Baseball steroid bombshell looms

George Mitchell's report on steroids in baseball will be released this afternoon at a 2pm EST press conference, and it is expected to name names -- "somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 to 70 players," including "potential Hall of Famers," according to sources. "One baseball official familiar with the findings called the report 'painstaking' in detail and said that it runs 300-400 pages and may include some documentary evidence (as did the Dowd report, baseball's 1989 investigation of gambling allegations involving Pete Rose)." Bud Selig will hold a press conference of his own at 4:30pm EST. More here, here and here.

P.S. An anonymous commenter has posted a list of the players allegedly named. The same list appears in several places on the Interwebs. However, I have yet to see any information about the sourcing of this "leaked" list, except that it's apparently going around via e-mail, so I'd take it with a major grain of salt at this point. For all we know, some random fan might have just made this up off the top of his head.

UPDATE: Deadspin has posted the list, saying, "In the last hour, we have been forwarded a list of players mentioned in the Mitchell Report by about 25 different people. Is this list substantiated? No. Is it from an MLB official? No. Do we have any reason to believe it's anything but random bunk? No. But it's what's making the rounds today, and we're less than three hours away, and if the list is wrong, we'll know real soon. But, if you're curious, here's the list of players supposedly mentioned in the report, according to just about every email we've received. It could very likely be one of those Web urban legends that somehow got around, like when everyone thought Scott Baio was dead. It probably is, actually."

But at least one name from the list seems to be confirmed: Roger Clemens. Ouch. This is leading to accusations of Boston Bias. Really?

Anyway, the Washington Post's website will carry the press conference live.

Comments

[Derek]

Hate to say it, but the list looks pretty accurate. (1) Second-tier players who had flashes of brilliance for a few seasons; (2) aging players who lasted surprisingly well past their prime; and (3) guys with some serious injury issues.

I think every single player fits into at least one of those three categories. For instance, when Pudge lost 25 pounds returning to training camp a couple of years ago, the reason seemed clear. Or Brady Anderson's freak 50 HR season. But all those many, many freakish instances can now be compiled in an honest list. While it might be wrong, I can't say any name on that list is a surprise. (Unless I missed a surprise.)

[BK]

What about Pujols? Hahahaha!

Go Cubbies!

[Angrier and Angrier]

Say it ain't so, Rocket!

Johnny Damon?? Andy Pettitte? Varitek?

Wow. Just Wow. What a disaster for baseball if this list is true.

[Derek]

Oh, I missed Pujols. Wow, my confidence is shattered.

[James Michalek]

I cannot believe all you sanctimonious jerks who think this is news. The news is, it's been going on for decades with other performance enhancers like speed. Did anyone ask why Mickey Mantle took himself out of the lineup in 1961, when he and Roger Maris were on pace to break Babe Ruth's single season HR record? According to the movie 61*, which was produced by a friend of the Mick's, he was speedballing (injecting doses of amphetamine in his hip, spcifically) Yenno, Babe Ruth is another great who has a few question marks on his record, like:

1. Ruth set the single season record of 60 in 1927. I think I may have wasted that fact on 95% of you, if not considerably more, but bear with me.

2. Ruth's totals for 1926 were a (relatively) paltry 46.

3. Ruth took himself out of the lineup in 1925, which is commonly known as "the bellyache heard round the world" in baseball circles. He hit 35 home runs.

Roger Maris set the single season HR record of 61 in 1961. He DIED in 1965 (That'll be 42 years ago tomorrow as I make this post). Look it up on http://www.findagrave.com if you don't believe me.

I'm not suggesting that such chicanery is limited to the Yankees. I happen to know about the Yankees because, can you guess? I'M A YANKEE FAN FROM WAY BACK!

[James Michalek]

I cannot believe all you sanctimonious jerks who think this is news. The news is, it's been going on for decades with other performance enhancers like speed. Did anyone ask why Mickey Mantle took himself out of the lineup in 1961, when he and Roger Maris were on pace to break Babe Ruth's single season HR record? According to the movie 61*, which was produced by a friend of the Mick's, he was speedballing (injecting doses of amphetamine in his hip, spcifically) Yenno, Babe Ruth is another great who has a few question marks on his record, like:

1. Ruth set the single season record of 60 in 1927. I think I may have wasted that fact on 95% of you, if not considerably more, but bear with me.

2. Ruth's totals for 1926 were a (relatively) paltry 46.

3. Ruth took himself out of the lineup in 1925, which is commonly known as "the bellyache heard round the world" in baseball circles. He hit 35 home runs.

Roger Maris set the single season HR record of 61 in 1961. He DIED in 1965 (That'll be 42 years ago tomorrow as I make this post). Look it up on http://www.findagrave.com if you don't believe me.

I'm not suggesting that such chicanery is limited to the Yankees. I happen to know about the Yankees because, can you guess? I'M A YANKEE FAN FROM WAY BACK!

[James Michalek]

I stand corrected. Maris died in 1985, which was only 22 years ago, but he was only 51. This non-athlete is still considerably older than that.

[y]

Any guesses as to what substances James is on?

[Brett]

WTF is James talking about??