A Fraud caught Juicing in 2003

[RichardWitham]

If all of those guys came clean about it, maybe the story would be different. But they all maintain that hey never did it even when it is clear to the World that they did. Pete Rose denied his crime for years. Now that he has confessed, perhaps one day he will get in. The truth shall set you free. These guys keep lying and some are probably going to serve jail time when they could have just come clean and eventually be forgiven.

but that alone should not deny you entrance into the hall of fame, if your stats are good enough. but since it is now, throw out everyone who ever used any preformance enhancer, amphetamines, etc or let those who used steroids in, based soley on their on feild accomplishments

[JQK]

Everyone did it. It was what it was. Betcha Cal Ripken did it was well. Why not? Everyone else from the era did.

I think we can stop assuming most were clean, and start assuming all were dirty.

And Richard, the Baseball Hall of Fame should let in players who have now stained the game, retroactivly for 20-some years, and for a portion of the future? You're insane. "Let's celebrate those who've tried to ruin the game." Excellent.

[rams80]

Everyone did it. It was what it was. Betcha Cal Ripken did it was well. Why not? Everyone else from the era did.

I think we can stop assuming most were clean, and start assuming all were dirty.

And Richard, the Baseball Hall of Fame should let in players who have now stained the game, retroactivly for 20-some years, and for a portion of the future? You're insane. "Let's celebrate those who've tried to ruin the game." Excellent.

It's not necessarily a celebration, but it is still part of your history. You can't just ignore it and pretend that it will go away.

[RichardWitham]

i'[m saying if they want to keep bonds out soley because he pissed off reporters then that shoulndt be allowed. no matter your opinion of bonds, he has the numbers to get in, he should be allowed in. but we both know it doesnt work like that, which is a shame

[JayJaxon]

Again, it is ridiculous to think that everyone did it. Everyone did not do it. A lot of players did. But most people that say everyone did it says that to take the heat off of their hero that was proven to have been involved. People are not just making this stuff up. There is a reason Bonds and Sosa and Clemens and McGwire are in deep when it comes to this. To say everyone did it, that's just a cop-out.

[rams80]

Again, it is ridiculous to think that everyone did it. Everyone did not do it. A lot of players did. But most people that say everyone did it says that to take the heat off of their hero that was proven to have been involved. People are not just making this stuff up. There is a reason Bonds and Sosa and Clemens and McGwire are in deep when it comes to this. To say everyone did it, that's just a cop-out.

Or being realistic. It certainly is starting to seem that the list of players who didn't juice would be dramatically smaller than the list of those that did juice.

I'm reminded of a Dilbert strip....In it Catbert is talking with the Boss. He says he fired literally every employee of the company for personal use of the internet. He then qualifies it by saying that he should fire himself as well for personal use, while the boss asks him how to use the internet for personal reasons.

[JayJaxon]

Again, it is ridiculous to think that everyone did it. Everyone did not do it. A lot of players did. But most people that say everyone did it says that to take the heat off of their hero that was proven to have been involved. People are not just making this stuff up. There is a reason Bonds and Sosa and Clemens and McGwire are in deep when it comes to this. To say everyone did it, that's just a cop-out.

Or being realistic. It certainly is starting to seem that the list of players who didn't juice would be dramatically smaller than the list of those that did juice.

I'm reminded of a Dilbert strip....In it Catbert is talking with the Boss. He says he fired literally every employee of the company for personal use of the internet. He then qualifies it by saying that he should fire himself as well for personal use, while the boss asks him how to use the internet for personal reasons.

It is true that the list of clean players continues to get smaller. But should those players be punished because they played with the ones that wanted to take shortcuts? Is guilt by association just taking the easy way out?

[JQK]

All that matters is "Who knows?"

When you don't know who's clean from who's dirty, it casts a shadow over the game that no one is immune to. Everyone is now suspected. When you hold up someone (like a Palmeiro or Rodriguez) and you're SURE they didn't do anything, and then it turns out that, yep, they did... it crushes the hope that anyone was clean.

[infrared41]

At this point it's impossible to know just how prevalent steroid use was. We just have to get used to the idea of living with the era as it stands. The shadow is there. It ain't going anywhere and the deeper we dig the worse it's going to get. History will note the problems. Let's just hope the game is working it's way back to being clean again...at least until the next cheat is discovered.

[NJTank]

Everyone did it. It was what it was. Betcha Cal Ripken did it was well. Why not? Everyone else from the era did.

I think we can stop assuming most were clean, and start assuming all were dirty.

And Richard, the Baseball Hall of Fame should let in players who have now stained the game, retroactivly for 20-some years, and for a portion of the future? You're insane. "Let's celebrate those who've tried to ruin the game." Excellent.

I agree. Its time baseball admit that and declare an amnesty for steroid use pre 2005. To end any more talk and debate and to turn the page

[rams80]

At this point it's impossible to know just how prevalent steroid use was. We just have to get used to the idea of living with the era as it stands. The shadow is there. It ain't going anywhere and the deeper we dig the worse it's going to get. History will note the problems. Let's just hope the game is working it's way back to being clean again...at least until the next cheat is discovered.

Bill Belichick is willing to offer his services as a consultant for any team needing his particular set of skills.

[scottysprings]

I'm not surprised. I just feel bad for all of you guys that are (were) fans of the guy, because it's a huge let down. I just hope that I never hear the two players I grew up idolizing (Griffey and Maddux) in the same breath. I'm sure I won't, but a lot of people were sure A-Rod wasn't gonna be named either.

I don't know how many fans he really has. I'm as big of a Yankee fan as they come but he's not the kind of player I look up to. None of my friends who are also Yankee fans really show much affinity for him either. Besides producing big numbers during the regular season, there's not much to root for. I didn't think he would ever be included on the list of PES users but in hindsight, it's not that surprising.

[DEAD!]

At this point it's impossible to know just how prevalent steroid use was. We just have to get used to the idea of living with the era as it stands. The shadow is there. It ain't going anywhere and the deeper we dig the worse it's going to get. History will note the problems. Let's just hope the game is working it's way back to being clean again...at least until the next cheat is discovered.

Bill Belichick is willing to offer his services as a consultant for any team needing his particular set of skills.

If you call and sign up now, you get a hoodie, absolutely FREE!

[Don]

i wanna see the other 103 players on this list. a-rod is no surprise to me. i am disappointed cause i thought he was going to clean up Bonds' record. but i think that a-rod is still (relatively) young and if he stays clean for the rest of his career, there shouldnt be a whole lot of outrage.

[Bleujayone]

Link

Narcissistic A-Rod couldn?t resist juicing

Alex Rodriguez did not need steroids. Scouts who saw A-Rod in high school rave that his bat was more powerful than Moses? staff. He was born with natural brilliance, a diamond with a perfect cut, just like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. And he allegedly injected himself with performance-enhancing drugs for the same reason they did.

He?s a raging narcissist, consumed so much by the idea of himself that his actions made it crumble into an ironic pile of rubble.

It?s sociopathic, in a way, the single-mindedness of it. Baseball has always romanticized the one-on-one nature of its game, pitcher against hitter. The steroid era has brought out the worst in that ethos: players concerned for themselves, their money and their legacies, sport ? or anyone else, for that matter ? be damned.

What can baseball say now after Sports Illustrated revealed that Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003? That it occurred six years ago? Yeah. That?ll fly.

This is an indictment of powerlessness, another black eye on baseball, which has been in need of new orbital bones for years. No matter what baseball tries to do, its past will dog it forever, because Rodriguez is going to break Bonds? all-time home run record, and the sport?s two greatest power hitters will be known steroid users.

Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees and the dozen or so leftover fans without skepticism laced into their DNA presumed Rodriguez the bastion of cleanliness, a rightful heir to Hank Aaron who could vanquish Darth Bonds. He had natural talent, and natural work ethic, and natural drive. He was as natural as Spam.

It matters not if Rodriguez is clean today. He knew in 2003 that there would be testing without penalty and, like the 103 others who came up dirty, figured the anonymity of the program would protect him and everything he had become. When the government stormed in, it matched positive results from that ?03 survey testing with players? names and had the big kahuna of all steroid busts. The results leaked out, and A-Rod, ? who has been manipulated by others since his teenage years ? did what any trained monkey would: He told SI?s Selena Roberts to talk to the union.

Yes, the players? association is to blame for this getting out. It could have destroyed the tests. It didn?t. And when steroids were running through baseball like kudzu in the ?90s and earlier this decade, the union did nothing to stop them.

Still, this comes back to Rodriguez, which is fitting for his world, where everything revolves around him. In the last year, he got caught in a dalliance with a stripper, dumped his wife, dated Madonna, flirted with the Kabbalah religion and declared his allegiance to the Dominican Republic for the World Baseball Classic, and he still has no saintly clue who he is: family man or cheat, religious man or agnostic, Dominican or American.

Now another question lingers: amazing talent or steroid abuser?

Both, perhaps, as the ideas seem to coexist, whether it?s with Bonds or Clemens or Mark McGwire or Rafael Palmeiro. Accomplishment is a narcotic that the steroids fed. Joe Torre, who managed Rodriguez in New York and was lambasted for the unflattering portrayal of A-Rod in his new book ?The Yankee Years,? was prescient in his assessment ? and might have unwittingly explained the motivation behind Rodriguez?s steroid use.

?Alex is all about the game,? Torre said. ?He needs the game. He needs all of those statistics. He needs every record imaginable. And he needs people to make a fuss over him.?

It?s why Rodriguez went on ?60 Minutes? with Katie Couric, why he agreed to let Richard Ben Cramer pen his biography midcareer, why he said things about himself like: ?My benchmark is so high that no matter what I do, it?s never going to be enough, and I understand that.?

Rodriguez adored the attention and adulation, even if some of it wasn?t cast in a flattering light. He could stomach that. He was A-Rod, beacon of hope, the real unicorn amid all the frauds with oversized horns.

Bonds was one thing. The growth was unnatural. Clemens was another. His longevity screamed juice. A-Rod, even though we?re trained to know better, still registered a surprise. There aren?t many of those left. Derek Jeter. Greg Maddux. Ken Griffey Jr. Tom Glavine. And all of them have played at such a high level for so many years, it wouldn?t be such a shock, then, would it?

Spring training starts next week, and it?s going to be a mess. There will be renewed calls to beef up baseball?s drug problem. Weekly testing, stored samples, a one-positive lifetime ban. If two decades later the cancer is around, it?s about time to give it chemo.

And scrutiny will funnel toward the union, especially chief operating officer Gene Orza, who SI said tipped off Rodriguez to a September 2004 drug test. The union denied the charge. It doesn?t matter. Between the Mitchell Report allegation of Orza tipping and this, the guilty stench around the union would defeat nose plugs.

Saddest of all, somewhere Jose Canseco will be saying, ?Told ya so.?

Down in Tampa, Fla., Alex Rodriguez will report to Yankees camp as a known steroid user. By then, the battle plan will have been put into action. Deny or admit or apologize or stay silent. It doesn?t matter. None of those options helps him. Nothing can.

The rubble is too heavy to escape.

[Brass]

I'm not buying this "well, everyone else did it crap", especially from Yankee fans. I don't care if everyone was taking steroids. Doesn't make it right at all.

[The_Admiral]

Derek Jeter. Greg Maddux. Ken Griffey Jr. Tom Glavine. And all of them have played at such a high level for so many years, it wouldn?t be such a shock, then, would it?

I dunno, if Jeter were on steroids he might actually be able to competently field his position.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I just now got it. "A Fraud" is supposed to rhyme with "A Rod."

Oh, Tank. You rascal.

[NJTank]

I just now got it. "A Fraud" is supposed to rhyme with "A Rod."

Oh, Tank. You rascal.

That is what Yankee teammates call him behind his back according to Joe Torre.

[JayJaxon]

I'm also curious to see who the other 103 players were. A-Rod was probably the biggest name on the list, but I'm sure that are a few surprises in there.