Will there be a Mitchell hearing for those who die due to legal substances (400,000/yr due to tobacco - Mitchell lobbied for their companies after the Senate, 40.000/yr. due to alcohol)?

How many die per year from steroids?
How many fans kill or maim per year leaving the stadium due to alcohol?

Sadly, these were my thoughts too. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those families involved in this senseless tragedy and to the scores of others who will, without a doubt, face similar tragedies on our roads (and elsewhere) over the next few days.

Really? Those were your thoughts? Pointless. Death happens, Leyritz destroyed a family, and his own life to boot. You actually want congressional hearings into traffic fatalities, cancer, accidental drownings...? Or just being cranky? Shit happens, it sucks, the rest of us go on.

Abe;

Just pointing out the hypocrisy of everyone on the steroid isssue. This "think of the children" mantra is garbage whne tohusands of teens die from alcohol and start their physical decline by smoking.

Steroid use is a day at the beach compared to these killers.

And this was not s**t happening - Leyritz broke the law by being DUI and committing vehicular homicide. If you have never had a friend of family member killed by a drunk driver,you are leading a blessed life.

Yes Abe, rmt's post echoed my thoughts, that's correct. I've known people killed directly by alcohol and driving and I've seen a number of accident scenes resulting in deaths that happened because of alcohol; the deaths of those people were not "shit happening." Rmt's point is that...well...it's exactly what he responded to you above. No reason to get so angry at us for pointing out hypocrisy, right?

Excuse me rmt, but Congress does hold hearings and pass legislation dealing with alcohol, tobacco, and other things that kill people. Just because the results are not perfect in your eyes doesn't mean they don't happen.

Simon;

Yes, Congress holds hearings - and then accepts the campaign contributions. They tax tobacco just enough to cover health care costs and hope and pray new smkers start in order to fund SCHIP and children's health.

Jim Bunning, the great steriod fighter, is from Kentucky, a state whose manin crop is tobacco - it kills.

John McCain married a woman whose father was a large beer distributor for Bud. His wfie was caught stealing from a not for profit and getting illegal scrips for schedule II painkillers - and served no time and received not even a slap on the wrist.

Don't go to DC for moral guidance and upholding the integrity of anything, especially baseball. The rules are imperfect, and just because we don't like the collective bargaining process results re: drug testing doesn't mean it is not helping.

The N.Y. Post reports that Leyritz had 7 violations for running red lights, driving on a suspended license, driving without proof of insurance, etc. from 2002-2006. Based on his driving record, he was an accident waiting to happen.

The final ultimate decision was Leyritz's, but the State of Florida didn't do a very good job in reprimanding Leyritz for his previous violations. You wonder why he had a license in the first place. That family shouldn't just sue Leyritz, they should sue a few judges and the State of Florida also.