Every Facet of the Game: PEDs

Showing posts with label PEDs. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Now It's The Players Turn

The aftermath of the Mitchell Report has seen several phases. The initial was directed at the actual names named in the report. Next all eyes turned to the evidence behind the claims. Now all attention is on the actual players. Who is going to step up and admit to performance enhancing drug use? Who will fight the claims of the report?

First to act was the biggest name on the list, Roger Clemens. Before the sun fell on the day that will forever be remembered in baseball infamy, a Clemen's representative issued a statement adamantly denying any use of PEDs by the 45 year old 7-time Cy Young Award winning pitcher.

But next came Andy Pettitte, who admitted to using human growth hormone while rehabbing an elbow injury in 2002. This admission does significant damage to Clemen's defense, and gives credibility to the testimony of personal trainer Brian McNamee, who named Pettitte and Clemens in the report.

Back immediately after the initial reaction to the report, when everyone began sifting through the evidence, the name brought up most to discredit the report was that of Brian Roberts. They attested that mere testimony and no actual evidence other than that should not have landed Roberts in the report, and used him as the primary example of the flaws of the Mitchell Report.

However, in an interview in this mornings Baltimore Sun Brian Roberts came clean, admitting to using steroids in 2003.

MLB player turned ESPN analyst Fernado Vina was also named in the report and has publicly owned up to use of HGH. Vina claims to have only used the substance on one occasion, a common theme amongst the admissions of those named in the report. However, the report included 3 checks, from March of 2003 through July of 2005, from Vina to Mets clubhouse boy and steroid dealer Kirk Radomski.

Ex-Red Sox reliever Brendan Donnelly was named in the report for having a telephone conversation regarding steroids with Radomski, and then later receiving steroids in 2004. He has admitted to talking with Radomski about Anavar, a steroid, but claims he never received or used the substance after learning it was classified as a steroid.

Add ex-Arizona Diamondback Alex Cabrera to the list of those denying the Mitchell Report, as well. Cabrera was named in the report for allegedly having a package of steroids delivered to the Diamondbacks clubhouse, but Cabrera claims to have nothing to do with it. In a statement on his Winter League teams website, the Caracas Lions, he suggests he is only an easy scapegoat for the Diamondback organization.

But that's only a handful of the 86 current and former players named in the 409 page report, where are the rest? Miguel Tejada, Eric Gagné, David Justice? And will those, like Pettitte and Roberts, who were named and have admitted use, now meet with the league and be more forthcoming? I don't know, but it seems as if the aftermath of the Mitchell Report may play out to be ever bit as meaningful and informative as it's release.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

The Morning of the Mitchell Report

1 year, 8 months, and 2 weeks ago it was announced that Senator George Mitchell would head an investigation commissioned by Major League Baseball, detailing steroid use by players. Today, at 2 pm EST he will release the report.

As the public awaits what is sure to be a bombshell for the sport, everyone is digging into position preparing to spin the result. The theme of todays morning sports section around America is the tiny morsels of information that have apparently leaked. The commissioner, the agents, the players, the pundits, they haven't seen it yet, but they all have something to say.

The report was only finalized 2 days ago. Thus far only select eyes have viewed it, and it's believed to be so massive, that clearly no one outside the investigation could have fully digested it already. However, already MLB commissioner Bud Selig, who has not seen it, is digging in his heels. In a quote to the Chicago Tribune this morning, even while admitting that it may not cast the league in the best light, he says he will not apologize for it*.

Scott Boras, the infamous sports agent that represents some of the leagues biggest stars, has not read it, but already he's attempting to discredit it. He reminds everyone that the report does not actually mean that the players are guilty, and that the investigation did not receive support from the Major League Baseball Players Association.

This is true, the MLBPA did not cooperate, but that is not unlike the players association, who are currently petitioning the suspension of steroid user Jose Guillen.

But it's the reporters from around the country that are really having a hayday with the report this morning. Everyone is trying to stretch the few bits of information that have been passed along from different sources. The report will name somewhere from 60-80 players. Several of those being prominent Yankees. It will include several MVPs. There's no way to know exactly how true any of these accounts are until the report is released later this afternoon.

Speculation about exactly which players will be named has also been a big discussion point around the tubes of the interwebs. The Orioles dealt Miguel Tejada to the Astros yesterday for 5 low-key players, which lands on most peoples radars as much more than coincidental.

Aaron Rowan and Andruw Jones, both free agents, agreed to contracts within the past 24 hours. Perhaps they are only attempting to work out a deal before baseball becomes all about the Mitchell Report, perhaps they are trying to ink a contract for what they can before they are implicated.

In some ways today is a great day for baseball. A few years ago it became apparent that professional baseball had become infused with the steroid scene. Not investigating may have saved face for some prominent players, but it would have left a black eye on the entire generation. This report won't undo what has been done, even if it is thorough and well investigated, as I expect it to be. It will not save Bud Selig's legacy. But it will at least address the problem, which is more than we've seen in the past.

*Selig also curses. Which, when imagining that awkwardly disheveled man cursing, is actually quite entertaining.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Barry Bonds Indicted on Perjury and Obstruction of Justice

After a 4 year investigation Barry Bonds has been indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, only a little over 3 months since Bonds broke Hank Aaron's All-time Home Run record.

It's been coming for a while, though now that it's finally happened, it only opens the door to a thousand other questions. The investigation was 4 years long, so either they were extremely thorough, or they were digging pretty deep for hard evidence against Bond.

Let's face it, everyone is pretty sure Bonds did something wrong. Exactly what and to what extent is unknown, but it doesn't take much to see that something was going on. However, if there is not evidence proving Bond's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, it'll appear as if 4 years of tax payers money was squandered in the hunt for Bonds.

In the meantime Major League Baseball is caught in between, at a major changing point in the league. An elite athlete in the league over the past fifteen years, who holds a number of records, including that of the Home Run King, could see his entire career erased. Baseball has seen scandal before, from the 1918 Black Sox to Pete Rose, but perhaps never at the level that is about to unfold in a court room in San Francisco.

[MORE POSTS ON BARRY BONDS]

Monday, October 22, 2007

Comprehensive List of MLB Players Linked With Performancing Enhancing Drugs