Hall of Shame

Todd Pratt, Paul LoDuca and Todd Hundley (no surprise), but not Mike Piazza.

Roger Clemens, the guy who threw a broken bat at Piazza during the 2000 World Series, was one of the 80+ players named in Sen. George Mitchell’s report on “The Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball.” That list of names, Josh Peter writes, includes “an All-Star at every position.”

Peters notes that a second investigation may produce additional names:

Prominent players and members of the rank-and-file implicated in an ongoing government investigation in Florida into the illegal distribution of performance-enhancing drugs were not in the report, according to a source involved in the investigation.

The Mitchell commission never requested from Florida authorities the names of players implicated in the ongoing investigation of the illegal distribution of steroids by Signature Pharmacy. …

“Other investigations no doubt will turn up more names and turn up more details, but that is unlikely to significantly alter the description of the baseball Steroid Era set forth in this report,” Mitchell said.

Given that, it’s impossible to say yet that players not listed in the Mitchell report have been cleared of all suspicion (neither Mark McGwire nor Sammy Sosa is on the list). Mitchell’s disheartening evidence, actually, goes to show that the use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs has been so widespread that no player can be viewed without suspicion. That’s why, while I wasn’t expecting Piazza to be on the list, I was dreading that he might be. The chemically enhanced exploits of Barry Bonds, Clemens, McGwire and Sosa have cast a shadow over every ballplayer who achieved anything remarkable during the past 20 years.

But it’s worth noting that Mitchell’s star witness was former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski. He blew the whistle on several of the team’s former backstops, but not on Mike Piazza. That’s good news for those of us who have argued that Piazza’s 427 career home runs and .308 career batting average should earn him a place in Cooperstown (even if he couldn’t throw anybody out at second base).

Anyway, that’s my attempt at finding some good news on a day in which it’s not easy for baseball fans to find good news.

(Bonus Mitchell finding: John Rocker is also on the list.)