DuPuy: Move beyond the names
Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball’s president and chief operating officer, appeared for nearly a half-hour today on MLB.com with host Pete McCarthy to further discuss Thursday’s release of the Mitchell Report and to answer questions posed by fans. Fans were asked to leave comments here for him as well as emailing our studios. DuPuy said he not to expect any revisionist changes to awards, statistical records or such historical matters that might be associated with players named in the report, and spoke about the importance of moving beyond the actual names. He expounded on the matter of acting on former Sen. George Mitchell’s recommendations, including a summit to discuss matters of performance-enhancing substance abuse that is not currently detectable in the drug testing provisions. Please keep your comments coming and also feel free to post links to blogs and other important URLs so that this remains a discussion center for the overall issue.
The Mitchell Reporter 
How could Mr. Selig not have read the report in 3 days? How could he not have dedicated the time to do so before standing before the world of baseball? How does not reading it contribute to credibility of baseball authorities at any level?
It has been said many times over the years that baseball is a reflection of America, our values and our people – this report should not shock anyone but validate what we all have know as the truth – we have been living in a culture where drugs are everywhere -so why should we expect baseball players or any sport not to reflect our culture – hec as a former college athlete from the late ’70s – I knew guy’s that were popping roids way back then – lets jointly remove our heads from the sand and figure out a solution…to clean up sports for the next generation!
what a bunch of cheaters!! I knew it years ago but now you cant deny it MLB ***** you all are a bunch of overpaid pansies who play the least athletic sport and you still need to cheat! With alll the millions you are making you should have plenty of time to get in shape without cheating. Way to go Selig baseball was America’s sport now it is a joke your homerun champ is roided out among dozens of other players, and what makes it worse is the league and the teams did NOTHING. Now we get to watch them all deny it even though it is TRUE. taken Steroids is an insult to sport!!!!
I read the entire report yesterday afternoon and last night, and it seemed like it was going in circles. Aside from the copies of checks and the information McNamee provided it was information from criminal investigations that most people already knew about it.
Due to Mitchell’s limited power in this investigation, it didn’t uncover all that much that wasn’t already known.
http://www.fightingphils.mlblogs.com
I think the report should have never named names from hear say evidence. If it isn’t true about some of these players this report damaged there reputation forever.
Steriods, performance enhancing drugs or illicit drugs, for that fact, will change nothing for the business of baseball, the players or the fans. The reality of the culture we have created is that as far as the business is concerned it’s make a profit. Yeah, it’d be nice to win, maybe even the World Series (which honestly doesn’t include the World) but, just make money, increase the value of my investment. With regards for the players it’s about…the money. I’ve recognized a correlation with big performance years and the last year of the contract. Oh yeah, let’s not forget about stroking their enormous size egos with all our adulation and hero worship, and I’m not talking to the 12 year olds. If I’d had known that our obsestion with trivia would turn sports memorabilia into a muti-$billion industry I wouldn’t been so interested in the gum. Dumb me, I thought the cards were like the prizes in Cracker Jacks…oops they too are now worth lots of money ! And the fans, we’re pathetic. It doesn’t matter how much a ticket costs. We still go to the games in record numbers. It doesn’t matter how sorry the ownership of our favorite team. We still buy “officially licensed merchandise”, essentially paying the owners to advertise the owner’s product. It doesn’t matter how many sociological studies are done that illuminate that professional sport franchises cause increased local taxes, drain revenue and generally only provide minimum wage jobs in return. We still vote for tax hikes to build stadiums (but not for teacher’s salaries), even if we don’t have the team yet (see Alamo Dome). And, none of this matters to the fan. We just want a winner so we too can feel like a winner.
Since the inception of free agency players have rarely demonstrated anything other than conditional loyalty to fans so fans have conditional loyalty to players. We cheer for them as long as they’re on our team. We applaud ownership when they pay for high priced free agents, even the most despised opponent if we think he’ll make us a winner.
So, it’s business as usual. I recomend making all the steriods, performance enhancing drugs and the rest of it legal and within the rules. It will eventually balance out and make for a better more exciting product (imagine MLB scores like 22-17). Neither the business end or the fan care what happens to a player after they finished their tour on our team so, the terminal side affects are only relevant to the player and it will come down to their choice, not somebody else making it for them with laws and rules. Business will get bigger profits and the fan will get to pay for it. Coming up next, the $1,000,000,000 salary at your local stadium .
YEAH, I AGREE, WHAT A BUNCH OF CHEATERS. BUT AREN’T WE ALL A LITTLE GUILTY? WE ALL SUSPECTED AT ONE POINT, THINKING COULD THIS PLAYER BE USING? BUT WE ALL CONTINUED TO CHEER THEM ON. THIS IS GETTING A LITTLE OUT OF CONTROL, IT REMINDS OF THE BOOK, THE CRUCIBLE, WHEN THOSE GIRLS STARTED MENTIONING NAMES, AND MORE AND MORE PEOPLE WERE CONVICTED. WHY DID MR. SELIG ALLOW, FOR STARTERS FOR BARRY BONDS TO CONTINUE HIS PERSUE FOR “THE RECORD”, INSTEAD OF SAYING, “UNTIL FURTHER INVESTIGATION, WE CAN NOT ALLOW THIS PLAYER TO TRY TO BREAK THE RECORD.” I MEAN I KNOW IT’S UNREALALISTIC BUT NOW YOU’RE JUST GONNA HAVE TO LET IT GO AND BEGIN A NEW ERA…….AN ERA WHERE AS OF NOW IF ANYONE DOPES THEY’RE OUT. THIS IS GETTING A LITTLE REDICULOUS…..LET’S JUST TURN THE PAGE AND MOVE ON…NOW THE PLAYERS THAT HAVE LIED THEY MUST BE PUNISHED, BUT LET’S JUST LOOK FORWARD TO A CLEAN BASEBALL AND LET’S BEGIN AN ERA WHERE PLAYERS ACTUALLY BREAK RECORDS FOR THEIR TRUE TALENT NOT FOR WHAT A DRUG CAN DO FOR THEM….
Just as in life I think that the report highlights that the instance of use spreads through a social network, not necessarily an evil intent but a clandestine one none the less. Athletes as individuals need to identify and avoid these ‘bad influences’ and the baseball organization – Owners, Commissioner, and Player’s Union needs to dedicate continuous effort and action to identify these social viruses that bring about a negative progress to the general integrity and assumptions of the game. And then have the autonomy and courage to eradicate them from their midst as quickly and efficiently as possible.
– full blog entry http://therbligs.blogspot.com/
Put it this way, we all tried and convicted this guys in the public by hear say evidence, know we are going to feel stupid in ten years when it isn’t true. It is like a man being convicted of crime by supposely eye witness testimony and the jury finds him guilty, then ten years down the line DNA aquits him. What is in front of you is not always the truth. These men all they had to do was name names with the threat of jail, but knowing that Congressmen Mitchell couldn’t really colleberate what they said on some of these players they could give any name they wanted. Know these players have to fight for their reputations.
Posted by: smithq@yahoo.com | December 14, 2007 01:58 PM
Is it senator Mitchell or McCarthy…there has not been so much hearsay evidence since he was hunting reds in the 1950’s. Senator Mitchell should be ashamed of releasing peoples names like that on the word of disgruntled employees that were dodging the law…I don’t agree with idea of tsking the drugs but where were all these do gooders when these guys started hammering the home runs and saved baseball in the 1990’s. Now that the game is back on solid ground…let’s start the witch hunt.Players like Bonds and Clemens help save the game and what’s done is done….leave them alone and move forward.
Helped save the game????? The moder era of performance enhancing drugs has soiled the entire game…no player, manager, clubhouse, commisioner is innocent. I have been a beloved Cubs fan for years, ever loyal and supportive. But the childish behavior of the MLBPA and the players is the most convicing evidince that players used chemicals to improve performance. People don’t need names to know what was going on and who was using (look at guys’ rookie pictures and then look at them today-Bonds, Sosa, etc.). The constant attempts to interfere with the investigation, the indifference of managers, staff, the commish have permanently tarnished the game worse than a strike ever can.
Congrats MLB. You did what I never thought possible-ruin a national pastime.
you’ve got to be kidding me. This whole thing is a joke. if a player was found guilty (beyond a reasonable doubt, yada yada yada) to have been using a banned substance when a record was broken then that record should be taken out of the book. And if this practice was Illegal, then they should receive a just punishment like every other citizen, MLB player or not. It amazes me that people think that the rules of the game are conditional or even optional let alone the laws of our country.
I am not sure that this report is worth much more than the paper it is printed on, probably a lot less
If Mitchell found that only African-Americans did roids or only Bonds did it. All you people would be happy. Your all full of ****. Clemens got nailed! deal with it. But you won’t treat him like Bonds because he is white. I applaud the Mitchell report. It was an honest attempt at investigationg baseball’s drug problem. Whereas the Bonds investigation and hate campaign was a lynching.
Whether or not any did what this report is saying they did, it was really none of our business to know in the first place. This all got started when Canseco couldn’t make a roster anymore and decided he would do whatever he could not to be the focus, shame on him. I personally am a baseball player (not professionally) but this report should never have happenend in the first place and Selig who is probably the worst commissioner baseball has ever had needs to step down and let some one who can run this sport right step in. This report is all hear say, lawyers and others who have read it agree. There is no real evidence at all and the any names should have been left out of the report and or the report should again, never had been made. All this did was hurt baseball, in no way will it ever help baseball! If Selig wants to help baseball then he should step down and the federal government should stay out of baseball. They have more important things to worry about like keeping our country safe and they have no place in sports at all. Show me HARD evidence and maybe I will change my mind, but this report was a witch hunt and when no real evidence could be found, Mitchell, who is supposed to have a brain went with hear say. He needs to go as well.
It’s high time to start making fun of baseball and steroids. I just found a new comedy website that has a short video about it.
Check it out at http://www.mybluecollar.com/videos/414ed2fa78.
It’s oh-my-gawd funny.
George Mitchel is full of ****! It is not worth the paper it is printed on. If he does not contact those mentioned/accused in his report to get their side of the accusation – then his conclusions are **** and Selig would be an idiot to act on any of them!!
Finally got around to reading. I was shocked at the poor quality of analysis and pawdry ‘evidence’. Heresay, undocumented ‘facts’, no condemnation of the real villains here…..Selig, the owners, the union, the media, and most, the fans. The least ‘guilty’ parties are the players. They gave the audience what it wanted…faster fastballs, more home runs, quicker recovery times. I don’t really believe fans could care less as to the purity of their atheletes; they just want to be entertained.
In my view, Selig, Fehr, ESPN, and the fans knew what was going on and totally respinsible. It pains me to see media types and baseball people seem appalled that players were cheating.
The best evidence, to me, of the desire to coverup the establishment’s involvement in this scandal is the naming of the 80 or so players. the real number is probably 10 times that many. The attitude seems to be, by baseball, the media and the fans, is, here are the bad guys, let just move on.
The Mitchell Report was a poor product sponsored by a hack politician and a commissioner trying desperately to llok for a scapegoat.