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Mitchell Report Is Bitter Proof that Bonds Is Baseball's Druggie Scapegoat
The long awaited and much ballyhooed Mitchell Report drives home not one but two disturbing truths. The first is that dozens of players with the wink and nod connivance of the MLB and union top cats, trainers, medical personnel, drug companies, and even federal watchdog agencies winked and nodded as dozens of baseballs biggest names pumped up their bodies with performance enhancing drugs.
The second and in some ways even more disturbing truth is that the dump for the deliberate blind eye to drug abuse crashed down on the head of one man, Barry Bonds. Though technically Bonds was not indicted by a federal grand jury for steroid use, the charge is lying to a grand jury, the real reason he's in the docket is that he is the most visible, high profile, and thus convenient scapegoat to take the blame for baseball's revel in its steroid filled home run bleacher shots that sent attendance records soaring and jingled cash registers.
Another bitter truth on top of that disturbing truth is that the Mitchell Report can name all the names it wants and make all the recommendations for cleaning up the sport that it wants, but other than Bonds no other MLB baseball player has or will wind up in a court docket for illicit use of steroids. Despite the hoopla, teeth gnashing, phony self-righteous indignation, and clamor to do something about the shame and disgrace of drug use in the majors, there's absolutely no guarantee that the MLB officials or owners will follow to the strict letter the reform proposals.
If anything the Mitchell Report instead of partially vindicating Bonds leaves him even further hung out to dry. None of the dozens of players mentioned in the report come anywhere remotely close to the public and media loathing that Bonds engendered. Long before the ink was dry on the first sentence in the Mitchell Report, the giddy orgy of Bond's vilification was brutal and relentless, and that was even before he was accused of any wrongdoing.
Baseball didn't say zilch about banning the use of steroids before 2002. It had absolutely zero testing procedures that mandated penalties for those caught cheating until 2004. It did not scrub the use of the performance drug HGH until 2005. Even then, punishments were spotty, and capricious. That is until the feds began to take a harder look at the use of the junk in the sport, and Bonds began to inch closer to MLB icons Babe Ruth's former home run record and later Hank Aaron's home run record.
The get Bonds hunt was then on with a full vengeance.
Bonds now began to run shoulder to shoulder with O.J. Simpson as the man much of the public loved to hate. He was a big, rich, famous, surly, blunt-talking black superstar who routinely thumbed his nose at the media. That stirred deep latent and not so latent visceral contempt and revulsion for him.
Bonds didn't help matters by seeming to take special delight in irritating the heck out of sportswriters, fans, and the baseball establishment. His surly shoot from the lip thumb your nose at the sports crowd defied, or defiled the pristine, story book, nostalgia dripped image of what sports heroes should be, and how they should comport themselves. It made no difference that Bonds is no bigger a jerk in his boorish, sulking, spoiled behavior than other legendary superstars. But coming from him it just seemed to rub nerves even rawer.
So here's a prediction. The Mitchell Report will grab headlines for a day. It will set the chops of talking head sports commentators, sports writers, and baseball buffs in full throttle. It will spark another round of angry calls from some public officials to crack down on drug use in the majors. It will draw solemn pledges from MLB officials to do whatever it takes to end the cheating. And just as quickly it will blow over.
What won't blow over is the fingerpoint at Bonds. He looms even bigger in importance. His trial will be billed as a sort of steroids trial of the century. All the dirt, real or manufactured, about steroids and baseball, meaning Bonds, will be piled on the publics and the legal table. A conviction will be even better. That would give MLB officials the perfect chance to distance themselves from the cheaters, or more accurately, the perceived grand symbol of drug cheating, Mr. Bonds. The only scenario that could be even more worthy of an A list Hollywood script is for Bonds to come clean admit that he knowingly used drugs and do a public mea culpa for it.
The owners, MLB officials, many sports writers could then breathe a big sigh of see I told you so relief and skip along smug in the knowledge that an ugly, and tainted chapter in baseball's saga is finally past. Batter up!
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book is The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation between African-Americans and Hispanics (Middle Passage Press)
hutchinsonreport@aol
Read more news and blog posts on the Mitchell report on steroids in baseball here.
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What is Barry supposed to do but hit a darn ball? I'm so sick of these "he's surly, arrogant, egotistical"...or whatever other adjective that really means "knee-grow that won't kiss azz." A trainer is saying he flat out stuck Clemens in his big butt and there is still a cry of "he said/he said"....whatever.
Oh....the joys of benefit of the doubt...some of us wonder what that must be like.
The pundits say the trainer cannot be trusted, because he was facing jail time and would say anything to avoid a prison sentence: welcome to America; that is how our legal system works. In fact, that is the O.J. Simpson defense for his current charges. People are sentenced to life in prison and death everyday on less convincing circumstantial evidence.
Bonds is going to court based on the testimony of a former girlfriend and former friend and business partner. Both witnesses have a vendetta; they would like to see Bonds suffer. Is it reasonable to conclude they would say anything if it means a conviction? But I guarantee most white people want him to go to jail and would argue the witnesses are creditable, they knew Bonds personally they would say. Yet, they argue the trainer’s statements about his clients drug use is hearsay and do not warrant Clemens and Pettit being named in the report. The pundits cannot have it both ways. If it is good enough for Bonds, it is good enough for Clemens and Pettit, for they are cheaters, too.
I am not saying Bonds should receive a pass; on the contrary, I am saying other cheaters, regardless of how well liked they are or the color of their skin, should be scrutinized as harshly as bonds and based on the same evidence—prior to the grand jury leak. But because race still matters in America, I will not hold my breath.
Racists do not use logical arguments to support their positions. If there is a fact they cannot dispute, rationally, they simply ignore it or revert to that safe fallback: accusing one of playing the race cad. Nevertheless, I will attempt for the last time to show the shameless hypocrisy and bias used by the mostly white media, pundits and fans to make Bonds the scapegoat.
As predicted by Mr. Hutchinson, the top players in the Mitchell Report, Clemens and Pettit, have received a pass. I have never heard the words alleged and wait used so many times when referring to a report that a player used performance-enhancing drugs. This apparent concern for Clemens and Pettit’s reputation did not occur when sports writers began accusing Bonds of cheating, years before the grand jury testimony leak. In fact, there seems to be a different standard for the Clemens and Pettit.
Pettit corroborated his former trainer’s accounts of what happened when he admitted to using HGH. Yet, the media and sports writers have virtually ignored the confession. They did not even challenge Pettit’s assertion that he used the drug only to recover from an elbow injury, not to gain an advantage. But isn’t the ability to recover quicker than your opponent does an edge? Instead, some writers have begun spreading misinformation that HGH is not as bad as steroids and does not give one an edge. With that, Pettit is off the hook.
Although Pettit’s confession shows the trainer was telling the truth, pundits still refuse to call Clemens a cheater. Two reporters wrote a book, Game of Shadows, suggesting Bonds was a cheater and that was all the pundits needed to convict Bonds. Bonds’ connection to Balco was more reason to believe he was guilty. Why is it different with Clemens? His personal trainer said he injected Clemens on several occasions. Why would the trainer tell the truth about Pettit but lie about Clemens? Yet, few are outraged.
If people were willing to accept hearsay and allegations when Bonds was accused, they should do the same with Pettit and Clemens.
Mr. Hutchinson, instead of focusing on race and Barry Bonds, I'd like to ask you why the use of "greenies" or amphetamines in baseball wasn't the topic or at least included in your column. How can baseball even pretend to be cleaning up the sport if they are not taking a look at the use of a "controlled" substance?
Stimulants ARE performance enhancing drugs and they are illegal without a prescription. Why has baseball and the media overlooked this problem? I'd really like to see an honest discussion involving the reasons that the business of baseball can't operate at the Major League level without controlled stimulants.
I have a problem with baseball players using a controlled substance that would put a regular citizen in jail. I DO NOT have a problem with players using steroids or Human Growth Hormone. The only problem with the use of these drugs is when ONLY a minority are using them. Let's get the M.D.'s to monitor the players and let them use this stuff.
There is no question that these drugs made the business of baseball more exciting and fun to watch. If use of these drugs is going to keep players out of the Hall of Fame we might as well not hold any elections for a decade or two.
I read a lot of things about the Cubs' VP for Business Affairs Mark McGuire's drug use. At least I assume it is him. I don't know of any other Mark McGuire affiliated with baseball.
It all seems to be from people who are clueless, though.
Part of the thing with Bonds is that he is a Grade A asshole. Rob Dibble says that, when he was with Cincy and Bonds was with the Pirates, other players on the Pirates offered to buy and Reds pitcher a steak dinner if they plunked Bonds. Very rarely do you see team mates do that sort of thing and it speaks volumes about Bonds' character.
A lot of this has been known for years, yet all the vast majority of the Roaring Rodents of Righteous Indignity could manage was ". . . b-b-but Bonds . . . ".
About time the wannabee purists started buying an ounce of perspective with the same enthusiasm their multitude of heroes were buying drinks from the (pharmaceutical) fountain of youth . .
Spot on, Earl.
Of course Barry Bonds has been scapegoated. For heaven's sake. Why such hatred, animosity towards him? Why are some people cheering as the prosecutor (and dogs) chase Bonds down, lock him into chains, drag him into the courthouse, publicly stand up with their firm committed little racist chins and say "I'll put him in prison for life." Why?
Because he's black and he is not obsequieous. He does not bow down and kiss the white man's butt. He may even be obnoxious, but who cares? If taking steroids is this terrible thing, then Mark McGuire would be doing time.
But Mark McGuire is reported to be a nice guy. And he's white.
And that's the only reason Barry Bonds has become the poster child for steroids. He's a black man and he does not kiss the white man's butt.
And the whole reason we've having this discussion is because we have the most useless corrupt Congress that has ever existed in the history of this country, and they have nothing better to do with their time than to go sit out at the ballpark gulping down beer and wagging their fingers around talking about "drug" use.
And when they go home at night, they take viagra, a recreational sex drug that exists for no reason except for men to have really long-lasting hard-ons, then will drink some more and/or take a sleeping pill. Then get up the next morning, and lecture the public about the dangers of drugs.
"other than Bonds no other MLB baseball player has or will wind up in a court docket for illicit use of steroids."
That's because other than Bonds no other MLB baseball player lied to a grand jury. Look, I'm sorry Patrick Fitzgerald didn't think he could successfully prosecute Rove and Cheney, but that doesn't mean it was wrong to prosecute Libby.
Despite all of this, Bonds obviously belongs in the Hall of Fame. As do Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson.
It is ridiculous that Congress actually has devoted so much time and effort to "Steroids in baseball". But somehow, it seems normal after their concentration on BJC's BJ's.
Rosie Ruiz is a household name not because she cheated, but because she "came in first".
Nonetheless, it's time for more accountability, not less. If you were calling for more people to be prosecuted, that's one thing. If you're asking for one multi-millionaire to be let off the hook because there's lots of other multi-millionaires who aren't being prosecuted, I really really really feel your pain. So let's get started. Politicians first.
I know many people in the black community want to rally around Bonds and claim he is being treated unfairly, but I have knews for you, Barry Bonds is not black! He may have black parents, and look black, but he grew up like any privileged white kid. He was always in the upper class, and he acts like a spoiled brat.
You bet you spiked shoes Bonds was a scapegoat. What Baseball did to Bonds, throwing him to the dogs (MSM) and stirring up the fans, and to congress was punishment and a try to stop him from breaking the record. He was causing problems with Baseball's image. Bonds saw the Charade and World Stage Play and Production of McGuire get groomed, use of steroids, and hyped up. McGuire HAD to go to the Cardinals because that is where the Homerun record of Roger Maris stood, and all the warm and fuzzy emotional capital could be the most "capitalized on" if it were to be to be broken. The Cardinals had a new owner, the Billionaire Dewitt, one of Bush's Texas Rangers partners, your no concience factor, the perfect person to come in with a plan to revitilize the sinking National past time, at just the right Stage, St. Louis, where the Team Historically in the National League had argueably the most loyal and savvy baseball fans. The Cardinals were not known for homerun hitting baseball heroes, so they were easy suckers and had a huge loyal season ticket holder base to provide consistent crowds as a bonus to look great on TV. The stage was set for all the world to be suckered into the race to 62 homeruns. The playup by St. Louis arch rival Chicago Cubs Sosa also in the race really knocked the ratings over the top as the show took to the road with two venues across the Country. But poor Barry Bonds locked out of the show decides to put on his own stage production, only he didn' have the permission, backing, or league sponsorship like the Cardinals' McGuire had. Bonds had to go it alone and against the mainstream of Baseball in his quest for Baseball's biggest Prize Record! He did it, and no matter what is said, steroids don't give you the talent or skill that enables you to hit homeruns in Major League Baseball. It only gives you additional power to put behind the contact made between the bat and the ball.
Bonds is no victim. He cheated for years and lied under oath. As far as things getting better now, I don't know. As it stands, teams are told a day in advance if a player is getting tested. That gives the player time to take masking agents.
The talking heads are now using the argument that performance-enhancing drugs do not help a player hit a curve ball. The talking heads on ESPN are now quoting the medical science that drugs do not make an average player a hall of fame player, but they ignored the same science when it was used in reference to Bonds. What hypocrites.
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