Needing to learn from the Mitchell Report
Posted: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 4:55 PM
First, a word on the Mitchell Report that comes out tomorrow. And the most volleyed word in association with the pending release of the report is blame.
Nothing could be worse for the game. If the purpose of the report is to hold someone accountable, then it should have fallen to a body with the power of subpoena. If the purpose is to document the era in hopes of avoiding a repeat, then blame should be so widespread as to be irrelevant.
I repeat my belief from 22 years as a baseball broadcaster: I will never point a finger. There was no shortage of suspicions, often whispered in private conversations, but never a means to take action. I believe everyone suspected, but the ride was too good. Anyone who lived through the absurdity of 1994-95 was thrilled by the game’s renaissance. No one wanted to derail the train. The only ones who could have were the players themselves, and there was no incentive. Home runs equaled dollars. Home runs equaled people in the seats. Home runs were good for business.
We watched records shattered, not simply broken, with little investigation. I traveled the country in the Barry Bonds Festival of 2001 and watched America stand and applaud his 73 home runs. There was no outcry until BALCO. Now the numbers of Bonds and many others in his generation are viewed as fraudulent. That is sobering.
I truly hope that the report’s impact will be sobering. I hope that MLB and the MLBPA read whatever is documented and vow to each other, “Never again.” But blame will be counterproductive, only serving to alienate club employees or sour the improving relations between union and ownership. Baseball is in an era of unprecedented wealth, and this report should not serve as a wedge, but rather as a stark doctrine of what can happen when things go wrong.
Riddle me this: Who gets the longer contract: Andruw Jones, Mike Lowell or Francisco Cordero?
Free agents all, surely no one would have guessed the closer. Yet, the answer is Cordero. Have relievers finally reached a level of respect commensurate to their value? Cordero and Scott Linebrink both signed four-year deals as free agents while David Riske and J.C. Romero accepted three-year deals.
Certainly there is an acknowledgement of the bullpen’s importance. There is also the NL factor: the league is without a superpower, thus most teams realize winning is within their grasp. So Cincinnati bestows a huge deal upon Cordero and Milwaukee replaces him with Riske and Eric Gagne. Both teams know their division is wide open, thus they are more inclined to spend and go for the win.
