Tucson – Spurred by specific allegations in the book “Game of Shadows,” commissioner Bud Selig appointed former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell on Thursday to head an investigation into the past use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball.
The probe will target slugger Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield, players connected to the BALCO scandal detailed in the book written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters. The book claims Bonds used several performance-enhancing drugs for five years beginning in 1998 and including 2001, when he hit a single-season record 73 home runs.
Initially, the scope will be to determine whether players associated with BALCO cheated by taking steroids and other illegal performance-enhancing drugs from 2002, when baseball began its testing program, to the present. Mitchell, however, has the authority to broaden the investigation, digging deeper into the past, involving more players, if he deems necessary, according to Selig.
Players being investigated will be permitted to play during the probe. While suspensions are possible, Selig couldn’t provide a clear answer when asked about discipline. “When the investigation is over, that will be the time to make those judgments,” he said.
Selig’s decision has been anticipated since excerpts of “Game of Shadows” appeared in Sports Illustrated, detailing Bonds’ alleged drug regimen, three weeks ago.
“This (information) was much more specific,” Selig said, when asked why he didn’t take action when the BALCO story first broke in 2003. “That’s what said to me that it was time to have an investigation.”
Giambi and Sheffield endured scrutiny last spring when they admitted in leaked grand jury testimony to having used steroids, in Sheffield’s case unknowingly. But the focus shifted last season and has remained on Bonds because of his place in history.
As this season starts, Bonds has 708 career home runs, six shy of Babe Ruth’s 714 and 47 short of all-time leader Hank Aaron (755). Selig never mentioned Bonds by name Thursday in his news conference, saying “at least one player” used Greg Anderson as a personal trainer, a reference to Bonds. Anderson pleaded guilty in July 2005 to distributing steroids in his role in the BALCO scandal.
“I know the question of (history) has been around, but that played no role in this at all,” Selig said.
If Mitchell and his panel find evidence Bonds played under the influence of steroids, Selig could suspend Bonds by invoking the “best interests” clause that has existed since 1921. The players association, however, would appeal any discipline, particularly in absence of any positive test results.
Union boss Donald Fehr declined comment Thursday, but spoke with reporters after meeting with Bonds on Monday in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“I hope nobody is making judgments about the inquiry before it’s done,” Fehr said.
Former commissioner Fay Vincent told The Denver Post last week Selig is in a difficult position.
“You can’t go to an arbiter with a book. You have to do your own work,” Vincent said. “And you have to develop a lot of hard evidence and build a case that an arbiter would uphold. I don’t know if he would, based on circumstantial evidence. But (Selig) has to show he is concerned.”
Added former Yankees pitching great Goose Gossage, “I don’t know where it’s going to go, but this was something that needed to be done for the integrity of the game. We need the truth to come out.”
Mitchell, who said he would not resign his post as a Boston Red Sox director, has a long résumé of investigative experience, ranging from the selection of Olympic host sites to chairing a fact-finding committee for the president on violence in the Middle East.
Mitchell called on players with information regarding steroid use to come forward.
The Giants issued a statement saying they support Selig’s decision, but a source said Thursday that Bonds will not cooperate with the investigation. Baseball doesn’t have subpoena powers and can’t offer immunity, which would seem to preclude Bonds from talking since he remains the subject of a federal investigation for perjury and tax evasion surrounding the BALCO case.
“To me this investigation is a P.R. move. It should have happened after the congressional hearings (a year ago),” Rockies player representative Ray King said. “I understand Barry is going after the record. But when is enough enough? They could have done this a long time ago.”
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5447 or trenck@denverpost.com.
