[BigRapidsJackass]

Skimming the Mitchell Report.

Here's my two favorite parts so far.

1. Internal Dodgers memo on Paul LoDuca when they were getting ready to trade him (wasn't that DePodesta's move?):

Steroids aren't being used anymore on him. Big part of this.
Might have some value to trade . . . Florida might have interest.
. . . Got off the steroids . . . Took away a lot of hard line drives.
. . . Can get comparable value back would consider trading. . . . If you do trade him, will get back on the stuff and try to show you he can have a good year. That's his makeup. Comes to play. Last year of contract, playing for 05.

I love that "will get back on the stuff and try to show you he can have a good year." I imagine conversations like this were commonplace in MLB front offices around this time. It's just rare to see someone take minutes of the meetings.

2. Giants trainer Stan Conte (no relation to BALCO's Victor) tried to get GM Brian Sabean to ban Greg Anderson from the Giants clubhouse. He was concerned that Sabean not let anyone know that he was the guy trying to kick out Anderson since Barry would put up a fuss:

Conte recalls that during this series [August 2002] a Giants player asked Conte about steroids. Conte refused to identify the player to us, citing athletic trainer privilege.

"Athletic trainer privilege." That's a good one. We'll have to change the law school casebooks to include that along side physician-patient and priest-penitent.

Honorable mentions:

1. Unexpected guys on the list of 'roid/HGH users: FP Santangelo, Rondell White, David Justice, Larry Bigbie (he deserves a refund from his supplier), Mike Lansing (we probably got him after he stopped using), Nook Logan, Hal Morris, Kevin Brown, Darren Holmes (not really unexpected, I just forgot he ever existed), Kent Mercker (I'm guessing it was in his short Rockies tenure since that's when he was coming back from injury)

2. Totally expected guys: Jack Cust, Eric Gagne, Brendan Donnelly (beware the 30ish reliever who has an unexpected performance spike!), a whole bunch of Giants/A's/Yankees.

Deadspin.com is posting excerpts ... just the interesting stuff. A lot easier than going through the whole thing.

I think this is great. I can't wait for the preposterous denials starting tomorrow. "I was told it was a vitamin shot." "I had a prescription from a dentist." "I never knowingly used PEDs even though my ass resembled a pin cushion."

And don't listen to all the apologists telling you that HGH doesn't "enhance performance." Being able to come back from serious injury faster, or being able to recover faster between starts when you're a 42 year old 300 game winner is enhanced performance. I would like to say that HGH should be allowed for players recovering from injury, but I think we can already see the likely outcome of that concept: every single player has to "recover" from something, including just normal wear and tear on key body parts, so everyone would have the prescription. Sad to say but there's really no answer other than better/more frequent testing.

I almost fell over when I heard Steve Phillips say something sensible today. He says even though there's no good HGH urine test now, he thinks urine samples should be stored from all players -- just the threat of being found out down the line if/when a good test is created will be a significant disincentive.