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The seedy underbelly of Major League Baseball and its problem with performance-enhancing drugs revealed at least one truth: It's everyone's problem.

The release of the 409-page Mitchell report Thursday, a far-reaching document completed on behalf of Major League Baseball, hit close to home on two fronts.

The report named at least a dozen former Albuquerque Dukes or Isotopes among those tainted in its investigation of rampant use of steroids and human growth hormone, in both the major and minor leagues, over the past decade.

The report also implicated former Sandia High School standout Brendan Donnelly, 36, as having purchased and/or used performance-enhancing substances.

Donnelly has pitched for two major league teams since 2002, the Anaheim Angels and the Boston Red Sox, after bouncing around the minor leagues for 10 seasons. He attended New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs where he played for current University of New Mexico baseball coach Ray Birmingham.

At least five players from the 1999 Albuquerque Dukes squad were alleged to have used steroids, according to the report, citing information obtained in an interview with former Dukes strength and conditioning coach Todd Seyler.

The description of one incident is disturbing to those who follow the sport in Albuquerque.

Seyler told investigators that before a game in mid-July 1999 he met at an Albuquerque apartment with five team members — Paul Lo Duca, Matt Herges, Ricky Stone, Mike Judd and Jeff Williams — to inject themselves with steroids.

The injections were the beginning of a six-week cycle, Seyler said.

All five expected to be called up by the parent Los Angeles Dodgers later that season and wanted to be in "peak physical condition" when that happened, he said.

Seyler said "nonchalant" conversations about the use and benefits of steroids took place between players and himself so frequently during practices, before and after games and in the clubhouse that he became "desensitized" about the illegal use of the performance enhancers.

Seyler, who worked for the Dukes in 1999 and 2000, said in the report that the discussions with players about steroids were "as casual as a conversation about going to the movies."

Donnelly's involvement with steroids is more recent and equally disturbing. His rise from former replacement player in the majors and minor league journeyman to the winning pitcher for the Angels in the 2003 World Series was a feel-good story.

Now, all that's changed.

He is alleged to have purchased an anabolic steroid from former Mets trainer Kirk Radomski after being introduced to him by ex-Dukes player Adam Riggs, a teammate of Donnelly with the Angels in 2003 and 2004.

Radomski said he made one sale in 2004 to Donnelly, for which Donnelly paid $250 to $300.

Red Sox officials internally discussed significant steroids rumors before trading for Donnelly in 2007. In an e-mail to Red Sox vice president of player personnel Ben Charington on Dec. 13, 2006, Zack Scott of the Red Sox baseball operations staff wrote of Donnelly and his steroid use:

"He was a juice guy but his velocity hasn't changed a lot over the years . . . If he was a juice guy, he could be a breakdown candidate," Scott wrote, referring to the physical problems some players show after steroid use.

Donnelly, who sponsored youth baseball camps in past summers at Rio Rancho High and is a close friend of Rams baseball coach Ron Murphy, was admired in this community for his baseball achievements.

He helped the Angels win a World Series title and he pitched in the 2003 All-Star Game.

But his future in baseball is clouded by steroids and further jeopardized by injury. A few hours before the release of the Mitchell report, Donnelly was not tendered an offer by the Red Sox and became a free agent. He is recovering from offseason Tommy John elbow surgery.

His place in the game, sadly, will forever be tainted by the report's allegations, which he declined to discuss with investigators when offered the chance.

The revelations in baseball's investigation of itself showed that the steroids scandal touched big stars and little-known players alike, and it spread throughout baseball communities from coast to coast.

Albuquerque was no exception.