Thursday, December 13th, 2007 by Adam Wagner
Initial reaction to the Mitchell Report
The long-awaited results of the Mitchell Report finally came out today in a 409 page tome that is the result of gathering a bunch of journalism majors together and giving them a hot topic to research under the guidance of George Mitchell. The report included some surprising names (Andy Pettite) and some not so surprising names (Roger Clemens, Miguel Tejada) that were still shocking to see in print. Most of the players on the report, however, were not stars, as mediocre performers such as Rondell White and Ryan Franklin dominated the list.
According to SI.com, more names will come out as a result of the report, but the buzz surrounding the initial release of the report was unlike anything I have ever seen. For all anyone knew yesterday, it could have implicated multiple stars in the primes of their careers and meant the end of baseball. Fans, however, seemed to care more about knowing which of their heroes betrayed them and the game that all are supposed to hold sacred. Everyone, from the beer guy straight on up to executives in their ivory towers, desperately wanted to find out who they can and cannot trust in this age of ever-shifting alliances. It is good for baseball and for Bud Selig’s legacy that the commissioner asked that this report be made, clearly revealing baseball’s transgressions for the entire world to see and emphasizing that a new age has dawned for the game and for its players, an age where everyone from the stars to the long relief man can once again be the good guys and, for everyone outside of New York City, the Yankees can be the bad guys.
More to come later, including mockery of all of the ex-Pirates implicated in the report.
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