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		Players named will fight from getting banned from baseball By Ken Gimblin and Joe Cronin December 14, 2007

	SAN FRANCISCO--Will the MLB players who were named in the Mitchell report be banned from the game is unlikely, given that the players have a very strong union representation. Truthfully are these players named a total surprise? No you have heard the rumors and looked at what they had done with Roger Clemens being a good example and you would have thought five or six years ago he would start fading but he hung around in the game as he aged and he didn't and there has to be a reason for it and obviously with his drug use it got him to where he is today. This who situation is not a surprise on baseball and is it a black eye on baseball yes and does baseball really care? Giants owner Peter Magowan whose name was dropped in the report and did he care and you look at it and he looks like he's more interested in the money and could care less. Baseball player’s president Donald Fehr: One can not argue the fact that the Players Union is arguing that these banned substances were not banned from the game until 2005. Barry Bonds was tipped off when the steroids tests in 2003 when they came. But regardless of the ban in 2005 of steroids baseball really needs to clean up the game. Fehr has said that he will stand with the active players in the report if there are any consequences coming down from MLB. If the government has any prosecuting against these players at that stage each individual player will have to retain a lawyer to fight any accusations from the federal authorities. As far as Fehr is concerned he said if MLB wants to discipline the players he will fight each charge if it's regarding banned substance before 2005. As far as after 2005 Fehr still would demand proof as to what labs had and what strong grounds the prosecution would have against any of his players. Will the fans continue to support the players: Look at Bonds as the fans continued to support Bonds and you have fans who did support him and then you have fans who were just in the middle and that’s true of the other players too. We have heard fans say get off of Bonds case and also say we don't care or if they do they deny it. In general you are going to have fans that are going to be turned off by all of this some fans may not like it which will be their way of telling baseball how they feel but there are a lot of fans out there that are going to say "yeah so what". Stan Conte former Giants trainer's role: When Brian Sabean asked former Giant trainer Stan Conte to ask Bonds trainer Greg Anderson he was no longer allowed in the clubhouse. Conte asked Sabean if he would have his support and Sabean got quiet. The Giants were late in getting control of the clubhouse from Anderson who later distributed steroids to the ex-Giants you now see in the BALCO trial. The reality of it all is that they gave Bonds a blank check in the Giants clubhouse and it was "do whatever you want". If you read the books "Game of Shadows" by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams and "Love me Hate Me" by David Pearlman which covered this subject on what privileges did Bonds have allowing Anderson full access to the Giants clubhouse and also to the other players. Anderson had free access to the clubhouse until the Giants were forced by MLB not allow any non-Giants employees from coming into the clubhouse whatsoever. Paul Lo Duca persona non grata: Lo Duca was not picked up by the Mets for 2008 and was considered by the team until the announcement on Thursday that Lo Duca was involved in getting steroids from former Mets bat boy Kirk Radomski. Lo Duca who caught for New York last season and was a former Dodger catcher will have a hard time shopping for a new team being one of the many players named in the findings on Thursday. Lo Duca not only used but passed Radomski's information onto other players. But the big question is how soon will the owners pursue the players over this and will the Commissioner play a role in banning some of the players or will the first time offenders get a 50 game suspension? Will the government’s role in this be to find and prosecute each player involved in the Mitchell report? Former Giant Willie Mays said Friday that he still couldn't believe what is happening to the game he once played and the findings of the Mitchell report. Mays added that while he was stunned it certainly breeds new culture and a new dimension to the sport he grew up playing and eventually going to the Hall of Fame for. Mays is a team representative and does many of the Giants ribbon cuttings for the Bay Area Community at large. Mays didn't name Bonds but said that he will be fine and has a great defense team. Ken Gimblin and Joe Cronin both cover the BALCO/steroids scandal and can both be heard on 1690 KFSG Sacramento.