By David Walter
The Phanatic Magazine
Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig responded to former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell's report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball that was released Thursday and said action will be taken.
From the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Selig addressed the media and thanked Mitchell for his findings and said he plans to carry out every recommendation to the best of his ability that Mitchell outlined in his report.
Earlier Thursday, Mitchell unveiled the much-anticipated 311-page report that revealed the names of numerous players who purchased and possibly used performance enhancing substances after a 20-month investigation.
Mitchell, also a director of the Boston Red Sox, was tabbed by Selig in early 2006 to head an investigation into steroid use by MLB players.
"The report is a call to action, and I will act," Selig said. "Those recommendations that I can implement independently, I will do immediately."
Selig, who explained he has not read the report in its entirety, also stated on Thursday that any possible discipline of current players listed in the report will be determined on an individual and case-by-case basis.
"Senator Mitchell acknowledges in his report that the ultimate decisions on discipline rest with the commissioner and he is correct," said Selig. "Discipline of players and others identified in the report will be determined on a case-by-case basis. If warranted, those decisions will be made swiftly and I, of course, will give thorough consideration to Senator's Mitchell's views on the subject."
Mitchell's examination also described a "serious drug culture within baseball, from top to bottom," and blamed both the commissioner's office and the players' union for fostering the problem.
The report detailed how the players, as well as clubhouse personnel, allowed steroids and other banned substances in clubhouses, or knew about it and stayed silent.
"I will deal with the active players identified by Mitchell as users of performance-enhancing substances," said the commissioner. "I will also review the comments made by Senator Mitchell regarding club personnel and will take appropriate action."
Mitchell also recommended MLB implement new policies, including investigations without positive tests, improved educational programs, and enhanced year-round testing as well as hiring an independent drug-testing company that advocates transparency.
"We will always have to monitor our programs and constantly update them to catch those who think they can get away with breaking baseball's rules," Selig added. "In the name of integrity, that's exactly what I intend to do."
The league's current testing program is overseen by a joint management-union Health Policy Advisory Committee, with an independent administrator approved by both sides.
The biggest names not previously tainted by rampant accusations that were included in Mitchell's report were future Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens along with his friend and former teammate with the New York Yankees and Houston Astros, Andy Pettitte.
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