Inside This Issue
A publication of the Society for American Baseball Research Business of Baseball Committee October 19, 2008 Fall 2008 Frantic Frankie Lane Major League Baseball as Enron: The True Meaning of the Mitchell Report* By Steve Treder The Hardball Times By Mitchell Nathanson Associate Professor of Legal Writing Frank Lane lived for nearly 85 years, and it would Villanova University School of Law seem he needed every one of them to squeeze in all the things he did. Lane was, at various times, a pro- On December 13, 2007, an event much anticipated in fessional baseball player, a professional football the world of Major League Baseball took place: the 1 player, a professional football referee, a professional release of “The Mitchell Report.” In it, former basketball referee, the general manager of an NBA United States Senator George Mitchell, acting upon team, a minor league baseball president, and an offi- the request of MLB commissioner Bud Selig, identi- cer in the U.S. Navy. fied dozens of other players who had taken steroids and other suspected performance-enhancing sub- But Lane gained his greatest fame as a major league stances in violation of federal law over the past sev- baseball general manager, a position he held with five eral years. Upon its release, baseball had, in the eyes different franchises. None of the ball clubs he over- of Selig, closed a chapter: the drug abusers –the out- saw won a championship (although the first three all liers -- were identified, perhaps they would be repri- improved), but Lane was nonetheless an extraordinar- manded, and baseball had been cleansed.
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