Johan Santana Pitches 1st Mets No-Hitter

MLB, Won't You Please Join Us in the 21st Century?

This morning after watching a few minutes of ESPN and some of the highlights, I was ranting about the idiotic call made yesterday by Major League Baseball umpire Tim McClelland, ironically calling his 4000th game in the majors, and making a boneheaded mistake.

The Kansas City Royals' Jeff Franceour had just crushed a ball that bounced off the top of the wall in left-centerfield and Detroit outfielder Austin Jackson made a good play to catch the ball on the rebound and prevent a home run. But McClelland called Franceour out, even though it was a live ball. After reading accounts, I understand that it was a case of brain freeze. McClelland realized his mistake immediately and tried to correct it.

But that is nothing in comparison to what happened today:



This kind of play begs the question: When will Major League Baseball step into the 21st Century with the rest of the world and set up an instant replay system?

It's bad enough that the only replays currently allowed are home run calls because it got so bad a few years ago, umpires couldn't even figure out when balls when over the fence or hit the foul poles. And even in some cases after instant replay had been instilled in those situations, they still got the call wrong.

But more and more, I've noticed a growing rash of horrible calls. Yes, there's the occasional "bang-bang" play at first base that can go either way when you're watching in real time, but I'm not talking about those types of plays (although those can easily be corrected by watching an instant replay). I'm talking about calls that are egregiously wrong.

Two years ago, Armando Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game that could easily have been corrected had MLB had an instant replay system. There are plays too numerous to mention when it comes to blown umpires' calls in the MLB from regular season games to more important playoff games. But in a world where the average viewer sees an instant replay of practically even play during the game, routine as well as controversial, why is Major League Baseball so adamantly against using instant replay to help correct human error?

Practically every other sport uses it. The NFL has a challenge process by which head coaches can challenge a ruling on the field. The NBA can review baskets that come close to the expiration of the shot clock even long after the event during the next stoppage of play. The same applies to NHL goals. Even pro tennis players can challenge the ruling of whether a ball was in play or out and it's checked by computer graphics. But the resistance of MLB to the use of instant replay is mind boggling.

And I don't know why. Some say it would slow down the game even more than its current snail's pace, or that the umpires' union would never allow it. Well, what if an extra umpire were hired for every game to sit in a video booth and instantly see every replay just like we do at home? That would be 16 extra umpires employed by MLB and the video review would be instantaneous. Some say you don't want to show up the umpires. Ask Jim Joyce if he'd prefer being "shown up" instead of giving Armando Galarraga the perfect game he so richly deserves. And what shows up the umpire more than an angry manager arguing a questionable call on the field in front of thousands of fans?

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig can etch his name into the annals of baseball history by mandating some form of instant replay system to double check important calls that can sway the outcome of a game. God knows he won't be remembered for much else. So, please, Major League Baseball, for the sake of the Baseball Gods, join us in the 21st Century and consider making instant replay part of the day to day operations, simply for the sake of making the right call.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post misidentified Jeff Franceour as a Detroit Tiger and Austin Jackson as a Kansas City Royal, and has since been corrected. (Thanks, Annette.)

Gary Carter Dies at 57

NY TIMES: Gary Carter, the slugging catcher known as Kid for the sheer joy he took in playing baseball, who entered the Hall of Fame as a Montreal Expo but who most famously helped propel the Mets to their dramatic 1986 World Series championship, died Thursday. He was 57.

The cause was brain cancer, which had been diagnosed last May. Carter had been treated with chemotherapy and radiation, but his daughter Kimmy Bloemers said in mid-January that new tumors had been discovered.

1986 was a magical year for the Mets and for me as a Mets fan. I remember watching Game 6 holding my breath with two outs in the ninth and down two runs, and it was Gary Carter who singled into the outfield to start that improbable comeback.

Such a sad way to go out.

Some Days It's Hard To Be a Mets Fan... Today More Than Usual

I received a solicitation email from the New York Mets today to purchase season tickets. I had previously been a season ticket holder until last season. Now they want me back and decided to ask me after letting Jose Reyes go to the Florida Marlins less than two days earlier.

My first thought was, "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Here's my response:

Date: December 6, 2011
To: Christopher Leuth, Account Executive, NY Mets
From: Broadway Carl
Re: "We Want You Back" Email

Thank you for your email introduction and your information video for the upcoming 2012 New York Mets season. And as a lifelong Mets fan, I must say I'm impressed by your presentation. It's probably not very easy for you to be an account executive for the Mets these days. I know it's certainly not easy being a fan.

I am frankly a bit surprised, shocked really, at the timing of this email with the wounds so freshly open less than 48 hours after the news that the Mets organization didn't think twice about letting Jose Reyes, it's best player last season and arguably the best leadoff hitter in the league, go to a division rival without a fight. The fan base is at best, not happy, and at worst, in a rabid rage over this most recent example of insouciance.

That Mets management would think it's a good idea to release this email soliciting prospective season tickets buyers while they recover from its latest collective bloody nose shows the ineptness with which this organization has been run over these past few years and just proves how out of touch it is to its fans, regardless of how many surveys and online forms are filled out.
And what's really galling, what hurts the most as a fan of the New York Mets for the last four decades, is the dishonesty with which the organization treats its fans.

We're not stupid. We know that financially, things have been tough on the ownership. We know the Wilpons took a hit with the Madoff ponzi scheme and that they're not out of the woods yet. We know the new stadium was a big expense. We know that the organization was extended a loan from MLB to meet payroll. And we know that all these factors were going to hurt the team competitively. And yet, we were continued to be sold a bill of goods.

Instead of being honest with a loyal following, what were we told? We were told that we'd stay competitive just as soon as the contracts of certain players were shed. We were told that the contracts of Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez were a drag on the payroll. So Perez and Castillo were released. Beltran and Rodriguez were traded. And overall, the fans understood the trades because they thought your organization was looking to the future in the upcoming Reyes free agency eligibility. The fans thought that although your bosses were shedding on one side, it was all in preparation for a resigning of Reyes, the 2011 NL Batting Champion, the first batting champ in the history of the New York Mets.

But no. We couldn't even match the Florida Marlins' offer. The Marlins! The second worst team in 2011 attendance didn't even struggle to outbid a franchise in one of the biggest markets on the planet. Yet you want me to financially commit to season tickets, when your own management won't commit to a legitimate attempt to put a competitive team on the field.

Now we are hearing stories that the new drags on the payroll are David Wright, Jason Bay and Johan Santana. Well, where does it end? This isn't the Pittsburgh Pirates. This isn't the Kansas City Royals. This is the New York Mets. NEW YORK.

Still, I don't envy your position. And I hope you don't work on commission. But please convey this message to your supervisors, their supervisors, even the ownership: My love for the Mets will never waver. I live and die with every pitch. And I'll consider purchasing tickets on a regular basis when the team is sold to a viable owner.

Frustrated

Okay, I had to sleep on this one - I purposely avoided any news on my television machine this morning and averted my eyes from any headlines online and in print as to not cloud my judgment or contaminate my thoughts. I wanted to take a step back after a pseudo-rant in a post outlining yesterday's events, venting on Twitter and debating with Twitter friends, and try to explain how I feel about them.

Last night I received an e-mail from Obama for America titled, "Frustrated."

Today I asked for a joint session of Congress where I will lay out a clear plan to get Americans back to work. Next week, I will deliver the details of the plan and call on lawmakers to pass it.

Whether they will do the job they were elected to do is ultimately up to them...

...It's been a long time since Congress was focused on what the American people need them to be focused on.

I know that you're frustrated by that. I am, too.

He then asked me to stand with him, which I did, and asked for a donation, which I didn't give.

You see, the President is right. I am frustrated. But this time there's more than a little frustration to go around on both sides. And I'm not normally a "both sides" guy.

Earlier in the day, the White House announced that they were finally making a highly anticipated speech to lay out a jobs plan for the struggling economy. For months, the petulant Boehner and the rest of the spoiled brats in the GOP cried, "Where are the jobs?" like a playground taunt. They swept into office in November of 2010 on the issue of "jobs, jobs, jobs" and have done absolutely nothing on that front, pivoting on a dime and making deficit reduction during a horrific recession their primary goal and doing anything and everything, including holding the debt ceiling hostage and causing a downgrade of the American economy by S & P in the process.

So here was the announcement. And the White House chose the first day that Congress is back in session. It's also the same date as the scheduled GOP Primary Debate at the Reagan Library. Now don't misunderstand. This wasn't a decision made willy-nilly. This wasn't some random "idiot staffer" throwing a dart at a calendar, as one tweeter tried to suggest. These things are known well in advance and coordination with 535 members of Congress, with major news outlets and networks are all planned. And I thought it was a brilliant strategy politically. Put the GOP between a rock and a hard place - make them choose. Do you care more about one of your many upcoming GOP debates, or are you being a serious party and really care about jobs for America despite your actions to the contrary? Perfect plan.

And then the unbelievable happened. Boehner refused the President of the United States his request for a joint session. He showed his hand - a jobs plan that he has been wailing about for months could wait another day.

FUCK YOU, BOEHNER! I thought. If you don't think this is of the utmost importance, fine. Let the President take his address to the American people from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. Show the dichotomy, plain for all of America to see. A president who cares about the unemployed against the GOP whose primary stated goal is making Obama a one-term president. Except the president wasn't so resolute.

The Obama email was time stamped at 10:38pm, about an hour after another "compromise" in which the President chose a specific date, September 7th, for an important joint session of Congress to address the nation's job issue, and Speaker of the House John Boehner refused the date, an unprecedented move and one that was most likely motivated more by a GOP primary debate conflict that same night rather than the House schedule, along with some Rush Limbaugh advice. Boehner suggested one night later, September 8th. So the two men talked. And the "compromise?" Or what passes for "compromise" nowadays? President Obama will give his address to a joint session of Congress on September 8th. All within a couple of hours, President Obama acquiesced yet again to Boehner and the GOP. And then he asked me for money.

And within minutes, there was the spin. On one side: "Obama caved again." On the other: "Obama is the only adult in the room." My initial reaction was the former, not the latter. Every once in a while when you're the only adult in the room, the spoiled brat needs a spanking. I'm still waiting for that spanking. And. It's. Fucking. Frustrating.

Now logically, sure, it makes sense that people would come to the defense of the President with the "adult" angle. The Party of No proves their moniker once again. The rancorous GOP shows they refuse to agree with the President about anything to show their extremist base they won't budge. John Boehner is at fault for putting party and politics ahead of the country. I get it. But I'm sorry, I can't turn on a dime that quickly. I can't call the choosing of the initial date great political strategy and within hours dismiss it as, eh, it's just a date. And I'm not going to let other people use that excuse either. Because it wasn't just a date. It was chosen specifically by the White House as a shot across the bow and before the battle began, there was a retreat.

And let's not pretend that it's insignificant. In the grand scheme of things, a specific date isn't the issue. It's about a continuing, troubling pattern of capitulation. There is no such thing as compromise anymore. There is no 50/50 meeting of the minds. From the public option, to the threat of government shutdown in the budget deal, to the threat of government default in the debt ceiling hostage negotiations, there has been no meeting in the middle. How many times will the President draw a line in the sand and then walk away from it? Unfortunately, optics matter. Spin matters. And to me, this just looks bad. That is why I'm frustrated. And I'm allowed to be frustrated.

I'll vote for President Obama. I'll contribute to his campaign. I'll work at the local campaign office when I can. I'll proudly wear my Obama t-shirt and display my lawn sign. But I'm allowed to be pissed off every once in a while.

So now the date is set for Thursday, September 8th, coinciding with the NFL season opener. I don't have to remind readers here that the majority of the country doesn't follow politics like we do. They're not wonks or cable news junkies and probably couldn't name the Secretary of State if asked. But they loves them some football. How many potential viewers will be lost by this move? I have a feeling it will be a significant number. Yes, we'll watch it because that's what we do. But on Friday, ask the average Joe Six Pack if he watched President Obama's joint session of Congress. See what answer you get.

My good friend and co-blogger Jennifer wrote a post last night using a "ball in the dirt" baseball analogy and comparing the President to a catcher controlling a ball thrown in the dirt to induce the batter to swing at a bad pitch and miss or ground out weakly. And that's a good analogy. But the problem is that in this situation, President Obama wasn't the catcher. He was the pitcher. He pitched a plan, a date for the speech. But batter Boehner didn't swing at it. He took the pitch for a ball. He then beared down at the plate and it was the perfect opportunity for Obama to throw one in high and tight; give him a little chin music. Instead, Obama didn't even challenge him.

Boehner walked.

Bob Feller Dies at 92

NY Times: Bob Feller, who came off an Iowa farm with a dazzling fastball that made him a national celebrity at 17 and propelled him to the Hall of Fame as one of baseball’s greatest pitchers, died Wednesday at a hospice. He was 92.

Dumbass Tweet of the Day

Congratulations to the Texas Rangers for making it to the American League Championship Series vs. the Yankees. Someone should gently remind the good* Governor of Texas that Rudy Giuliani hasn't been Mayor of New York City for NINE FUCKING YEARS!

[* By "good," I mean asshole who would stoke the fires of secession to feed the Tea Party crazies for his own political gain.]

Bobby Thomson Dies at 86

NY Times: Bobby Thomson, who hit “the shot heard round the world” — an epic home run for the New York Giants against the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds on Oct. 3, 1951, to climax baseball’s most memorable pennant drive — died Monday at his home in Savannah, Ga. He was 86.

Bob Sheppard Dies at 99

NY TIMES: Bob Sheppard, whose elegant intonation as the public-address announcer at Yankee Stadium for more than half a century personified the image of Yankees grandeur, died Sunday at his home in Baldwin, on Long Island. He was 99.

Opening Day!

Mets win 7-1 over the Florida Marlins.

Reason #735 Why the Mets are Better Than the Yankees

by Armadillo Joe

Hey Blog-O-Maniacs, let's play some baseball! But first, we must clear a couple of things up, OK?

Yankees fan:

Mets fan:


[*Note by Broadway Carl: I have nothing to add except, "PLAY BALL, MOTHERFUCKERS!"]

Henderson, Rice Voted Into Hall of Fame

Congratulations to Rickey Henderson on his first ballot selection into Baseball's Hall of Fame, and to Jim Rice on his 15th and final try.

Rice wasn't a favorite of the press in general but despite the pettiness of the sports writers, finally was accepted. His career is deserving of the Hall of Fame. Henderson is probably the best leadoff hitter in baseball history. He was a likable but flaky player, referring to himself in the third person and notorious for not knowing some of his teammates' names.

There's a story I heard (I can't remember where so I can't give credit) regarding former ballplayer and teammate John Olerud and Rickey on the 1999 New York Mets. Olerud used to wear a helmet in the infield at his first base defensive position, and was questioned about it by Rickey.

"Hey, O-lee," said Rickey. He gave everyone nicknames. "Why do you wear a helmet when you're on the field?"

"Well, when I was a kid I had a head injury," responded Olerud. "My mom made me promise to wear a helmet even when I was fielding. I got used to it and still do it to this day."

"That's funny. When I played in Toronto, someone on that team did the same thing," Rickey said.

"I know," said Olerud with a quizzical look. "That was me."

Rickey Henderson and John Olerud were teammates on the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays.

Out With The Old...

...in with the new.

Some of you may know that I'm a Mets fan. A rabid Mets fan. I've been a Mets fan since I went to my first game in 1975. It's been 33 very long years, with two World Series appearances and one World Series Championship. The Mets have won two championships in their 46 year history but I was too young to remember the first in 1969. So I'm left with one. One... in thirty-three years... in a town that shares baseball real estate with the New York Yankees.

You know the Yankees. 26 World Championships. TWENTY-SIX. And six in my lifetime. And they beat the Mets in 2000. I think Mets fans' only solace is that they haven't won since 2000 even while outspending every other team in payroll. But I digress.

The point was that the Mets are getting a new stadium next season. Citi-Field will open on April 13th. I'll be there rooting for my team, and enjoying the new stadium I'm sure. Shea Stadium was one of those cookie cutter stadiums built in the 60's and 70's. Pedestrian traffic patterns were horrible, not enough bathrooms, the food sucked and the seats were small and uncomfortable, no leg room.

But it's bittersweet because I'll always have fond memories of Shea. My first Major League baseball game watching players live instead of on the screen. My amazement at Dave Kingman popping up a ball that flew higher than the top of the stadium. Going to double headers on my own as a kid with my friends and sitting in the upper deck. Being at the game in 1986 when Dwight Gooden won against the Chicago Cubs to win the pennant for the first time in thirteen years. And my only time on the field watching Billy Joel play the final concert at Shea. So it's a little sad to drive by and see the dismantling of a place that holds a lot of memories. The seats are gone, the scoreboard is down, the field is slowly being covered by debris.

Anyway, a friend sent this picture to me - his brother was coming back from vacation and took this shot as he was landing at LaGuardia Airport. (Click picture for full size.)

Out with the old, in with the new. And hopefully a change of luck in the process. Those season tickets are getting expensive!

Bobby Murcer Dies at 62

NY Times: NEW YORK (AP) -- Bobby Murcer, a five-time All-Star outfielder who spent nearly four decades with the New York Yankees as a player, executive and announcer, has died. He was 62.
The Yankees said Murcer died Saturday due to complications from brain cancer.

I'm a Mets fan, but when I was younger, Murcer was one of the few Yankees I liked.

RIP.

Mets Fire Randolph

June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Willie Randolph was fired as manager of the New York Mets, who have struggled this year after missing the playoffs last season in the biggest collapse in Major League Baseball history. He was replaced by bench coach Jerry Manuel.

I don't know if the timing of this move was right, but when a team is underachieving as much as the Mets have been, you can't fire 25 players. Letting Randolph go was inevitable when you consider the collapse at the end of last season coupled with the fact that this team has been playing .500 baseball since last June (a full calendar year).

The bottom line is that, in my opinion, Willie Randolph didn't have the respect of certain players and it ultimately undermined his authority. He also didn't show the personality traits to be hard on his players when he needed to be.

According to general manager Omar Minaya, he decided to pull the trigger on Sunday night, slept on it, and flew out to Anaheim the next morning to let Randolph know personally. The constant media buzz as to whether Randolph would continue as Mets manager over the weekend was the final nail in the coffin, as Minaya thought it was too much of a distraction from the day to day operations of the team and its players.

Jerry Manuel's first game didn't go so well as the Mets fell to the Angels 6-1.

UPDATE (6/19/08, 1:45am): I just have to vent a little bit. Take a look at this front page of the New York Daily News.

Are you fucking kidding me? This is typical of a sports media trying to make controversy out of something that we all knew was inevitable.

"Cowards In The Night"?! The NY press was pissed off that they got a press release announcing the firing of Randolph at 3am. They are up in arms, screaming in disbelief wondering how the Mets organization can possibly have the audacity to do this in the middle of the night. The fact is the Mets were on a west coast trip and the firing happened after the game, in private at about midnight PDT. The news was released immediately. Oh those poor, poor reporters that didn't find out about it until the woke up the next morning, I feel so sorry for them.

And take a look at the subtitle: "Never in the history of New York baseball, has there been a more shameful, indecent firing of a manager."

Seriously? Never? Were any of these intrepid reporters around in the mid 70's when firing managers in the Bronx was practically a weekly occurrence? "Never been a more shameful firing"? Maybe they should ask Yogi Berra how he felt after getting a vote of confidence from Herr Steinbrenner and then getting bounced on his ass 16 games into the 1985 season. 16 games!

Or maybe they should take a look at Billy Martin's managerial career with the Yankees when he was hired and fired five times in ten years. Any Yankee announcer (yes, I'm talking to you Michael Kay and you, Susan Waldman and you, John Sterling) or any Yanks fan who can call this situation "classless" after what George Steinbrenner did to Yankees managers in the 70's and 80's have got to get their noses out of Steinbrenner's decrepit ass and enter the real world.

Where was the outrage at the termination of Joe Torre, a manager who got you to the playoffs every single year he managed the Yanks; where was Kay or Waldman speaking out about having Torre fly down to Florida for a meeting only to be offered an insulting contract with no negotiation? I know, I know. They were sucking Steinbrenner's ass.

And speaking of the real world, it looks like George's son, Hank is a cowchip off the ol' block. After Chien-Ming Wang injured himself running the bases, Hank "Brain Child" Steinbrenner had this to say about the National League not having the designated hitter:

"My only message is simple. The National League needs to join the 21st century," Steinbrenner said in Tampa, Fla. "They need to grow up and join the 21st century."
Am I (mad) about it? Yes," Steinbrenner added. "I've got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt. He's going to be out. I don't like that, and it's about time they address it. That was a rule from the 1800s."

What the fuck?! Maybe someone should remind Baby Steinbrenner that the D.H. didn't come into existence until 197-fuckin'-2. By that point, the Yanks had won 20 World Series Championships, all while their pitchers took their turns at bat, as the baseball gods intended.

But it doesn't stop there. Listen to this pearl of wisdom from Yanks pitcher Mike Mussina:

"We don't hit, we don't run the bases," Mussina said. "You get four or five at-bats a year at most, and if you happen to get on base once or twice, you never know. We run in straight lines most of the time. Turning corners, you just don't do that."

So let me get this straight: professional athletes being paid millions upon millions of dollars can only run in straight lines?

Hey, Mike. Here's a little tidbit of information for you. Before every game, there's this thing called "batting practice" where you can hone your amazing athletic skills and learn to hit the fucking ball! And the next time you go out for a jog, try making an occasional left turn. You might get that "turning corners" thing down. Dipshit.

Jackie Robinson Day

Today was the 61st anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball. My wife and I enjoyed our game at Shea as the Mets beat the Nationals 6-0.

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."
- Jackie Robinson

Opening Day!

This is one on my favorite days of the year. The trees are blooming, the birds are singing, and baseball is back!

I know the season officially started in Japan last Tuesday, and the US home opener happened last night at a beautiful new Nationals Park in DC (even if Bush did sully the night a little), but my official season starts with the first game of the year played by my beloved Mets. Anyone that knows me well, knows my rabid Mets fanaticism.

So for at least one day this year, I'm going to concentrate my energies on enjoying the Mets season opener and try not to let the horror of Iraq and our corrupt administration ruin it. I'm also waiting in anticipation for the final home opening day at Shea Stadium.

LET'S GO METS!

You Gotta Love Baseball...

... and you gotta love baseball fans that voice their opinion of their Commander in Chief.



Baltimore Sun:

“It seemed there were more cheers than boos, but not by much,’’ the pool reporter reported tonight. The president “walked quickly to the mound and almost immediately, with a high delivery, threw a high fastball that would have been a ball to anyone other than Yao Ming.

Washington Post:

President Bush had enough to worry about _ like not flubbing the first pitch in front of a crowd that might not exactly be his biggest fans anyway.
So before the game, when a couple of Atlanta Braves gave him a team jersey and suggested he wear it to throw out the first pitch at Nationals Park, Bush laughed. Uh, no thanks, guys. Might as well put on a sign that says "Boo me."
"I'm not going to give them any excuses," Bush said of the 40,000-plus people gathered for the opening of Washington's gleaming baseball stadium.
... By the time Bush emerged onto the baseball field, he had ditched the gray sports coat and popped out of the home dugout in a red Nationals jacket. He was greeted by plenty of loud jeers, but also determined cheers, as if the fans in both camps were trying to outduel each other.

ESPN:

...the place was pretty close to full when President Bush strode to the mound in a red Nationals warmup jacket to renew an old baseball tradition.
Greeted by a fugue of cheers and jeers, Bush -- former owner of the Texas Rangers -- threw the ceremonial first pitch to [Nationals manager Manny] Acta.

Waxman Bitchslaps Clemens

Looks like Roger Clemens isn't used to being in a situation where he isn't the domineering intimidator, after interrupting the Committee Chairman during his closing statements.

And as John Amato notes, "Watching the Republicans on the committee go out of their way to protect Roger Clemens, a Texan and fellow Bush supporter was sad. Steroids in sports is not a partisan issue. Andy Pettitte’s testimony, another Texan and Clemens pal is most damaging to his case... [Waxman] also apologized for the hatchet job that was done to McNamee by Chris Shays, Davis, Burton and Co."

(H/T C & L)

A Sad Day For Baseball

NY TIMES: “For more than a decade there has been widespread anabolic steroid use,” Mr. Mitchell said in a news conference announcing the results of a 20-month investigation he led at the behest of Major League Baseball. He said the use of performance-enhancing substances “poses a serious threat to the integrity of the game.”

The players named in the investigation:

The following players were connected to steroids, either use or possession, in the report:

Lenny Dykstra
David Segui
Larry Bigbie
Brian Roberts
Jack Cust
Tim Laker
Josias Manzanillo
Todd Hundley
Mark Carreon
Hal Morris
Matt Franco
Rondell White
Andy Pettitte
Roger Clemens
Chuck Knoblauch
Jason Grimsley
Gregg Zaun
David Justice
F.P. Santangelo
Glenallen Hill
Mo Vaughn
Denny Neagle
Ron Villone
Ryan Franklin
Chris Donnels
Todd Williams
Phil Hiatt
Todd Pratt
Kevin Young
Mike Lansing
Cody McKay
Kent Mercker
Adam Piatt
Miguel Tejada
Jason Christiansen
Mike Stanton
Stephen Randolph
Jerry Hairston
Paul Lo Duca
Adam Riggs
Bart Miadich
Fernando Vina
Kevin Brown
Eric Gagne
Mike Bell
Matt Herges
Gary Bennett
Jim Parque
Brendan Donnelly
Chad Allen
Jeff Williams
Exavier "Nook" Logan
Howie Clark
Paxton Crawford
Ken Caminiti
Rafael Palmeiro
Luis Perez
Derrick Turnbow
Ricky Bones
Ricky Stone

The following players were cited under "Alleged Internet Purchases of Performance Enhancing Substances By Players in Major League Baseball."

Rick Ankiel
David Bell
Paul Byrd
Jose Canseco
Jay Gibbons
Troy Glaus
Jason Grimsley
Jose Guillen
Darren Holmes
Gary Matthews Jr.
John Rocker
Scott Schoeneweis
Ismael Valdez
Matt Williams
Steve Woodard

The following players were linked through BALCO:

Benito Santiago
Gary Sheffield
Randy Velarde
Jason Giambi
Jeremy Giambi
Bobby Estalella
Barry Bonds
Marvin Benard

Read the Mitchell Report here.