Mitchell Report Aftermath: Lawsuits?

Lost in the Roger Clemens - Brian McNamee spat that has resulted in Clemens filing suit against his former trainer is the story of the little guy. You know, the guy who never made it because he wasn’t juicing. Ex-minor-leaguer Rich Hartmann reportedly may file a class-action suit against MLB. Quoth Hartmann:

Was I cheated of my dreams of a big-league career? I don’t know. But I do know there were thousands of guys who were right on the doorstep between 1990 and 2005 and they were cheated because they didn’t use steroids.

And a little further down:

I hear these guys apologize to fans, but at least the fans got to see some cool stuff. They got to see tons of home runs. They got to see (Mark) McGwire and (Sammy) Sosa go at it for the season home run record in 1998. I’d love to see one of these guys apologize to the minor leaguers whose jobs they took with steroids.

I sometimes hear it said that the use of performance-enhancing drugs is a victimless crime. Not everyone has the luxury of sharing this perspective.