Mitchell Report Tabs 3 Former Sun Devils

If you paid any attention to your television today, you were with no doubt inundated by coverage of the release of The Mitchell Report, which outed over 70 players in regard to their use of performance enhancing drugs in baseball.

The names were far-ranging, some obscure and some prominent. From Miguel Tejada to Andy Pettitte to John Rocker to Nook Logan, the hits kept on coming as you wade through 409 pages of legal mumbo-jumbo and 9 1/2 pages alone on Roger Clemens.

Three former Sun Devils were implicated in the report.

If you didn't see this one coming, for God's sake, open your eyes. Barry Bonds name was everywhere in the report as a key figure in the BALCO scandal. His actions implicated several former Giants teammates, including Marvin Benard, Bobby Estalella, Glenallen Hill and others. He graduated from ASU in 1986, ironically with a degree in criminology. During his time as a Sun Devil, he hit .347 with 45 home runs and 175 RBI and was named a Sporting News All-American in 1985, leading the Devils to the College World Series.


Paul Lo Duca was named in the report as well. After walking onto the team at Glendale Community College, Lo Duca transfered to ASU in 1993 and played one year in Tempe. That year was significant though, winning the Sporting News Player of the Year award and being named a finalist for the Golden Spikes award. It was a year in which he hit .446 and had 129 hits.



Fernando Vina played one season at Arizona State before moving on to the big leagues in 1993. He now serves as an analyst on ESPN.





It's in the interest of fair reporting that we inform you of these implications; however, in no way do I believe that this reflects poorly on Arizona State baseball or anything. It's well known that these players engaged in these illegal activities after their time in Tempe. While it's upsetting that any former Sun Devil would be implicated by the Mitchell Report, there's no reason to look at ASU Baseball in any negative light as a whole.