The Mitchell Report and the subsequent Congressional hearings involving would-be Hall of Famer Roger Clemens, fitness trainer Brian McNamee, and pitcher Andy Pettitte has struck fear in the heart of Major League Baseball.
        Everybody is looking over their shoulders.
        If players of the stature of Clemens and Barry Bonds can be publicly pilloried, no one is immune.
        On my second day in training camp, I was temporarily denied access to the Tigers’ Marchant Stadium clubhouse.
        “I don’t know if the media is allowed in,” clubhouse manager Jim Schmakel said. “Give me a minute and let me check. Everything has changed in baseball. I don’t want to get into trouble.”
        When Magglio Ordonez went to the bench during batting practice to get a blister on his hand taped, two photographers rushed to focus on the utterly routine procedure.
        “Can I get your name?” one of the photographers asked Tigers’ assistant trainer Doug Teter when he finished taping.    
        “No,” Teter replied. “I don’t need my name in the paper.”
        As a group, baseball trainers are concerned that their profession is being tainted by the conduct of personal trainers such as McNamee, who focus solely on conditioning and fitness rather than on medical issues.
        They have asked that they henceforth be referred to as “athletic trainers.”
        OK. Make that, assistant athletic trainer Teter.