The Mitchell report came out about steroid use in Major League Baseball. That there were some big names on the list came as no surprise. The biggest names were Roger Clemons and Andy Pettite. The biggest surprise was that most of the names were unknown players who never had an impact in the major leagues.

If steroids make so much difference that they are a big problem then the biggest names using steroids would be expected. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemons are two of the biggest names in Major League Baseball and they are on the list. But steroids do not help you hit a ball. They only help you hit a ball farther. Steroids do not help you throw a strike. They only help you throw the ball faster.

In order for steroids to have a big impact on a player, that player has to have a lot of talent in the first place. Barry Bonds was probably the best player in baseball before he started using steroids. The steroids just turned him into an all-around good player into a home run hitter. When Barry first started in baseball, he would steal as many bases as he hit home runs. He was a great fielder. He did not have a good arm, but he made up for it by getting to everything. As he started using steroids, he stopped stealing many bases and stopped getting to every ball in the outfield. Instead of hitting .350 and hitting 35-40 home runs and stealing 35-40 bases, he started hitting 55-73 home runs and stealing 10-15 bases. I don’t remember the numbers exactly, but he is the only player to have over 500 steals and 500 home runs. The numbers could be different.

Roger Clemons was a good pitcher before he started using steroids. Using steroids has enabled him to prolong his career into his 40’s and be a dominating pitcher. Had he not used steroids, he probably would have had to end his career about 5 years ago. He also would have had to change from a fastball pitcher to a pitcher that uses other pitches. That is the pattern that other pitchers like him have followed. They start out as dominating power pitchers in their 20’s. In their early to middle 30’s they have to change to throwing curves and sliders if they want to stay in baseball. The fastball that got them to the majors leaves by the early 30’s and they have to learn other pitches.

What is surprising about the report is the number of players that are relatively unknown. That shows that talent is what is important. Steroids may make you bigger and stronger, but they cannot make you hit the ball. You have to be a good hitter in the first place before steroids would have an impact. The same can be said for pitching. Steroids can make you throw the ball harder. But, you have to be able to throw the ball for a strike consistently if you want to be a successful pitcher. So, steroids can enhance a successful pitcher’s career, but will not help a journeyman’s career.

That is the real story of the Mitchell report. That is also the story that is not being reported right now. Right now, the story is that so many people are using steroids in major league baseball. The question to answer now is, what does major league baseball do about this report. What seems to be the first step that major league baseball is taking is that they are removing the 24 hour notification of a drug test. That should make people more honest. I do not know much about steroids and their use, but if I knew 24 hours in advance that I was going to have a drug test, it would give me an advantage. The second thing they are going to do is make the tests more random. That means a drug tester could show up at any time and administer a drug test right there. This would be done without warning. These two things should go a long way towards cleaning up the sport. The other thing to do is to have drug tests that will pick up all the steroids in the test. I understand some of the steroids do not show up on some drug tests.

The total impact of this report is yet to be written. I believe that the effect will be minimal. That is because people have known about this for some time. Some of the names on the list were suspected. Some of the names were surprises. But the report highlights the fact that talent is needed for steroids to have their full impact. For that reason, I feel that people will not stay away from games. There will be just as many people go to games this year as there were last year. I know I will go to at least as many as last year, probably more.