New board game: Where the hell is Mark McGwire?

There are some big names in the so-called Mitchell report on baseball and steroids: Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, and Jason Giambi, current players and retired players.

But where is Mark McGwire's name? I admit I haven't read the report, just a story on it from Yahoo (see link below), but his name hasn't been mentioned as having been fingered as a steroid or banned substances user.

Sure, his name is all over the report, in at least the first 100 or so pages. McGwire, and his success, might have been the spark plug, the smoking gun, the leading indicator of a cheating problem in baseball. But he didn't use any banned substances. In fact, he admitted to using two supplements, both over the counter at the time, but neither was illegal or banned from baseball.

Not that I'd care even if he did. He hit a lot of home runs. He and Sosa revived baseball from a near-death experience. Owners turned their heads, the players' union went on defense, and the fans said "Gimmer more of those HRs!!! I like 14-13 games. How thrilling."

Nobody gave a shit. Now they do?

Give me a break. Cheating has been a part of every sport since day one.

By the way, Roger Clemens, almost inarguably the best pitcher of his era, is hit hard in this report. It's funny how the cheating has focused on the rise in home runs and talks about the ball being juiced, but it seems like more pitchers have been implicated in the use of banned substances than hitters. Strange to me. How crappy would pitching stats be if pitchers didn't use 'roids?

Instead of the steroid era, it might be called the era of junkie pitchers.

Clemens, Bonds named in MLB drug report - Yahoo! News

Barry Bonds: Best hitter of all time? Yes. Absolute asshole? Who cares?

Larry Abrams: Bonds -- In and Outta This World - Living Now on The Huffington Post

I couldn't agree more with the author. I don't care that Bonds may have taken steroids. He's still the best hitter I've ever seen. Most players, even when they know what's coming, still fail to hit the ball 7 out of 10 times. Not Barry.

No amount of steroids makes you a better hitter. Your hits may go farther, but balls you don't get 'all of' just become longer outs.

Plus, count up the number of pitchers who have been popped for, or admitted to using, steroids, and they outnumber the hitters by a long shot. And there are far few pitchers in the league than batters.

So, even if he did take 'performance-enhancing' drugs, so did his competition. Viola! Instant level playing field.

Finally, who's to say that wearing contacts isn't performance-enhancing? So-called "God-given" talent is often shouted out during the steroid debate. If you weren't born with the talent, then isn't everything you do 'performance-enhancing?'

And isn't that the point of sports? To do what others haven't or couldn't?

Court rules MLB players can be identified for steroid use

This could be barry, barry bad.

Court rules MLB players can be ID'd for 'roids - Baseball - MSNBC.com

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