Thursday, December 13, 2007

A Quick Comment

A thought on the Mitchell report: My main observation after a quick scan of the Mitchell report – besides a sort of overwhelming feeling of disappointment (but not surprise) concerning some Yankees players – was that there really isn’t one current Red Sox player in there.

Mitchell was (and will be again) director of the front office for the Boston Red Sox. As The Big Lead said, ‘that’s not really a question, more of a statement.’

18 comments:

Shaun said...

Jesus....as if dealing with biased IU fans all day wasn't enough. Look, Mitchell couldn't just make stuff up. He could only work with what he had at his disposal. The guys who would talk to him were for certain teams, that's why players from those teams are the majority of the teams listed. He stated extremely clearly in his press conference that this wasn't a comprehensive list and he had no doubt that there were many other players using.

He could only talk to those who were willing to talk to him and that turned out to be like two or three guys, one of which I know...sadly.

In a union setting, as the MLBPA Memo states, you shut the hell up when something like this comes around. Mitchell traveled to every MLB Clubhouse, I know because it was actually covered in the media, at least once and ran through the same SOP in each one. In some places he found things, in others he didn't.

frank said...

this is dumb. there are about 20 teams that don't have any current players listed. 80 percent of the list is retired players.

and i guess mo vaughn, jeremy giambi and jose canseco never spent time in boston. besides that though, great point.

Shaun said...

Also, the memo between epstein and the scout about Gagne last season showed the Red Sox will go ahead and trade for a guy knowing he has steroid, and weight, issues.

Redhead said...

I never said he made anything up - and I don't remember ever implying that was the case. In fact, I'm pretty sure I merely said that I found the report, his findings (or lack thereof in some cases), and overall position in baseball - and one club in particular - interesting. Maybe even suspicious. Now how you came to the conclusion that my comments translated into 'I don't understand how the process worked' is (admittedly) a little unclear, but...ah shit, now I'm getting nasty.

Shaun said...

Mitchell was (and will be again) director of the front office for the Boston Red Sox. As The Big Lead said, ‘that’s not really a question, more of a statement.’

Here...direct question for you. What statement is he making? That will answer a lot of questions I have regarding your knowledge of this situation.

Shaun said...

Actually, I re-read what you wrote:

"In fact, I'm pretty sure I merely said that I found the report, his findings (or lack thereof in some cases), and overall position in baseball - and one club in particular - interesting. Maybe even suspicious. Now how you came to the conclusion that my comments translated into 'I don't understand how the process worked' is (admittedly) a little unclear, but...ah shit, now I'm getting nasty."

The fact that you made that statement yourself and can't see why I know you don't understand it, speaks for itself. Move on to talking about other stuff.

frank said...

seriously. jack's got this covered. the red sox knowingly acquired gagne this season. the red sox look bad in this, too. you should delete this post before anyone else sees it, because it just adds fuel to the "yankees fans are idiots" fire.

Redhead said...

Seriously, is that the third or fourth time lozo's called me an idiot today? Look, guys, I get the argument you're trying to make (truly jack - I've given up on trying to convince lozo - I'm not stupid...although the more I think about it the more I'm unclear why I care what you guys think).

So without starting WWIII (and no lozo, I'm not going to delete this post simply because, God forbid, you think it's stupid), let me simply say, again, that I do understand your arguments (really, I do...truly), but all I said was that I found all of this 'suspicious.' The definition of suspicious is: having or showing distrust. What I was saying was that I (not you, I) was feeling distrust over the Mitchell report and Mitchell himself. Now boys, is that okay? Am I allowed to feel distrust here? And am I allowed to post those feelings on MY blog? Pretty please?

MCBias said...

Sheesh, guys, what's with the venom? The Boston Herald itself said today "Mitchell has said repeatedly he will apply blind justice when it comes to revealing Red Sox names, but if there is a noticeable lack or complete exclusion of Sox players, the uproar will discredit the report’s impact." It's not a new storyline that people wondered if the Red Sox were getting a good deal because of Mitchell. It came up with the timing of Byrd's name being released right before Game 7 of the ALCS.

I don't believe that Mitchell intentionally gave the Red Sox a good deal. But how is it wrong for Redhead to repeat speculation that you will find on ESPN.com, the Boston Herald, and elsewhere? It wouldn't be because she's a woman trying to talk about sports, is it?

Anonymous said...

mcbias pretty much nailed it. I read a great quote today about this that I can't locate at the moment that summed up these "Red Sox fear" really well. Though I probably would not have voted for him, Mitchell has the experience and the serious reputation that I do not think he would want to spoil in the least.

I'm just relieved that Boog Powell and Frank Howard weren't named.

D

frank said...

brendan donnelly is currently on the red sox. so that's seven guys who used to be on the sox, one current member of the sox.

you should really be suspicious.

Rahul said...

One of the main people Mitchell actually talked to worked for the Yankees so of course more former yankees and current yankees would be named in this.

This report doesn't mean anything anyway, someone show me something that these guys are using now or show me someone thats not Randy Velarde. Baseball has cheaters.

Snooze.

Erin said...

Oh, come on, McBias. It's nice that you're an enlightened guy, but jumping to sexism here is ridiculous.

If anything, these guys jumping on Redhead for her comments implies they find her worthy of an argument, which says something about bloggers who happen to be female. If they just thought "oh, she's a dumb girl, what does she know?" then why bother responding at all?

I think the reason she was called out for the comments is that her statement about Boston's players being excluded from the list (which is untrue, but that's been pointed out here already) implied that they were the only team excluded, as though Mitchell had something to protect (whether that's the way Redhead meant it or not).

And, in the interest of full disclosure, I am both a woman and a Red Sox fan.

TK said...

[opens door, looks in.]

...


[clenches jaw, glares, turns around, walks out]

Shaun said...

I apologize, I was/am having a bad day. My gf is out of town for the next 11 days and I've had rabid IU fans breathing down my neck all day. I am, at best, just plain disagreeable right now and I'm not even sure that's a word. Seriously, I'm going to tone it down about 4,000 notches in the future.

None of what I said was because you were a woman, check my track record.

I also apologize to Jesus, if he exists.

MCBias said...

Erin, yeah, perhaps that woman criticism was one statement too many. Cobra and Lozo have an excellent track record with being considerate of female bloggers. I should have given them more of the benefit of the doubt, and for the record, their blogs are great reads. I just didn't like their style of commenting on this post, and didn't like seeing a blogger getting beat up in the comment section with zero support.

Eh, we all need the holiday vacation ASAP.

frank said...

everything i said was because you're a woman. i completely agreed with your opinion, but then i realized i was agreeing with a woman. so i had to lash out at you because i don't consider women equals in any facet of life. in other words, go get me a cup of coffee, a hot meal, and a blowjob.

Redhead said...

Everyone - I'm sick today, so be nice. Go yell at this person instead:
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