Holy Shit! Dee Gordon Busted for PEDs

Marlins 2B Dee Gordon suspended 80 games without pay after testing positive for performance-enhancing substances, effective immediately.

— MLB (@MLB) April 29, 2016

Hey, Does This Melk Smell Funny to You?

Just announced by #MLB: #SFGiants' Melky Cabrera suspended 50 games without pay after testing positive for testosterone.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 15, 2012

Cabrera suspension effective immediately. Out for rest of season. #SFGiants.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 15, 2012

Cabrera takes responsibility in statement. "My positive test was the result of my use of a substance that I should not have used." #SFGiants

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 15, 2012

UPDATE 12:46p (Sax): Here's the ESPN article. Yep, there's your San Francisco Giants, up to the same steroid-loaded tricks in left field again.

BREAKING NEWS: Jose Bautista is Juicing

I have been traveling alot and was up in Vancouver Canada and walked by this at a bus stop. FIrst Braun, now Bautista? Boy are they blatant about their baseball stars taking supplements.

Dykstra: "I Was Steroids Pioneer"

On top of being a car wash pioneer. And a bankruptcy pioneer.

A new book about Lenny Dykstra's financial history reportedly includes the former Mets center fielder's first admission that he used steroids while in the major leagues.

"I was like a pioneer for that stuff ... The juice. I was like the very first to do that. Me and [Jose] Canseco," Dykstra says in the book "The Zeroes: My Misadventures in the Decade Wall Street Went Insane," written by Randall Lane.

Philly.com reports Dykstra, who won a World Series with the Mets in 1986, started using performance enhancers during his time with the Phillies. He confessed to Lane while watching Roger Clemens' testimony to Congress in 2008.

"At first it wasn't even illegal. Then, after a few years, I had to go to a doctor, and get a prescription," Dykstra says in a book excerpt. "You know how I got my stuff? Just walking into a pharmacy, bro. It was as simple as that."After helping the Phillies to the 1993 World Series, where they lost to the Blue Jays, Dykstra signed a four-year, $24.9 million contract extension, the Philly.com report says. He did not play another full season after that.

Dykstra, now under scrutiny for a stock picking scandal, told Lane, "So I needed to do anything I could to protect my job, take care of my family. Do you have any idea how much money was at stake? Do you?" Lane concludes: "What Lenny Dykstra really did, by his own admission, was steal $25 million. He had duped the Phillies into that contract based on a completely manufactured performance. But he didn’t view it that way."

I think in the year 2010, there are few things more shocking than a player admitting he took steroids. A publishing pioneer he ain't. Way to be ahead of the curve, Nails.

OMG

McGwire admits steroid use (SI.com)

UPDATE 3:30p (Sax): The World Is Not Flat

UPDATE 5p (Orel): She is hot.

UPDATE 6.15p (Sax): Water is wet.

UPDATE 11:20p (Orel): The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow is roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles an hour.

Diagnosis: Outrage Fatigue

Photographic evidence indicates there's been more Torre love than Manny hate at Citi Field so far — and the same guy holding up all the signs.

Early media coverage of fan reaction to Manny Ramirez's return focused on the cheering of Dodger fans. Was it their forgiving nature of all things Dodger Blue — even in light of the delicious ironing of rooting for a Barry Bonds-like figure — or was Manny not as polarizing as some had hoped?

Early returns in San Diego were inconclusive, as Dodger faithful braved the slog down Interstate 5 to make their presence felt at PETCO Park. (That effort, by the way, should be applauded — as annoying as it is to constantly suffer the mass presence of opposing fans at Dodger Stadium, turnabout is fair play.)

New York was supposed to be the real test. Joe Torre himself implied as much, and the mainstream media breathlessly awaited the flinging of the ceremonial first syringe. Certainly the birthplace of baseball bile wouldn't disappoint.

Except, it did. From the LA Times:

The Dodgers' left fielder sparked some boos Tuesday night during an abbreviated appearance, but he mostly generated indifference from a Citi Field crowd that displayed something resembling SoCal cool.

The heckling was especially mild among those seated behind Ramirez in left field during the 4 1/2 innings he played before being ejected for scattering his bat, helmet and arm guard on the field after a called third strike.

Even by accounts of the New York press, the booing seemed token. Which makes us wonder: Where is the hate?

The answer is simple: It's evaporated. We're just tired of it all. What once was scandalous is now routine. Manny, A-Rod, Clemens, Tejada, Giambi, Sheffield, Bonds, McGwire, Sosa....Simply taking in a game without worrying about who did what PEDs has become a challenge for the modern-day fan.

So we offer apologies to the morally outraged members of the mainstream media. We're sorry most of us don't have the energy to act freshly fed up with each new revelation of PED use. It's just that we're too busy trying to enjoy the game of baseball.

photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

You Can, However, Chase Drug Suppliers

Manny Ramirez's last game with the Albuquerque Isotopes was under a cloud, both literally (it was wet) and figuratively (as the Drug Enforcement Agency, with the cooperation of MLB, is chasing the doctors who prescribed Manny PEDs). Indeed, Pedro Bosch is under quite a lens:

As Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez nears the end of his 50-game suspension, Drug Enforcement Administration investigators are looking at a Miami doctor and his son as the source of his banned performance-enhancing drug, sources familiar with the investigation told ESPN.

Major League Baseball officials, when contacted, confirmed the existence of the federal investigation.

"We're aware of the investigation and our department of investigations is cooperating with the DEA," MLB president Bob DuPuy said Thursday afternoon. He declined to answer any other questions.

Investigators believe the prescription for human chorionic gonadotropin, known as hCG, was written by Pedro Publio Bosch, 71, a physician who has practiced family medicine in Florida since 1976. His son, Anthony Bosch, 45, is believed to have worked as a contact between his father and Ramirez. It's unclear how far along the DEA is in its inquiry but sources indicated that investigators want to know whether either man ever procured improper or illegal prescriptions for other people. DEA officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Pedro Bosch practices in a medical building located across the street from Coral Gables Hospital in Coral Gables, southwest of Miami.

Bosch, through his attorney, declined to comment. Anthony Bosch could not be reached for comment.

And who else declined to comment? Manny, who preferred not to answer reporters surrounding the Albuquerque game:

The Los Angeles Dodgers slugger made himself scarce in the clubhouse and didn't talk to reporters as he came out for warmups for his final game with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes on Thursday night.

Later, with the start of the contest delayed by rain, Ramirez wore street clothes when he walked through a back door of the clubhouse, stepped into a sedan with an associate, Rico Perdomo, and a Dodgers' security official and drove away.

Asked if he would stop for an interview, Ramirez replied: "No, thank you, sir."

Heavy rains hit the ballpark, and the Dodgers made the decision not to suit up Ramirez due to weather and field conditions. The game against Nashville began almost an hour after the scheduled 7:05 start.

I'm sure this cloud will follow him to his next minor league rehab stint. Get ready.

Proof That Steroids Don't Enhance JACK!

Steroids Creep into the Picture

From ESPN.com:

[...] two sources told ESPN's T.J. Quinn and Mark Fainaru-Wada that the drug used by Ramirez is HCG -- human chorionic gonadotropin. HCG is a women's fertility drug typically used by steroid users to restart their body's natural testosterone production as they come off a steroid cycle. It is similar to Clomid, the drug Bonds, Giambi and others used as clients of BALCO. [...]

A source with intimate knowledge of steroids told ESPN that a male athlete usually uses HCG after a cycle of steroids because steroids often shut down the testosterone-making ability of the testicles. HCG restores their capacity to make testosterone. The source said that some males may use HCG in lieu of steroids also. HCG by itself can provide a substantial boost in the body's own testosterone, and this may provide some performance-enhancement benefits.

And from an updated story at Yahoo! Sports:

Two sources said Ramirez tested positive for a gonadotropin. Major League baseball's list of banned substances includes the gonadotropins LH and HCG, which are most commonly used by women as fertility drugs. They also can be used to trigger testosterone production. Testosterone is depleted by steroid use, which can cause sexual dysfunction.

"Testosterone and similar drugs are effective for erectile dysfunction in that they jazz up your sex drive, said Charles Yesalis, a professor at Penn State who has testified before Congress on issues of performance-enhancing drugs. "But far more clinicians accept that affect with Viagra and Cialis. It's hard for me to understand if it was erectile dysfunction why they would use it."

Blameless Bud Washes Hands Yet Again

Bud Selig at the 2002 All-Star Game.

From "Commish doesn't want steroids blame" at ESPN.com:

In the volatile wake of Alex Rodriguez's admission that he used performance-enhancing substances earlier this decade, Bud Selig remains bothered by the suggestion that he is to blame for Major League Baseball's steroids era.

"I don't want to hear the commissioner turned a blind eye to this or he didn't care about it," Selig told Newsday in a Monday phone interview. "That annoys the you-know-what out of me. You bet I'm sensitive to the criticism.

"The reason I'm so frustrated is, if you look at our whole body of work, I think we've come farther than anyone ever dreamed possible," he said, adding, "I honestly don't know how anyone could have done more than we've already done." [...]

"I'm not sure I would have done anything differently" at that point in time, Selig told Newsday. "A lot of people say we should have done this or that, and I understand that. They ask me, 'How could you not know?' and I guess in the retrospect of history, that's not an unfair question. But we learned and we've done something about it. When I look back at where we were in '98 and where we are today, I'm proud of the progress we've made."

First we had Shoeless Joe, now we have Blameless Bud. Selig's stewardship of Major League Baseball has kept team owners happy; Selig made $17.5 million in 2007 and won't be retiring before 2013 (wouldn't you hang on to that salary?). And despite Alex Rodriguez's steroids bombshell tainting the 2009 season before it's even begun, burgeoning attendance figures support Selig's claims of progress.

Which makes Selig's Nixonian denial of his role in the steroid era all the more disappointing. Admitting culpability during a time when the entire nation was out of its gourd for McGwire & Sosa would not invalidate MLB's advancements since then. In fact, with sports heroes like A-Rod and Michael Phelps going down like dominoes, the American public has learned not to expect perfection, just perfect contrition. And Selig's complete lack of contrition suggests he wouldn't risk a single dollar on the chance that taking responsibility would tarnish his legacy.

And that annoys the you-know-what out of us.

AP photo

The Difference Between MLB and the NFL Right Now

From ESPN.com's top headlines:

MLB Network... or the STEROID CHANNEL?

Over the weekend, my DVR decided to spend some time with the new MLB Network. Unlike other sport specialty channels, I have this one without giving those DirectTV schnuras more of my money. I was looking forward to watching the Joe Torre interview, and some classic strikeout heavy games. But instead, I got WALL-TO-WALL STEROIDS (and one mullet, courtesy of Old School Randy Johnson).

I'm no stranger to steroids. (For our astute readers, my first post for SoSG tackled this subject head on) In fact, last fall I had to take some ROIDS for an ear infection - it made me moody, irrational, and capable of hitting a softball past the infield!

So, I tried DVR'ing the Joe Torre interview with Bob Costas three times. All three times, it was the same special report on the Rod and the Roids. (And the schedule gaffes didn't end there: almost every classic strikeout game in the listings wound up being a different game). I missed Steroid-suspect Clemens's 20 strikeout game, and instead caught a classic A's vs. Mariners battle from the mid-90s. It was like the Who's Who of Drugs, featuring McGwire (who LITERALLY hit one ball to the moon), A-Rod, Canseco, and Jason Giambi. See lineup below.

Hopefully some day, the game is steroid free. But in the interim, I wouldn't mind a little baseball on the baseball network. (Editor's Note: As I'm writing this, Brian McNamee is about to appear on Howard Stern. No escape)

That's Some Fine Handiwork There

photo from the Baseball Hall of Fame

Eric Gagne Not Entirely Forgotten

Earlier we linked to a Lion in Oil story about how former Dodgers mentioned in the Mitchell Report were conspicuously absent in a research survey of Dodger fans. But now you can vote for your favorite closer at Dodgers.com, choosing from Jim Brewer, Mike Marshall, Ron Perranoski, Jeff Shaw, Todd Worrell and yes, Eric Gagne:

Eric Gagne began his Dodger career as a starting pitcher with mixed results. He would normally breeze through the batting order the first time around and then the opposing team would tee off on him the second time around. A demotion to the minors in 2001 laid in question what would become of the young right-hander in 2002? With the advice of Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax, the Dodgers tried Gagne out as a closer and a superstar was born. Gagne would go on to have three of the most dominating seasons a relief pitcher would ever have, saving 52, 55 and 45 games for the Dodger from 2002-04. Gagne would win the 2003 National League Cy Young award with the perfect season of 55 saves in 55 chances, make three straight All-Star appearances and help the Dodgers win the 2004 National League West title. Injuries would limit his appearances in 2005 and 2006. Gagne would leave as a free agent the following year.

I guess a poll at the official website of the Dodgers isn't the first place to look for a balanced history of players like Gagne, but pretending they don't exist is a good start.

These Aren't the 'Roiders You're Looking For

From "The Dodgers Would Like To Forget Their Former Steroid Users" from Lion in Oil:

You may not know Frank Luntz, but he's a researcher who tests messages, marketing and polling on what words would work best in order to sell policies or people. He's long worked for the GOP, helping to, among other things, turn "Global Warming" into "Climate Change," allowing the party to soften the debate and seriousness of the issue. And now his firm is working for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

That the Dodgers have hired Luntz and his firm is interesting, but that's not really the story. Because I purchased a mini-plan last year from the team I was asked to participate in their survey. And since I love the team, I didn't mind spending the estimated nine minutes answering their questions.

There was one question that stood out, and it's shown above. "And who of the following is your favorite Dodger of all time," it asked. You can see my first two answers above, but as I looked around for my third choice I noticed two notable absences. Just where were two of the most popular Dodgers in recent memory, Eric Gagne and Paul Lo Duca? Oh, that's right. Those two just happened to be prominently named in the Mitchell Report.

Barry Bonds Indicted for Perjury

Barry Bonds indicted on perjury, obstruction charges (AP/ESPN.com)

Read the indictment! (.pdf)

I Wonder If Juan Pierre Is Named in the Mitchell Report

Report: 11 players named in Mitchell's steroids probe (ESPN.com)

Pitchers! Catchers! Federal Investigators!

From "Mitchell's steroid probe will try luck at spring training" at CBSSportsLine.com:

NEW YORK -- Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell is sending his investigators to spring training as part of his investigation into steroids use in baseball.

Mitchell told baseball owners last month that his work has gone more slowly than expected and threatened to seek congressional help if he doesn't get better cooperation in his probe, which started nearly a year ago.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said some teams had been more cooperative than others.

"I can confirm that members of my investigative staff have been, and will be, conducting interviews during spring training of various individuals who are involved in baseball," Mitchell said in a statement Wednesday. "Our interviews are being conducted in both Arizona and Florida."

I'd make a bad federal investigator. "Have you taken steroids? No? Can I take a few swings in the batting cage?"

And You Thought Baseball Had a Weak Steroids Policy

From "Sources: Positive 'roids test to result in Pro Bowl ban" at ESPN.com:

Players who fail the NFL's substance abuse policy next season likely will be banned from playing in the 2008 Pro Bowl.

Sources tell ESPN's Chris Mortensen that commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw have agreed to ban any player who tests positive for performance-enhancing drugs from playing in the Pro Bowl that same season. The policy would take effect beginning with the 2007 regular season.

Upshaw met Monday in Miami with player reps, who supported the ban, union and league sources told Mortensen. One more discussion is planned at the winter scouting combine in late February, with a formal announcement no later than March, Mortensen reported.

A ban also would have financial implications for some players, because some have Pro Bowl bonuses and base-pay escalators tied to the Pro Bowl that would be negatively affected.

Oh no! No free trip to Hawaii and minor financial implications! Put that syringe away!

Super timing on the release of this information, too. Expect more "football gets a free pass" arguments from the baseball crowd.

Lakers Trainer: Steroids Would Not Enhance Performance of NBA Players

From Franz Lidz's interview with Lakers athletic trainer Gary Vitti at SI.com:

SI.com: Baseball has outlawed steroids and amphetamines. Would either of those drugs enhance a player's performance in the NBA?

Vitti: Not at all. The biggest high I see is from caffeine. Some supplements are loaded with it. Caffeine gives a player a heightened feeling of what's going on around him. But if you take enough of it, there's a downside. Caffeine can be a laxative, so you're running to the bathroom, and it's diuretic, so it can dehydrate you. It can also make you very irritable. Some research suggests that caffeine enhances the metabolism of free fatty acids. But I don't see it as a supplement that would enhance performance.

"Not at all"? Having the benefits of steroid use—namely, being bigger, stronger and faster—would not make NBA players better?

Maybe Vitti was focusing on the "amphetamines" portion of the question. Or was he deliberately ignoring the "steroids" part? Vitti goes on to cite "protein and carbohydrate supplements" as substances that would help NBA players the most.

Currently the NBA's biggest substance problem would seem to be marijuana. It will be interesting to see if anyone bothers investigating whether basketball players take steroids.