The Mitchell Report: Another reason to hate the Yankees

I distinctly remember the evening of October 14, 2000.  After breaking my leg in a skateboarding mishap, I spent two months on crutches.  After work on that particular evening, I remember catching a ride home in a cab, where I lied across the backseat listening to KOMO’s broadcast of Game Four, in which Roger Clemens struck out Mariner after Mariner, eventually compiling 15 strikeouts en route to a one-hit 5-0 shutout of the Mariners.  Clemens was the epitome of dominance that day, and any chance of the Mariners tying up the series after four games was quickly squelched.  Although the M’s took the next game, the Yankees ended up winning the pennant in six games as they waltzed into an eventual four-game World Series sweep of the Mets.

Well, as John McGrath points out in the Tribune, little wonder that Clemens was able to prevail so dominantly, as there was a certain kind of Rocket Juice he was consuming during his era with the Yankees.  In fact with the number of Yankees listed in George Mitchell’s report- stars Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Denny Neagle, 2000 LCS MVP David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch as well as supporting players Glenallen Hill , Jason Grimsley, and Mike Stanton- little wonder that McGrath makes a half-serious plea that MLB should consider revoking the Yankees’ 2000 and 20001 pennants.  With such rampant drug use going on in the Yankees’ clubhouse, the Mariners’ division-winning clubs of 2000 and 2001, still the high point of the franchise, were on an uneven playing field when it came to competing against the Yankees in the playoffs.

Then again, Mitchell wasn’t relying on testimony from a Mariners clubhouse attendant for the basis of much of his report as he had relied on the testimony of Brian McNamee, a former Yankees clubhouse attendant who admitted to sticking needles in Clemens’ buttocks.  Considering that Ryan Franklin and David Bell- both Mariners from those eras- had their names in the Mitchell reports, hints that the steroid abuse that ran rampant throughout baseball may have left no clubhouse untouched.   It’s just that the names listed in the report had the misfortune of associating with clubhouse attendants who turned informers for the Mitchell report.