On the day after Thanksgiving every retail clerk in America goes to the front of their store and before turning the lock and opening the door, pauses and thinks…..here they come. Hang on tight. It’s going to be a long day.

So when the two men who wrote the book “Game of Shadows” about Barry Bonds, authored a story alleging that former D-backs third baseman and currently the special assistant to the managing partner for the team Matt Williams bought 11 grand worth of HGH and steroids, I think the same thing. This, my friends, is just the beginning.

Sometime between now and the end of the year, the Mitchell report will come out and we’ll be inundated with names of guys who used, bought or tried steroids and Human Growth Hormone. We’ll have more names in front of us than we know what to do with. An encyclopedia of cheaters and litany of excuses. Can’t wait.

In the case of Williams, he says he tried it in 2002 because a doctor recommended it for his ankle problems. A flimsy excuse that was backed up by team President Derrick Hall who, in a statement, said “Matt is a standup guy, who without hesitation, admitted using it and not liking it.” That doesn’t explain why he placed two orders (one in March of 2002 and one in May of 2002) or why, according to the Chronicle he put in more orders even though his career was over.

I guess you credit Williams for admitting he used it, though his reason has become the motive-of-the-day. “Well my doctor told me to take it.” You don’t need a phony doctors prescription to overdose on that line. We’re going to hear it a lot in the next few months.

But the truth of the matter is simple; that era will be littered with guys who were juicing. If you want to look backwards and hold everyone accountable for something that perhaps most who played during that time frame were doing, go ahead, but I think you’re missing the big picture. Holding Matt Williams accountable now means nothing. It has no value and no useful purpose. What do you accomplish? The cancer of steroids might be so widespread, my guess is you’ll never be able to remove it.

But holding baseball accountable to make certain it never happens again? Making sure they are truly committed to doing everything in their power to test tough and punish tougher? You bet your syringe free ass that the goal.