In reading the interview with Senator Mitchell at boston.com this morning, this section from Stan Grossfeld’s report stood out for me:
But most of the talk in New York is about Clemens, who was a stunning name revealed in Mitchell’s report. Clemens’s lawyer called the allegations "slander," but Mitchell disagreed.
"I offered to meet with [Clemens] to tell him what evidence I had," he said. "If he is denying it, he could have come in and denied it to me."
Mitchell says each player named had chances to defend himself.
"We received allegations about the use of performance-enhancing substances by players," Mitchell said. "With respect to every one of those players, I invited them to come and meet with me. Talk with me. My intention was to provide them with all the information that I received so they could respond.
"I wrote a series of letters beginning in June in which I listed the names of every player about whom I had received allegations and asked if the player would meet with me, and the Players’ Association wrote back and they sent a list and said these players refused to meet with me."If they wanted to deny it, deny it, and I would have taken what they said into account. Almost without exception, those who I invited to meet with me declined."
In Clemens’s case, McNamee said he injected him with steroids four times. Mitchell told a reporter to read Page 174.
"McNamee told Radomski, ‘He’s on the program,’ or words to that effect," Mitchell said.
Mitchell is not escaping the wrath of Yankee fans, who claim Mitchell went after Yankee players.
"Radomski lives in New York, so does McNamee," Mitchell said. "I didn’t select them. I didn’t select who they dealt with."
He continued to defend the report, jabbing the air with gusto for a 74-year-old.
"How do you judge the affiliation of a player?" he asked. "Clemens pitched 13 years for Boston and six for New York. Many of these players move from club to club. There’s more to this report than players’ names."
Mitchell said all major league teams fielded players who cheated, and pointed out his impartiality by referring to an e-mail from Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein to a Sox scout regarding the alleged drug use of relief pitchers Eric Gagné and Brendan Donnelly.
"It suggests the reality is that we reported what we learned," said Mitchell, who also pointed out he is not currently on the board of directors for the Red Sox. "I’m not involved with the Red Sox. I’ve not been involved for some time and I won’t be until this is all over. Call it a leave of absence."
These players had opportunities to speak with the Senator and clear their names. Why didn’t they? Why didn’t the Union let them?
Instead of calling into question the Senator’s integrity, how’s about we start placing the blame where it belongs? With the players who cheated, the Union who encouraged it and Selig’s office for ignoring it.