NEW YORK—The keenly anticipated Mitchell Report on steroids usage in Major League Baseball will be issued on Thursday, fueling hope the record will be set straight on a suspected doping era in the sport.
Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, who launched an independent probe into use of performance-enhancing drugs at the behest of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig in March 2006, is expected to name at least 50 players who used banned drugs.
Interest is high in Mitchell 's findings on how widespread doping has been, whether the report will expose any big-name players not previously implicated and if any culpability for the doping is assigned to baseball management.
Mitchell, 74, a former prosecutor and judge, is scheduled to make public his report at a news conference at a Manhattan hotel. Selig will then face the media to give his reaction.
While players may have used enhancers to get stronger and bounce back from the day-to-day grind, some believe Major League officials turned a blind eye to reap the benefits of a home run binge that lifted the sport's popularity starting in 1998.
Mitchell, who is on the Boston Red Sox board of directors, spoke to all 30 MLB teams but did not have subpoena power to require cooperation from players and possible witnesses.
The only active player known to have testified before the commission was New York Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi, whom Selig threatened with suspension if he failed to cooperate after giving an interview to the newspaper USA Today in which he tacitly acknowledged having used steroids.
Baseball began to reclaim its fan base in a big way in 1998 after a 1994 player strike led to the scuttling of post-season playoffs and the World Series.
The game's fortunes turned when St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire and the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa engaged in a 1998 chase for the single-season home run mark of 61 set in 1961 by Roger Maris of the Yankees.
McGwire smashed the 37-year-old record by belting 70 homers and Sosa slugged 66.
During McGwire's sensational long-ball campaign, a reporter spotted a jar of androstenedione in his locker. The steroids precursor was not barred in MLB at that time, and McGwire admitted to its use.
Three seasons later former San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds hit 73 homers to set the current record.
Bonds is now facing trial on federal charges he lied to a grand jury in denying that he had knowingly used steroids .
The strong Players Association spurned testing initiatives proposed by ownership but a series of congressional hearings turned an uncomfortably harsh light on the issue and led to a 2002 collective bargaining agreement on drug testing that has grown stricter since.
After lagging behind, MLB now has one of the toughest drug policies in U.S. team sports -- 50 games suspension for a first offense, 100 games for a second and a three strikes and you're out lifetime ban after a third positive test for a banned drug.
Despite questions about the accomplishments of sluggers such as Bonds, who last season overtook Hank Aaron as all-time career home run king, baseball's popularity has grown at the box office.
Baseball revenues increased last season from $5.2 billion to $6.08 billion with record attendance of over 78 million.
The Mitchell report is thought to be keyed to information from criminal probes that have implicated major leaguers and may also have been aided by the Albany, New York, District Attorney's office, which is conducting a national investigation into the illegal drug sales.
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