So Mark McGwire took steroids and HGH? Did he really? Why admit it now? It’s not like anyone was suspicious. 

Okay so you got your I’m sorry do you feel better now? The fact is most people don’t really care, we get it. Modern drugs has always been a part of the sign of change. It is the media that needs the juice to feed their ratings. And yes there are some among us that can’t just except that every era is different and somewhat unique. The purists who think life during the Roger Maris era was like Ozzie and Harriet. No one cheated then of course, wink, wink.

Think about it what if today’s media was around in 1919 when Babe Ruth led major league baseball with 29 HR’s? Especially when you consider 10 was the next highest! And in 1920 he hit 54 HR’s! Oh and the next highest HR total? 19!

So Ruth goes from 11 HR’s in 1918 to 29 in 1919 and then 54 in 1920. Yes he skipped over 30 and 40. Now some of this can be explained by his at bats. But when you compare it to the rest of the league it is very odd.

• 1918 – Ruth tied for league lead with11 HR’s

• 1919 – Ruth led league in HR’s with 29 – 2nd place had 10 HR’s

• 1920 – Ruth led league with 54 HR’s – 2nd place had 19 HR’s

• 1921 – Ruth led the league with 59 HR’s – 2nd place had 24 HR’s

• 1927 – Ruth led the league with 60 HR’s – 2nd place was 47 HR’s, 3rd place was 18 HR’s

From 1918 to 1919 he went from 317 at bats to 432 so naturally there was room for improvement. However in 1920 he only had 458 at bats.

• 1918 – 317 AB’sdivided by 11 is 1 HR per every 28.8 at bats

• 1919 – 432 AB’s divided by 29 is 1 HR every 14.9 at bats

• 1920 – 458 AB’s divided by 54 is 1 HR in every 8.5 at bats  (He did play in 12 more games also. 142 games total.)

• 1921 – 540 AB’s divided by 59 is 1 HR in every 9.15 at bats 9 (He played in 152 games)

• Career – 8,399 AB’s divided by 714 is 1 HR for every 11.76 at bat – Hot Dogs or Steroids?

During this same time Tilly Walker had a HR chart like this.

• 1918 – 11 – tied with Ruth for league lead

• 1919 – 10

• 1920 – 17 – 149 games

• 1921 – 23 – 142 games

• 1922 – 37 – 153 games

• 1923 – 2 – and he was out of baseball

Did anyone questions these baseball anomalies? The Ruth numbers are staggering in other ways. There are seasons where Ruth hit more HR’s than entire teams did!

So did Ruth cheat? Did he do PED’s? Oh yes steroids have been around way longer than you realize. But I doubt he did anything out of the ordinary. That is not the point. But wait there is more.

What if today’s media followed Roger Maris?

• 1958 – 19 HR’s

• 1959 – 16 Hr’s

• 1960 – 39 HR’s

• 1961 – 61 HR’s

• 1962 – 33 HR’s

• 1963 – 23 HR’s – (injury plagued year)

• 1964 – 26 HR’s

• 1965 – 1968 – he hit 35 HR’s total and retired

Didn’t anyone wonder where this skinny man was getting this sudden Herculean power? And why was his career so short? He only played from 1957 to 1968. Ironically he got treated harshly for besting the Babe and now he is getting pity because cheaters have his record. And yet no one finds it strange that his HR numbers are funny looking.

What is lost in all of this is other things that changed along the way. Take Maris for instance. Most of his 275 career homers came as a Yankee. Maris batted left handed and Yankee stadium had a notorious left field porch that was easy for dead pull hitters to reach. He also hit around a guy named Mickey Mantle.

And then you have things like ball changes and equipment changes. Dimensions of ball parks that have changed. This hasn’t stopped. The fact is that baseball history is full of unexplainable and logical changes. Why all of the sudden can it only be the drugs that boosted power numbers?

As a result when we hear McGwire or Bonds tells us that PED’s didn’t help them hit Home Runs we automatically dismiss their cheating lies. We point to modern day anomalies as proof that it had to help. We assume how couldn’t help? And of course McGwire and the others are a bit incredulous.

And if by help you mean that if PED’s help recovery and stamina then that allows you to have morea at bats thus hit more HR’s, I would agree with that. But you can also assume that if guys didn’t get cortisone shots or pain killers to play those numbers wouldn’t be there either. Although those things are not banned.

And let me state clearly banned PED’s is cheating. At least in the sense that it is against the rules. But the numbers?

I am not willing to take the leap of the so called obvious. It totally disregards other variables like new balls, new parks, and new bats. It doesn’t factor in the pitchers taking HGH and steroids either. Does anyone not think Mike Schmidt or Reggie Jackson wouldn’t hit more HR’s in today’s parks? They do, in fact they have said it many times.

The fact is also we have clean players that also have put up some eye popping numbers during the same era and into the present. Not too mention that even with the overall baseball numbers leveling off you still have guys like Pujols and Howard hitting 40+ like it’s 25. Ryan Howard has hit 58 in a season. Ryan Howard has never hit less than 45 HR’s in seasons where he played all year! You even have scrawny guys like Utley hitting in the 30′s.

The fact is I believe baseball likely changed the balls in recent years to cut down some of the numbers because suspicion was getting ridiculous. You also have some new parks trying to expand a little. Take Citi Bank(NY Mets) or Petco(San Diego). But you still have your bandboxes like Citizen’s Bank Park and new Yankee stadium. And the numbers support that.

So somebody tell me than how many HR’s does a steroid or HGH cycle get you? 30 a year? 10 a year? The fact is no one knowsif it helps at all or if it makes all the difference in the world. Or somewhere in between. To me it is somewhat negligible. When you factor in all of the stat anomalies through baseball history, a couple of which I provided, and the evolution of balls, bats, and parks it is impossible to point to one thing and say that was the difference.

And to re-emphasize the big picture, what about the pitchers and others who were doing the same thing? In fact what about the hundreds of players who did it and there numbers didn’t change at all or there power numbers went down? You are a fool if you don’t know they exist. Remember the infamous list? Yeah we only heard of a couple names out of the hundred or so listed. Yeah there are legal battles over it but somehow Alex Rodriguez got outed didn’t he? Because no one cares if David Bell or Paul Bako was on steroids.

Now don’t read this and think I am saying that PED’s don’t help you at all. What I am saying is I am disgusted with the broad sweeping conclusions that are thrown out there based on logic alone. It is true that if PED’s simply are a recovery enhancer and make you sustain longevity or helps you play more, than that is a boost that the others not using them are not getting. But to say that it makes a ball go farther is a little presumptuous. It seems obvious and yet again what about the hundreds of people who have done it and aren’t hitting more HR’s? In an empirical manner they have to be included in our analysis.

And was Mark McGwire the first to hit moon shots? Not even close to the truth. I saw Mantle shots that would make a grown man cry. And if a scrawny skinny bumpkin like Maris can hit 61 is it so hard to believe that someone 37 years later could hit 9 more HR’s with the help of high tech balls and shorter fences? In some cases are the balls going farther or are the fences closer? Be honest.

And at the end of the day is it so hard to separate the eras? I mean Tiger Woods has many items that Jack Nicklaus didn’t. Michelle Wie can out-drive the pros of earlier eras for crying out loud. Is she on ‘roids? No it’s called modern equipment. And don’t for a minute think that baseball equipment hasn’t changed any.

At the end of the day I don’t compare Bonds or McGwire to Ruth. And I don’t compare Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle to Ruth either. As I don’t compare Ted Williams and DiMaggio to Tony Gwynn or Albet Pujols. Willie Mays will always be Willie Mays to me as A-Rod will always be A-Rod. Ken Griffey and Ryan Howard are what they areand so on. Stats should be examined by era.

Why is any of this so hard to understand? It isn’t. However, the bulk of the media doesn’t want to let go of the juicy story. That doesn’t mean they are evil, that just means they are interested in business. And we should talk about it. I do fault the media for being lazy though. Why isn’t anyway raising the other points? Why is it simply about a handful of players during an era when hundreds of them are guilty? Including pitchers.

I just covered the surface in this article. There are many more examples we could discuss. And there are many other facets of this that need to be viewed. But this will do for now………………….

What list?

In 2003 when the Union was being stubborn, the League and the Union agreed to an informal across the board test. The agreement was that if a minimum of 25% of the players failed the testing having tested for a whole litany of substances that were being examined, then the Union would allow some changes to the MLB testing and discipline program.      

 The infamous names from the substance test experiement from 2003 have become the list of the 104 players that tested positive for any number of controversial substances from pre-cursors to the real McCoy. Yes we all recall the report and subsequent A-Rod book released by Selena Roberts and David Epstein. And while many, and probably most, in and around the media and a percentage of the public will laud these 2 for this “expose’” I think it was unethical and inappropriate. I also find it meaningless and counter productive.

Sure I understand the fans frustration and the public desire to shame and embarrass these players into going clean. And there is really no excuse for drug abuse. BUT THE PUBLIC EMBARRASSMENT OF A FEW STARS IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE ANYTHING ! Not to mention there is always a cloud of suspicion left with unanswered questions.      

And I except the industry of the media and the desire of Roberts and Epstein to make a mark in journalism, and the goal of making some cash. But guess what? Concerning journalism, this is sports,  this is not Watergate. And even Woodward and Bernstein were over credited. Yes they were great writers and followed a path and an historic story. But the thing is they had the key components of the story squealed to them by a voice in a parking garage. That does not require top notch journalism. You had a leak for crying out loud! “Deep Throat” should have won the Pulitzer along with the famous Washington Post duo.

Don’t believe me? Okay this is like an archaeologist searching for some precious find and determining where it may be and then upon getting in the vicinity of the dig a gentleman pulls up beside them and hands them a rare artifact and says “is this what you’re looking for?” Come on sometimes events in life are being in the right place at the right time. Often times that is part of reporting. That is nothing to sound the horns about or take credit for.  

So it is with Roberts and Epstein. The book about Rodriguez may be a great book and well written, but no one cared until the nugget of his being on the infamous list appeared in the media. Oh and Roberts and Epstein made sure to promote this nugget. Wow! Nice digging kids. They did not discover this list or the names on it! A-Rod’s name was handed to them on a silver platter. They had a weasel or weasels break a legally binding agreement by making any names on this list available. That is just wrong if you are being brutally honest.  

Doesn’t anyone have any moral standards? And then you have the question of why just A-Rod in this case? Well that is obvious. These 2 reporters were not really interested in the good of baseball they were hawking a book about Rodriguez! And the person or people that leak this stuff? Maybe they receive money for all we know. They got something out of it, maybe some sort of revenge against A-Rod? They were Red Sox fans? Does it matter why in this case?

The fact is as Donald Fehr has been quoted as saying recently, the releasing of these names  ”is a crime”. Which is more than the Union has said before. Of course saying this and doing something are not exactly the same. Bud Selig should be singing the same tune quite frankly. As I have said before baseball has the power to push this issue of Court sealed protection.

And now it seems someone decided that other names will leak out. WHY?  Somebody is getting something. I tell you what you’re not getting. THAT IS THE TRUTH! This is not the way to expose people to resolve an issue.

The fact is the Union and the players missed that boat a million times. The clean players, and they know who they are should have had their own testing done. And I mean everything from hair to blood. Anything that would prove they are absolutely clean. Obviously the dirty players, and they know who they are, would not subject themselves to that. And the burden of proof would incite the truth to come to the surface.

The list doesn’t even prove or disprove anything relating to steroids or HGH. You could have failed that 2003 test for Andro. Which is not a steroid and was not a banned substance from MLB in 2003! So testing positive is not the same as failing a test in some cases like this one.  So this amounts to a witch hunt and a public rush to judgement under the present innuendo and presumptions. And I am disgusted with the misinformation that is blindly excepted.

And I do not want to defend the users either. But this is not exposing them either. ” But if they admit it” you say “then we will know for sure”.

Know what for sure? The media and the fans use Jason Giambi for example. Guess what? He never said he used steroids. He apologized for taking “stuff”. What does that mean as far as facts go?

And what exactly did A-Rod own up to? You think that was the whole story? Did he even use the word steroid when referring to his story?

“As I discussed with Peter Gammons, in the years 2001, ’02 and ’03, I experimented with a banned substance that eventually triggered a positive test.

“Going back to 2001, my cousin started telling me about a substance that you could purchased over the counter in the DR [Dominican Republic]. In the streets, it’s known as ‘boli’ or ‘bole.” 

“I stopped taking it …………..

“I didn’t think they were steroids at the time. Again, that’s part of being young and stupid. It was over the counter, it was pretty basic and it was really amateur hour”

“We probably didn’t even take it right”

“I hope to join Don Hooton, who has done some incredible things, who’s sitting right over here. His son passed away because of steroid abuse.”

Read all of the transcripts and you’ll see what he admitted and what he didn’t admit. But again people just say “well he apologized”. Oh yes he said the words I apologize, but for what did he apologize? Substance and it?    

The worst part for me right now is how little people care about the law being broken. Freedom of the press does not cover over revealing  Judicially sealed Documents. A Judge should have the balls to sit these reporters in a cell until they expose the criminal!

Think about that. A reporter will gladly rat out a baseball player for testing positive to a drug test, without knowing what the drug was. And assuming that he  is cheating they will treat it like a crime against humanity. “Fans should know, fans want to know! Integrity of the game” they say. Yeah but what are you really telling us? The media doesn’t get to the bottom they just feed the doubt and suspicion by reporting in this fashion.

What you are reporting in essence that maybe this person did this or it looks like this person did this. That isn’t what we want to know or at least I hope it isn’t what fans want to know. I want the truth. And where are the reports trying to quantify how this translates into HR’s and how many?

And yet when faced with the ethical responsibility of exposing or ratting out a criminal, they shut up. Let me tell you I want to know who is leaking this stuff. That is real news! The person or persons who is giving the media the names is breaking a federal law!

This will never go away. Even if you do as some suggest and want. And that is just reveal all the names at once. What? While I understand the reasoning the fact is we should never condone an illegal act like that! We all including every player, every team, and th Judicial System should stand up and say no we have gone to far with this support of law breakers.

Then again if Raul was being realistic and considered the alleged number of professional athletes who experimented with PED’s it is not shocking for any present day player to have the finger pointed at him. And again if Raul wants to point a particular finger back at the bloggers or reporters we should except that as a predictable response also.

For starters where were these accusations when he was hitting 100+ RBI’s in Seattle? He has 155 HR’s since 2002 in a park that is bigger than Citizen’s Bank Park. Not to mention he was not exactly in murderers row there either. He also had 682 RBI’s during that same period.

    2002 Mariners starters   Bret Boone, Mike Cameron, Jeff Cirillo, Carlos Guillen, an aging Edgar Martinez, Mark McLemore, an aging John Olerud, Ichiro Suziki, Dan Wilson    93 and 69 record 

2003 looked pretty much the same other than Randy Winn. 93 and 69 record again though.  2004 saw Rich Aurilla on the team. WOW wee! 63 and 99 record.

2005, 2006 Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson were added. Carl Everett, Matt Lawton came on board also.

2007 – 2008 – nothing worth noting. Although the team did try and improve pitching.

So hitting in a new homer friendly park and hitting around Utley, Howard, and Werth why would we be surprised that the numbers are impressive? Not to mention he has had a feast of Washington Nationals pitching early on. Baseball people are not shocked by the overall production. Granted no one expected the pace he was on early, but it will level out.

What about his weight? There have been erroneous reports about his weight gain. The fact is according to his college bio he was 210 pdsin 1996. He is listed now between 225 and 227 pounds depending on where you look. 17 pd weight gain in 13 years? Come on now. Are we going to suggest you need HGH or Steroids to gain 17 pds? You can put on 17 pds in an offseason with a rigorous weight lifting  schedule. If you are packing on 25 – 30 pds in an off season, well then I would be suspicious.

    This does not exempt him either from accusation, but it certainly should not raise a red flag or a cloud of suspicion. And what of the projected stats? Valid question? Or is it? Remember Chase Utley last spring? He was on a torrid pace and yet he leveled off over time didn’t he? I suspect the same with Ibanez. He may reach career highs, but he isn’t going to hit 60 homers and 160 RBI’s. It would nice if he did, but he isn’t going to.

And as for Raul what did he have to say about all this? “You can have my urine, my hair, my blood, my stool – anything you can test,” Ibanez said. “I’ll give you back every dime I’ve ever made” if the test is positive. Ibanez was reacting to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday morning that highlighted an article posted on the blog Midwest Sports Fans.

Again I empathize with his frustration and defensive attitude. But as I pointed out earlier people are going to talk anytime anyone starts putting up monster numbers. But I do wonder about Ibanez’s comment.

If I were Ibanez or anyone under accusation I wouldn’t just talk I would act. Of course the players Union does not want action. Screw the Union! They stopped looking for the best interest of the non drug users,  along time ago. The “innocent” ones should submit to any and all tests available on Earth and publish the results for the public. This would prove their innocence as much as it can be proven and on the other hand it would put more pressure on the players who have taken PED’s.

Frankly the Union has been embarassing and pathetic when it has come to the Performance Enhancing Drugs issues. (See my article “Beyond Steroids and Ped’s”) And someone, maybe even an Ibanez has to take a stand and make a statement with action behind it.

I mean I believe he meant what he said but then again it is easy to say “I’ll give you a zillion dollars” when you know darn well you have no intention of following through on the challenge.

SO maybe Raul should just come to grips that most of us are pulling for him and some just like controversy.

Okay, let me state up front, I am not condoning the use of PED’s or defending the Manny’s of the world. My issue is more of an ethical and legal concern here.

When the news broke that Manny was to be suspended for 50 games for failing a substance test, it was barely a millisecond later and a couple of want to be Woodward and Bernstein’s reported that he failed for having the drug hCG in his body.( Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a glycoprotein hormone for women) Oh and they conveniently added that this is the drug commonly used for people cycling off of steroids. Of course this was the classic “according to our sources” story.

But wait a minute, what sources? Here is my problem with this. The MLB Players Union and MLB have a legally binding contract that clearly states that no details of any testing will be disclosed other than if the player passes or fails a test. In fact the tests are totally random and the media is not even supposed to know when and who is being tested. How is it then that a reporter could know what drug was discovered in a players system?

I highly doubt the player is alerting the press, and the people doing the tests are also bound by the legal agreement of complete confidentiality. Obviously there is a “plumbing” problem and the media is the plumber with their crack showing out of their pants. Who is leaking this stuff? And why does this have to go this far?

Hey I understand people are curious but isn’t there a line here? I mean what would happen if Joe or Mary factory worker failed a drug screening or test and the company revealed it was cocaine or marijuana? Are you kidding me? The Union would have a field day and lawyers would be swarming like buzzards over a dead carcass.

So where is the Players Union and MLB? Why are they not crying bloody murder? Frankly they should file litigation against these reporters and their employers to try and find who leaked this information. They don’t actually have a winnable case, but they certainly have the legal representation already on retainer and the money to apply some pressure to maybe find out who has the big mouth. At least show your players you care about them and their rights even if it is a futile attempt at finding the mole.

Honestly the players should refuse to submit to any more tests until this is resolved and someones head is on the butchers block for leaking this stuff. They would have a legitimate beef. The test samples are given under the legal protocol that “guarantees” their privacy. How is that working out? The Manny incident is not close to being the first time that the media revealed details of a players substance test.

Oh and about the report I referred to by the MLB above? It turns out, Manny did not have hCG in his system. So not only was the leak and the subsequent reporting shameless and unethical, but is was flat out wrong! (Don’t hold your breath for a retraction or apology Manny)

Look I’m tired of all the steroid/Ped’s controversy as much as anyone else and I know these rich spoiled brats bring this problem to themselves, but they have rights to privacy just like you and I and the media should respect that. Remember this is a legally bargained right to privacy here.

And don’t tell me it’s news so it has to be reported. There is a ton of news everyday that gets cut out by the editor of papers and radio/tv programs. Somebody please, grow some balls and have some scruples here.

Just report the failed test and the suspension and leave the rest to our public opinion. If we want to bury Manny or whomever,  we will. We don’t need your agenda driven influence.