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By ClevelandWill, Section MLB
The Mitchell report was released and players were named. Was this enough and where does this leave the sport? Will Burge asks the questions.....
I defy you to find a single soul that needed an explanation for what has transpired in baseball over the past decade, or the final solution to this epidemic. We're a country of gossips and this was the ultimate scoop. We all wanted the names. So the Mitchell report was released Thursday at 2:00 pm, and to no one's surprise it came stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey with names. Some immense and others faceless. Media outlets salivated over the prospect of new players to crucify, and weeks were spent arguing and debating over what should be done to the implicated. The whole country waited with fervor, as if it was Christmas Eve and we were all ten years old again. For what reason were we so anxious, though? If I challenged you three months ago to speculate and write down fifty names that you thought could possibly end up on this type of report, would you have not gotten at least ten to fifteen correct? If anyone claims that they are in utter disbelief that Roger Clemens was named, then they have been living in complete denial. My list would have definitely included Eric Gagne and Miguel Tejada, also. No surprise there. In fact, most of the names on the list were ones that we had already known about. Palmeiro and Grimsley were the headliners of that bunch. The list did come with some shake-ups though. I will argue that if we had thought hard about it, we could have gotten Pettite and David Justice, but I will throw them in this category anyway. Mo Vaughn, Chuck Knoblauch, and Lenny Dykstra were all names that I certainly never expected to see on the list. The report pointed fingers at former MVP's, Gold Glovers, and Cy Young award winners, along with career journeymen. I don't think there are any Tim Laker posters on anyone's wall, but he was exposed just the same. So are you satisfied? Did this feed your hunger? Were you expecting more or was this satisfactory? I, for one, wanted more. I need more people to burn at the stake. Sure Barry Bonds was fun to kick around, but I need others. We have a couple more names, and plenty more reasons to hate the Yankees, but what does this all accomplish? In essence, all we have now is a sizable list of names and another dilemma in America's pastime. When it was just Barry it was easy. Hate him, stick up for him, or don't care... but those were the clear cut choices. Now where are we? Do we persecute Clemens the same way we did Bonds? I think it is only fair. Do we spite Mo Vaughn when he was many peoples' favorite childhood player? Does this even bring any type of closure to the whole situation? Many questions need answers, and only time can provide them. The simple fact is that the number one accomplishment of the Mitchell Report was to create tension between the union and owners. It is not going to drive away fans from the game, nor bring back those who shun the sport for its years of foul play. No, this essentially did nothing but create a whole new set of predicaments. The names did much more harm than good. This list was like the apple in the Garden of Eden. We shouldn't have wanted it, if fact, we definitely didn't need it. We couldn't resist though. So the report was released and a new era begins in baseball. The era of speculation. After every accomplishment it will now be in the back of our minds. Every time a big home run hitter steps in the box we will question. Every time a pitcher flames a hundred mile an hour pitch past a batter we will wonder. Will this player be on the next list of names? Story writing contestLog in or create an account to vote for this story!
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