(This story is so huge I felt it needed two titles)
The Mitchell report is out. It is out, and it is damning for the New York Yankees. Absolutely damning. Take a look at this graphic from the New York Daily News.
Here, let me translate that chart into plain-text:
Yankees Steroid-Users, Year-by-Year
NOTE: BOLD indicates a World Series or Pennant victory
1995: Andy Pettitte, Randy Valarde
1996*: Andy Pettitte, Ricky Bones
1997: Andy Pettite, Mike Stanton
1998*: Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch, Mike Stanton, Darren Holmes
1999*: Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch, Roger Clemens, Mike Stanton, Jason Grimsley, Daniel Naulty
2000*: Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch, Roger Clemens, Mike Stanton, Jason Grimsley, David Justice, Jose Canseco, Glenallen Hill, Denny Neagle
2001: Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch, Roger Clemens, Mike Stanton, David Justice, Bobby Estalella, Todd Williams
2002: Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi,
2003: Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi
2004: Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Kevin Brown
2005: Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Kevin Brown, Mike Stanton
2006: Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Ron Villone
2007: Jason Giambi, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Ron Villone
2008 (Projected): Jason Giambi, Andy Pettitte
This information cannot be ignored. Its just too glaring that their World Series teams were packed to the gills with confirmed cheaters. All those years of dominance were artificial. Now that it appears as though their clubhouse was operating like a pharmacy during their “glory years,” its obvious that no one will be able to look at those World Series teams the same way ever again.
I have said before on our message boards that when people look back on baseball’s Steroid Era they are going to paint Barry Bonds as the figurehead of the scandal…but its true center was in the Bronx all along.
Shame on them for cheating teams out of victories, stealing championships, and embarassing their fans.
Also, thank God no one mentioned Big Papi
1 Mike W // Dec 14, 2007 at 03:05 PM
Ok, touche Brendan… I pick on the Pope with a reactionary and angry piece, you do the same with the Yankees.
But I have to point out how misleading your timeline is. All of those players (save Clemens, who may have started using in 99 or 01) used steroids in ‘01 and after. None of it affected any of the WS championships. It says so directly in the report. So if you are to believe the report, then you have to agree.
2 Thomas // Dec 15, 2007 at 10:55 AM
I have always hated Chuck Knoblauch, and now I have more legit reasons to do so. It figures that that scumbag would be roided up.
Oh the flip side, I am really more let down by Pettitte than anyone else, I have always really liked him and am really let down that he was in this. But, when you hang out with Clemens, bad things will happen.
3 Mike W // Dec 15, 2007 at 12:58 PM
One more thing to point out… George Mitchell is an employee of the Boston Red Sox. No prominent Red Sox were named. The whole report was based on the interrogation of two men who were connected to the Yankees. This was an incredibly narrow report. Word is that 7-10% of MLB players were juicing in the 90s. If that’s the case then there are so many, SO MANY, players that were left off of this list who are just as guilty. I obviously have a vested interest but why stop here? Why not continue and dig further into this mess and uncover EVERY player connected with steroids? Why stop here and leave all the scrutiny on the few within this report?
Here’s another question to ponder, why is Sammy Sosa only mentioned once, and in passing, in the entire report?