Pump You Up

I’m sure that some Slawers know what to expect from my post this week, and even though I am loathe to be predictable, I am going to oblige. The Mitchell Report on the use of steroids and other performance enhancing substances in baseball, was published yesterday with much fanfare. It was a fairly damning indictment of the past 15 – 20 years of Major League Baseball [MLB] and comes on the heels of Barry Bonds breaking baseball’s most hallowed record, under a cloud of suspicion, this past summer.

The report was compiled by former United States SenatorGeorge Mitchell at the behest of MLB commissioner Bud Selig. For all that, there is little in the report that qualify it as a legal document. Most of the findings in the report would qualify as hearsay, at best. Despite the lack of legal instruments, the interesting aspect of the report is the impact that it may or may not have on public opinion and the resulting pressures which will derive on MLB and the Players Association. [MLBPA] The legal implications of this report will be on the labour issues that develop between MLB and the MLBPA. The MLBPA is one of, if not the, most power labour organization in North America and the MLBPA could not be termed as supportive of the Mitchell Report. Regardless, the Mitchell report will have consequences on MLB and the MLBPA, which should be fascinating to watch as the two sides thrash out the post-Mitchell world in Baseball.

For the nationalists in Canada it should be noted that the report was not short on Canadian Content. Professor Richard McLaren of Western was a member of the investigative panel, at least one Canadian baseball player was named in the report and several incidents were alleged to have occurred in the confines of the Skydome nee Rogers Centre.