posted on Friday, December 14, 2007 2:58 AM by Jim

Post-report report

Cleaning up after the Mitchell Report...

The White Sox are reviewing the 311-page document, but they have to be feeling relieved that the only four mentioned were Jose Canseco, Armando Rios, Jim Parque and Scott Schoeneweis, with Schoeneweis really the only notable case.  Don Cooper had some interesting insight on that one:

"I heard his name had come up before, but my understanding was Schoeney was taking things for a condition he had from recovering from cancer.  When Schoeneweis was cleared [by the Commissioner's Office], I said, 'Good for him.' I thought he had a condition that warranted it."

As for Canseco, he tried to gain entrance to the press conference but was denied.  He also wondered aloud why Alex Rodriguez wasn't mentioned in the report.  And so continues Canseco's remarkable post-career career path.

Speaking of former Sox, Joe Cowley gave Frank Thomas a tip of the hat in his Sun-Times article:

''It just shows you a lot about Frank Thomas,'' [Greg] Walker said. ''I'm proud of him and his career. And the thing I'm really proud of is he never made excuses about what other guys were doing and not doing. That's the thing about Frank. He went about his business, knowing it might not be a level playing field.''

As Fundman pointed out in the Mitchell thread, Thomas added another feather to his cap by being the only player to voluntarily speak to George Mitchell.   Thomas once again adds to his record of being a lone advocate of stronger testing, and barring a shocking turn of events, that should ensure Thomas of first-ballot entry to the Hall, although I'll never be sure why people consider his case so flimsy to begin with.  It'd be pretty hypocritical to both vote against players who aged supernaturally, and those who actually suffered declines because they let nature take its course.

As expected, the Sox did tender a contract to Joe Crede, and now we await the inevitable trade.  An interesting juxtaposition in Mark Gonzalez's notes article:
  • Bobby Jenks said it's easier to keep in shape since moving his offseason home from Seattle to Chicago.
  • Jim Thome said Chicago weather makes it more difficult to manage weight, but he's dealing.
Odds and ends:

Comments

# re: Post-report report

Friday, December 14, 2007 9:23 AM by Roy Dean Bream
I think the fact that Frank Thomas was absent, from this investigation, gives me hope for sports. I think we all would have been disappointed, as White Sox fans, if "our guy" made the list.

Considering Sammy Sosa is a poster child for steroid abuse and was the Golden Meal Ticket for Wrigley Field over the course of about a decade, I'd rather The Big Hurt be kept out of this whole fiasco entirely.

Unless, of course, he is guilty of using junk.

# re: Post-report report

Friday, December 14, 2007 11:11 AM by Florida Jim
I think Jose Canseco should be listened to with an open mind as he knows quite a bit we[the fans] don't and is willing to talk freely. He is fearless unlike most of the cowards who inhabit the great game of baseball and continue to turn their heads now and as they did in their clubhouses as their teammates shot-up.
Eventually this will come out and we will know the truth, however many players will be suspect until then. Do we have a few heros who will step up?

# re: Post-report report

Friday, December 14, 2007 3:36 PM by MattTheRock
Canseco has really lost the ability to be taken seriously after Juiced came out. For a brief period of time, he was the rallying point for stronger testing as well as a cautionary tale. But his fifteen minutes in this area expired, and now he throws out unsubstantiated claims like the one about A-Rod. I've never seen one piece of evidence linking A-Rod and steriods as he seems like a legitimate talent, and Canseco seems to be appearing with the sole purpose of 'Hey remember me?'

But kudos to people like Frank Thomas. There's no dirt on him, his records, or people surrounding him. On top of that, he's campaigned for stricter standards, helped this investigation, and his motives seem much more pure.

# re: Post-report report

Friday, December 14, 2007 4:06 PM by Jim Margalus
Canseco's kind of a war profiteer in this whole thing. He's more believable than 90 percent of everybody in MLB who has talked about it, but only because this whole thing is his cottage industry.

I'm surprised there hasn't been another Canseco, one with a better track record of not being an outrageous figure. Maybe that man is Larry Bigbie.