Selig awaits Mitchell report

DENVER -- The season could end any day now, and then comes an off-season that could be unlike any in baseball history.

Barry Bonds, the all-time home run leader, could be indicted for perjury or tax evasion or both. Commissioner Bud Selig could suspend several players linked to steroids, human growth hormone or both in a government investigation. And Sen. George Mitchell is scheduled to release his report on steroids in baseball, in which dozens of players could be named.

“I wanted to not have anybody say, ‘You guys hid something,’ ” Selig said Saturday. “I don’t have any reason to hide anything. Whatever George Mitchell uncovers, he uncovers. Maybe we can learn from it. Hopefully, we can.”

Selig said he wasn’t sure whether to expect a fan backlash if the Mitchell report implicates a blizzard of big names. Then again, he said that “names have been out for two and a half years” in various reports -- big names linked to steroid use, including Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi -- and still baseball topped $6 billion in revenue for the first time this season, with the average team selling a record 2.6 million tickets.

“At least nobody can ever say this went on and they didn’t have an investigation,” Selig said. “And then people will say, ‘Are you afraid?’ No. I’m not afraid of anything.”

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Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton entered Saturday’s game hitting .182 in postseason play. He needed a little good luck, and he knew just what to do.

As the Rockies took batting practice, Helton spotted Tom Lasorda holding court near the Colorado dugout. Helton walked over, gave Lasorda a hug, then rubbed his bat against Lasorda’s belly.

“Get me out of my slump, Tommy,” Helton said.

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For casual fans, those without a rooting interest or even much of an interest in baseball, tonight’s game could be worth watching. The starting pitchers each survived a life-threatening medical condition: Colorado’s Aaron Cook required surgery for blood clots in his lungs in 2005; Boston’s Jon Lester underwent chemotherapy over the past two years to beat lymphoma into remission.

Colorado Manager Clint Hurdle said he did not consider the pitching matchup simple coincidence.

“I believe in a lot of different venues that God’s fingerprints are all over a lot of things if we are able to open our eyes and recognize, whatever faith you have,” Hurdle said.

“And I just think the significance of it is special for every cancer victim that’s out there, that there’s a battle that can be on your hands, but there’s a battle that can be fought and, just as importantly, there’s a battle that could be won. These guys are representative of that.”

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Hurdle benched center fielder and leadoff batter Willy Taveras, who had neither a hit nor a walk in the first two games of the series and had a postseason batting average of .120 and on-base percentage of .214. Cory Sullivan replaced him in center field and Kazuo Matsui replaced him in the leadoff spot. . . . Cook, who had been on the disabled list because of a strained oblique muscle, pitches tonight for the first time since Aug. 10. The layoff between starts is the longest for a World Series starter since Bob Grim of the 1955 Yankees, whose Series start was his first since June 12 -- but Grim made 13 relief appearances in between. . . . Houston’s Craig Biggio, who retired last month, was honored with the annual Roberto Clemente Award for excellence on the field and in community service.

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com