Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Former Met Attendant Naming Names

Looks like the dog is starting to hunt upstream now.

Report: Ex-clubhouse attendant revealed names of clients to Mitchell
NEW YORK -- A former Mets clubhouse attendant revealed the names of major league players who bought steroids from him to baseball's chief steroid investigator, SI.com reported Tuesday.

Kirk Radomski, who pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in April to felony charges of distributing steroids and laundering money, met recently with former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, according to the report. He faces up to 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine at his sentencing, scheduled for Sept. 7.

As part of the plea deal, Radomski agreed to testify before a grand jury, if needed, and to meet with investigators from baseball's own steroids investigation.
Now, understand that it is a far cry from this guy coming up with a list of names and proving the players took the stuff. They can always try the Gary Matthews Jr. defense of saying "yeah, I bought the stuff but I never took it and you can't prove otherwise."

True, but baseball does not have to prove it in a court of law to take action. Several things to consider:

First, Commissioner Bud Selig, if he ever grows a pair, can ban players for the good of the game. That is a possiblity here, and I think eventually he will have to make an example of some players, similar to the Black Sox scandal and Pete Rose, to put this behind them.

Second, Congress may decide they've had enough of this and step in, especially if it starts looking like the Player's Union is going to bluster their way through this. If I were involved in the union right now, I would be very careful and step very lightly in this situation.

Third, how long do you think it will take for that list of names to leak out? And won't it get interesting if a certain big-headed left handed home run hitter shows up on that list of names?

So far he admitted he took the stuff but said he did not realize it was steroids at the time. If he shows up on that list, then even that transparent cover story falls apart.

Then we will have asterisks everywhere in the record books.

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