Who wants to talk about baseball and steroids? Anybody?

[Ninong]

Let me make this very brief:

There were 103 major league baseball players who tested positive for steroids in 2003. One hundred and three!

That's not exactly as many as Jose Canseco named in his book but so far it looks like Jose was right about the big-name players he outed. But why should just Barry Bonds and A-Roid have to bear the burden of public scorn? Okay, so Bonds is in trouble because he lied to a grand jury and because two SF sportswriters wanted to get rich off their crappy book, which includes secret grand jury testimony that was leaked. A-Rod looks like he's virtually home free at this point. He hasn't lied to Congress or any grand juries, as far as I know. And penalties weren't enforced until 2004, so testing positive in 2003 is no big deal. Except...

It's a big deal because those names were supposed to remain secret. Now that certain names have been deliberately leaked, maybe it's time to release the entire list of all 103 names? That sounds only fair to me, how about you?

Roger Clemens is in trouble for lying to Congress about it. Andy Pettitte is home free because he told the truth. Besides, Andy Pettitte is a much more likeable guy than Roger Clemens. I can't stand Clemens. Especially after he threw that jagged bat at Mike Piazza. Roger Clemens deserves whatever comes his way. Jason Giambi is washed up. He scored big with that Yankees contract but without steroids he's just not the same player.

As for A-Rod, well, what can I say? I have always liked A-Rod, except for the fact that he falls apart in the post season. I didn't think he was taking steroids. I guess I was wrong. Oh, well... (P.S. added 1/11/10: A-Rod actually did come through big-time to help the Yankees win the World Series in 2009.)

Let's face it, I like Barry Bonds. Anybody who can like Bonds can certainly like Alex Rodriguez. I can't stand Manny Ramirez. He's obnoxious! His stunts are just too annoying for me.

So, what do you think? Do you hate A-Rod now? Maybe you always hated A-Rod? If you always hated A-Rod, now you have a good excuse. If you always liked A-Rod, then you probably still like him.

What's up with Madonna? Is she collecting major league MVPs or something? First it was Jose Canseco and now A-Rod. (P.S. added 1/11/10: Madonna has now adopted/purchased Baby Jesus, the 21-year-old Brazilian stud she takes with her everywhere she goes.)

[Reefland]

Who's tired of seeing A-Rod scroll across the bottom on ESPN?
Posted via Mobile Device

[denhay14]

A-rod was never a big fan of, but he admitted what he did was wrong and didn't try to slide by like most of the other people who got cought. If you are cought doing this it's your own fault in the first place, so just admit you were wrong because you will look less like an idiot in the first place and second you won't get in as much trouble.

Barry Bonds is a cheating scrub who deserves all his records erased from everything and anything dealing with baseball. He is just demoralizing to baseball and should be banned from baseball for life. Honestly who likes him anyways?

[Ninong]

Barry Bonds is a cheating scrub who deserves all his records erased from everything and anything dealing with baseball. He is just demoralizing to baseball and should be banned from baseball for life. Honestly who likes him anyways?

People in San Francisco like Barry Bonds.

According to a lot of people who know Bonds, he didn't get into steroids until after Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa put on that clown show in 1998, the year McGwire hit 70 home runs. Both of those guys were juiced. Just look at them. Bonds was supposedly pissed that McGwire had hit 70 home runs with the help of steroids. That's the same excuse that every pro athlete has given over the years: they had to do it to remain competitive.

Let's say they pull all of Bonds' records. Then they would have to pull McGwire's records. And Canseco's records. And should they take back Canseco's MVP trophy? And Ken Caminiti's MVP trophy? And what about the hundreds of other guys in baseball who have done steroids? And they should definitely yank all of Roger Clemens' records. I'm all for that!

And hey, what about the four superbowl championships the Pittsburgh Steelers won between 1974 to 1979? They're the ones who started the steroid craze. Then it spread to the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders.

Maybe they should just put a warning label on all the statistics: Performance Enhancing Drugs Have Been In Widespread Use Since the Early 1970's.

Remember the East German women's Olympic swimming teams?

[denhay14]

Ha touchette, Ken Griffy Jr. is good and he not on roids or wasn't last time I checked he should get all the MVP trophies=p

[Ninong]

Ha touchette, Ken Griffy Jr. is good and he not on roids or wasn't last time I checked he should get all the MVP trophies=p

Well, he used to be good. I hope he was never on steroids but then again I didn't think A-Rod was ever on steroids.

P.S. -- I think you mean touché.

P.P.S. -- Griffey is going back to the Mariners.

[denhay14]

Griffy deserves to be "the man" since he didn't bulk himself up because everyone else was doing it, and still did good. I dont think he does because he is still a little guy; unlike Barry, have you seen his rookie card?LMAO

[Ninong]

I like Griffey. I always have. I'm glad he's finishing up his career with the Mariners.



P.S. -- Poor A-Roid. His explanation is not exactly holding up very well. The hole is getting deeper and he keeps on digging.

[denhay14]

"A-Roid" I love when people say that lol. But yeah it's good he gets to go back to where he started.

[Ninong]

A-Rod should never have left Seattle. That Texas Rangers owner was a fool to pay him $250 million! That was $120 million higher than the next best offer, as we later found out. And Steinbrenner is a fool period. A fool with tons of money.

I have a feeling that A-Rod can't tell the truth because the truth is a lot worse than he has been letting on. Too bad. Oh, well...

I think the truth is that an awful lot of MLB players took steroids and some of them continued to take them even after 2003. This is something Bud Selig just doesn't want the public to know.

What's next? Are we going to find out that Derek Jeter took sterioids? I don't think so but what do I know. I didn't think A-Rod took steroids. I figured all of his teammates were just jealous because he was overpaid compared to them. Although that's hard to say about the Yankees. They're pretty much all overpaid.

At least Joe Morgan didn't use steroids!

And I don't think Pete Rose ever used steroids. He just had a really bad gambling habit and he lied about it. He still won't come clean about that. He should have just said from the beginning, "I bet on baseball, including the Reds, but I never bet on the Reds to lose. I'm very sorry." As long as he never bet on the Reds to lose, all would have been forgiven. As least as far as the fans are concerned.

[Cas]

Ha touchette, Ken Griffy Jr. is good and he not on roids or wasn't last time I checked he should get all the MVP trophies=p

They should all go to Frank Thomas, he was the only top player to speak out against steroids. He also came in second or third in the balloting and was the top clean player.

The only reason that there is testing in MLB is because the Chicago White Sox lead by Frank Thomas and Mark Bheurle all tested for steroids in 2003. The agreement with the players union said x% of players or 100% of one major league team had to test in order for testing to become perment. The union actively campaigned against testing. Frank Thomas and Mark Bheurle were bound and detrimined to get the cheaters out of baseball they convinced everyone to test. It also helped that the Sox's GM Kenny Williams was a margianal player and lost more than a few spots on teams to cheaters and refused to take any know steroid users and dumped any player using steroids as soon as he found out.

Go Sox, cubs Sux.

[Ninong]

More Steroid Problems for A-Rod

A new book coming out Monday will claim that A-Rod started doing steroids as a sophmore in high school and didn't stop until 2004, when he was with the Yankees!

Here.

[Ninong]

from The New York Times:

Rodriguez Book Puts Baseball on the Spot

A new book about Alex Rodriguez might have created a troublesome situation for Commissioner Bud Selig, who will now have to assess the book’s assertions that Rodriguez’s use of performance-enhancing drugs goes beyond the previous explanations he has provided.

“A-Rod, The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez” (HarperCollins), by Selena Roberts, asserts that Rodriguez used steroids in high school, took them as a major leaguer under the supervision of the now-banned trainer Angel Presinal, had human growth hormone in his possession in 2004 and was suspected by Yankee teammates of using steroids in 2005, according to a copy of the book obtained by The New York Times. The book is to be released Monday.

[Ninong]

Manny "The Clown" Ramirez Suspended for 50 Games!

Manny "PITA" Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games after a testosterone-boosting drug was found in his system. Manny says his doctor prescribed it for him for a "personal health problem" and he figured it was okay to take. The idiot could have simply looked on the list of banned substances because it's very plainly listed. Maybe the doctor was a Giants fan?

A person familiar with the details of the suspension told the Associated Press that Ramirez used HCG, human chorionic gonadotropin, which is prescribed to stimulate female fertility and testosterone production in men and to treat delayed puberty in boys.

My guess is that the "personal health problem" was delayed puberty. If it was just a problem with a limp bat, he could have taken Viagra like Rafael Palmeiro. Remember when Palmeiro was one of the first spokespersons for Viagra, after that Superbowl commercial of 99-year-old Bob Dole leering at Britney Spears bombed? Now we know why Palmeiro needed Viagra. It was all those steroids over the years.

[Ninong]

This sounds like a better explanation of what Manny was up to:

Manny Ramirez suspended; testosterone ratio exceeded limits; fertility drug reported

(05-07) 13:20 PDT -- Manny Ramirez, who was on the Giants' radar in the offseason and is the main reason the Dodgers own the majors' best record, was suspended 50 games for testing positive to a banned substance.

Ramirez won't be eligible to play again until July 3 and will forfeit nearly $8 million of his $25 million. His absence gives other National League West teams a better chance to catch the Dodgers, who opened play Thursday with a 6 1/2-game lead over the second-place Giants.

Ramirez's test was of concern because his ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, another naturally occurring hormone, exceeded 4 to 1, a source familiar with the case told The Chronicle. Under baseball's testing rules, that result is proof of steroid use.

The human body produces testosterone and another substance, epitestosterone, in a ratio of roughly 1 to 1, scientific studies have shown.

Baseball's testers later obtained documents showing that Ramirez had been using HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, ESPN reported, citing confidential sources. It is a female fertility drug that male steroid users sometimes take to stimulate their body's natural testosterone production, which usually is retarded by steroid users.

HCG also is a drug that can be used to mask high testosterone levels on steroid tests. It's similar to Clomid, which Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi received from BALCO.

You can read the rest in SF Gate.

P.S. -- Excellent NYT article about Manny and steroids and baseball.

[Ninong]

More on Manny Ramirez:

The story of how Manny Ramirez was nabbed by baseball's drug-testing policy is rooted as much in the language of the collective bargaining agreement as it is in the fact that the Los Angeles Dodgers' slugger had synthetic testosterone in his body when he was tested this past spring.

Ultimately, Ramirez was brought down by his own private medical records -- records that the Major League Baseball Players' Association turned over on his behalf, as required under the sport's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

The Ramirez saga, as described by three sources with direct knowledge of the case, began to play out in spring training when the 36-year-old outfielder provided a urine sample for testing.

The test came back showing elevated levels of testosterone. Every individual naturally produces testosterone and a substance called epitestosterone, typically at a ratio of 1:1. In Major League Baseball, if the ratio comes in at 4:1 during testing, a player is flagged. In Ramirez's case, his ratio was between 4:1 and 10:1, according to one source.

You can read the rest here.

[Ninong]

What About Boston's Two World Series Wins???

The Red Sox will try to claim that Manny Ramirez was clean when he played for them. Yeah, right!

Maybe he came off the 'roids just before spring training every year? Maybe this is the first time the tests were sophisticated enough to detect the synthetic testosterone in his system?

Manny Ramirez, MVP 2004 World Series -- *

2004 World Series -- Boston Red Sox *

2007 World Series -- Boston Red Sox *

[Ninong]

Quelle Surprise: Sammy Sosa Was Juiced!

Sosa testing positive for steroids is probably the least shocking revelation of all the steroid revelations. I think he should get two asterisks next his name in the record books: one for steroids and one for using a corked bat.

It was so obvious in 1998 that both he and Mark McGwire were on steroids. It was like Big Pop-Eye and Little Pop-Eye. According to grand jury testimony by Barry Bonds' former mistress, he got pissed that both of those guys were racking up so many home runs and getting all that media attention in 1998 that he decided he would get juiced, too.

Bonds is under indictment for lying to a San Francisco grand jury in the BALCO investigation but none of the guys who lied to Congress has ever been indicted. ALL of them lied to Congress! Every single one of them. Mark McGwire didn't lie outright like the others, he just refused to answer the questions that were asked. He said he wasn't there to "talk about the past."

Lying to a congressional committee is a felony.

[Cas]

Quelle Surprise: Sammy Sosa Was Juiced!

Sosa testing positive for steroids is probably the least shocking revelation of all the steroid revelations. I think he should get two asterisks next his name in the record books: one for steroids and one for using a corked bat.

It was so obvious in 1998 that both he and Mark McGwire were on steroids. It was like Big Pop-Eye and Little Pop-Eye. According to grand jury testimony by Barry Bonds' former mistress, he got pissed that both of those guys were racking up so many home runs and getting all that media attention in 1998 that he decided he would get juiced, too.

Bonds is under indictment for lying to a San Francisco grand jury in the BALCO investigation but none of the guys who lied to Congress has ever been indicted. ALL of them lied to Congress! Every single one of them. Mark McGwire didn't lie outright like the others, he just refused to answer the questions that were asked. He said he wasn't there to "talk about the past."

Lying to a congressional committee is a felony.

One of Sosa's bobos was once busted in a car regeistered to Sosa with a bag of illegal steriods (no prescription) and needles. How can any one every believe he was clean.

[Ninong]

One of Sosa's bobos was once busted in a car regeistered to Sosa with a bag of illegal steriods (no prescription) and needles. How can any one every believe he was clean.

I always thought Sammy looked like your typical 'roid dude but I actually fell for Mark McGwire's little ruse of leaving some of that semi-legal crap in his open locker (I can't remember the name of that stuff) so that the reporters would see it and report on it.

It wasn't until McGwire testified before that congressional committee that I was finally convinced that he had definitely taken steroids.

I always thought that Roger Clemons was on steroids. That's why he used to go into those fits of rage on the mound, like the time he threw that jagged piece of bat at Pete Piazza.

So far Jose Canseco has been proven right about every single big-name player he named in his first book as being on steroids.

The only one who really shocked me was Alex Rodriguez. I really thought he was clean. I thought all the guys who made comments about him being a fraud were just jealous.

Virtually all of the records for the past dozen years or more are now suspect. If you look at the home run kings, it's just Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays that we are pretty confident were never on steroids. Babe Ruth was on beer and hotdogs.

(P.S. -- I didn't go down the list. Obviously guys like Joe Dimaggio and Mickey Mantle were clean. Mantle had a drinking problem, that's about it. I'm talking about all the recent additions to the list of home run kings. We were all expecting A-Rod to eventually take over first place and be a true, steroid-free home run king. Ha!)