Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
A Closer Look At The Mitchell Report
By
Peter Trinkle
Published Dec 14, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Peter Trinkle
Published Dec 14, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
We've heard all the names from baseball's Mitchell Report, now let's look at some facts. Roger Clemens, who vehemently denies the accusations against him, is the biggest name revealed in the report. His lawyer says, "Roger has been repeatedly tested for these substances and he has never tested positive. There has never been one shred of tangible evidence that he ever used these substances and yet he is being slandered today."
In the report, Brian McNamee details helping Clemens use steroids sometime in the summer of 1998. Coincidentally, from June 30, 1998 until the end of the year, Clemens went 12-0 throwing 132 innings and striking out 169 batters with an ERA of 1.77. Before that Clemens had thrown 102.2 innings, striking out 102 with an ERA of 3.77.
Clemens is accused of using steroids again in the "latter part of the 2000 season". Here it is harder to divine the results, but it is worth noting that Clemens had an ERA of 4.33 before the All-Star Break and an ERA of 3.15 after it. In addition, there is the infamous night of October 22nd, when Clemens threw the remnants of a broken bat at Mike Piazza and was quoted afterwards as saying, "I came back into the dugout and I said I've got to get control of my emotions and calm down. I told Charlie, the umpire, I didn't know Mike was coming out. I guess it came close to him. That was my emotions."
The final instance detailed in the report came in August of 2001 when Clemens started using again according to McNamee. In this case, the numbers do not back up the accusation as Clemens' numbers do not show any change.
Like Clemens, the evidence against Andy Pettitte ranges from interesting to highly speculative. The accusation is that Pettitte received HGH injections while he was on the DL from April to June of 2002 and Pettitte ended the season with the 2nd-lowest ERA of his career. But, Pettitte's numbers didn't really take off until September when he made five starts, won them all and had a 2.23 ERA.
Some cases with New York athletes are much more cut and dry. Todd Hundley is accused of starting steroids in 1996 a year in which he hit 41 home runs after never hitting more than 16 in a season. Some are not at all, like Chuck Knoblauch who reportedly received seven to nine doses of HGH in early 2001 and then had one of the worst seasons of his career.
Perhaps the only conclusion to draw from this report is that cheating is rampant in baseball and without a test for HGH it will probably continue well into the future.
Photo of Roger Clemens during an October press conference by AP/Julie Jacobson; Photo of George Mitchell yesterday by AP/Richard Drew
Tagged
andy pettitte
baseball
Brian McNamee
mike piazza
mitchell report
mlb
news
roger clemens
sports
Star Break
steroids
Peter Trinkle
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Years of bus headaches start Thursday as Port Authority advances Midtown terminal work
The Port Authority is replacing its ramshackle Midtown Bus Terminal. Riders will face years of headaches as the work is finished.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
and
Carol Chen
Published Oct 13, 2026 at 4:47 p.m. ET
ICE admits to using Roxbury, NJ warehouse site to process immigrants
The agency is under a court order not to use the site for detaining arrestees, but acknowledged it processed immigrants there on at least two occasions.
By
Mike Hayes
News
ICE admits to using Roxbury, NJ warehouse site to process immigrants
The agency is under a court order not to use the site for detaining arrestees, but acknowledged it processed immigrants there on at least two occasions.
By
Mike Hayes
Dolan's offer: Donations to Blakeman for Knicks tickets
By
Walter Wuthmann
NYC officials call for Target boycott, say ICE staged at Marble Hill lot before shooting
By
Ryan Kost
and
Brittany Kriegstein
'Insults, bravado': Legal standoff over Mamdani rent freeze grows fiery
By
David Brand
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .