has lied about what he did.

Ortiz is in the Hall of Fame. A-Rod and Rose are not.

I'm not saying that A-Rod and Rose should be in the Hall. I am saying that Ortiz should not be in it. 

*

July 30, 1999 was a Thursday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Nick Swisher hit a home run, and Derek Jeter went 1-for-4. But Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-4, and Phil Hughes blew it in relief of Andy Pettitte.

* A doubleheader was split at Citi Field. The New York Mets won the opener, 7-0. Johan Santana pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and 2 relievers finished the shutout. The Colorado Rockies won the nightcap, 4-2.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-5 at Fenway Park. David Ortiz went 2-for-3 with a 3-run homer. I guess he was still juicing.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-3 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins, 6-3 at Land Shark Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Brian McCann won it with a home run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-4 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros, 12-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Yes, both Chicago teams were not only at home on the same day, but both won.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Washington Nationals, 7-3 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-3 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Matt Kemp singled Andre Ethier home with the winning run in the top of the 10th.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-1 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-2 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

* And the following teams were not scheduled to play that day: The Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cleveland Indians, the Detroit Tigers, the Los Angeles Angels, the Minnesota Twins, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays.