On Demand
Open Phones: Mitchell Report on Steroids and Baseball
Jim Bouton, former Yankee pitcher and author of the books, Ball Four, (Wiley, John & Sons, 1970) and Foul Ball: MY Life and Hard Times Trying to Save an Old Ballpark (Bulldog Publishing, 2003)and Robert Kheel, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, on the use of steroids in Major League Baseball and if there is any legal weight to the Mitchell Report.
Then, listeners tell us what conversations they have had with their kids about the Mitchell Report on steroid use in Baseball.
- About the Brian Lehrer Show »
- Staff Bios »
- Contact Us »
- Tapes and Transcripts »
- Latest Episode »
- Show Archive »
Features & Series
Podcast
Stay up to date.
Subscribe to the Podcast
YOU PRODUCE The Brian Lehrer Show
Be a listener-producer with facts, questions and people you'd like to hear on the air.
More
The Brian Lehrer Show Scrapbook
Visit the scrapbook for daily photos and miscellany from The Brian Lehrer Show.
More
Shop at Amazon!
The Brian Lehrer Show picks
Start your Amazon shopping on WNYC.org and a portion of your total purchase goes to WNYC.
More
Comments
Refresh
i started going to a serious gym in the 1982.
the gym was hard core gym for the area where all the local high school football and baseball players, cops, bodybuilders, Mafioso trained. Anabolic steroids at that time were at most a misdemeanor, similar to possession of firecrackers. steroid usage and selling in the gym was rampant and was the topic of discussion. i remember when i went to buy steroids from the local seller, i went to the apartment and there were the very vocal anti steroid " natural bodybuilders " that were there to buy steroids. These guys were the vocal anti steroid users, similar to senator Craig in their denial of their secret life.
In the 1980's the high school varsity teams were racked with steroid users, you wanted a scholarship for sports, you had to use juice.
i believe if they follow the bouncing steroid ball it will go all the eway back to the 1960's
oral anabolic steroids became popular back then, dball was a very common one. Micky Mantle aggressive personality is indicative of steroid use, they didn't know what steroids where back then, but like amaphetamines they knew it helped them party all night, enhance their sexual studliness , and perform well the next day on the baseball field with no sleep.
the real problem with steroids is in the police departments, not the sports field.
justin volpe fit the description of a steroid abuser to a t.
Why do we care? It certainly isn't about the health of the players, has that even been mentioned? It's only about the records. We will never know who took steroids. Consider Nolan Ryan? Averaged 201 k's per year from age 35-39; averaged 249 k's per year from age 40-44. Had over 300 k's when he was 30, then never again until he was 42. A miracle of fitness (like Clemens)? Played MLB until he was 47, had double bypass at 53. It is suspected that steroids use leads to increase risk of cardiac problems. Is he above suspicion?
It is amazing how much public money these baseball team get. Yet here we have a bunch of grown men with zero integrity getting paid more than some CEO's. If I did any type of drugs at work not only would I get fired but I would probably get arrested.
WHO CARES.The more i think about it the more i realize how unimportant this is.Most of us got through college cheating.We passed on that legacy to or kids who now cheat in their AP courses. We cheat on our taxes. We cheat on our spouses why should baseball be any different. Is it wrong yes but we should take those fake looks of shock off our faces. Heck the founders of this country were tax cheats.America = cheating.
The Mitchell Report tells us that we no longer need to take major sports and the athletes seriously.
Here is why this is a very serious issue: my 20 year old son is a phenomenal place kicker and was recruited by many D-1A colleges, along with D3. We pushed the D3 because we thought the pressure to "juice" would be too great at a more competitive school. Well, he went off his freshman year looking like the 18 year old he was, and by thanksgiving he looked like popeye after eating his spinach. We knew right away what was going on, insisted he stop and in his sophmore year he literally could not compete with the young men 3x his size. They are ALL doing steroids,even in High School and just as in pro sports, coaches and fans look the other way to satisfy their hunger to win. My son left the team after 2 years and now plays intermural, no sterioids involved, but he insists that without steroids you simply cannot compete, these pros prove this point, and KIDS are buying into this concept bc they too want to be champs... I believe this will soon be a college sport scandal and it's very very sad that our culture and our kids have come to this.
What an opportune time to teach your children to be themselves....they do NOT have to look up to anyone in any sport. Dads...teach your children well.
Just a question? How do i explain the Bush regime 2001-2009 to my children
pro baseball should not recognize a distinction between using steroids for recovery and "bulking up" as in both cases, the steroids are working in the same way. steriods work by speeding recovery whether you are lifting weights or not.
shouldn't pettite be confronted about about his vocal Christianity vs. his steroid use? was he Juicin ' for Jesus?
Elizabeth - the mentality starts even earlier, with parents holding back their little boys from kindergarten a year, so they will not only be the older kid in the class, they will be the BIGGER kid in the class.
This only strengthens my disgust and contempt for all organized sports and my anger that my tax dollars go to finance them in the schools. If we're not going to play the game fair, then why play?! What's the point? It's truly a joke, and a crying shame that a ballplayer makes millions of dollars while teachers and cops and fire fighters barely scrape by. If I were in charge, that would be reversed, pronto!
As a cycling fan, this past summer I watched as rider after rider either dropped out or was pulled from the Tour de France due to claims that the riders were using performance enhancing drugs. As a fan of the sport, all I wanted to see was the riders compete. Now it's happening in baseball. The most shocking thing is that "the public" is surprised that athletes who get paid millions of dollars, and who's paycheck comes from sponsors, feel the need to dope if and when they're injured or need an extra "boost." There is far too much money and pressure in professional sports to expect any of the players or riders to be clean.
Amen, brother! Zero tolerance means ZERO tolerance. One strike you're out. You're playing in the big boy leagues, so ACT LIKE IT.
I am simply outraged at the decadent state MLB has finally come to! I am a long time baseball fan, going back to the Boston Braves & Red Sox, and have been a Mets fan since 1962.
MLB has cancers ... strikes by players who want more, when they already have multimillion dollar contracts! Greedy club owners who just care about the bottom line no matter the cost. And now performance enhancing drugs that prop up phonies like Barry Bonds while the care takers of MLB look the other way and real talented players suffer! How can my grandchildren aspire to be like a drug addict who besmirches the game by taking steroids! Any player who is found guilty of doing such should be banned forever, and not be eligble for Hall of Fame election. Commissioner, clean up or I will cease to be a fan!
I don't have any children and I might not phrase my explanation exactly in this manner, but I think that this report is exactly what MLB wanted to come out because so many people are implicated. It diffuses the whole thing in public opinion. Because it's so widespread, people just assume everyone is guilty and therefore it's no big deal. People are so used to scandals and such that they can't really swallow something so prevalent.
Must be a quiet news day, thank heavens.
Leave a Comment
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Back to EpisodeEmail addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. WNYC reserves the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the WNYC.org Comment Guidelines before posting.