NEW YORK  Seven MVPs and 31 All-Stars  one forevery position  and that still wasn't the worst of it for thelong-awaited Mitchell Report.

That infamy belonged to Roger Clemens, the greatest pitcher of his era.

Seven-timeCy Young Award winner, eighth on the all-time list with 354 victories,an MVP and All-Star himself and once a lock for the Hall of Fame,Clemens now has another distinction: the biggest name linked by formerSenate Majority Leader George Mitchell to illegal use of steroids andother performance-enhancing drugs.

In all,Thursday's 409-page report identified 86 names to differing degrees,but, while he vehemently denied it through his lawyer, Clemens was thesymbol.

Barry Bonds, already under indictmenton charges of lying to a federal grand jury about steroids, MiguelTejada and Andy Pettitte also showed up in the game's most infamouslineup since the Black Sox scandal.

"If there are problems, I wanted them revealed," commissioner Bud Selig said. "His report is a call to action, and I will act."

Dopingwas widespread by stars as well as scrubs, the report said, putting aquestion mark if not an asterisk next to baseball records andthreatening the integrity of the game itself.

EricGagne, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Troy Glaus, Gary Matthews Jr.,Paul Byrd, Jose Guillen, Brian Roberts, Paul Lo Duca and Rick Ankielwere among other current players in the report.

Some were linked to Human Growth Hormone, others to steroids. Mitchell did not delve into stimulants.

"Thosewho have illegally used these substances range from players whose majorleague careers were brief to potential members of the Baseball of Hallof Fame," Mitchell wrote. "They include both pitchers and positionplayers, and their backgrounds are as diverse as those of all majorleague players."

No one was hit harder than Clemens, singled out in nearly nine pages, 82 references by name.

Much of the information on him came from former New York Yankees major league strength and conditioning coach Brian McNamee.

At 45, Clemens has not said whether he hopes to pitch next season.

Thereport was unlikely to trigger a wave of discipline. While a fewplayers, such as Bonds, are subjects of ongoing legal proceedings, manyof the instances cited by Mitchell were before drug testing began in2003.

Mitchell said punishment wasinappropriate in all but the most egregious cases, and Selig saiddecisions on any action would come "swiftly" on a case-by-case basis.

"Wehave approached these cases by looking at the period of time duringwhich the conduct occurred and what our policy looked like for thatpoint in time," said Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice presidentfor labor relations.

While the records willsurely stand, several stars could pay the price in Cooperstown, muchthe way Mark McGwire was kept out of the Hall of Fame this year merelybecause of steroids suspicion.

Mitchell said the problems didn't develop overnight and there was plenty of blame to go around.

"Everyoneinvolved in baseball over the past two decades  commissioners, clubofficials, the players' association and players  shares to some extentthe responsibility for the Steroids Era," Mitchell said. "There was acollective failure to recognize the problem as it emerged and to dealwith it early on."

Mitchell recommended thatthe drug-testing program be made independent, that a list of thesubstances players test positive for be listed periodically and thatthe timing of testing be more unpredictable.

"Theillegal use of performance-enhancing substances poses a serious threatto the integrity of the game," the report said. "Widespread use byplayers of such substances unfairly disadvantages the honest athleteswho refuse to use them and raises questions about the validity ofbaseball records."

Jose Canseco, whose book "Juiced" was cited throughout, was mentioned the most often  105 times. Bonds was next at 103.

Atotal of 16 Yankees, past and present, were identified. Players werelinked to doping in various ways  some were identified as users, someas buyers and some by media reports and other investigations.

"Accordingto McNamee, from the time that McNamee injected Clemens with Winstrolthrough the end of the 1998 season, Clemens' performance showedremarkable improvement," the report said. "During this period ofimproved performance, Clemens told McNamee that the steroids 'had apretty good effect' on him."

McNamee alsotold investigators that "during the middle of the 2000 season, Clemensmade it clear that he was ready to use steroids again. During thelatter part of the regular season, McNamee injected Clemens in thebuttocks four to six times with testosterone from a bottle labeledeither Sustanon 250 or Deca-Durabolin."

"Itis very unfair to include Roger's name in this report," said Clemens'lawyer, Rusty Hardin. "He is left with no meaningful way to combat whathe strongly contends are totally false allegations. He has not beencharged with anything, he will not be charged with anything and yet heis being tried in the court of public opinion with no recourse. That istotally wrong."

"There has never been oneshred of tangible evidence that he ever used these substances and yethe is being slandered today," said Hardin, who called McNamee a"troubled man."

Former Mets clubhouseattendant Kirk Radomski also provided information as part of his pleaagreement in a federal steroids case.

"Formercommissioner Fay Vincent told me that the problem ofperformance-enhancing substances may be the most serious challenge thatbaseball has faced since the 1919 Black Sox scandal," Mitchell said.

RafaelPalmeiro, who tested positive for steroids, was among the formerplayers named. So were Kevin Brown, Benito Santiago, Lenny Dykstra,Chuck Knoblauch, David Justice, Mo Vaughn, Wally Joyner and ToddHundley.

Mike Stanton, Scott Schoeneweis, Ron Villone and Jerry Hairston Jr. were among the other current players identified.

"Weidentify some of the players who were caught up in this drive to gain acompetitive advantage," the report said. "Other investigations will nodoubt turn up more names and fill in more details, but that is unlikelyto significantly alter the description of baseball's 'steroids era' asset forth in this report."

One player mentioned but not expressly accused was McGwire.

His use of Androstenedione during his 1998 home run race with Sammy Sosa set off baseball's first concerns about steroids.

Testifyingbefore Congress in 2005, McGwire refused to talk about his past, andrefused as well to cooperate with Mitchell. The report recounts allthat without making any accusations.

Sosa, who testified with McGwire and denied knowingly using steroids, also was spared by Mitchell.

The report took issue with assertions that steroids were not banned before the 2002 collective bargaining agreement.

Theyhad been covered, it said, since management's 1971 drug policyprohibited using any prescription medication without a validprescription, and were expressly included in Vincent's 1991 drug policy.

"Steroidshave been listed as a prohibited substance under the Major LeagueBaseball drug policy since then," the report said, although no playerwas disciplined for them until the 2002 labor agreement provided fortesting.

Mitchell questioned whether playerswere tipped off about testing. He said a former player, whom he didn'tidentify, claimed he had been given two weeks' notice of a drug test byGene Orza, the union's No. 2 official, in September 2004. Orza did notrespond to a message seeking comment.

Mitchellis a director of the Boston Red Sox, and some questioned whether thatcreated a conflict, especially because none of their prime players werein the report.

"Judge me by my work,"Mitchell said. "You will not find any evidence of bias, specialtreatment, for the Red Sox or anyone else. That had no effect on thisinvestigation or this report, none whatsoever."

Giambi,under threat of discipline from Selig, and Frank Thomas were the onlycurrent players known to have cooperated with the Mitchellinvestigation.

"The players' union was largely uncooperative for reasons that I thought were largely understandable," Mitchell said.

Union head Donald Fehr made "no apologies" for the way they represented players.

"Manyplayers are named. Their reputations have been adversely affected,probably forever," he said. "Even if it turns out down the road thatthey should not have been."

Certainly a lotof people read the names. The report was downloaded 1.8 million timesoff MLB.com in the first three hours after it was posted.

Abouttwo hours after the report was released, two congressmen at theforefront of Capitol Hill's involvement in the steroids issue askedMitchell, Selig and Fehr to testify at a House committee hearing nextTuesday.

California Democrat Henry Waxman andVirginia Republican Tom Davis  the leaders of the panel that held theMarch 17, 2005, hearing at which McGwire, Palmeiro and Sosa testified want to know "whether the Mitchell Report's recommendations will beadopted and whether additional measures are needed," they said.

Also, a Congressional subcommittee will hold a hearing on Jan. 23 relating to steroid use in professional sports.