Now that Waukegan's own Gary Bennett has 'fessed up to employing human growth hormones, what does Major League Baseball have in store for the new backup catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers?
That's right, Bennett, named in the Mitchell report as one of 85 or so MLB players to use banned substances, was signed Monday to a one-year free-agent contract with the Dodgers, his eighth team in the majors. Among the teams the journeyman catcher has played for is the St. Louis Cardinals, including the 2006 team which won the World Series.
For a guy who owns a lifetime .242 average with 21 homers and 188 RBIs after 12 years in the majors, The Hound has to ask: What help did using HGH do for this guy? His output surely wasn't enhanced. Maybe he paid $3,200 for bottled water and got taken in a scam. Who knows?
But Bennett does know. In an interview with the Washington Post, he said the Mitchell report, as it concerned him, "was accurate." He also stated the obvious: "It was a mistake. It was something that quite obviously, you regret now."
While Bennett has a new team and a new outlook on using performance enhancing drugs, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig announced last week that punishment would be meted out to those who used steroids and HGH to "juice" up. Named in the Mitchell report were some of the game's top players.
So what will be the punishments? Banned for life, game suspensions? Slaps on the wrists?
Gary Bennett may soon know.
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