12/20/2007 - The Mitchell Report Hits Home
According to baseball folklore, when “Shoeless” Joe Jackson of the Chicago White Sox descended the steps of the Cook County Courthouse in Chicago after being arrested for conspiring to fix the 1919 World Series, a young fan looked up forlornly to his baseball hero and uttered the now famous phrase, “Say it ain’t so, Joe, say it ain't so!”
Fast forward some 90 years later, and millions of baseball fans across the country share the same sentiment as that little boy did when his beloved White Sox were dubbed the “Black Sox” for allegedly fixing the Fall Classic. The release of the long-anticipated Mitchell Report on the use of performance enhancing substances in Major League Baseball is baseball’s biggest scandal since the dark days of the Black Sox.
Although the players in 1919 were never convicted of criminal charges, they were banned from baseball for life. The Mitchell Report is not a criminal indictment with any legal backing, but it could have the same repercussions as the Black Sox scandal with big name players facing some sort of sanctions from the Commissioner’s Office.
What made the report so interesting was it became almost a parlor game for fans trying to guess which players were on the list. Sure, every one guessed Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco and a lot of fans had their suspicions about Roger Clemens for years. But they are superstar players that the average fan only knows from going to the ballpark and watching games on television. They are faces on the front of a baseball card or team yearbook. There is no personal contact, so it makes talking about the report easier.
Well, that changed for me in a hurry that snowy Thursday afternoon when the report was released. Yes, pitcher Andy Pettitte of the Yankees may have been the biggest shocker, but when a certain name came up, it was like I took a shot to the solar plexus.
When journeyman utility player Adam Riggs was implicated, I was shocked and saddened. Not just for baseball, but for his family and fans of Sussex County baseball. Riggs was a terrific football and baseball player for Lenape Valley and graduated from the Stanhope school in 1990. He played at the County College of Morris for the great Dennis Morgan before heading to the University of South Carolina-Aiken where the Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the 22nd round of the draft in 1994.
For his part, Riggs responded to the Mitchell investigators through a letter from his lawyer stating Riggs, “never tested positive for improper substances.” Riggs was one of the players named by former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski. The report alleges that Riggs, who found out about Radomski from former Dodgers teammate Paul LoDuca, purchased human growth hormone (HGH), clenbuterol and Winstrol.
The report includes damning evidence of five checks and money orders sent to Radomski from Riggs from July 2003 to November of 2005. The report said Riggs engaged in six to 10 transactions with Radomski, although they never met in person.
Over the years, I have interviewed Riggs numerous times and had the pleasure of seeing him play from high school right up to when he visited Shea Stadium as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1997. Riggs could always hit, but his glove held him back from being an everyday player in the bigs. He bounced around from the Dodgers, Padres and then the Angels. He has played the last three seasons for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of the Japanese Baseball’s Central League.
It was with the Angels that he had his most success and he was a key part of the squad’s run to the American League playoffs in 2004 that ended with a loss to the Red Sox in the first round. He gained national notoriety in 2003 for wearing a uniform top that spelled “Angees” instead of Angels. But unfortunately, that funny incident will always be secondary when starting a conversation about Riggs and his career.
I always found Riggs to be engaging, thoughtful and very accommodating when it came to dealing with his old hometown newspaper. He always returned calls and never “big-timed” us with a Major League attitude. His family was just as nice and always helpful when we would bug them for Riggs’ new phone number.
But sadly, if the allegations in the report are true, it is emblematic of the performance-enhancing issue in baseball. Sure, Bonds and Clemens are the big fish, but it is players like Riggs, F.P. Santagnelo, Dan Naulty and Randy Velarde that I find most troubling. You see, Bonds and Clemens would have been Hall-of-Famers without the drugs, so it was just greed and hubris that allowed them to take steroids.
But it is the journeymen, the 25th man, if you will, where the problem lies. These guys made the team over players of equal ability due to their use of drugs and that stinks. There are precious few roster spots in Major League Baseball and the pressure to nab one can lead a good guy like Riggs to break the rules. Players are willing to risk their health for a shot of playing in “The Show.”
In his big league career, Riggs hit .216 with 3 homers and 10 RBI in 153 at-bats. His numbers took a tremendous jump when he went to Japan. In three seasons, he has hit 56 home runs and driven in 157 with a batting average of .288. In 2006, he had a monster season and hit .294 with 39 dingers and 94 RBI, prompting the Swallows to sign him to a two-year deal worth $3 million in January of 2007.
Now in baseball terms, two years for $3 million is peanuts. But for a guy like Riggs, that is his big payday and is life-changing money. But is it worth it? Besides the health risks, and as I said before, he will always be remembered for being named in the report, even if the allegations are not true. The court of public opinion is more severe than any legal proceeding.
I believe all sports should be rid of the scourge of steroids, but I also feel the Mitchell Report is flawed and incomplete. There are probably hundreds of other players involved, who just didn’t get named. Sure, the named players had a chance to respond, and most didn’t. But in a very un-American way, the report puts the onus on the players to prove their innocence.
The report was baseball’s way of letting Congress know it is doing something about steroids and a way to publicly embarrass the Players Union for not taking a tougher stand on testing. The report was more about keeping Congress from revoking baseball’s anti-trust exemption, than the health of its players, in my opinion.
But the important thing to remember is that steroid abuse must be stopped and that starts at the high school level. And hats off to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association for implementing a testing policy for 2006-07 school year. The state randomly tested 500 athletes who made the state tournament as an individual or as a member of a team and only one player flunked. One is too many, but that is a great start, and seems like the youth of today are listening about the dangers of steroids.
We will never be rid of the use of performance-enhancing drugs because, to some, the reward is greater than the risk. The thought of possibly landing a college scholarship or a coveted roster spot on a professional team is too alluring for some. And it seems like Riggs fell into that trap even though the use of performance-enhancing drugs does not guarantee you anything, except for health risks down the road.
So whenever I hear Adam Riggs name again, I will be just like that little boy nearly 90 years ago.
“Say it ain’t so, Adam, say it ain't so.”
That is it for now, see you on the sidelines.
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