George Mitchell, the former Senator who was tabbed by Commissioner Bud Selig to conduct an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs, has come out with a list with about 80 names of players who were linked to either steroids or human growth hormones. There was a lot of speculation leading up to the report as to whether the names that were on the list were going to be big-named players. There were some marquee players on the list of reported drug users. The biggest name on that list was seven-time Cy Young award winner Roger Clemens of the New York Yankees. Clemens has been in the league since 1984, when he was with the Red Sox, and his name seemed to be a focal point in the report. Clemens was singled out in the report in nine pages, and the guy who singled out him and fellow Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte was former Yankee strength and conditioning coach Brian McNamee. McNamee told Mitchell that he injected Clemens in 1998 with steroids and then again in 2000 when Clemens said he was ready to use it again. Pettitte was also taking drugs from McNamee. In 2002, when Pettitte was on the disabled list, he wanted to speed his recovery. So he asked McNamee to come to Tampa where Pettitte was recovering and he was given human growth hormones. Other big names, such as Miguel Tejada, who recently was traded to the Houston Astros, and Eric Gagne, a former Cy Young award winner, was also mentioned in the report. Roger Clemens has had a fascinating career. Should he be inducted into the Hall of Fame? Should the current players named in the report, such as Pettitte and Tejada, be suspended at the beginning of next season? What will Bud Selig do to follow up on this report?
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