Steroid Investigation Ready to Roil Baseball

If you thought that the Barry Bonds kerfuffle and BALCO were bad, things may be about to take a turn for the worse. The Mitchell Committee is calling as many as three dozen current and former players to talk about steroids and performance enhancing drugs in the sport.

The former Senator George J. Mitchell of Maine, who is overseeing a team of lawyers and investigators working on the case, declined to say how many players had been sent letters requesting their appearance.

But others familiar with elements of the investigation said they believed at least three dozen current and former players were being sought by the panel. The prospect of any number of elite players’ being linked to the steroid issue would throw Major League Baseball into considerable turmoil only a month into the season, as players turn to hiring lawyers rather than focusing on hitting and pitching.

Mr. Mitchell, responding by e-mail to a series of written questions from The New York Times, described his investigation as entering its final phases.

“We expect to meet soon with the players whose interviews we have requested,” Mr. Mitchell said. Mr. Mitchell has no subpoena power, and said that if players refused to talk to his panel, which reports to Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, “we will deal with the issue at that time.” Mr. Mitchell also said that Mr. Selig had agreed that the panel’s final report would be made public.

This would certainly cast a pall over the sport, but what would actually happen if it turns out that many of these players - including the high profile players - actually used steroids or other performance enhancing drugs? Would fans turn their back on the sport or would they shrug and carry on? I frankly don't know.

The situation is further complicated by the plea deal arranged by Kirk Radomski, a former New York Mets clubhouse assistant who "...admitted to distributing steroids, human growth hormone, amphetamines and other drugs to dozens of current and former players in Major League Baseball from 1995 to 2005." Mitchell may be using names provided by Radomski, but Mitchell was being coy about that.

Either way, players who were taking steroids and other performance enhancing drugs need to be concerned about not only who may have been named, but what those other named players might say. Those players who didn't use those drugs must be secretly cheering for this as it helps level the playing field.