Into The Mailbag: Debunking The List

The other day, I received an e-mail that's worth addressing. The e-mail contested the validity of The List. By now, all of you who haven't been hiding in the MLBPA's shadow know what The List is.

For those of you who don't, The List is currently under court supervision and it has each and every player that tested positive for PEDs under what was supposed to be anonymous testing in 2003. However, in recent months, names such as Manny Ramriez, David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa have leaked to the mainstream media.

In late June, Rotoinfo.com posted a rumored list, which has since been removed and basically labeled a fake. The e-mail, which was originally sent from someone who claims they have a friend who [sic] "A FRIEND OF MINE WHO IS A JOURNALIST AND PERIODICALLY WRITES FOR THE BASEBALL DIGEST."

I'm not here to banter about anonymous sources, or leaks or any of that. I just want to debunk this list, and I'll do so in the exact verbatim I gave in the e-mail.

"The list is indeed false. This list has been floating around since June or July and was a big deal on blogs because the person who first posted "The List" online had come up short on previous reports based on sources he couldn't name. The big thing with these lists -- and this is how you can tell they're fake -- is the absence of Jason Grimsley. Grimsley was the pitcher for the Orioles (among other teams), named in the Mitchell Report, that is known for testing positive."

This is where the witch hunt begins. The MLBPA needs to play hush-hush about The List because it is the governement's hands, hence it can neither confirm nor deny such a List exists. Then there are those of use, myself and Hank Aaron alike, who want the list released. Finally, there are those who don't want it released because it's 2009, not 2003.

And while I agree that the past is the past, wrong has been done in baseball and it would even be more wrong to ignore it like it never happened. I hear a lot of baseball fans say that they don't care about The List. They don't care about the past. I'm not hearing any of that noise.

But what I will eventually hear is anyone and everyone gossiping about The List, and until it comes out, that's all it will be.

Gossip.

Now, on with the show.