George Mitchell’s steroid investigation findings are the other shoe waiting to drop. Everybody knows it’s coming, but nobody knows when. Names are supposedly gonna be revealed, so MLB’s gonna have to figure out a way to sweep the report under a rug before next season. Hopefully Bud Selig has been taking notes from David Stern on how to handle a potentially league crippling scandal.
During the course of the investigation George Mitchell has tried to talk to anyone he felt could give some insight into performance enhancing drug usage in Major League Baseball. The only player he has spoken with is Jason Giambi, and that’ only because pressure was applied to Giambi. With the lack of available people to question, the Mitchell investigators turned to people formerly associated with the game.
Larry Starr was the head trainer for the Cincinnati Reds from 1972 to 1992 and for the Florida Marlins from 1993 to 2002. He has been interviewed by lawyers involved in the investigation 4 times over the past year and a half, but has stated numerous times that he will not reveal the names of any players he knows to have used PEDs. That hasn’t stopped the lawyers from asking.
He said throughout their conversations — which included a face-to-face meeting in the summer of 2006 in which Gordon and another lawyer traveled to Florida — Gordon would throw out the names of players and ask if they had used drugs.
Starr said Gordon asked about “the obvious ones,†including Barry Bonds, and about other players as well.
“I think Sheffield’s name probably came up, and to be honest, I said while he was with me there was nothing I saw,†said Starr in reference to Gary Sheffield, who played for the Marlins from 1993 to 1998.
I’m not surprised that they asked about Barry, he’s been the trophy the whole time, but this caught me off guard:
“They asked me if Rose used drugs,†Starr said. “His name did come up; I am not sure why, other than I had him as a player. Anyone that knows Pete knows he didn’t use steroids.â€
The Mitchell investigation wants to know if Pete Rose used steroids? I guess Pete Rose, the all time hit king, being banned from the game isn’t enough. They need to let Charlie Hustle breathe. And how far back did the investigation go? I don’t need the Mitchell report to tell me Jackie Robinson and Stan Musial never used the cream and the clear.
Former Trainer Provides Insight Into the Mitchell Steroid Investigation. Courtesy of The New York Times
Tags: Steroids, Performance Enhancing Drugs, Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, New York Times
