The Mario Report

If you're not surprised, then I'm surprised. If you noticed that Juan Gonzalez's name was no where to be seen on the Mitchell Report, then we are on the same boat. This was a shock to me, because Gonzalez was accused not only by his former teammate, Jose Canseco, but he was also accused by his former owner, Tom Hicks. I would like to believe that Juan Gonzalez didn't do steroids, but that would be naive of me. Fortunatley, there is still no proof that Gonzalez accually took steroids. This brings up two points; The validity of the Mitchell Report should be questioned (in terms of the impact it holds), and Tom Hicks and Jose Canseco are unabashed self promoters.

The problem with the Mitchell Report is it only has created a list of scapegoats for the steroid era. The players whose names are on the list are going to take the brunt of the punishment while anybody who is not on the list will be saved. It would be naive to think the list named everybody who used steroids in basebell. What the Mitchell report has done is it has created a powder keg waiting to explode. Players who are on the list are likley to accuse other players who aren't on the list of taking steroids, and so on. It's makes for all the ingredients necessary for a backstabbing, paranoia, McCarthy-like, black list campaign in the MLB. Also, steroids, like any other drug, can be used for a number of reasons. It can be used to enhance strength, or it could be used to recover from an injury. This leaves room for a lot of gray, because how a player used the steroids is a factor in how we classify them as a cheater. Cheating on one question on one test is different from cheating on every question on every test. If a player took steroids to heal during the off-season, but never played a game is different from a player who used HGH to inflate their numbers during the season. The Mitchell Report has opened a new chapter to the steroid controversy by segregating players simply as cheaters, and non cheaters. Black and white. This report will be relflected upon as the most ineffective $60 million dollar investigation ever in the history of the sports. This report has flaws, and does not conclude the steroid controversy by any means.

Juan Gonzalez's name never appeared on the list, but his name did appear on Jose Canseco's book, Juiced. This prompted Tom Hicks to use Juan Gonzalez as his scapegoat when being grilled by the media questioning his decisions. Whether Gonzalez took steroids or not, there is no real evidence that he actually stuck the needle in his butt. Canseco's testimony can not be used as a credible source, because this guy is trying to sell books. It's bias. Anyways, earlier this year, Tom Hicks was being questioned about awful decisions he has made as an owner. When being confronted about all the terrible seasons he has put together, he made his great escape by making this comment.

"Juan Gonzalez for $24 million after he came off steroids, probably, we just gave that money away,"

reason for suspicion?

"His number of injuries and early retirement just makes me suspicious, in any event, we paid him $24 million for very few games."

Clearly implying that Juan Gonzalez took steroids. This statement came at a time when the steroid watch was at an all time high. Bonds was on the verge of breaking the home run record, and reports were being uncovered that many other players took HGH. Tom Hicks used this as a window of escape, and accused Gonzalez as a steroid user to save his own butt. Here is what I got to say, Tom if you had suspicion or you knew, then why did you give him 24 million dollars? Heck, why even sign Juan Gonzalez in the first place ? He was always injury prone. My guess is, Gonzalez was a fan favorite in Dallas, and you just wanted use him to sell tickets. I'm glad Gonzalez took advantage of you, because you continuously take advantage of the fans. Oh yeah, Gonzalez's name never came up on the Mitchell report. To sum it up, this certain incident shows that Tom Hicks as no integrity or loyalty to his players. When the fire gets hot, Hicks will throw you in it to save his own butt.