NPR: Excerpts from the Mitchell Report on Steroids in Baseball

Excerpts from the Mitchell Report on Steroids in Baseball

Filed under: Sports

Sen. George Mitchell's report on steroids in baseball is out (and you can read it). On page 109, there's a fascinating chapter called "Unreported Incidents." We'll drop one instance of steroids in baseball here, and a couple after the jump:

In 1999, Barry Waters, the director of team travel for the Houston Astros, received a telephone call from an employee of a hotel where the Astros had just stayed, reporting that a package had arrived at the hotel addressed to an alias that was used by Ken Caminiti, who then played for Houston. The hotel forwarded the package to Waters, who opened it and found glass vials containing a white liquid that he believed to be anabolic steroids and pills that he believed to be vitamins.

Waters did not deliver the vials to Caminiti, but believing incorrectly that there was no policy requiring him to report the incident, he did not report the matter to anyone else with the Astros or to the Commissioner's Office. Caminiti later admitted that he had used steroids during his playing career in a widely read Sports Illustrated article that was published in June 2002.

Another bit from the Mitchell report on steroids in baseball:

During either the 1998 or 1999 season, a clubhouse employee with the San Diego Padres was walking through the players' clubhouse when he saw two players standing huddled over, and looking into, a small box. The Padres employee overheard one of the players say "Winstrol." When the players noticed him watching them, they put the box away and walked away. The Padres employee did not report the incident.

And another cut from the Mitchell report:

In 2000 or 2001, a visiting clubhouse manager working for the Minnesota Twins found a used syringe on top of a trash can in the visitors' clubhouse. He brought the incident to the attention of the Twins manager, Tom Kelly, who told him to dispose of the syringe and to be careful doing so. Kelly confirmed the incident and said that he did not report the incident to anyone because he felt it "wasn't any of [his] business" and that it was the other team's issue to address.

Laura Conaway

2:26 PM ET | 12-13-2007 | permalink

Send a Comment

Comments are reviewed and edited by NPR prior to display. All comments will be read, but not all will be posted.

NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.

E-mail this Page

Recipient's e-mail address:	» Up to twelve addresses, separated by commas.
Your e-mail address:
Your name:
Personal message (optional, 600 characters max):
Your NPR member station:
Are you a member of your local NPR station?	Yes No
Would you like to receive information from your local NPR member station? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No
Please send me updates from NPR.	Yes No

(Information collected by NPR will be used solely for internal NPR or NPR member station purposes and only if you selected 'yes' above. See NPR's privacy policy for more information.)

Host

Alison Stewart

Welcome to 'The Bryant Park Project'

The Bryant Park Project started as a blog in the summer of 2007 and ended as a radio show and online community in July 2008. Read our frequently asked questions and discussion rules.