Diamondbacks Grimsley in Steroid DooDoo

[Jigga]

It started with mere speculation. Remember that? It's not like the evidence wasn't there in the beginning. It took 6 freaking years to get the book on Bonds.

In 6 years, I bet we're going to be looking at A LOT of players MUCH differently than we do today.

[jkrdevil]

It's pretty much fact that Albert and Grimsley share the same trainer, but that doesn't mean a whole lot by itself.

It doesn't even sound like the trainer is a supplier, just a referrer. Albert still would have had to make the choice to do this.

Didn't mean when it came to Barry Bonds, did it?

We'll just have to see, but I'm not putting too much stock in this yet. It's a loose connection as it is, and there'd need to be A LOT more evidence to come close to proving something against Albert.

Didn't mean when it came to Barry Bonds, did it?

For what it's worth, Albert has reportedly been tested three times this year and has been clean everytime.

Didn't mean when it came to Barry Bonds, did it?

Uh, Barry Bonds has 459x the amount of evidence against him that Albert has. Period.

Albert's had his name linked to a guy who might now be linked to peformance enhancers. Oh, and Albert's an incredible ballplayer.

That's the extent of the evidence against Albert.

Barry's been linked to people who have been indited for distribution, grew enourmously over a short span, and increased his stats by a ton at a time when one would expect them to trail off.

That's just the simple, basic circumstantial evidence against Barry and it's far more damning than what Albert has. Factor in the enormous amount of more specific evidence that has come out against Barry (including his own confession--even if he said it was unknowingly), and this isn't even close to a legitimate comparision.

But the things with Pujols is just starting if the report turns out to be true. At the beginning with Bonds it was the same as it is now with the beginning with Pujols.

[Fred T. Jane]

Didn't mean  when it came to Barry Bonds, did it?

Well stated.

As usual, Jason Whitlock's brilliance is applicable in this instance.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...ht&lid=tab1pos3

Finally, Let's use some Common Sense

By Jason Whitlock

Special to Page 2

Maybe now we can discuss steroids and performance-enhancing drugs intelligently, rationally and without demonizing the users in the sports world. Maybe Jason Grimsley, a mediocre, journeyman major league pitcher, can do what Jose Canseco and Ken Caminiti, two former All-Stars and MVPs, couldn't do.

Maybe Grimsley can force American sportswriters and broadcasters to open their eyes and realize that performance-enhancing drugs are far, far bigger than Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth's legacy and Hank Aaron's record.

For decades, the American press has taken great delight in vilifying "steroids" because we didn't respect the accomplishments of East German sprinters, Chinese swimmers, Canadian sprinters or defiant home-run hitters from the Bay Area.

(When I use "steroids" in this column I mean any banned performance-enhancing drug.)

While professional football, America's favorite pastime, was allowed to put together its smoke-screen drug-testing policy without much hysteria, and Lance Armstrong is celebrated as a cancer survivor and true American hero despite rampant overseas allegations of doping, the American press has been dogged in its demonizing of foreigners and Bonds.

Maybe that will all change now. Maybe we can move beyond restricting the conversation to bludgeoning Bonds under the guise of protecting Aaron and the integrity of the game.

The Grim(sley) Report -- the IRS investigation into Grimsley that has produced more allegations of "steroid" use in baseball -- might just blow this thing wide open and make the Bonds haters reluctantly acknowledge that their pursuit of Bonds is an injustice to the real issue.

In a society that pops a pill for every conceivable malady, in a society that rewards athletes with hundreds of millions of dollars, in a society that values money over all else, we must recognize that performance-enhancing drugs are rampant and widespread in all professional sports, and we're not going to get rid of them by vilifying the users.

We've tried that in sports and in our other high-profile, punish-the-poor-and-slap-the-wealthy-on-the-wrist war on drugs.

Ben Johnson lost his gold medal. We ridiculed East German sprinters and Chinese swimmers. Nancy Reagan said "just say no" while politicians locked up black folk and won voting support.

Just because the feds still insist on waging a drug war against disposable and villainized users doesn't mean we have to cooperate. We might have painted Bonds as the most notorious American criminal since John Gotti, but doesn't pressuring Grimsley to wear a wire seem a bit much to catch a user? We're not talking about a dealer, a Nino Brown. We're talking about using a wire to bring down a high-profile Pookie. Come on, even Bonds' critics must admit this witch hunt has nothing to do with cleaning up baseball. It's about creating headlines, securing promotions and advancing political careers one Willie Horton at a time.

It will not stop athletes from using performance enhancers. The feds know it and so do you. Putting a black face on an American epidemic is the oldest trick in the book. It might help the simpleminded sleep at night, but it's not going to stop that directionless teenager in suburbia or the inner city from doing whatever he thinks is necessary to compete at the highest level.

Our athletes, in pursuit of money, glory and peace of mind, inject, swallow and rub whatever they can to improve their performance, overcome pain and recover from injuries. Can we really blame them?

I don't have the answer to that question primarily because we've never had a serious, intelligent debate about "steroids" in this country. We sportswriters take great pleasure in rattling off clichés:

"You're shaving 20 years off your life."

"Your balls will shrink."

Many people still think athletes use performance-enhancing drugs only to build muscle or hit more home runs. We've allowed the Bonds hysteria about "the most hallowed record in sports" -- and might I add that 714 was the most hollow, segregated statistic in sports -- to define "steroid" use as strictly a hitter's issue.

It's funny how all of these marginal pitchers are the ones who keep getting caught ridin' dirty. And you thought it was only Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone.

Yes, I know, all you've heard about is Bonds, McGwire, Giambi, Palmeiro, Sheffield and Sosa. But baseball's testing policy -- which has nothing to do with leaked testimony from the BALCO investigation -- has been just as likely to bust a pitcher as a position player.

Athletes use these drugs for a variety of reasons, and we must understand as many of these motivations as possible if we ever hope to make sense of this mess.

HGH, which Grimsley allegedly cops to using on a regular basis, helps the body recover from injury. According to Dr. Ronald Klatz, the author of the popular book "Grow Young with HGH," human growth hormone is the key to reversing aging, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, improving sexual performance, etc. It's the wonder drug, and it is preferred by the super wealthy and by athletes. If used properly, according to Klatz and other doctors, HGH can benefit athletes (and others) rather than harm.

Yes, some athletes use performance-enhancing drugs to build muscle in hopes of improving their performance. Some use them to repair damaged muscles. Remember when a torn knee ligament meant a year of rehab? Now athletes recover in two or three months. Why? And, more important, why shouldn't they? They have a limited amount of time to earn money and increase their value in professional sports.

Some athletes use "steroids" to ease pain so they can play daily or weekly. Some use amphetamines -- a performance-enhancer we've failed to demonize because angry black guys from the Bay Area don't use them to hit home runs -- to get an extra jolt of energy.

It's a ridiculous, stupid, naive myth that "steroids" are not a big part of the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB and any other league that pays men and women to play games. You think a middle-aged golfer with back problems wouldn't grow young with HGH in order to keep his tour card?

Pro athletes used to routinely retire with very little money, lots of pain and a boatload of medical problems. We loved it when they played for the love of the game. Never mind that their love often ruined the second half of their lives. It was honorable.

Well, I'm not sure I'm ready to blast these guys now for using their wealth to try to ease the pain and maximize their earning power. If a doctor or trainer told you he had a "steroid" that could help you now and maybe prevent some additional pain later in life, would you take the drug? Would you worry about being vilified by the American media? Or worry about playing with your child in your 40s and 50s?

Before we go around demanding that pro sports leagues ban everything in order to protect some meaningless statistics, we had better make sure we know what we're banning, and we had better apply some common sense and perspective to this debate.

It's 2006. Protecting the "sanctity" of numbers established in 1906 or 1966 might be important to rotisserie geeks and sportswriters Bonds declined to give interviews to, but in the grand scheme that "sanctity" might be standing in the way of progress and/or a more effective way of limiting the damage caused by performance-enhancing drugs.

[Waffles]

It's pretty much fact that Albert and Grimsley share the same trainer, but that doesn't mean a whole lot by itself.

It doesn't even sound like the trainer is a supplier, just a referrer. Albert still would have had to make the choice to do this.

Albert also has never really increased much in size, and although this notes that he had this trainer since at least JUCO, Pujols grew up mildly poor, so I'm not sure where he'd have the money to buy HGH before he made the majors..

We'll just have to see, but I'm not putting too much stock in this yet. It's a loose connection as it is, and there'd need to be A LOT more evidence to come close to proving something against Albert.

For what it's worth, Albert has reportedly been tested three times this year and has been clean everytime. Obviously HGH isn't tested for, so that doesn't necessarily mean anything in this case, but it's worth noting.

Except for the fact that the relationship between Pujols and his trainer seems to be very, very tight (to the point of being reminiscent of Barry Bonds and Greg Anderson).

from Mihlfeld's sister's blog:

Albert Pujols s one of my brother's clients. Well, that's an understatement really. Chris drafted Albert out of high school to play for Chris' JUCO baseball team. From there, Albert was drafted with the STLCardinals. Albert and Chris are soulbrothers. Understatement. They have mutual love and respect for each other. And let me just say this to you, if you didn't know that Albert was a "rock and roll baseball player", you wouldn't know it to meet him! He is a fab guy who is just that- fab. Realistic and humble. Just like my brother. To him, it's about baseball. No fame, or glamour about it, just for love of the game, and his eternal friendships he's formed along the way.

http://stephmcatee.typepad.com/her/2005/12/life_dream.html

Again, nothing conclusive, but Bonds has been excoriated for less.

[NJTank]

I bet the cheating is more wide spread then anyone can imagine.

[CaolinaJoe]

Steroids isn't the problem with baseball, money is. If all it took was a needle or pill the Royals would be in first.

Without the talent it doesn't matter what you put in your body. Without the money you can't afford the guys with the talent.

While it may be "literally" cheating, if everyone has guys who are doing, at least the playing field is even. All this talk of cheating when it comes to Bonds is crap. The way I was brought up, if everyone on his team is aware that he is "cheating" and none of them say anything, then they are cheaters also. Same goes for every clean guy on the team that keeps his mouth shut.

Mike Schmidt, Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Eddie Murray, Jim Thome, WS Running Yankees, Carlos Beltran(there's a guy who dropped off the face of the HR ball & SB's), of course Tejada and Palmeiro are all guys Grimsley has played with. The shocker could be quite shocking.

[STL FANATIC]

Except for the fact that the relationship between Pujols and his trainer seems to be very, very tight (to the point of being reminiscent of Barry Bonds and Greg Anderson).

Again, nothing conclusive, but Bonds has been excoriated for less.

I had seen that already, and I've already taken that into account.

I'm not being defiant here, but I honestly don't see where how close he is to his trainer is relevant in a rebuttle to what I said.

All I'm saying is that the Bonds speculation was based on way more. Bonds was hitting record home runs when his numbers should have been going down. Bonds was growing massively in a short time, when his body slowing down. And, Bonds had a trainer and a friend who was directly linked to the distribution of illegal performancing enhancing drugs.

The evidence against Pujols right now is that he has a trainer and a closer friend who probably had a link to some illegal performance enhancing drugs. And Pujols has been an incredible player his whole career.

That's it right now. It may have been wrong to assume Bonds was guilty with just that original evidence, and it is certainly wrong to assume Albert is guilty with the far less evidence against him.

I'm all for the truth coming out though. Just as the evidence finally led to an investigation on Bonds, a lot of guys who get linked in anyway to what Grimsley has said should probably also be investigated.

I'm not saying there might not be cause to check Pujols out, I'm just saying it's incredibly wrong to assume or even lean towards him being guilty right now.

I know I'm being a homer a bit by saying that, but it isn't just because he's on my team. It's because Albert Pujols is one of the greatest guys I think I'll ever know of in my lifetime, and I think it is incredibly unfair to him to just assume on such little evidence that he did something so wrong.

[See Red]

Mike Schmidt, Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Eddie Murray, Jim Thome, WS Running Yankees, Carlos Beltran(there's a guy who dropped off the face of the HR ball & SB's), of course Tejada and Palmeiro are all guys Grimsley has played with. The shocker could be quite shocking.

About Carlos Beltran... that's actually not true that his power numbers have dropped off. They did last year, but that was in large part because of injuries. I'm not actually certain he's ever had a 30 HR season in his career and he's actually on pace for more HR's this year then he's had in any other single season. Really, that postseason made people percieve him as more of a power hitter than he really is/was -- and it's not really concievable that that postseason was a result of steroid usage. His Stolen Bases numbers would be right there with seasons past as well.

Besides, while in some cases it would be accurate, you can't really look for a dropoff in numbers as being a sign of steroid usage since HGH isn't tested for. And if you're the type that's going to do steroids despite knowing the risks, what's to stop you from doing HGH?

[Jigga]

I know I'm being a homer a bit by saying that...

Which clearly clouds everything else you can say regarding this subject. Sorry.

[STL FANATIC]

Former Royals trainer denies steroid involvement

By WRIGHT THOMPSON

The Kansas City Star

1998 file photo

MihlfeldA local trainer linked by internet reports to the federal investigation of pitcher Jason Grimsley denied on Friday his involvement in any illegal activity. Chris Mihlfeld, who is also the personal trainer for baseball stars Albert Pujols and Mike Sweeney and once worked for the Royals, told The Star that he is not named in Grimsley's now infamous affidavit.

"I just don't want my name to be part of this," he said. "It's not fair to me. It's not fair to my family. It's not fair to the other players I work with. It's not fair to the kids I work with."

A report late Thursday, on the blog deadspin.com, attempted to answer the most popular question in baseball: who are the blacked out, redacted names listed in Grimsley's affidavit? In the 20-page document, there are numerous names hidden from public view. The baseball rumor mills have spent the last week filling them in.

When Grimsley mentioned a former trainer, Mihlfeld's name quickly surfaced. Mihlfeld helped Grimsley, a former Royal, recover from Tommy John surgery faster than expected, a feat that has now attracted suspicion.

"They've got the wrong name on that deal," Mihlfeld said.

The trainer said both Grimsley and Grimsley's attorney told him he was not in the document. Edward Novak, a Phoenix criminal defense lawyer representing the pitcher, didn't immediately return a voice mail and an e-mail seeking comment.

"He was in baseball 18 years before I got to meet him," Mihlfeld said. "If you think in the last three or four years, that I'm the one getting him to do this, it's just ignorance."

Any connection between Mihlfeld and Grimsley would also, for the first time, provide a connection between performance enhancers and Pujols, who has been followed by allegations. Mihlfeld insisted that the St. Louis slugger is clean.

"I can guarantee you that one, too," he says. "I've known Albert since he was 18 years old. Albert won't even drink his protein shakes anymore during the season because he's scared they're contaminated. That's been part of his training for the last five or six years, and all of a sudden he won't even do that. He's tired of it. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of people putting this kid down. He's a great kid. Let him be great. He's clean."

Mihlfeld said he has spoken to both Grimsley and Pujols since this scandal broke. He described Pujols, who went to high school in the Kansas City area, as frustrated.

"You know why he's frustrated?" he said. "Because he cares. He cares what every little kid thinks about him. He cares if some kid picks up a magazine, and they start talking about steroids. He cares that little kids will always link that to him. He's sick about it. He hates it."

To reach Wright Thompson, call (816) 234-4856 or send e-mail to wthompson@kcstar.com.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/14781295.htm

[DGivens87]

Not to sound cryptic, but I do know someone personally who did 'roids, that played in the major leagues (he still pitches in the minors so I can't say who it is). He was a starting pitcher, and he admitted to my friend and I that not only 1) he did 'roids, but 2) that baseball fans don't even know how many guys use 'roids, whether sporadically, or extensively. He also doesn't buy that Bonds didn't know he was taking steriods - He also told me this:

Every guy who plays ball for a living, as their job, knows EXACTLY what supplements/nutritional they're taking in. You'd be stupid not to, especially when there are so many different supplements that can totally throw you off in terms of weight training. As a ballplayer, you cannot use the 'ignorance' alibi unless you knowlingly 'choose' not to know what you take in.

[CZzyzx41]

This is going to get extremely ugly.

These things always are.

Have you see Grimsley? It's already gotten ugly

[STL FANATIC]

About that article I posted. I have to think that has as much (probably) more credibility than deadspin has.

I know it could just be a denial, but deadspin is nothing more than semi-educated speculation.

[cappital92]

Maybe MLB should shut down for a few years. A four-year offseason.Get everything cleaned up,new commissioner. Then there will be more baseball-hungery fans then ever.

[BaltimoreFan]

I heard Jeff Nelson of the White Sox talking about Grimsley and stated that Grimsley was a rat, and was trying to make a name for himself with this, and that he was betraying the fraternity of baseball players.

At first I agreed with Nelson, I thought Grimsley was a rat too. However when you think about most players would have probably done the same thing if they were in the same situation. He had the feds in his house wanting more names. Most people probably would have given them what they wanted. In fact the he didn't put the wire on to try and catch Bonds should show that he is loyal. If he truely wanted to make a name for himself that would have done it.

This whole thing is making me worry about the future of baseball. It appears more players are taking steriods than those who do not. The fact that the players union is fighting to prevent blood tests is suggesting this. I'm afraid alot of big name players are going to go down and people are going to lose interest. If this happens it will take a couple years for baseball to recover.

[Gamingboy]

A witch hunt is coming. I can feel it. It's already started. Grimsley has already entered baseball purgatory, but something tells me before the year is over he will be joined by a few other people.

[illinirox1]

Maybe MLB should shut down for a few years. A four-year offseason.Get everything cleaned up,new commissioner. Then there will be more baseball-hungery fans then ever.

Then they can come back like the NHL and have worse ratings than college softball and the WNBA.

[NJTank]

Smoking Gun has the document on line blacked out of course

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0607061grimsley1.html

[BaltimoreFan]

Deadspin.com claims to have the names that where blacked out here. They seem pretty confident about them too. The only thing about the names are that I don't see anyone that's shocking like Dan Patrick said. Pulojs would be shocking, but he is not actually named in it, just his trainer. Which doesn't looked good for him, but also doesn't make him guilty.

[STL FANATIC]

Deadspin.com claims to have the names that where blacked out here. They seem pretty confident about them too. The only thing about the names are that I don't see anyone that's shocking like Dan Patrick said. Pulojs would be shocking, but he is not actually named in it, just his trainer. Which doesn't looked good for him, but also doesn't make him guilty.

Deadspin doesn't seem to be accurate on the trainer. The trainer has said that both Grimsley and Grimsley Attorney informed him he is not in the document, plus mockups using nearly the exact same type size, font, and spacing show his name to be unlikely.

We'll have to wait until names are confirmed to be sure though.