MLB FanHouse

McGwire Hire Feels Like Bad Joke

Terence Moore — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:15:00 EST

This can't end well. In fact, unless the city of St. Louis is just into the bizarre -- you know, such as plans to replace that large arch downtown with a Starbucks or something, this will end sooner than later.

Mark McGwire as Cardinals hitting coach?

I'm still waiting for the punch line.

In order for this to work, McGwire has to discuss what he hasn't wanted to discuss forever, and you know what that is. Instead, he spit at a bunch of congressmen during a hearing on steroids during the spring of 2005 on Capitol Hill by telling them, "I'm not here to talk about the past."

Yeah, well. The guy has no choice now. He will be hounded by his "past" on every Cardinals road trip. I'm guessing that more than a few folks in St. Louis also will have questions about his "past."

So why did you start using steroids?

When did you stop -- or did you stop?

Why did you choose to deceive those congressmen on national television instead of having the guts to come clean?

Where have you been hiding -- and why have you been hiding -- during most of the last eight years since your retirement from baseball with the Cardinals?

How come you're returning to baseball now?

Since none of those questions will leave McGwire's world until they are fully and honestly answered, this famously private guy will tire of it all and challenge the major league record for shortest tenure as a hitting coach.

No doubt McGwire understands the art of swinging and succeeding. He played Dean Martin to Sammy Sosa's Jerry Lewis when they battled down the stretch of the 1998 season for the all-time record for home runs during a season. They both topped Roger Maris' magical 61, but Sosa finished with 66 to McGwire's 70.

Not only that, McGwire retired in 2001 with 583 home runs, courtesy of leading his league in homers four times. He also topped Babe Ruth's previous record by slamming pitches out of ballparks at the rate of one every 10.61 at bats.

McGwire can teach, too. He has received accolades from Matt Holliday after they've worked in the shadows during recent years. He also has been a quiet tutor to others, including youth with the Cardinals' minor-league teams.

Those things are secondary to the big thing. Actually, this is the only thing: Mark, tell us the depth of your cheating with performance-enhancing drugs to become baseball's all-time biggest slugging fraud before Barry Bonds?

It's not going to happen. A preview of stonewalling to come from McGwire and from those around him with the Cardinals occurred on Monday during a news conference in St. Louis . It was to announce that Tony La Russa will return as Cardinals manager and that McGwire will replace Hal McRae as hitting coach.

La Russa was there. McGwire wasn't.

Surprise, surprise.

It got worse, because La Russa said of McGwire's role, "You're going to see a hitting coach -- much like Hal, in that the guys who do a good job -- Mark's not gong to hang around the (batting) cage just watching BP. He's going to work from spring training in the early morning until the last guy leaves in the afternoon."

To translate La RussaSpeak: The Cardinals are going to keep McGwire away from public view as much as possible. Goodness knows, what might happen if somebody gets close enough to ask McGwire one of those questions.

What about those questions, Tony?

"Well, I've already addressed (McGwire's steroid rumors) since the first time it came out, and I have never changed my comment," said La Russa, McGwire's manager when he made his major league debut with the Oakland Athletics in 1986. La Russa also was McGwire's manager during his five years with the Cardinals. Added La Russa, "I've seen him get stronger. In fact, when you see him, he's not a guy who has wilted down to nothing. I mean, he's as big and strong as ever. He works out every day.

"So I've already said what I believe. He's a product of hard work and of a lot of discipline with his diet and all of that stuff. I think the organization; we all feel the same way. Now at some point, he's going to have to talk, and I don't know what he's going to say."

I know what McGwire has to say. He has to say he was guilty of much of what has been alleged about his steroid use. Which brings us back to that question as to why he left seclusion: Cooperstown , perhaps?

In order to reach the Baseball Hall of Fame, you need 75 percent approval from those voting during a given year. McGwire received 23.5 percent during his first year of eligibility, 23.6 during his second and 21.9 percent last year.

Not good. So maybe this is McGwire's way of politicking his way back into the public's consciousness. Maybe he'll become the anti-Pete Rose by calling a huge news conference to display a bunch of tears and ask for everybody's forgiveness.

Maybe there is a wrecking ball in front of the Gateway Arch.

Terence Moore is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse. He is a frequent panelist on "Rome Is Burning," an ESPN show hosted by Jim Rome, that is seen Monday through Friday at 4:30 PM ET. Moore spent more than three decades working for major newspapers, including 26 years as an award-winning sports columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He resides in Atlanta.

McGwire Hire Feels Like Bad Joke originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A-Rod Now Warning Kids About Dangers Of Steroids

Tom Fornelli — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:06:00 EST

Filed under: Yankees, MLB PEDs

The New York Yankees and Alex Rodriguez have been playing pretty well this season and seem to be out from the dark clouds that hovered over their spring training facilities in Florida back in March when news broke that Rodriguez had tested positive for steroids back in 2003. As is usually the case in baseball, or any sport, winning cures all and the Yankees have certainly been doing plenty of that.

Still, Rodriguez knows that he does have to repair his image in light of the steroid news, and he's in the process of doing just that. A-Rod has talked to groups of high school athletes this season in New York and Texas this season about the dangers of steroids, and before the Yankees took on the Orioles in Baltimore on Tuesday night, he talked to a group of Baltimore students as well.

New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez made an unexpected visit to 500 students at a Baltimore County school to deliver an anti-steroid message Tuesday, months after admitting publicly that he used performance-enhancing drugs earlier in his career.

At the time of his admission, Rodriguez vowed to turn his past transgressions into a positive lesson for young athletes, and he appears to be attempting to uphold that promise by discreetly speaking to select students this season. It's part of the agreement, however, that the talks not be covered by the news media.

"I am here today simply because I made a mistake," Rodriguez said, according to a transcript provided by Powered By Me! "Now, how many of you here have made a mistake? Well, I'm here because I made a mistake, and one of my missions in life is to turn a negative into a positive.

"And to actually tell the truth, it feels pretty darn good and liberating. It is very important to me professionally and spiritually. At the end of the day when we look into the mirror, we learn from our mistakes, it's something we should feel proud of and become a better version of ourselves."

I know it's pretty easy to rip on Rodriguez at this point, but I think this is a good thing that he's doing, so to make fun of him for it would be petty. He's not inviting the press to these events and screaming "Hey! Look at me saving the children," he's doing it on his own. Not even the kids he spoke to knew they'd be hearing from him until his name was announced as he took the podium

How many other players who have tested positive for steroids have done something like this?

A-Rod Now Warning Kids About Dangers Of Steroids originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:06:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jeff Kent 'Embarrassed' by Steroid Era

Jeff Fletcher — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:23:00 EST

Filed under: Giants, MLB PEDs

Jeff Kent, now retired and preparing to be immortalized on the Giants' Wall of Fame on Saturday, got a few things off his chest on Monday.

"I am embarrassed by the era that I participated in because of the steroids," Kent said.

Kent was outspoken throughout his career, which ran from 1992-2008, about steroid-use in baseball, mostly after he left San Francisco, which was arguably the epicenter of the steroid era. He continues to assert that the problem was widespread, more widespread than a list of 104 names.

"You'll never find all the cheaters in the game that used steroids," he said in a conference call with reporters. "This 100-player list, if you find out the list, which I imagine you guys will work hard to find, you will never find them all. To say that's the only list of the players who did steroids in the game is wrong."

Not much of a revelation there, but still harsh words coming from a five-time All-Star, the all-time leader in homers by a second baseman, a potential Hall of Famer.

"If you cheated the game, there ought to be penalties," he said. "Maybe I'm standing on my soap box here for the human race, but so many people get away with cheating each other and cheating corporations and cheating business and people turn a blind eye and say it's OK and they let it go. We should all be held accountable for it."

Ironically, a player who had a frosty relationship with the media thanked reporters for their part in exposing steroid use.

"I thank you guys for this," he said. "The game wouldn't be as clean as it is if you guys weren't involved, and for that I'm appreciative."

Kent also revealed a bit about his relationship with Barry Bonds, which was often publicly contentious. In 2002, the two had to be separated by teammates in the dugout in San Diego. Kent said that was just one of their scuffles in the six years they played together.

"Friction is a bad word between me and Barry," Kent said. "It wasn't a wall. There was just a competitive ... what's the opposite of relationship? There was just a competitive relationship. It wasn't bad. It wasn't good. But it worked."

Although Kent was in a truth-telling mood on Monday, he still held on to one secret from his days with the Giants. Kent refused to say what happened in the spring of 2002, when he broke his wrist. Kent told reporters and the team that he had broken his wrist while washing his truck, but an investigation by two newspapers revealed that he was doing wheelies on his motorcycle.

"There is always a secret, and it will always stay a secret," Kent said.

Essentially, he said the public did not need to know the truth then or now.

"One of the things that I hold sacred is when a person, a human being, has the opportunity not to have to tell someone else something that they want to know, but they don't need to know, people should take it upon themselves that they don't need to know," Kent said. "At that point in my career, the media didn't need to know."

Although Kent may have violated the terms of his contract by riding a motorcycle, it didn't prove to be a serious issue (beyond the principle of honesty), because he missed only the first four games of the season. He ended up having one of his better seasons in 2002, and helping the Giants to the World Series.

Kent said he learned from his early days with the Mets to handle the media in a way that didn't always involve telling the whole truth.

"When I talked to the media, I held back a lot of the truth," he said. "It's not to say I lied to you guys, but I only gave you enough. ... That's probably a skill I picked up when I was in New York. The media there was so competitive and so aggressive and I got burned really fast when I was young there."

Jeff Kent 'Embarrassed' by Steroid Era originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:23:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bronson Arroyo Isn't Afraid of the Big, Bad Steroid Wolf

Josh Alper — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:50:00 EST

Filed under: Reds, NL Central, MLB Media Watch, MLB PEDs

It's a safe bet that there wasn't much of a race to bring Bud Selig a copy of Thursday's USA Today at the MLB offices on Thursday morning. After all, it's not exactly a strong career move to bring your boss an interview with a major league player making a mockery of everything you've said and done about performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

That's just what Bronson Arroyo did in a wide-ranging interview that's required reading for anyone on any side of the debate of drug use in Major League Baseball. Arroyo starts by admitting he takes a slew of supplements that aren't on the league's approved list, and has never failed a drug test, and then goes on to lacerate just about every sacred cow of the baseball world.

Now, you may be saying to yourself that it makes sense that he hasn't failed a drug test because clearly nothing he takes actually enhances performance. Perhaps, but it's everything else that Arroyo has to say that's making this interview a hot read around the country.

He takes fans and media to task for their outrage about steroid use, saying they're only concerned with records being broken and hypocritical about the health risks that may be associated with using the drugs.

"At the end of the day, you think anybody really (cares) whether Manny Ramirez's kidneys fail and he dies at 50? You were happy if the Red Sox won 95 games. You'd go home, have a cookout with your family. No big deal ... You think this country really cares about what ballplayers put in their bodies?" Arroyo asks. "If we really care, why are we pumping Coca-Cola in every kid's mouth, and McDonald's, and Burger King and KFC? That (stuff) is killing people."

Owners are also in the firing line when Arroyo says that none of them care what players are doing so long as they keep making money, which is also true of the player's union as they work to make sure players can make as much money as possible for as long as possible.

He cops to using amphetamines as well as androstenedione, when they were legal, even though he was warned about risks to his health. Arroyo also makes it clear that he doesn't regret either one because he felt they helped him be a better baseball player.

By the end of the interview Arroyo sounds a lot like Jose Canseco, both in his willingness to discuss what's actually going on and the lengths he goes to in trying to justify his own decisions. That doesn't make him particularly likable, but, just as with Canseco, it doesn't make any of what he said less true, either.

For all of the time spent discussing the use of steroids, HGH, supplements and all the others over the past few years, there's been far too little of this kind of raw speech without fear of the consequences. Baseball's better for it, even if they get a black eye in the process.

Bronson Arroyo Isn't Afraid of the Big, Bad Steroid Wolf originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Legal Greenies? Nick Green Explains Ins, Outs of Therapeutic Use Exemption

Ed Price — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Red Sox, FanHouse Exclusive, MLB PEDs, MLB Inside Scoop

NEW YORK -- Three hours before every Red Sox game, Nick Green takes an amphetamine.

It's legal.

It's within baseball's rules.

And he's not alone.

Amphetamines are banned in baseball, but players can get therapeutic-use exemptions (TUEs), in which they show a medical need for the substance.

It sounds like a perfect loophole. Get a doctor to diagnosis you with attention-deficit disorder and write a prescription, and you can have your greenies.

But as Green tells it, the loophole isn't easily exploited.

"It's kind of a pain in the ass," Green told FanHouse on Sunday. "It's good. It needs to be like that, so people can't buck the system."

"Greenies" have been banned in Major League Baseball since the 2006 season, and their use in the game predates steroids -- and was probably always more prevalent. Players who wouldn't go near steroids took amphetamines without a second thought; given the taxing nature of baseball's schedule, with only a few days off a month, early-morning arrivals in cities and day games after night games, they were considered a near necessity.

And MLB didn't test for stimulants until two years after instituting testing for other performance-enhancing drugs like steroids.

According to the MLB report issued in January, there were 106 TUEs granted for ADD in the 2008 season. And the increase in TUEs from 28 in 2006 to 103 in 2007 got the attention of Congress in its January 2008 steroids hearing.

Green, 30, said he has ADD and has had it "forever" -- since he was a kid growing up outside Atlanta.

"At school I could cram and stuff," he said. "I was fine. I always made good grades. So my mom said, 'Yeah, no problem.'

"Once I got into pro ball, what happens in pro ball is you play every day. So you end up zoning out too much, and if you zone out too much while you're playing, you're done."

So in 2003 Green got a prescription for Adderall. By 2005 he thought he had overcome his problem and stopped taking the drugs. But he hit just .183 after the All-Star break.

He wanted to go back on Adderall in 2006, but in the first year of amphetamine testing the red tape proved too difficut.

Now Green has to visit an MLB-approved doctor every spring training. That doctor even interviewed his family to verify the ADD. And the Adderall prescription has to be written by his team doctor. His TUE has to be renewed every year.

That prevents doctor-shopping and phony diagnoses.

The number of TUEs granted by MLB has drawn criticism, such as from anti-doping expert Gary Wadler to the New York Daily News.

"It seems to me as an internist, that's a disproportionate number of adults with ADD requiring stimulants - roughly 10 percent of the league. I've seen a lot of adults (as patients) and I can count on one hand the number of people I've seen with ADD," said Wadler, who is chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List and Methods Committee. "Since so many (players) received TUEs, it's crying out for close examination of the TUE process for baseball and how it stacks up against the international standard. I don't know that there's an epidemic of ADD in baseball."

But as Green describes it, MLB makes it hard to fake ADD.

"It's a whole process you have to go through," he said. "They have to, to make it legitimate."

In fact, after Seattle called up Green from Triple-A in 2007, he tested positive for Adderall and he had to enlist the union's help in transferring his minor-league TUE to the major league testing program.

Adderall, according to the Web site of manufacturer Shire, is a "central nervous system stimulant" that includes as its ingredients amphetamine aspartate monohydrate and dextroamphetamine sulfate.

But Green said he doesn't feel taking one every day (he actually takes it only on days he plays) gives him an unfair advantage on the field.

"I've never taken greenies, so I don't know" if Adderall has the same effect, he said. "It helps me focus on the task at hand."

Asked if Adderall gives him extra energy, Green said, "I don't know. I still drink Red Bull and stuff."

He did say the Adderall can keep him up at night, which is why he takes it three hours before game time, since the effects are supposed to last eight hours.

Green has been a pleasant surprise for the Red Sox this year, making the team out of spring training as a non-roster player because Julio Lugo suffered a knee injury and winding up playing shortstop most of the time because of Lugo's ineffectiveness and Jed Lowrie's injuries.

Going into last night's game at Yankee Stadium, Green was batting .232 with five homers and 32 RBI.

"I think he's done a pretty good job," Boston manager Terry Francona said.

Green said he doesn't feel his TUE gives him an unfair advantage. He sees it as a medical necessity.

"I don't think what I take does the same as a greenie," he said.

And he's all for baseball's testing program.

"I think it's fair," he said. "The way I see it is you even out the playing field.

"I think it's a good program. It's tough to beat the system."

Legal Greenies? Nick Green Explains Ins, Outs of Therapeutic Use Exemption originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ortiz Says Supplements May Have Landed Him on List

FanHouse Newswire — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:53:00 EST

Filed under: Red Sox, MLB PEDs

NEW YORK (AP) -- David Ortiz thinks legal supplements and vitamins likely caused him to land on a list of alleged drug users circulated by the federal government, and Major League Baseball and the players' association said some of the names on it never tested positive for steroids.

MLB said in a statement Saturday that at most 96 urine samples tested positive in the 2003 survey‚ and the players' association said 13 of those were in dispute.

The government seized the samples and records the following year from baseball's drug-testing companies as part of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative investigation into Barry Bonds and others. The list of 104 players said to have tested positive, attached to a grand jury subpoena, is part of a five-year legal fight, with the union trying to force the government to return what federal agents took during raids.

Olson: Ortiz, Union United | Mariotti: Ortiz's Sob Story

"I definitely was a little bit careless back in those days when I was buying supplements and vitamins over the counter‚ legal supplements, legal vitamins over the counter‚ but I never buy steroids or use steroids," Ortiz said during a news conference that began about 3 1/2 hours before his Boston Red Sox played the New York Yankees.

"I never thought that buying supplements and vitamins, it was going to hurt anybody's feelings."

The New York Times reported last month that Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were on the 2003 list and said in June that Sammy Sosa was on it. In February, Sports Illustrated reported Alex Rodriguez was on the list, and Rodriguez later admitted using Primobolan from 2001-03.

"I never thought that buying supplements and vitamins, it was going to hurt anybody's feelings."
-- David OrtizOrtiz said that when he met with union general counsel Michael Weiner in 2004, he wasn't told he tested positive for steroids. Weiner, who has been designated to succeed union head Donald Fehr, said that because the list is under court seal, the union can't confirm to Ortiz that he tested positive, only that he was on the list.

"I want to apologize to fans for the distraction, my teammates, our manager," Ortiz said, flanked by Weiner, with Boston manager Terry Francona standing behind and to the side. "This past week has been a nightmare to me."

Some players past and present‚ notably Hall of Famer Hank Aaron‚ have called for the entire list to be released.

"Sure, there are some people who say 'Why don't we just get this story over with and get the list out?'" Weiner said. "I think to do that would 1) be illegal, and 2) be wrong. It's illegal because it's covered by court order, and it would be wrong because a promise was made by the commissioner's office and the union to every player who was tested in 2003 that the results would be anonymous."
Ortiz is against the list becoming public.

"I don't think that I would really like to see another player going through what I've been through this past week," he said.

Ortiz said he has tested negative about 15 times since baseball's program with penalties began in 2004 and additional times for the World Baseball Classic. The Red Sox issued a statement backing him.

"There are substantial uncertainties and ambiguity surrounding the list of 104 names," the Red Sox said. "David Ortiz is a team leader, and his contributions on the field and in the community have earned him respect and a special place in the hearts of Red Sox Nation."

Ortiz said the report that he was on the list weighed on him‚ since it came out July 30, he is batting .188 with two homers and six RBIs, part of a season-long slump.

"This past week, I've been really confused and frustrated," he said. "I started looking for answers, and nobody gives me an answer."

Citing court orders, Weiner wouldn't say whether the union asked courts to authorize an investigation into the leaks, which it claims are illegal. Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis did not respond to an e-mail and telephone message seeking comment.

Weiner did say that if the union wins the legal fight to have the records returned, which may end up before the Supreme Court, it likely would comply with requests from players on the list to tell them what they were said to have used.

"Given the uncertainties inherent in the list, we urge the press and the public to use caution in reaching conclusions based on leaks of names, particularly from sources whose identities are not revealed," Major League Baseball said in a statement.

Three U.S. District Courts have sided with the union, saying the material must be returned by the government. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the prosecutors, but that decision was thrown out and 11 judges from the 9th Circuit heard arguments last December. A decision is pending.

Weiner said Ortiz had been put in a difficult position.

"His reputation has been called into question. He does not know specifically why. And he can't get the information that would allow him to offer a full explanation," Weiner said.

The survey was designed to determine whether baseball needed mandatory random drug testing with penalties starting in 2004, with a 5 percent threshold for positives triggering future testing. While the exact number of 2003 positives was subject to dispute, the sides never worked that out because they agreed the percentage was over the threshold.

"Substantial scientific questions exist as to the interpretation of some of the 2003 test results," Weiner said. "The more definitive methods that are utilized by the lab that administers the current drug agreement were not utilized by the lab responsible for the anonymous testing program in 2003. The collective bargaining parties did not pursue definitive answers regarding these inconclusive results, since those answers were unnecessary to the administration of the 2003 program."

Each of the 1,438 tests in 2003 were actually two tests‚ an initial sample and a follow-up five-to-seven days later designed to screen out then-legal substances, such as androstenedione. While both tests needed to be positive under baseball's program, it's possible the government is counting single positives.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Ortiz Says Supplements May Have Landed Him on List originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:53:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Union Argues It's Possible David Ortiz Did Not Test Positive in 2003

Ed Price — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 09:59:00 EST

Filed under: Red Sox, AL East, MLB PEDs

David Ortiz is expected to address -- as much as he can, which isn't much -- his reported presence on "The List" later Saturday.

The players' union will participate in the news conference, and the MLBPA issued a statement Saturday morning making clear that it will make nothing clear regarding whether Ortiz is on the government-seized list of players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.

The union argues that Ortiz: (a) may not have tested positive at all; (b) might have been the victim of faulty science; and (c) may have been using a legal supplement but still made the list.
Major League Baseball also issued a statement, backing up the union's assertions.

Excerpts from the statement issued by MLBPA general counsel Michael Weiner, who is scheduled to appear with Ortiz on Saturday:

... any union member alleged to have tested positive in 2003 because his name supposedly appears on some list -- most recently David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez -- finds himself in an extremely unfair position; his reputation has been threatened by a violation of the court's orders, but respect for those orders now leaves him without access to the information that might permit him to restore his good name.

First, the number of players on the so-called "government list" meaningfully exceeds the number of players agreed by the bargaining parties to have tested positive in 2003. Accordingly, the presence of a player's name on any such list does not necessarily mean that the player used a prohibited substance or that the player tested positive under our collectively bargained program.

Second, substantial scientific questions exist as to the interpretation of some of the 2003 test results. The more definitive methods that are utilized by the lab that administers the current Drug Agreement were not utilized by the lab responsible for the anonymous testing program in 2003. The collective bargaining parties did not pursue definitive answers regarding these inconclusive results, since those answers were unnecessary to the administration of the 2003 program.

Third, in 2003, legally available nutritional supplements could trigger an initial "positive" test under our program. To account for this, each "test" conducted in 2003 actually consisted of a pair of collections: the first was unannounced and random, the second was approximately 7 days later, with the player advised to cease taking supplements during the interim. Under the 2003 program, a test could be initially reported as "positive", but not treated as such by the bargaining parties on account of the second test.

MLB added this:

Major League Baseball does not possess the list of names and is unable to assess the accuracy of leaks relating to individual names. The continued leaks related to the 2003 survey test results are in direct violation of court orders.

However, it should be pointed out that the names on the list, which was prepared by the federal government and not by anyone associated with our Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, are subject to uncertainties with regard to the test results. There are more names on the government list (104) than the maximum number of positives that were recorded under the 2003 program (96). And, as the Mitchell Report made clear, some of the 96 positives were contested by the union.

Given the uncertainties inherent in the list, we urge the press and the public to use caution in reaching conclusions based on leaks of names, particularly from sources whose identities are not revealed.

Union Argues It's Possible David Ortiz Did Not Test Positive in 2003 originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Sat, 08 Aug 2009 09:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Red Sox Fired 2 Staffers Admidst Steroid Investigation

FanHouse Newswire — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 12:55:00 EST

Filed under: Red Sox, AL East, MLB PEDs

The Boston Globe is reporting the Red Sox fired two security staffers last summer after an investigation into steroid use.

Jared Remy, the son of Red Sox television commentator Jerry Remy, and Nicholas Alex Cyr both told the newspaper they used steroids, but denied any knowledge of drug use by players. The investigation began when Cyr had been caught by State Police with a vial of steroids in his car last summer. He claimed he bought the drugs from Remy. Remy denied being the supplier, but did admit to being a steroid user.

More Coverage: Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz Reportedly on 'The List'

The Red Sox issued a statement saying they worked with Major League Baseball in investigating the staffers, but said that investigation is confidential. Major League Baseball said its investigation was "thorough and detailed."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.

Report: Red Sox Fired 2 Staffers Admidst Steroid Investigation originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Sun, 02 Aug 2009 12:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Dugout: Jokes and Jokes, Month of July Edition

Jon Bois — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Braves, Phillies, MLB Milestones, MLB Transactions, The Dugout, MLB PEDs

July was some kind of month. We saw, among other things, a perfect game, an All-Star Game, an exodus of players to competitive teams, our monthly ration of steroid drama, and a baseball executive who was fired for throwing down his shirt as though it were a gauntlet and challenging his players to a fight.

So once again, The Dugout calls upon the insights of Bobby Cox and Charlie Manuel to puree the month of July into a series of easily-digestible puns. Read it after the jump.

The Dugout

	ManuelLabor: hey, didja hear about ort?
	BobbyCoxer: ort? who's ort?
	ManuelLabor: ortiz the guy who did the steroids!
	BobbyCoxer: holey moley! that's a knee-slapper!
	ManuelLabor: don't slap yer knee!
	BobbyCoxer: why shouldn't i slap manny? he did the steroids too!
	ManuelLabor: BOI-OI-OIIING

Photos link to player info. WordUpThome.com Photo Credit: Getty, Creative Commons

The Dugout

	BobbyCoxer: i thought communion wafers were simply made outta flour an' water! but there's more to the recipe than that!
	ManuelLabor: how'd ya figure that?
	BobbyCoxer: 'cause i got ryan church!
	ManuelLabor: D'OH!
	BobbyCoxer: literally!

Photos link to player info. WordUpThome.com Photo Credit: Getty, Creative Commons

The Dugout

	BobbyCoxer: how 'bout that! francouer's been traded!
	ManuelLabor: why'd fran trade her coors?
	BobbyCoxer: 'cause it impairs yer ability to walk!
	ManuelLabor: just like jeff francoeur!
	BobbyCoxer: DAWWW CRAP APPLES
	ManuelLabor: how'd ya acquire him in the first place?
	BobbyCoxer: selected him in the miller genuine draft!

Photos link to player info. WordUpThome.com Photo Credit: Getty, Creative Commons

The Dugout

	BobbyCoxer: i don't put hot sauce on my food.
	ManuelLabor: why come ya don't?
	BobbyCoxer: so it don't bernazard!
	BobbyCoxer: i don't put bernazard on my players.
	ManuelLabor: why come ya don't?
	BobbyCoxer: 'cause my organization ain't a joyless, all-consuming maelstrom of self-immolation and poor color coordination!

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The Dugout

	BobbyCoxer: i heard ya got cliff lee an' pedro martinez!
	ManuelLabor: yep! took 'em with my digital camera!
	BobbyCoxer: a digital camera? i'm too old-fashioned for that!
	ManuelLabor: how's that?
	BobbyCoxer: i like to develop my pitchers!

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The Dugout

	ManuelLabor: didja hear about erin andrews?
	BobbyCoxer: no

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The Dugout

	BobbyCoxer: somethin's fishy! a fielder won the home run derby? did he bat with his glove or somethin'?
	ManuelLabor: naw, ya dunderhead, that was prince fielder! y'know, cecil fielder's dad?
	BobbyCoxer: i thought his pops was rickey henderson!
	ManuelLabor: why come?
	BobbyCoxer: 'cause he "hindered" his "son"!
	ManuelLabor: how'd he do that?
	BobbyCoxer: through a series o' disastrous financial decisions, a gamblin' habit, a judgmental disposition, an' the cultivation of a dysfunctional family environment!
	ManuelLabor: haw haw, that's rich!
	BobbyCoxer: no it ain't!

Photos link to player info. WordUpThome.com Photo Credit: Getty, Creative Commons

The Dugout

	BobbyCoxer: now that the tampa bay rays took the "devil" outta their name, ya think they get to go to heaven?
	ManuelLabor: they can't! mark buehrle pitched a perfect game against 'em!
	BobbyCoxer: what does that have to do with anything?
	ManuelLabor: they can't walk through the buehrle gates!
	BobbyCoxer: well surely st. peter will let 'em through! after all, the team plays in st. petersburg!
	ManuelLabor: i thought the rays played in tampa bay!
	BobbyCoxer: not specifically! tampa bay's just a metropolitan statistical area!
	ManuelLabor: you met RuPaul at an statistical area???
	BobbyCoxer: OHHHH YOU GOT ME AGAIN

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The Dugout: Jokes and Jokes, Month of July Edition originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yogi's Boston Quote Still Prophetic

Terence Moore — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Red Sox, Yankees, MLB PEDs

When it comes to the sham that is the Boston Red Sox's championship legacy during the 21st century, it's about the New York Yankees.

It's always been about the Yankees with the Red Sox.

More specifically, it's always been about Yogi Berra's quote for the ages regarding the Red Sox toward his Yankees: "They'll never beat us."

And they haven't. Not legitimately. Especially not given the latest news that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez formed an artificially inflated duo to slug the Red Sox to those World Series titles in 2004 and 2007.

Mariotti: Big Fraud, Big Stench | Whitley: Titles Not Tainted
Blackistone: Keep Names Coming

Ortiz confirmed through the players' association that he tested positive for drug use in 2003, and sources told the New York Times' Web site that Ramirez did the same. So Ramirez is at least a two-time loser. He served a 50-game suspension earlier this year for violating baseball's drug policy.

All of this means several things. It means the Bloody Sock becomes just a bloody sock. It means Theo Epstein looks more like an opportunist than a whiz kid (in addition to acquiring Ortiz, he grabbed reliever Eric Gagne, another steroid guy). It means those contributing to Fenway Park's record for consecutive sellouts at home are among the bamboozled. It means the rise of the Red Sox Nation is headed for a dramatic collapse, even sooner than I predicted in this space a few weeks ago.

Mostly, it means Bill Buckner's little gaffe, those Game 7 home chokes during the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1967 and to the Cincinnati Reds in 1975, Bucky Dent, Aaron Bleeping Boone, the Curse of the Bambino -- those things still live for the Red Sox, almost as much as Berra's quote.

Now about that quote...

You remember Berra's other ones, ranging from "It ain't over until it's over" to "I really didn't say what I said" to "When you come to the fork in the road, take it." You would think this one -- "They'll never beat us" -- came during the late 1940s and early 1960s, when Berra used his Hall of Fame bat and glove to help the Yankees smack the Red Sox along the way to winning 10 out of 14 World Series trips.

"His saying of that quote actually started long after his playing career and since his triumphant return to the Yankees after being fired," said Dale Berra, 51, referring to his father's self-imposed exile from the Bronx after George Steinbrenner reneged on his word to retain Yogi as Yankee manager through the 1985 season.

Yogi stayed away from the Yankee Nation until Steinbrenner apologized. That was 15 years later. That also was in the midst of the Yankees' new dynasty, featuring four world championships in five years and more than a few defeats of the Red Sox, often in agonizing (see Aaron Bleeping Boone) fashion. Yogi eventually delivered his quote for those times involving the rivalry, but it really was his quote for all times.

According to Dale Berra, speaking from Mountclair, N.J., where he joins his brothers Larry and Timmy in running the Yogi Berra Museum, his now 84-year-old father always thought the Red Sox grabbed their throats at the sight of pinstripes.

Yogi just never got around to saying it until 2000 or so.

"In fact, way before then, he always talked about how the Red Sox had a great, great team on the field back when he played during the 1950s, but that they could never beat the Yankees, whether it was because of a team chemistry thing or something else," Dale Berra said. "Ted Williams used to tell folks that it was just a guy like Phil Rizzuto that made the Yankees win. Not Mantle or Berra or the big guys. He said it was the little things that the Yankees did, and that the Red Sox were always jealous of the Yankees, because the Red Sox had as good a team on the field as the Yankees did.

"They just couldn't put it together the way the Yankees did."

Then, courtesy of that Bronx-inspired desperation, stretching from the Red Sox front office to the playing field, Boston's two biggest stars discovered a Yankee-killer called steroids. For instance: Ortiz went from a part-time guy with limited power for the Minnesota Twins to Big Papi with 41, 47 and 54 home runs during his first three full seasons in Boston after his arrival in the middle of 2003.

The Red Sox Nation shrugged, then cheered.

It should have screamed over the illegitimacy of it all.

Still, Dale Berra suggested that neither he nor his father sees much Yankee redemption with these revelations regarding Ramirez and Ortiz. When the Mitchell Report gave its finding on baseball's Steroid Era, Yankee players were mentioned early and often.

"Don't forget that when the Red Sox were beating the Yankees [after 2003], they were playing against [former Yankee players] Jason Giambi and Roger Clemens who were all admitted users," Dale Berra said. "Even Andy Pettitte was involved, and who knows about the other guys that they had on those Yankee teams? They all could have been using it, too, and we just don't know about it.

"It was almost an even playing field with the amount of guys using it. I don't think one team can be singled out over another.

Well, you can finger the Red Sox. While the Yankees proved they can whip Boston by pitching, hitting, fielding and running, the Red Sox proved they can whip New York only by juicing.

Terence Moore is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse. He is a frequent panelist on "Rome Is Burning," an ESPN show hosted by Jim Rome, that is seen Monday through Friday at 4:30 PM ET. Moore spent more than three decades working for major newspapers, including 26 years as an award-winning sports columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He resides in Atlanta.

Yogi's Boston Quote Still Prophetic originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bronson Arroyo May Know How David Ortiz Tested Positive

Tom Fornelli — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:46:00 EST

Filed under: Red Sox, Reds, MLB Rumors, MLB PEDs

The trade deadline was pushed to the backburner for a bit on Thursday afternoon when the news broke that Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were two of the 104 players who tested positive for steroids back in 2003. Obviously, with everything that's come out about baseball players and steroids in the last few years, this story didn't really surprise anybody.

What was somewhat surprising, though, was that Ortiz tested positive, when over the the last few years, he's been pretty outspoken against performance-enhancers and the players who use them. When Ortiz talked about his positive test after a Red Sox victory on Thursday, he said he had no idea how he tested positive, and he plans on finding out. Well, his old Red Sox teammate Bronson Arroyo has his theory on what might have happened.

Bronson Arroyo, a 2003 Red Sox teammate of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, said yesterday he would not be shocked to discover his name on the list of 104 major league ballplayers who tested positive in the spring of 2003 for using performance-enhancing drugs.

His reason may shed light on what may have happened to Ortiz in 2003, as well.

Back then, Arroyo said via phone from Cincinnati, he was using both androstenedione, which was not banned until the 2004 season, and amphetamines, which were not banned until 2006.

The only reason Arroyo stopped using andro was because he heard through the grapevine that, because of lax production standards, some andro was laced with known steroids, such as Winstrol.

"Before 2004, none of us paid any attention to anything we took," said the Reds starter. "Now they don't want us to take anything unless it's approved. But back then, who knows what was in stuff? The FDA wasn't regulating stuff, not unless it was killing people or people were dying from it."

How refreshing is that? A player actually admitting to taking stuff for once.

Still, I'm not really sure I buy Arroyo's story. Could this have actually happened, and then caused Ortiz to test positive after taking some tainted andro? Yeah, it's possible, but I think this is just reaching for any possible reason to think that Ortiz may have been clean.

My theory on Ortiz now is that he took steroids. He took them just like most players were taking them over the last decade or so. It may be a hard pill to swallow for some Red Sox fans who have adored Ortiz since he came to Boston, but once they finally get it down they'll realize that it's harmless and go on about their lives.

I mean, that "tainted andro" did help bring two World Series championships to town, so maybe it's not that bad after all.

Bronson Arroyo May Know How David Ortiz Tested Positive originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:46:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Dugout: Manny, Papi, Whatever

B. Thompson Stroud — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:45:00 EST

Filed under: Red Sox, AL East, The Dugout, MLB PEDs

In case you have not heard and are unable to read any other words on this page, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz join the list of approximately 100 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003. Ortiz has been vocal about banning players who tested positive, and Manny is currently being celebrated as some sort of RBI-giving folk hero in Los Angeles. The relationship between Ortiz and Manny has been an important one to the development and growth of The Dugout's overreaching narrative, and in times like these we have to dig deeply to find the right thing to say.

Lately, it's becoming harder and harder to find anything "right" to say about steroids in baseball. So, tonight, we attempt to just say everything. After the jump, tonight's Dugout is presented in five different points of view. We encourage you to find the one that suits you best, and enjoy it.

The Dugout

	Angle #1 The Established Joke
	Online Host Welcome to the Boston Red Sox 2004 Chatroom!
	MannyTheTorpedoes: shrek 2 try to love he wife, but her famly think he a ugly, so farts happen
	OrtizItThisOne: Then no, I don't want to go see Shrek 2 with you tomorrow night.
	MannyTheTorpedoes: k
	MannyTheTorpedoes: u wan play spies
	OrtizItThisOne: Sure. What do spies do?
	MannyTheTorpedoes: strds /opens Backyardigans lunchbox to reveal Backyardigans thermos, 30 syringes
	OrtizItThisOne: I don't know... I worked really hard to get this fat on my own. Are you sure steroids are something I need?
	MannyTheTorpedoes: u could always b fatter
	OrtizItThisOne: Hmmm... okay, but don't tell anybody I did these, okay?
	MannyTheTorpedoes: ok papi u can trus manny /writes "PAPI" in large letters onto piece of paper with crayon, mails to the New York Times
	OrtizItThisOne: I hope nothing good happens to us this season, I wouldn't want to put a black eye on any magical baseball moments by doing this
	MannyTheTorpedoes: is ok miggy mannel was on strds too so is ok
	OrtizItThisOne: Really! Then I guess alcoholism and bashing myself over the knees with a sledgehammer is okay too
	OrtizItThisOne: In the name of baseball! /does steroids
	MannyTheTorpedoes: manny being mantle
	Angle #2 The New York Sports Fan's Point of View
	Online Host Welcome to the New York Yankees/Boston Red Sox Rivalry Chatroom!
	MannyTheTorpedoes: ahhh help papi im not any good at baseball
	OrtizItThisOne: Me either, what the hell! Argh, I'm so bad! And I'm fat!
	MannyTheTorpedoes: i just looked at our stats and boy let me tell you, based on certain stats we are incredibly overrated
	OrtizItThisOne: I'll say! That is why we haven't won a World Series in 86 years. Do you know how many championships the Yankees have won?
	MannyTheTorpedoes: 26! i know because i am secretly obsessed with the yankees and want to play for them, but i am not good enough
	MannyTheTorpedoes: and so dumb! i look and play like a retard
	OrtizItThisOne: You know what I bet would make us better? STEROIDS
	MannyTheTorpedoes: but, but, but papi, only players who aren't good enough to win resort to cheating like that
	OrtizItThisOne: Ha ha! That is why we have to do them! But make sure nobody knows!
	MannyTheTorpedoes: if you say so... i can't make any decisions on my own
	OrtizItThisOne: If that's the case, you should also take these weird hormone treatment drugs! They'll make you really f***ing crazy!
	MannyTheTorpedoes: nom nom nom nom /eats the drugs
	OrtizItThisOne: Now everyone, listen to my plan... we're going to STEAL THE WORLD SERIES!
	Angle #3 The Boston Sports Fan's Point of View
	Online Host Welcome to the Boston Red Sox More Than A Team Chatroom!
	OrtizItThisOne: Hey, you didn't do any steroids, did you Manny?
	MannyTheTorpedoes: No, of course not. I only did steroids before I came here, and I will do them when I'm traded. But not here.
	OrtizItThisOne: Good. You wouldn't want to tarnish the legacy of the Boston Red Sox. In my opinion, we are MORE than a team.
	MannyTheTorpedoes: expound
	OrtizItThisOne: Sure, we are a baseball team, but we are SO MUCH MORE than that! I cannot progress any further with this statement
	MannyTheTorpedoes: No need, Big Papi, I wholeheartedly agree. Do you know what I find interesting?
	OrtizItThisOne: What's that?
	MannyTheTorpedoes: These photos I found of Derek Jeter having gay sex with Alex Rodriguez. Can you believe these guys? What a couple of homosexuals.
	OrtizItThisOne: I would love to laugh about the cheating, homosexual Yankees with you, but I am too busy winning baseball games to talk, brb!
	MannyTheTorpedoes: Take your time, I will also be busy winning baseball games, and not doing drugs.
	MannyTheTorpedoes: I love Boston! :)
	Angle #4 The Wistful, Poignant Point of View
	Online Host Welcome to the Boston Red Sox "Nothing More Than A Team" Chatroom!
	MannyTheTorpedoes: papi... papelbom jus came to me, say he on drugs
	OrtizItThisOne: What? I can't believe it! Are you sure?
	MannyTheTorpedoes: ya he say he toog some strds an now he scared, he not know what to do who to tell ...
	OrtizItThisOne: Hmm. I see. He only took "some" steroids?
	MannyTheTorpedoes: only a little, he knows its bad but strds are spost to make you good at base ball he wants to be the bes
	OrtizItThisOne: I know, it can be tough. I've been tempted to take steroids myself. I used to be skinny, and I thought they'd make me big and strong, to hit home runs.
	OrtizItThisOne: Important, clutch home runs that I wouldnt' have been able to hit unless I was on drugs.
	MannyTheTorpedoes: ya thats what he sed, he say he want to hit so many dingers ppl remember him when hes goen
	OrtizItThisOne: but Manny... Jonathan is a pitcher, he doesn't bat. Is there.. is there something you want to tell me?
	MannyTheTorpedoes: i... i... /begins to cry
	OrtizItThisOne: Oh God, Manny, who made you feel like this? Who? WHO? /holds Manny in his big fat arms
	MannyTheTorpedoes: i jes love base ball sooo muchhhh boo hoo hoo hooooo
	Angle #5 The Only Reasonable Point of View Left to Have
	Online Host Welcome to the Boston Red Sox Chatroom!
	OrtizItThisOne: Hey Manny, are you on steroids?
	MannyTheTorpedoes: yep how bout u
	OrtizItThisOne: Yep. Me and everyone else who has ever played baseball.
	OrtizItThisOne: Hey, I'm not doing anything after the game this afternoon, you wanna go out and buy airplanes?
	MannyTheTorpedoes: AIRPLANG

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The Dugout: Manny, Papi, Whatever originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BaseCast: Big Papi and Blockbusters

Andrew Johnson — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: MLB PEDs, MLB Trade Deadline, BaseCast

It's a baseball podcast. The math is easy, right? BaseCast. Let's rock.

It's hard to imagine a busier day in the baseball world than Thursday. As if the frantic nature of the rapidly approaching July 31 trade deadline wasn't enough, the New York Times broke the story that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were both on the infamous "List" of players who tested positive for a banned substance in 2003.

Naturally (not chemically-enhanced), the MLB FanHouse crew -- myself, Ed Price and Jeff Fletcher -- was there to offer instant analysis on Ortiz, the blockbuster Holliday and Lee trades and what lies ahead with the deadline just hours away.

Listen in after the jump.

Listen to the podcast above, or click here to download the file.

BaseCast: Big Papi and Blockbusters originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fear Not Red Sox Nation, Ortiz Revelation Does Little to Taint Titles

David Whitley — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:20:00 EST

Filed under: Red Sox, MLB PEDs

So it turns out the Red Sox Nation is a banana republic that used drugs to overthrow its enemies. It's a jolt for Boston to learn David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were the Medellin Cartel of the American League. I don't think the rest of us have been so shocked since Courtney Love went into rehab.

So cheer up, Red Sox fans. Don't bury your faces in your 2004 caps. Don't turn off the computer when rival fans start with the Tainted Title rap.

The Red Sox championships are every bit as legit as the Cardinals' title in '06 or the White Sox in '05 or the Marlins in '03 or that seventh degree black belt Elvis was awarded in '73.

Mariotti: Big Fraud, Big Stench | BaseCast: Ortiz and Blockbusters

They are all tainted, it's just a matter of how badly. And when the argument degenerates into which team cheated worse, nobody should open their mouths.

How do we know every baseball team in the past 15 years didn't have at least one juicer on its roster? Come on, are you still that naive? At this point, not even Pete Rose would bet against it.

Would you?

That's why Thursday's news was no great setback for baseball. Everybody was a suspect anyway, and this just made the truth more obvious. I don't know if the truth shall set you free, but it will at least move this fumigation along.

Now if only The New York Times or TMZ or somebody would get a hold of the remaining 90-plus names on the list of players who failed the doping test in 2003, we could get back to more topical issues.

Like will Dodgers fans love Ramirez any less after finding out his cheating heart beat for another team?

To be precise, Manny only tested for a female fertility drug last time. There's no word yet on what Big Papi was taking, but hopefully he wasn't really trying to become Big Mami.

The Red Sox may have been more pregnant than most teams, but can you be just a little bit pregnant?

Yankees fans were naturally the first to jump on Boston after Ramirez was suspended earlier this season. That prompted Red Sox fans to say there was no proof Manny juiced when he was in Boston .

And Ortiz? Why he huffed and puffed and said anyone caught juicing should be banned for a year.

He'll spend the next few days getting roasted for that one, and it will make Red Sox fans even more squeamish when their Yankee tormentors call. All Bostonians need do is say two words:

Jason Giambi.

Or how about Andy Pettitte?

Anyone misremember a guy named Clemens?

They all played on the Yankees' last pennant winner in 2003. Pettitte, Clemens and Jason Grimsley were on New York's last world championship team in 2000.

More is made of the Red Sox titles because of the Curse, Fenway and all those bandwagon fans who formed The Nation in the past 15 years. And it is hard to imagine a title team over the past decade getting a bigger boost from juicers.

Ramirez had 43 homers and 130 RBI in 2004 and was the World Series MVP. Ortiz had 41 homers and 139 RBI. Considering the test they failed was in 2003, there's no proof they cheated the following year.

Then again, you could say the same thing about Barry Bonds. He hit four home runs in the 2002 World Series, which the Giants almost won. Despite the lack of test results on the part of Mr. Potato Head, I think most have considered that tainted.

Even if Bonds' name is somehow on the 2003 list, that leaves more than 90 PED fugitives unaccounted for. That would work out to about three players per team. That would also assume the players caught were the only ones juicing.

Insert laughter here.

We'll never know how much cheating has gone on or who benefited the most. Check that. Most executives would get fired if they oversaw the Steroids Era. Bud Selig buried his head in the syringes and still makes $18 million a year.

You can argue whether he's more to blame than Donald Fehr. You can argue whether A-Rod's asterisk should be bigger than Bonds'. But you can't argue that Boston is less deserving of its championships than other teams.

They were all pregnant, and every kid looks uglier by the day.

Fear Not Red Sox Nation, Ortiz Revelation Does Little to Taint Titles originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Former Red Sox Mates Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz Reportedly on '03 'List'

Ed Price — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:28:00 EST

Filed under: Dodgers, Red Sox, MLB PEDs

The biggest fear of major league players, and their union -- and, now, Red Sox fans -- has reawakened. "The list" -- the names of the approximately 100 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003 -- has again been compromised, this time with Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz outed as users.

According to the New York Times:

The information about Ramirez and Ortiz emerged through interviews with multiple lawyers and others connected to the pending litigation. The lawyers spoke anonymously because the testing information is under seal by a court order. The lawyers did not identify which drugs were detected.

Now people will ask if the 2004 and 2007 World Series titles are "tainted," which is ridiculous, because there's no proof either player used that year -- and no proof their opponents didn't.

But this means more star players have been outed as cheats.

In a statement, Ortiz confirmed he was on the 2003 list, but dubiously claimed that he was not aware until Thursday.

"Based on the way I have lived my life, I am surprised to learn I tested positive. Two, I will find out what I tested positive for. And, three, based on whatever I learn, I will share this information with my club and the public. You know me -- I will not hide and I will not make excuses," Ortiz said.

It would certainly be a breath of fresh air if Ortiz is serious about being open, however, it is highly unlikely he didn't know about the failed test because, according to the Mitchell Report, the union informed all of the players on the now infamous list that they had tested positive no later than September 2004.

Ramirez, now with the Dodgers, has already been tainted, of course, with this year's 50-game suspension for a violation of Major League Baseball's drug policy (he took a banned substance that masks performance-enhancing drugs). But Ortiz is another story.

Immensely popular in Boston for his clutch homers and large personality, Ortiz once said that those caught using PEDs should be suspended for a year.

Ortiz said that he believes players are clean because testing is quite invasive, and if they test positive now, they should be thrown out of the game for the rest of the year. He said that players and whole teams should be tested "three or four times a year, that's it" which he thinks would give a good reading on who is or who isn't on steroids.

"I think you clean up the game by the testing. I test you, you test positive, you're going to be out. Period," Ortiz said. "If I test positive using any kind of banned substance I'm going to disrespect the game, my family, my fans and everybody. And I don't want to face the situation so I won't use it. I'm sure everybody is on the same page."

Oops.

The lesson to learn, assuming the Times has good information, is that no matter how well you think you know a player, or no matter how loudly he protests, you can not tell whether he has the inner moral compass to avoid the temptation to cheat.

Update: Players' union executive director Don Fehr issued a statement Thursday afternoon in response to the Times report.

Today The New York Times, once again, reports what it asserts to be information contained in documents under court seal. And precisely for that reason, the Players Association will not, indeed cannot, comment on whether the information is accurate. But there should be no mistake. The leaking of information under a court seal is a crime. The active pursuit of information that may not lawfully be disclosed because it is under court seal is a crime. That its informants, according to the Times, are lawyers is both shocking and sad. That the Times is pursuing and publishing what it openly declares to be information which may not be legally disclosed is equally sad.

We intend to take the appropriate legal steps to see that the court orders are enforced.

Update: After homering in Boston's defeat of Oakland, Ortiz issued a statement:

Today I was informed by a reporter that I was on the 2003 list of MLB players to test positive for performance-enhancing substances. This happened right before our game, and the news blindsided me. I said I had no comment because I wanted to get to the bottom of this.

I want to talk about this situation and I will as soon as I have more answers. In the meantime I want to let you know how I am approaching this situation. One, I have already contacted the Players Association to confirm if this report is true. I have just been told that the report is true. Based on the way I have lived my life, I am surprised to learn I tested positive. Two, I will find out what I tested positive for. And, three, based on whatever I learn, I will share this information with my club and the public. You know me -- I will not hide and I will not make excuses.

I want to thank my family, the Red Sox, my teammates, and the fans for their patience and support.

Update: Boston manager Terry Francona unsurprisingly said the Red Sox will support their slugger.

"This blindsided everybody including David," Francona said. "I believe David is putting out a statement which ... I wanted to read it before I came up here. He's going to deal with this head on. I do think that today is probably going to be a difficult day to get answers you're looking for because there aren't any yet. He needs to find out, he's already made calls ... trying to find out some things today, and until he does, he won't have the answers to questions, but he will certainly deal with it as David always does, head on, and be open and be honest.

"David knows that ... I think David felt all day, a lot of caring from his teammates, and hopefully he knows we care about him. He has earned, as a person, that from us. And we will be very supportive as I hope we are with all our players and we'll get to the bottom of whatever needs to be get to the bottom of, and like I said, David will deal with this openly, but again, there's going to... it's not going to happen in the next 10 minutes.

"There's a lot of things that he's not aware of and like I said he will deal with it as he knows. But he needs to get some information, too.

"There needs to obviously be some pursuit of the truth... My concern today is David. Again, I understand the question, you're entitled to questions, I gave you the answers that I have today."

Former Red Sox Mates Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz Reportedly on '03 'List' originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jim Parque Discusses Taking Human Growth Hormone in 2003

Josh Alper — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:05:00 EST

Filed under: Rays, White Sox, AL Central, AL East, MLB PEDs

Former White Sox and Rays pitcher Jim Parque is never going to be one of the players closely linked to baseball's Steroids Era. He was a marginal major league starter who may have become something more if he didn't tear his labrum during the 2000 playoffs, but a first-person piece he wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday may make him a bit more memorable as time goes on.

I'm Jim Parque, former major league pitcher, and I took human growth hormone.

I know that in admitting to this, I am a cheater, a villain and nothing more than a drug user in the eyes of the media and some fans.

The whole piece is well worth reading even if you're not inclined to forgive a man for doing the wrong thing under adverse circumstances. Parque is brutally honest, more so than many other players, about his motivations for using human growth hormone in 2003 and his experiences after taking it.

The motivations were easy. Two years of rehab had brought him no closer to returning to the major leagues, which was difficult for a 27-year-old former first-round pick to accept. He had a young family and didn't want to give up a paycheck that allowed them to live a very comfortable life.

Boo-hoo, go do an honest day's work, right?

Is that what you really would have said if you were Parque? HGH wasn't banned by baseball in 2003, though Parque clearly knows that he was doing something wrong, and it's well established at this point that any big-leaguer knew that it was being used all around him. He was trying to recover from an injury, and turned to a substance that he believed would help him do that.

It's hard not to have some empathy for Parque, and it's even harder not to wonder long and hard about what you might do if placed in his shoes.

That's not to say it makes him any kind of a hero, but I'm not sure it makes him a villain. Admitting to it doesn't make him a hero, either, but illuminating the issue instead of blaming positive tests on any matter of ridiculous things is definitely a step forward.

Jim Parque Discusses Taking Human Growth Hormone in 2003 originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Keep It Simple, Keep Steroid Guys Out

Terence Moore — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:50:00 EST

Filed under: MLB Hall of Fame, MLB PEDs

Reggie Jackson is right. So is Jim Rice, along with Rick Telander, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, who joins me as a baseball Hall of Fame voter and as a hardliner who agrees with Jackson and Rice:

No steroids guys in Cooperstown.

No Roger Clemens. No Barry Bonds. No Mark McGwire. No Sammy Sosa. No Rafael Palmeiro. No Alex Rodriguez. Nobody within a syringe of evidence showing they were artificially enhanced during any portion of their playing career.

I don't care that Ty Cobb was a racist (and possibly worse), that Mickey Mantle joined others as prolific drunks, and that Gaylord Perry spit his way into Cooperstown. They're already in the Hall of Fame. I can't do anything about their entries, but I can do something about Clemens, Bonds and the rest.

I also don't care that shunning those from the Steroids Era will shrink the number of future Hall of Fame inductees by a bunch. If you can breathe and dribble a little, you're a candidate for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The point is, in contrast to most of the other Halls of Fame in amateur and professional sports, Cooperstown is more about quality than quantity.

Mostly, I don't care that you're innocent until proven guilty under the law of the land. The law of common sense historically and rightfully overrides the judicial system when it comes to sports entities passing judgment.

And if somebody slips across Cooperstown's city limits before folks discover he was guilty of steroids use, no problem. Baseball should do what college football once did to Billy Cannon when he was in its Hall of Fame and later was arrested by the feds on counterfeiting charges: Just kick the guy out.

That's the easy part. The difficult part is convincing others that Jackson, Rice, Telander and I have it exactly right, because we do.

DYST V3 test

LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers watches as Mo Williams #2 takes a shoe to the face by Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers after a steal in the closing seconds of the first half at The Quicken Loans Arena on February 8, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. (David Liam Kyle, NBAE/Getty Images)

David Liam Kyle, NBAE/Getty Images

Brazil's Diogo (L) vies for the ball with Paraguay's Hernan Perez during their U-20 South American Championship football match in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela on February 8, 2009.(Juan Barreto, AFP/Getty Images )

Juan Barreto, AFP/Getty Images

A Dalmatian looks at its handler as a judge goes to touch the dog during the first day of the 2009 Westminster Dog Show in New York February 9, 2009.(Lucas Jackson, Reuters)

Lucas Jackson, Reuters

Denver Nuggets forward Chris Anderson touches his head during a time out in the first half of their NBA basketball game with the New Jersey Nets in East Rutherford, New Jersey February 7, 2009. (Ray Stubblebine, Reuters)

Ray Stubblebine, Reuters

Margarita Marbler, of Austria, skis to a bronze medal finish the ladies moguls freestyle FIS World Cupskiing qualification at Cypress mountain in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. (Jonathan Hayward, The Canadian Press/AP)

Jonathan Hayward, The Canadian Press/AP

West Virginia guard Darryl Bryant (25) is fouled by Providence guard Jeff Xavier (1) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Morgantown, W.Va. Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. West Virginia won 86-59. (Don Wright, AP)

Don Wright, AP

Missouri's DeMarre Carroll, top, celebrates the Tigers' 62-60 win over Kansas in Columbia, Missouri, Monday, February 9, 2009. (Rich Sugg, Kansas City Star/MCT)

Rich Sugg, Kansas City Star/MCT

David Clarkson #23 of the New Jersey Devils fights Erik Reitz #4 of the New York Rangers during their game on February 9, 2009 at The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey (Al Bello, Getty Images)

Al Bello, Getty Images

Driver Patrick Sheltra (60) begins to spin coming out of the fourth turn during the ARCA 200 auto race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009.

Darryl Graham, AP

Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives serves the ball, in this multiple exposure, to Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic during their Fed Cup tennis match in Brno February 7, 2009.

Petr Josek, Reuters

With the latest Hall of Fame ceremonies slated for this weekend, Telander even presented a proposal at a recent meeting of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). He approached the group, because BBWAA members for 10 consecutive years are eligible to vote for Hall of Famers. Telander wanted the group to form a committee to develop guidelines for evaluating players from the Steroids Era when it comes to Hall of Fame voting.

Nice try, Rick. After much debate, Telander's proposal was slammed out of the ballpark toward the game's Never Never Land with Charlie Finley's orange baseballs. We're left with the likelihood that a slew of cheats will be immortalized in bronze forever. That's because opponents to Telander's proposal ask several questions.

How do you define the beginning and the end of the Steroids Era, when players still are getting nabbed despite baseball's significant drug-testing program and world-wide attention on the subject?

What criteria would you use to establish that somebody was from the Steroids Era and was a user?

If somebody took the stuff at the end of their otherwise Hall of Fame career, do you send them to Cooperstown anyway?

The answer to those questions is the same: When in doubt, keep them out.

Such a stance was implied by the founding fathers of baseball's Hall of Fame guidelines, and this was sort of the stuff of those other founding fathers who developed the U.S. Constitution. George Washington and his 18th century gang wanted a document that would adapt to whatever happened in the future, but they also wanted it to keep the original intent of its authors.

You have strict constructionists, who take the Constitution literally, and you have loose constructionists, who read between its lines.

That brings us back to the BBWAA, which allows Hall of Fame voters to use their own interpretation of rules that are vague but specific. The rules say each voter should consider a player's "record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played."

As a Hall of Fame voter, I'm a strict constructionist. To me, the key words in those rules are "integrity" and "character." You don't have integrity or character by using steroids. So no Hall of Fame entry for any of these knuckleheads.

Simple.

Loose constructionists see the key words in those rules as "record," "ability" and "contributions." To them, it sort of matters that a guy used steroids, but they mention he still had to swing, throw, run and catch at a high level.

Not so simple.

This is simpler: Just listen to Jackson, Rice, Telander and me.

Terence Moore is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse. He is a frequent panelist on "Rome Is Burning", an ESPN show hosted by Jim Rome, that is seen Monday through Friday at 4:30 PM ET. Moore spent more than three decades working for major newspapers, including 26 years as an award-winning sports columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He resides in Atlanta .

Keep It Simple, Keep Steroid Guys Out originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Using Bonds to Scare Owners Laughable

David Whitley — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:39:00 EST

Filed under: Giants, MLB PEDs

It's been almost 18 months since Barry Bonds appeared in a baseball uniform.

Don't you miss him?

I didn't think so, but the players union thinks you should. It believes Bonds is one of the players baseball has conspired against, so it is threatening to break out the old C-word.
Collusion.

"There's a level of suspicion in the air," agent Jeff Borris said.

Borris smells a rat. He should certainly recognize the scent considering he represents Bonds.

The C-word was in the air at the All-Star Game, prompting Bud Selig to sniff that the recession was to blame for the lack of free-agent activity last winter.

Never mind that almost every other business in America has frozen, furloughed, laid off or fired its work force. The union thinks any time baseball doesn't reward players like Congress rewards AIG, owners must have secretly gotten together and decided to turn off the money spigot.

Rattling the collusion saber is also a way for incoming union boss Michael Weiner to get some street cred with the members. He and Don Fehr will decide by the end of the month whether to file collusion charges. The union has already made a preliminary finding on one player.

You know him, you love him, the federal grand jury can't live without him.

Barry!

The union decided last October that baseball had ganged up on Bonds. Surprisingly, it didn't file a grievance, saying it preferred to resolve this one through negotiation.

Not-so-surprisingly, that has gone nowhere. It's as if baseball is daring the union to make Bonds Exhibit A in its grievance.

To be fair, it's not as if the plaintiff wouldn't have some points in his favor. The first being that if prior crimes were admissible evidence, baseball would be Bernie Madoff.

It was found guilty of collusion three times in the 1980s and ended up paying $280 million. A 1990 agreement tripled potential damages.

Bonds made $19.3 million in his final year with the Giants. If an arbitrator used that as a baseline, Barry could make enough to buy his own prison.

The union could also point out that Bonds hit 28 home runs and batted .276 and had a league-leading 132 walks in his final season. Sure, he had the mobility of a cement truck in left field, but couldn't some American League team have used him as a designated hitter?

Apparently not.

Bonds carried his "Will Slug for Food" throughout the winters of 2007 and 2008. He got zero offers from AL teams, NL teams and Japanese teams. Vince McMahon didn't even offer him a bout against Tonya Harding in Wrestlemania XXIV.

All this after Bonds said he would play for the major league minimum of $410,000. That's roughly what Mark Teixeira makes every three games.

The union could point out how Bonds would sell tickets. At least, he would once fans rationalized their team signed Attila the Home Run Hitter. San Franciscans did that quite nicely.

The rest of America did a Selig impersonation whenever Bonds appeared. Who could forget the commissioner's reaction when Bonds broke Hank Aaron's home run mark? Selig looked as if he'd just swallowed a roach, which collusionists say is evidence he reviled Bonds.

Sure he did. Approximately 98.8 percent of America can't stand Barry, but that doesn't mean 290 million people secretly agreed he was a jerk. It doesn't take a series of covert meeting to conclude he's not worth the trouble, even if played for $410 a year.

DYST V3 test

David Liam Kyle, NBAE/Getty Images

Juan Barreto, AFP/Getty Images

A Dalmatian looks at its handler as a judge goes to touch the dog during the first day of the 2009 Westminster Dog Show in New York February 9, 2009.(Lucas Jackson, Reuters)

Lucas Jackson, Reuters

Ray Stubblebine, Reuters

Jonathan Hayward, The Canadian Press/AP

Don Wright, AP

Missouri's DeMarre Carroll, top, celebrates the Tigers' 62-60 win over Kansas in Columbia, Missouri, Monday, February 9, 2009. (Rich Sugg, Kansas City Star/MCT)

Rich Sugg, Kansas City Star/MCT

David Clarkson #23 of the New Jersey Devils fights Erik Reitz #4 of the New York Rangers during their game on February 9, 2009 at The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey (Al Bello, Getty Images)

Al Bello, Getty Images

Driver Patrick Sheltra (60) begins to spin coming out of the fourth turn during the ARCA 200 auto race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009.

Darryl Graham, AP

Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives serves the ball, in this multiple exposure, to Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic during their Fed Cup tennis match in Brno February 7, 2009.

Petr Josek, Reuters

Forget the disruption factor and how he'd need extra clubhouse space for his lounge chair and wide-screen TV. Forget that he'll be 45 next Friday.

Forget the fact that, even in San Francisco, they want to pretend Bonds never existed. It took about 49 seconds for the Giants to remove the "756" sign and painting of Bonds on the outfield wall.

What we can't forget is Bonds' perjury trial, currently delayed as the feds appeal a judge's ruling. We all know he is innocent until proven guilty, but baseball isn't bound by such legal doctrine.

Would you sign a guy who still has 15 criminal counts hanging over his potato head?

Of course you would, at least according to the players union. Just as you should go on a free-agent spending spree during an economic meltdown.

If you don't, it must be collusion.

Sounds to me like another C word.

Common sense.

Using Bonds to Scare Owners Laughable originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:39:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bob Gibson: 'Guys Have Always Been Cheating, Period.'

Pat Lackey — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:45:00 EST

Filed under: Cardinals, NL Central, MLB All-Star Game, MLB PEDs

During Tuesday night's All-Star broadcast, I'd be willing to bet almost anything that at some point Tim McCarver will bring up his old battery-mate Bob Gibson as an example of the good ol' days in baseball, when players didn't take steroids and there were no pitch counts.

Gibson has certainly been making the rounds with the All-Star Game in St. Louis this year. Tuesday morning he did a spot with ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike, and the inevitable subject of steroids in baseball came up. In an incredibly honest answer, Gibson told the hosts that baseball players have been cheating for years and if it were up to him, he wouldn't keep known steroid users out of the Hall of Fame. A longer version of his quote is after the jump .

Guys have always been cheating. Period. It just takes a little different form today. I'm just glad they didn't have steroids when I was playing. I don't know what I would have done. It's very difficult to go out and perform when you know the guy next to you is taking steroids or some kind of drug to make you perform better and not do it yourself, to let this guy get an edge on you.

[...]

I don't know that I really criticize the guys. Whoever the first guy is that started it, that's the guy I criticize. The rest of the guys just followed suit. I don't think its OK. I'm not sanctioning it, but I understand why it happens."

When asked if players known to take performance-enhancing drugs should be in the Hall of Fame, Gibson responded, "Oh yeah, I think so."

We hear the opinions of the media and fans all the time, but I think it's rare that a player, especially one of Gibson's stature, opens up like this on such a touchy subject. I suspect that a lot of players would probably agree with Gibson, even if they might not do so on the record.

Whatever the case, it's striking to hear the man revered by many baseball fans as one of the toughest, meanest, hardest-throwing pitchers in history admit that he doesn't know what he would've done if steroids were available in his era.

Hat-tip to Sharapova's Thigh.

MLB All-Star Game Photos

National League starting pitcher Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants throws a pitch in the first inning against the American League during Major League Baseball's All-Star game in St. Louis, July 14, 2009. REUTERS/Morry Gash/Pool (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

Reuters

ST LOUIS, MO - JULY 14: National League All-Star Albert Pujols #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals dives to make a play on a ball during the 2009 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Stadium on July 14, 2009 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Albert Pujols

Getty Images

ST LOUIS, MO - JULY 14: American League All-Star Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees rounds third on his way to scoring during the 2009 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Stadium on July 14, 2009 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Derek Jeter

Getty Images

ST LOUIS, MO - JULY 14: American League All-Stars Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners and Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees look on before the 2009 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Stadium on July 14, 2009 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Morry Gash-Pool/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ichiro Suzuki;Derek Jeter

Getty Images

ST LOUIS, MO - JULY 14: American League All-Star Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees looks on before the 2009 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Stadium on July 14, 2009 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Pool/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mariano Rivera

Getty Images

ST LOUIS, MO - JULY 14: American League All-Star manager Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays looks on before the 2009 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Stadium on July 14, 2009 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Morry Gash-Pool/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Joe Maddon

Getty Images

ST LOUIS, MO - JULY 14: American League All-Star manager Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays greets National League All-Star manager Charlie Manuel of the Philadelphia Phillies before the 2009 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Stadium on July 14, 2009 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Morry Gash-Pool/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Charlie Manuel;Joe Maddon

Getty Images

American League starting pitcher Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays throws a pitch in the first inning against the National League during Major League Baseball's All-Star game in St. Louis, July 14, 2009. REUTERS/Morry Gash/Pool (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL)

Reuters

American League's Michael Young of the Texas Rangers singles during the fourth inning of the MLB All-Star baseball game in St. Louis, Tuesday, July 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

American League's Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners swings on a pitch during the fifth inning of the MLB All-Star baseball game in St. Louis, Tuesday, July 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

Bob Gibson: 'Guys Have Always Been Cheating, Period.' originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Selig Discusses Manny, Economy, Hall of Fame and More in Luncheon

Ed Price — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Cubs, Dodgers, Mets, Nationals, Pirates, Rangers, MLB All-Star Game, MLB Biz, MLB Hall of Fame, MLB PEDs

ST. LOUIS -- Bud Selig said Tuesday he'd like players suspended for performance-enhancing drugs, such as Manny Ramirez, not to be able to go on minor-league assignments while their suspensions are in force.

During his annual All-Star break question-and-answer session with members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, the commissioner also touched on Pete Rose, the Nationals, collusion charges and the effect of the economy on baseball.

Ramirez played in seven minor-league games to tune up before his July 3 return to the majors. Some questioned why that was allowed, but such assignments are permitted by the agreement between baseball and the players' association on PEDs, so any change would have to be negotiated with the union.

"To be very candid," Selig said, "I believe that should be changed."

Philadelphia reliever J.C. Romero also played in the minors this year while waiting for his PED suspension to run out.

Selig said of more than 2,400 tests this year, Ramirez has been the only positive.

But Selig also seemed to caution Hall of Fame voters against weighing PED use too strongly in casting their votes. He used the cocaine scandal of the 1980s as a point of comparison.

"Here we have all that trauma in the '80s, of the worst kind," Selig said. "Illegal, immoral, unethical. Where was the outrage?

"So you've got to go back in baseball history and make your own judgments. It's impossible for someone else to do that. ... But understand the history of life is not, 'Well, this guy didn't do that.' How do you know?"

Selig said he is proud that, despite the economy, attendance is down only about 5 percent. He called it "maybe in a sense our greatest season," saying total attendance so far is 400,000 shy of his goal of 40 million.

While baseball uses the economy to explain why free-agent contracts were mostly lower last winter, the union is investigating whether to file collusion charges. But Selig was dismissive of such claims.

"They're entitled to their opinion," Selig said. "Given the world we live in and what's happened in the last 18 months, I think this is one sport where I cant even fathom that anyone would think that. Player compensation hasn't gone down.

"Some of us -- let me be as blunt as I can be -- have to live in the real world. Not in some make-believe little scenario that doesn't exist."

Selig also said:

o. Rose's request to be reinstated (and thus eligible for the Hall of Fame) is "under review. I do spend some time discussing it, but it's not appropriate for me to say more."

o. He doesn't mind quirky new ballparks such as the Mets' Citi Field: "I think it's great. I don't want to go back to where we were in the '60s in the '70s. I used to joke if you had too much to drink the night before and you woke up it would take you a half an hour to figure out if you were in Philadelphia, Cincinnati or Pittsburgh. They all looked the same, felt the same and were all lousy."

o. That the Cubs' possible bankruptcy filing "is only to clear the club, and then they can move forward" with a sale, and the loan of cash to the Rangers "is not the first time in our history we've done that and probably not the last."

o. That age and name falsification among players from Latin America needs to be addressed, saying, "We've got a lot of work to do in the Dominican Republic. And we are doing it. That's one of the areas we need to get a much better handle on."

o. And that the Pirates and Nationals are, to him, going in the right direction. Selig said "Frank [Coonelly, the Pirates team president] and Neal [Huntington, the GM] and Bob [Nutting, the chairman] are on the tight track, I really do [believe that]." And even though Washington now has an interim GM and an interim manager, Selig said, "They understand what they need to do. They're in the process of doing it."

MLB All-Star Game Photos

Reuters

Getty Images

Reuters

American League's Michael Young of the Texas Rangers singles during the fourth inning of the MLB All-Star baseball game in St. Louis, Tuesday, July 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

American League's Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners swings on a pitch during the fifth inning of the MLB All-Star baseball game in St. Louis, Tuesday, July 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

Selig Discusses Manny, Economy, Hall of Fame and More in Luncheon originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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