80 Major League Baseball Players Implicated in Performance Enhancing Drug Use Report

Former senator and Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell presented the results of his 20-month investigation into performance enhancing drug usage in Major League Baseball in New York on Thursday, naming names and implicating some of the best known present and recently retired baseball players in professional baseball. Within the 411-page document were listed 80 players suspected to have allegedly used steroids or performance enhancing drugs while playing for their respective ball clubs. Of the 80, seven were MVP's and 31 were All-Stars. Some of the more prominent names listed were Dave Justice, Garry Sheffield, Paul Bird, Jeremy Giambi, Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds (recently indicted by a federal grand jury on 19 charges of perjury).

According to Mark Kriegel of FOXSports.com,Roger Clemens was the hardest hit of all those implicated. The New York Yankees pitcher is second only to Nolan Ryan (noticeably not on the list) in career strikeouts. He has 534 career wins, eighth on the the all-time list. He has also won the Cy Young Award seven times, more than any other player in history. He refused to answer any of the allegations brought against him, but the report could have dire career consequences for Clemens and all others named. Even if the 80 players named avoid legal complications from this report, they will most certainly face League censure, suspensions, firings, and, perhaps most damaging to any professional baseball player, possible elimination as a nominee for a position in the Baseball Hall of Fame.