Mitchell Report
I commented upon the following a year ago (9 Dec, 2006):
NEW YORK (AP) - Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell said his probe into steroid use in baseball has been delayed because he lacks power to order testimony.
Good. The probe is such a joke. However, I do hope that Donald Fehr makes some sort of statement on the players' behalf. That way, the Official Report cannot claim that the MLBPA and its members made no effort to cooperate.
Well, I was correct. The report, issued yesterday, contains the following:
The Players Association was largely uncooperative. (1) It rejected totally my requests for relevant documents. (2) It permitted one interview with its executive director, Donald Fehr; my request for an interview with its chief operating officer, Gene Orza, was refused. (3) It refused my request to interview the director of the Montreal laboratory that analyzes drug tests under baseball’s drug program but permitted her to provide me with a letter addressing a limited number of issues. (4) I sent a memorandum to every active player in Major League Baseball encouraging each player to contact me or my staff if he had any relevant information. The Players Association sent out a companion memorandum that effectively discouraged players from cooperating. Not one player contacted me in response to my memorandum. (5) I received allegations of the illegal possession or use of performance enhancing substances by a number of current players. Through their representative, the Players Association, I asked each of them to meet with me so that I could provide them with information
about the allegations and give them a chance to respond. Almost without exception they declined to meet or talk with me.
I knew it would paint the MLBPA and the players as the bad guys. I also recognize that no one is ever going to read this post, but I wanted to vent and show I was right.
NEW YORK (AP) - Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell said his probe into steroid use in baseball has been delayed because he lacks power to order testimony.
Good. The probe is such a joke. However, I do hope that Donald Fehr makes some sort of statement on the players' behalf. That way, the Official Report cannot claim that the MLBPA and its members made no effort to cooperate.
Well, I was correct. The report, issued yesterday, contains the following:
The Players Association was largely uncooperative. (1) It rejected totally my requests for relevant documents. (2) It permitted one interview with its executive director, Donald Fehr; my request for an interview with its chief operating officer, Gene Orza, was refused. (3) It refused my request to interview the director of the Montreal laboratory that analyzes drug tests under baseball’s drug program but permitted her to provide me with a letter addressing a limited number of issues. (4) I sent a memorandum to every active player in Major League Baseball encouraging each player to contact me or my staff if he had any relevant information. The Players Association sent out a companion memorandum that effectively discouraged players from cooperating. Not one player contacted me in response to my memorandum. (5) I received allegations of the illegal possession or use of performance enhancing substances by a number of current players. Through their representative, the Players Association, I asked each of them to meet with me so that I could provide them with information
about the allegations and give them a chance to respond. Almost without exception they declined to meet or talk with me.
I knew it would paint the MLBPA and the players as the bad guys. I also recognize that no one is ever going to read this post, but I wanted to vent and show I was right.
posted by Not Jennifer Gibbs at 12/14/2007
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