The Mitchell Report made some nice weekend reading; it was a good piece of investigative journalism on the history of steroid use in professional baseball. I’ve offered my criticism of the Mitchell Report as being an overpriced review of secondary sources that was extensively documented elsewhere. But I must admit there was a good amount of primary source reporting in the testimony of Kirk Radomski and Brian McNamee (thanks to the U.S. Justice Department).
The allegations and naming of specific baseball players was the sensationalistic information that the public eagerly consumed. Some news organizations dismissed all of this as “hearsay.” This is incorrect. Willamette law professor Jeffrey Standen offers an excellent clarification: [Read more...]
Recommendations for Steroid Education in Baseball
The Mitchell Report noted problems with current steroid education programs in MLB that focus on severe steroid dangers and deleterious side effects:
This makes sense. If steroid use is rampant and the clubhouse, yet no one is experiencing any of the negative side effects, then why would players give any credence to the MLB “steroid education” programs? Perhaps overstating and exaggerating the side effects and related scare tactics are not effective in a drug education program? [Read more...]