The New York City Traveler

The infamous Mitchell Report (a.k.a. Baseball’s List of Bad Boys Who Juiced) was released Thursday.

By far, the most not-so-stunning aspect of the report is the number of references and great detail given to Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens. The information is based on the testimony of Clemens’ longtime trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee offered the information only after he was threatened by the government with litigation for his role if he did not cooperate. A total of eighteen current and former Yankees are on the list, most notably Andy Pettitte. Also mentioned are Kevin Brown, Mike Stanton, Rondell White, Glenallen Hill, Chuck Knoblauch and David Justice.

Of course, in true New York style, the Yankees had a cutting remark about the report and defended their $22 million dollar man:

We are reviewing the report and have no comment.

What? That’s it? Fortunately for us, Sirened.com had a little more to say about the situation that surrounds Clemens.

Across the river in Queens, the New York Mets took little time to put their own spin on the steroid controversy:

The Mets support Major League Baseball’s ongoing efforts to eliminate the use of illegal performance enhancing substances. We fully cooperated in the Mitchell investigation and commend the Senator for his efforts in issuing his report.

The Mitchell Report is also heavy with information from former Mets clubhouse attendant and double-agent Kirk Radomski. Part of Radomski’s plea agreement with the federal government was to cooperate with Mitchell’s investigation into baseball’s steroid problem. After BALCO shut down in 2003, Rasomski was considered to be the chief supplier of drugs for baseball players including Lenny Dykstra, Todd Hundley, Chris Donnels, Mark Carreon and Josias Manzanillo. Radomski, who will be sentenced on February 8th, faces up to 25 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.

Though perhaps the Mitchell Report does explain some of baseball’s unexplained phenomena. We all thought it was amazing in 1997 when then-Seattle Mariner pitcher Josias Manzanillo took a Manny Ramirez line-drive to a cup-less “crotch” then proceeded to get up and make the play, throwing out Jim Thome at the plate. Now, sadly, every “baseball miracle” seems tainted by ‘roids.

In general, New Yorkers met the Mitchell report with more embarrassment than surprise. Baseball may be forever changed but one thing remains the same: We still don’t want to see Jose Canseco on the streets of Manhattan anytime soon.

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