A-Rod Admits Steroid Use

"I was young, I was stupid, I was naive, and I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth . . . being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance and for that I am very sorry and deeply regretful."
- New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez admitting to using steroids during an interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons

The Yankees superstar admitted during an interview that he used performance-enhancing substances from 2001-03 while playing for the Texas Rangers. Rodriguez hit 159 home runs during those three seasons with the Rangers -- including 57 in 2002 -- and he was named the American League Most Valuable Player in 2003. He was traded to the Yankees following that season. In 2003, even though steroids were illegal, there were no penalties in Major League Baseball for a positive result.

Those were the first three seasons of Rodriguez's then-record 10-year, $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers. Rodriguez won his first AL MVP award in '03, his last year with the Rangers, before being traded to the Yankees prior to the start of the 2004 season.

On Saturday, the news broke that Rodriguez had tested positive for testosterone and Primobolan, an injected or orally administered drug.

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Steroids have been banned in baseball since 1991, but there was no testing for it until 2003, when survey testing was done to determine if the game needed to adopt a permanent testing policy. Rodriguez's name was on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. There were no penalties for players who tested positive and the names of those players were supposed to remain anonymous, but federal agents, using search warrants, seized those test results from one of the two labs MLB had used in connection with the '03 testing as part of the government's BALCO investigation.

plez sez: my, my, my. are there more asterisks in order? is everyone from the "steroids era" going to be banned from cooperstown (i.e. bonds, mcguire, clemens, rodriguez, etc.)?

i'm still trying to wrap my head around the HARD-ON the sports media has had for Barry Bonds, when it was obvious that this was such a widespread problem and so many "superstars" were juiced up during this time. major league baseball was wrong for not policing its own policies, i can't fault bonds for trying to compete on a level playing field.

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the Boston Globe article about A-Rod's steroid use.

Read the ESPN.com article about Gammons interview with A-Rod.

Read the SI.com article about Rodriguez being on the juice while with Rangers.

Read the AJC.com article about thoughts on A-Rod after his admission of steroid use.

Read the December 2007 plezWorld article about steroids in Major League Baseball.

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MLB: The Steroids Era

Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Andy Pettitte, Lenny Dykstra, Mo Vaughn, Jason Giambi, and 70 other Major League Baseball players were named in the Senator George Mitchell Report on the use of steroids by baseball players over the past decade. Based on information from the BALCO investigation, and trainers for the New York Mets and New York Yankees, the Mitchell Report was able to assemble a list of names and events that tie these players to the use of performance enhancing drugs (steroids and HGH) during their time in the big leagues.

Surprisingly, Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa are NOT named in the report!

Read ESPN's slant on the Mitchell Report here.

Read/download the entire 409 page Mitchell Report here.


plez sez: i gotta problem... i don't like the publishing of names in this report! and i'm gonna tell you why...

prior to the 2002 season, players were not tested nor penalized for the use of these performance enhancing drugs (other sports were, but not major league baseball). by their mere acquiescence, team owners gave tacit approval for steroid use as long as the baseballs were flying out of the ballparks and fannies were in the seats. these drugs were a BOON to a sport that had been waning in popularity in the early-90's.

this investigation (by senator mitchell) was kicked off to nail barry bonds... the implication of the other players is an unintended consequence.

if you played major league baseball in any market other than san francisco or new york (mets & yankees), you got away scott-free (ten former atlanta braves were in the report, but they were implicated for the time that they spent with the mets or the yankees)! the report acknowledges the widespread use of these drugs in baseball, yet the investigation was unable to identify any players who did not willingly testify outside of these two cities.

senator mitchell asks that no one named be punished by mlb... even though, only50% of those named are no longer playing! and the few who are still playing obviously represent such a small part of the problem, it would be tantamount to selective prosecution.

most of the evidence that was used to name these guys was circumstantial evidence... basically on the word of two trainers (Radomski & McNamee) who were forced to give up names to save their butts from federal charges! no one's name should have been divulged without a positive drug test.

the investigation had ZERO subpoena power and NO ONE was required to speak with them... so in a sport where it is estimated that almost 10% of the players were users, the ones who would know best about steroid/hgh use were not "encouraged" to testify before the mitchell commission... hmmmmm!

and what of the players who were wrongly accused and named in this report? the evidence against most is shaky at best... you cannot unring the bell. i heard David Justice on an Atlanta sports radio show a few hours ago claiming his innocence, he said that he doesn't even know radomski! he said that there are no checks or credit card receipts for him! david justice could be lying... but then again, without corroborating evidence, those two snitches could be lying, as well.

the mitchell report could have reported on the suspected widespread use of steroids/hgh, it could have offered a remedy to the problem, and it could have suggested punishment for offenders... but it should not have breached the confidentiality of the players by divulging their names without benefit of solid evidence of their drug use.

this whole steroids era foolishness was a media-driven event: the fans don't care, most of the players played with other players who they knew were on "the juice", and the owners benefited from the increased revenues that pumped up stars like bonds, clemens, mcguire, and sosa provided. by swinging his bat, barry bonds basically built that ballpark in san francisco!

real talk: the hall of fame voters and the pencil-necked geek reporters who turned a blind eye to steroids use until barry bonds broke mark mcguire's homerun record whipped up a frenzy and this story... and they would not let it go until the commissioner had to act. by propping up an old fogey u.s. senator to lead the "investigation," you can see from the results that this was a glorified witch hunt and all those names falling into his lap was an accident.

plezWorld would be more comfortable with the report's findings if even a quarter of the teams were more thoroughly investigated, rather than relying on the word of two new york snitches for the bulk of the report. shame on bud selig and shame on major league baseball for being part of this sham. AND now what're the hall of fame voters gonna do... keep roger clemens out or send him to cooperstown with an asterisk by his name, too?!?

Barry Bonds Indicted

BARRY! BARRY! BARRY!

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Barry Bonds, seven-time National League MVP and baseball's home run king with 762 homers, was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice Thursday and could go to prison for telling a federal grand jury he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs. The indictment, culminating a four-year investigation into steroid use by elite athletes, charged Bonds with four counts of perjury and one of obstruction of justice. If convicted, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Read the entire article here.


plez sez: the feds have obviously been sitting on this for at least a year or two... so why an indictment? why now? and what the heck have these federal investigators been doing for the past 4 years? is ruining Barry Bonds that high on the federal prosecutor's list?

i understand that Barry Bonds is probably the least liked athlete of our generation (OJ Simpson is from an earlier generation), but to come out with a federal indictment against just him when ALL of baseball was tainted by steroids is ridiculous. how was this ONE GUY pulled from the pack and held up to prosecutorial scrutiny after a 4 year investigation? is it because he is surly? is it because he is uppity? well, nobody likes an uppity negro! is it because he's not afraid to tell a sports writer to "f*ck off"?

raphael palmero flunked a drug test mere months after LYING before congress... where's his federal indictment? mark maguire wouldn't answer any questions about his steroid use before congress... where's his indictment? there were at least two baseball players who were caught purchasing a years worth of HGH this season (one was a pitcher in the American League playoffs)... where are their indictments?

and you know where i'm going with this... Barry Bonds in Black. everyone else i've named is white. i'll be honest, this is scary, because it is becoming more and more detrimental to your freedom and livelihood to be a Black man in this country. the disparity in news coverage, the heavy handed sentences, the lack of plea agreements, the blatant and obscene racial overtones that pervades every conversation on the topic... gives plezWorld a reason to pause!

i'd like to think that Bonds didn't take steroids, but he would've had to have been an idiot to turn down the opportunity to take something that would improve his game, yet was NOT BANNED by MLB! and does anyone reading this blog think that if Barry Bonds had admitted to steroid use, like jason giambi, that he would've gotten a pat on the back and no suspension?!? his ass would be rotting in jail RIGHT NOW (if you recall, jason giambi was given a pat on the back and continued to play the rest of the season)!

at this point, i can only wish the best for Bonds and his family. federal indictments aren't anything to play with and after 4 years, i'm sure they've scraped up enough evidence to prove perjury. i just hope he doesn't get too much time in prison, because this whole fiasco stinks to high heavens... and the need to go after one person for so long for something so benign just escapes me.

756 - Guest Blog

It is rare that I read a blog post that is so poignant and heartfelt, that I feel compelled to share it with the readers of plezWorld. My buddy Dave, over at SullsBlog, has written such an entry. Without further ado and without additional commentary, I present my guest blogger.


April 8, 1974. I was a skinny, energetic nine year old who was counting the days until his first game playing organized baseball in the Hyde Park little league. Baseball had recently replaced hockey as my favorite sport. We were having dinner at my Aunt Carol's triple decker apartment just off of Washington Street in Roslindale. As usual in those days (and these days as well) I was engrossed with anything concerning baseball and someone breaking the all time home run record was a huge deal. After scarfing down dinner I made my way into the parlor and sat on the couch to hopefully witness history. I didn't know until I was older that this event was bigger than one great ballplayer eclipsing another. I wasn't aware that Mr. Aaron endured death threats, feared for his families safety and was a physical and mental wreck due to his pursuit of the "Babe". This was about baseball, pure and simple.

I am now 42 and baseball is not just about baseball. The innocence that the game once held is gone. Baseball, since its beginning has been played by men. Men drink, gamble, carouse and swear. Until the past thirty years it was a game played by average men, of average size, coming from middle or lower class households. Most players had to have a job in the off season just to make ends meet. Being a ballplayer was a hard life. Every boy thought he could be a ballplayer someday because there was no class distinction and when the color barrier was broken as long as you were the best of the best you would have a place in the game regardless of where you came from.

Reporters understood that it was career suicide to tear down the "working class hero" facade that enveloped the game. You couldn't read in the paper about the Babe's drinking binges or any players private indiscretions. Men were men and it was accepted that when you get 25 men traveling the country for eight months "stuff" was going to happen. No one cared about the integrity of the men off the field it was the integrity on the field that counted.

Enter 2007.

Who would have thought thirty years ago that you go to a ballpark and pay $85 to see 18 millionaires run around and play a game that may not be legitimate. Use of HGH, steroids, greenies have grown with the outrageous salaries. Why do the players get outrageous salaries? Because the owners make outrageous profits. Why do the owners make outrageous profits? Because the fans dole out the money. Why do fans dole out the money? Because they love to see home runs. How do they see more home runs? By the players taking more HGH, Steroids and amphetamines.

[insert: picture of young Barry Bonds] [insert: recent picture of Barry Bonds]

It no longer matters if what players do on the field is legitimate. We hear about players stints in rehab, domestic problems, Vegas trips and stops at stripper bars, but no one cared until Barry Bonds got close to the home run record that many baseball players no longer look like humans, but cartoon characters. No one cared that McGwire, Sosa and Bonds went from svelte, athletic rookies to pumped up, acne covered side show freaks.

Hypocrites.

[insert: picture of young Sammy Sosa] [insert: recent picture of Sammy Sosa]

[insert: picture of young Mark McGwire] [insert: picture of St. Louis Cardinals Mark McGwire]

Mr. Bonds has accomplished an incredible feat for the ages. The perseverance, longevity and skill that it takes to hit 756 home runs is beyond comprehension. The only one in my mind between the 755 that Mr. Aaron hit and the 756 that Mr. Bonds hit is the adversity each man endured on his journey. Mr Aaron feared for his life in the year preceding his pursuit of the Babe due to something he couldn't control, the color of his skin. Mr. Bonds has endured tremendous adversity, but all of it self imposed. If he never was implicated in the BALCO affair and he was able to accomplish this feat without the use of performance enhancing drugs, then today there would be nothing but accolades coming his way.

I still remember the black and white images of Aaron running briskly around the bases after belting 715. The only thing different visually from that home run than any other of that time was the two fans that ran the bases next to him and the flashing "715" they showed on the scoreboard. He did his job and humbly went to his dugout.

The irony is when Bonds hit his historic bomb he stood at home plate for a few seconds to savor his accomplishment then raised his arms triumphantly. A little humility would have helped to endear him to his critics.

I hope that by the time A-Rod breaks the record circa 2015 that we worry more about the integrity of the game on the field than the players lives off the field.

756 - Barry Bonds - Home Run King

Complete At-Bat for 756

plez sez: love him! or hate him! BARRY BONDS (San Francisco Giants) is now the Home Run King (the most hallowed record in all of sports) after taking a 3-2 pitch from MIKE BACSIK (Washington Nationals) to the right-center field stands (435 feet) for his 756th home run in over 23 years in the Major Leagues.

there is no taint on this record. there are no asterisks. there is no doubt. we have lived to witness the greatest baseball player of our lives.

Hank Aaron Congratulates Barry Bonds

one more time:
BARRY! BARRY! BARRY!

a brief aside: to those who like to blabber on about alleged steroid use: bonds was a certified hall of famer prior to the supposed "steroids era" and he has continued greatness to this day. and if you must bring that ugly issue up, remember, it was the "steroid era"... bonds was undoubtedly facing untold numbers of pitchers who were taking steroids... and he was still going YARD on them! give this steroids nonsense a break and stop drinking the Steroids Haterade!

all pictures courtesy of ESPN.com

Braves Minor League Manager Loses It!

Mississippi Braves manager, Phillip Wellman got ejected from the game played on Friday, June 1... and then he loses it (with Al Green providing backup music).



plez sez: the video says it all!

but you gotta love the two stolen bases and the hand grenade crawl and toss! LMAO!