The site pays homage to REAL baseball, when players played for the love of the game more than money - a time when the strongest drug on the field was coffee or an occassional belt, ie booze. We've seen , in particular one team continue to pull the wool over the eyes. It probably couldln't happen in any other city. It took a couple of brave reporters to temporarily slow the progression of illicit drugs in the game but it's all back again.
BASEBALL REALLY CLEAN? 4 New PED busts opening week of baseball more than all of last year
4 New PED Suspensions First Week,
Bonds Promotes ARod Passing Mays
From Mike Oz, Big League Stew...
#Giants PEDs, #PEDs, #steroids, Alex Rodriguez, Arod, Barry Bonds, Mays, peds, steroids
Alex Rodriguez is five homers away from tying the great Willie Mays for fourth on the all-time list with 660. Just what happens after that ball flies over the fence might be one of the season's best dramas. The New York Yankees are acting like the milestone doesn't exist — partially because it will help avoid paying A-Rod's $6 million "milestone" bonus.
If he's at home, Yankees fans will probably cheer A-Rod, since they've given him warm receptions thus far. If he's on the road, you can expect a chorus of boos. We'll wait and see what sort of media coverage it gets, whether folks act like it's as real as spring-training stats or they give it "milestone" coverage.
Despite all that, you know who will be happy for A-Rod? Another shamed slugger — Barry Bonds, who is a particularly interesting person in this matter because Mays is his godfather, A-Rod is a recent pupil of his and, like Rodriguez, he knows what it's like to chase a milestone without the public's support.
Bonds spoke to USA Today's Bob Nightengale about the chase for 660 and his comments were certainly polarizing. Bonds says everybody — you, me, the Yankees, etc. — should be happy for A-Rod. Something tells us not every baseball fan is going to heed Bonds' word.
"My godfather means the world to me. I love him to a T,'' Bonds told USA TODAY Sports in an hour-long telephone interview, "but when Alex hits No. 660, I'll be happy for him. Willie will be happy for him. Everybody should be happy for him.
"Any time anybody in the game does something that's a great accomplishment, the game of baseball should celebrate that. No matter what. Baseball is benefiting from that person's hard work, so baseball should at least celebrate."
But it won't. And neither will the Yankees.
"Why the hate?" Bonds said. "Why hate on something you're paying to see? I don't understand it. He's entertaining us. I wish life wasn't like that."
*
Bonds and A-Rod, circa 2007. (AP)
Why the hate? Barry, you know why the hate. You've been dealing with that question yourself since 2007. While Bonds is talking about A-Rod here, you have to figure he's talking about himself too. Hefurther told USA Today:
"This guy is not running for president of the United States," Bonds said. "He's not running for commissioner. We're not running for political office. We're just ballplayers. We're not God. We're imperfect people. We're human beings."
So are fans. They'll react from their heart, for better or worse. Some people will call A-Rod's spot on all-time list hollow (as is their right) and others will talk about how great of a talent he is, PED issues aside (also their right).
But as Bonds knows well, there will be no shortage of opinions.
"To
me, personally, I think you should be out of the game if you get
caught...It takes away from the guys that are working hard every day and
doing it all-natural." -MIKE TROUT, Los Angeles Angels interviewed on Boomer Esiason's ESPN radio show
Why #SFGiants Big Drop Off - Past Catching Up? How does one explain the #SFGiants nearly unprecedented drop (from 10
games ahead in first place to one game behind in the West in a 22 day period). We need to look at current symptoms as well as review the past few years to see what led up to where the Giants currently stand. #Giants PEDs, #Michael Morse, #PEDs, #steroids, . Tim Lincecum, Balco, baseball PEDs, baseball steroids, baseball without drugs, Bruce Bochy, Jose Guillen, MARCOS SCUTARO, san francisco giants, steroids, 1) PREDOMINANCE OF INJURIES - PED RELATED? First, before we look back, It's unusual to see so many current back injuries including serious
ones to Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro, which have kept them out of the
lineup for long spells, and lesser back problems for Michael Morse, a
previously indicted #PED user. Others on the team, like Sandoval and
Vogelsong, have been out of the lineup often, too, with nagging
injuries. Certain back problems have been tied to steroid use, where the kidneys are affected, leading to lower back pain. Other nagging injuries are also often the result of PED use. PED use could be a factor in the sudden Giants drop off, in our opinion, especially when on looks at the history of, i.e.San Francisco Giants and its large number of indicted PED players. Click here to subscribe to mailing list
2) LARGE NUMBER OF PED USERS ON GIANTS - Their Game Winning Hits Alone Enough to Have Put Giants into both World Series
Perhaps the Giants' luck has run
out. Despite lack of a deep farm system, the Giants were able to skate
to two world series victories in 2010 and 2012 with marginal players
and two great months at seasons' ends both in 2010 and 2012. . While other teams were feeling
the summer heat, the Giants were playing with extra bounce in their collective stepAugust through October with almost two complete different teams 2010 and 2012. The Giants benefitted enough to put them ahead with players of PED pasts, such as Melky Cabrera in 2012 and Jose Guillen and Guilllermo Moto
in 2010 plus likely other users not yet caught . How else does one
explain the Giants' sudden surges in August - October, both years, with
newly acquired players like Cody Ross and Marcos Scutaro,
in 2010 and 2012 , respectively, who would see their numbers skyrocket
once with the Giants? Remember Ross' astonishing eight homeruns in
October, 2010 while Sandoval did it in 2012, hitting three in one game
against Detroit after only hitting six the entire season and Scutaro
raising his average 100 points to .350 after leaving colorado mid-season
for the Giants? 3) ENTIRE LINEUP MAY HAVE BEEN USING PEDS IN PLAYOFFS/SERIES Even the regular lineup may have joined in the Giants drug culture for the late season heroics including the playoffs and World Series. Even the older players on the Giants, such as Sandoval,as noted, got hot late season and in the playoffs, interestingly after Jose Guillen (2010) and Melky Cabrera and Scutaro (2012) joined the team. As with any culture where there's smoke there's fire and there were too many mediocre players suddenly getting hot at season's end - both years with largely two different teams - to call it a coincidence, what with the Giants history.
You had pitchers past their primes like Vogelsong and Lincecum suddenly making a joke out of top hitters on Detroit and Saint Louis in the World Series. Much like Huff and Burrell, Even the estranged Barry Zito - left off the World Series Giants in 2010 - somehowgot off the deck and suddenly went from the Giants doghouse with a 6.00 ERA to World Beater for a few short weeks in the 2012 playoffs and Series, only to go back to his old self the following year, before being released.
"Some
people are just trying to find that extra edge," Trout told Esiason. "It's tough as a guy that goes out there and plays hard every
day and puts [in] 110 percent effort ... to wake up, see there's a list
of guys that are on the list (of indicted PED users)."
4) MLB TESTING HAS NOT KEPT UP WITH LATEST PEDS, Making it Easy To Get Away and Succeed with Performance Enhancers - Giants Have Had Most PED players since Bonds MLB has still not implemented the available test that
can detect the new 'designer' testosterone PEDs players are using.
Players can simply inject the steroids into their bodies the day of a
game and the drug can be out of their systems hours later. Under latest testing rules, MLB only has
to do as little as one test during the season and usually lets players know in
advance of testing. So, as Victor Conte of Balco fame said , players
have to be 'dumb or dumber' to get caught. It's become somewhat of a
tradition since steroids came into baseball in the 1980s but became
especially popularized with Barry Bonds for players to go to steroids
late in their careers to give them one final boost and help with nagging
injuries. The sad part is that the steroids, themselves, often result
in more nagging injuries down the line. Remember first baseman Ken
Camaniti, one of the early (admitted) steroid users who lost his life,
in part, to PEDs.
Note: Different Steroids affect players in different way with different results. For example, 'Cream'and 'Clear' Testosterone , as used by Barry Bonds, could put bulk and greatly enlarge some party parts and shrink others - and contribute to baldness and impotency while giving a hitter more power , ie homeruns. Barry Bonds took a great variety of other drugs, in combination, that may have exagerated to his extreme change. Newer 'designer' Testosterones appear to do the opposite, helping one stay in shape and not putting on bulk or affecting homeruns so much as helping to improve bat speed and batting average. 5) GIANT QUICK FIXES FINALLY AT AN END The Giants had made a habit of getting quick fixes for holes
on their rosters with known and suspected PED players - largely
Venezuelans - and in 2010 and 2012 it worked for them. It's amazing how
GM Brian Sabean was able to know so much about the underground PED use
because seemingly every 'no name'player he acquired went on to have at
least temporary success with the Giants - enough to help their cause.
Kansas City was like the Giants' 'minor league' source for such players ,
from where they aquired pitchers like Mijares, Machi, Gutierrez and
Petit (Machi , Gutierrez and Petit all have had that sudden success
once with the Giants and continue to this day). Other players like
Torrez, Huff and Burrell would come to the Giants at advanced ages and
have 'carreer seasons' only to suddenly drop off the radar only after
helping lead the Giants, in this case to a 2010 World Series. 6) 'IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM, JOIN THEM' : OTHER TEAMS NOW FOLLOWING GIANTS LEAD, PURSUING PED USERS, SHRINKING AVAILABLE PED POOL FOR GIANTS Today, after over a decade of playing the PED
game,the Giants may finally be slowing down. Due to the lack of REAL testing and Giants' lead, other teams have finally said 'If you can't beat them, join them ' and are now going after the tainted players only the Giants once pursued. (Note, every team in Final Four last year had indicted PED user(s) on their team.) President of the
Giants Larry Baer , while not saying the team would stop
going after PED players, did express a note of caution (SFGate) because
of the team's reputation for having had so many players on PEDs. Now
would be about the time of year the Giants would normally start going to
their bag of tricks following their June swoons but, so far, we haven't
seen it; it still may be early. Knowing Sabean, never a great trader
but one to go for the occasional big name and overpay his current
better performing players , if the Giants continue to crumble he will
once again resort to the easy way out - that of finding low-cost,
tainted players other teams may not want - IF THEY ARE AVAILABLE. Like with any trend that catches on, perhaps Sabean now has competition for PED players and has LOST HIS EDGE - for now,anyway. But don't give up on him. Knowing the Giants, they'll find a way back, illegal or otherwise in their liberal town - and nobody will seem to notice or care.. So, the Giants are down now but they're not out. They've just got NEW competition.
How long Sabean and company can get away with what they've been
doing for over a decade is anyone's guess. As Esiason noted, many fans don't
seem to care anymore. Yet, as he also noted, Cooperstown still does,
fortunately , as do some baseball writers who may not say so publicly.
But, with time and more and more kids brought up on the PED culture,
this may fully change in time with steroids and PEDs becoming a totally
acceptable part of baseball and all sports, perhaps like the
legalizaition of marijuana in more and more states . A good number of the players that Sabean has brought in have been using PEDs and that's why Bochy has often looked like a magician with the pitching staff and lineup. But, take away the drugs or lose these players to injury and Giants and Bochy become mortal. In fact, if you look at Bochy's overall managerial career he is exactly at .500 as a manager, .490 at San Diego and .510 at San Francisco. (opinion) *************************************** SF Giants Players Linked to Steroids and Human Growth Hormone (HGH) Admitted Steroid and HGH Users and Implicated Players and MLB Positive Tests/Suspensions: (Mitchell Report, http://www.baseballssteroidera.com/ and other sources)
Matt Williams 1986-1997 *Barry Bonds 1993-2007 Rich Aurillia 1995-2005 and 2007-2009 Marvin Bernard 1995-2003 Glenallen Hill 1995-1997 FP Santangelo 1999 Wilson Alverez 1997 Bobby Estalella 2000-2001 Armando Rios 2001 David Bell 2002 Benito Santiago 2001-2003 Matt Herges 2003-2005 Alex Sanchez 2005 Abraham Núñez 2006 Yamid Haad2006 Matt Kinney 2010 Eliezer Alfonzo 2006-2008 Jose Guillen 2010 Guillermo Mota 2010-2012 Miguel Tejada 2011 Melky Cabrera 2012 Mike Morse 2014
*Affect of steroids -example: Barry Bonds had never hit more than 34 homeruns and batted over .300 only twice in his seven years at Pittsburg (1986-1993). After coming to San Francisco he only hit LESS than 34 homeruns once and only batted UNDER .300 twice in his thirteen years except for his last three years when he was injured Not Implicated but Very Possibly on PEDs with Giants JEFF KENT 1997-2002- - Power numbers suddenly soared when coming to Giants in 1997, peaking in 2002 World Series year with 37 homers and .313 average (career year) ANDRES TORRES 2010 - Had career years in 2009 and 2010 once coming to Giants at age 30 MARCO SCUTARO - Most surprising increased numbers, this for a 37 year old player playing in the difficult San Francisco hitter’s park. Batting average up an otherworldly 90 points in a full half season since coming to Giants from Colorado, again hitting in an unfriendly hitters park. But even perhaps more amazing is Scutaro’s strikeout ration, indicative of possible PED use with increased vision and hand-eye coordination ala Bonds; he cut strikeouts down less than half with only 14 strikeouts since coming to San Frnacisco in July – that’s only one strikeout per 37 at bats! ANGEL PAGAN power numbers up since coming to SF with Melky Cabrera – from 24 to 38 doubles and from four to 15 triples this year with homers about the same (8 vs. 7). GREGOR BLANCO who was red hot, ala Torres (2010) in 2012 for first half of season, hit more homers this year(5) than in all previous seasons combined SANTIAGO CASILLA suddenly halved his ERA after coming to Giants in ‘magic’ year, 2010 – from 5.96 in 2009 at Oakland to 1.95 his first year , 2010 with the Giants – and it’s remained there ever since. PABLO SANDOVAL - Unlikely huge spikes in performance late seasons 2010 and 2012 and World Series and since. JOSE MIJARES 2012 - Relief numbers up dramatically after joining Giants CHAD GOUDIN 2013 - Near all-star pitching numbers after joining Giants JEAN MACHI - Sudden success with Giants YASMEIRO PETIT - Cut his ERA in half and raised strikeouts, one per inning after joing SF from Arizona References: Mitchell Report, http://www.baseballssteroidera.com/ and other sources (Opinion column)
San Francisco Giants - Interesting look back at Bruce Bochy Era - Bochy Over-rated?
Ken Camanitti, Padres
How Did Bruce Bochy Become Giants Manager? Bochy Overated?
Tony Gwynn's recent passing brought to light some interesting connections between the Giants and Gwynn's long-time San Diego Padre team.Bruce Bochy SanFrancisco Giants, Pablo Sandoval, med peds, san fran giants
Giant manager Bruce Bochy was San Diego Padre's and Gwynn's manager from 1995 to 2001, when Gwynn retired. It was also during those years that Gwynn, then in his late thirties, had three of his five best years, hitting over .350 at an age most players are retired. Ken Camaniti, an admitted steroid user who lost his life at 35 due in part to performance enhancing drugs, had among his best years, certainly his best power numbers with as many as 40 as a Padre when he had never hit as many as 20 before; he received MVP and propelled the Padres to the World Series in 1998. Caminitti took advantage of the emerging drug culture in the San Diego clubhouse, then largely a steroid called creatine that would become popular with Oakland A's player and San Diego native Mark McGwire. The trend would escalate especially to the San Francisco giants, though the drug s of choice would change. Barry Bonds and at least seven other (later indicted) Giants would favor a testosterone-based steroid known as the 'clear' and the 'creme'
the Mitchell reports).
Bochy , as manager, would witness cartoon-like numbers in Camaniti and Gwynn and later Bonds when Bochy came to the Giants in 2007. Bochy likely knew he was coming to a team featuring another cartoon-like character, both in changed appearance and statistics in Bonds, who was having his best seasons and breaking homerun and other records and doing things never done before , again, at an age when most players were either retired or nearing it. (Note: We don't believe Gwynn used PEDs most of his career but became caught up in the team culture with Caminiti and perhpas others in his later years when he could most benefit , much like his friend, Barry Bonds on the Giants
It's possible at the time Bochy wasn't aware of a drug culture while Caminitti was still with San Diego, but he would find out a few years later while still managing San Diego when Camaniti came out with his own book in 2002 about his admitted steroid use in San Diego that would , in part, end up killing him .
When the Giants tabbed Bochy to replace Dusty Baker as manager in 2007 he certainly knew , post facto , if not before , what had happened around him during his San Diego days, yet Bochy would accept the managerial position with the Giants knowing of the controversary surrounding Bonds' astonishing late -career numbers . If anyone should have drawn connections between his own now-deceased ex-player, Camaniti, and Bonds , it was Bochy. No doubt the Giants knew something when they hired him, i.e. as a sympathetic figure who would put up with Bonds - and even let the Giant's star player control the clubhouse, including what trainers could come in to work with him. The Giants own team trainer, Stan Conte - no relation to Victor-would later leave the team for the hated Dodgers, just to get out of a toxic situation.
In a much forgotten or overlooked interview in 2002 , Bonds promised to share his 'secrets' with teamates. That he did , we would later find out, with seven Giants indicted for illegal drug use (Mitchell Report). Other players that may NOT have joined Bonds, such as Jeff Kent, would have nothing to do with Bonds.
When Bonds propelled the Giants into the World Series in 2002 with his 'bag of secrets' , Giants management no doubt would overlook negative Bondsian antics so much they rather lose a popular manager in Dusty Baker than a .370 power hitter (2002) who seemed to keep getting better with age!
No doubt Baker had had enough of a dysfunctional clubhouse, and the Giants of him - and Baker was sent packing. Thant's when, in 2007, Bruce Boche came on the scene. Recently fired as manager of a dysfunctional San Diego Padres team, no doubt with similar problems as the Giants, in Bochy no doubt the Giants figured there was a match. On one hand one would think Boche would run the other way fromthe Giants, but, heck, it was a job - and managerial positions in major league baseball don't come up often.
In Bochy, the Giants management found a tolerant manager who didn't mind playing second fiddle to Bonds; one who would look the other way when the Bonds' entourage appeared. trainer and drug guru Greg Anderson in tow. A couple of brave and astute San Francisco baseball writers writers would eventually expose what was lurking in those shadows of AT&T Park and finally put an end to a decade of Giants and Bonds living a lie, Bonds walking away with a bunch of MVPs and the Giants nearly pulling off a World Series in 2002. Pressure mounted and the Giants begrudgingly said goodbye to the man for whom AT&T was built - or who built AT&T- Bonds, then 41 and still capable of hitting more homers than anyone half his age. But the fun down by McCovey Cove was far from over...
The loss of Bonds proved a mere blip on the radar as the Sabean and the Giants would take what knowledge they had gleaned from Bonds and -without much of a farm system and nary a World Series victory in 50 years - parlay that into a couple of unlikely World Series victories in 2010 and 2012. This time they didn't rely on one man alone, but a cast of characters... Melky 'Milk Man' Cabrera, Jose Guillen, Guillermo Moto and many more... and , with ownership , fans and a Commissioner willing to look the other way, the Giants haven't stopped since . Despite the problems and expense he may have cost, Bonds may bave been the Giants best deal ever,for those concerned most about the profit movtive.
Bochy .500 manager
Bruce Bochy seems a very likeable guy and certainly a 'player's manager' but is he truly one of the premier managers of baseball? He has been given credit especially for his handling of the pitchers and bullpen. But, when one looks at his record he is a .500, (.501 to be exact as of 7/5) manager with as many losses as wins over his 20 year managerial career.
Even with the Giants,who have been helped out with both natural and unnatural talent, he is only .514 , with a winning record only the two world series years of 2010 and 2012 plus 2011 of his seven years in San Francisco prior to this one. And, again, those winning years were certainly aided by at three known PED users (People may have already forgotten or don't care that the Giants have had, since Bonds, a notorious reputation for having PED players, morseo than any other team.) In 2010, indicted PED users Jose Guillen and Guillermo Moto gave the Giants probably 5-10 wins between them, enough to propel them into the series that year.In 2012 it was Melky Cabrera leading the way, giving the Giants more winning hits than any other player during his half season before getting suspended - again, enough to propel the Giants to thte World Series.
Where there's smoke there's fire:
Teams not hesitant to take aboard PED players are likely to perpetuate the trend - now having gone on so long it's hardly a trend anymore. It's likely, in our opinion, that there were others, too, like Marco Scutaro, who came to the Giants from Colorado about the time Cabrera was suspended; he raised his average nearly 100 points,. from .267 to about .350 where it remained the rest of the season. As in 2010, the Giants had unlikely late season surges with players like new acquistioni Cody Ross and Pablo Sandoval each hitting 8 homeruns in their respective years of 2010 and 2012 - more than they'd hit the entire year. Sandoval hit three home runs in one playoff game against Detroit after only hitting three homeruns the entire year.
“It helps late in the season,” says Rangers designated hitter Mickey Tettleton, in Pete Williams’s 1997 USA TODAY story titled “Lifting the game: Creatine is baseball’s new gunpowder" (thanks to FanGraphs recent reprint http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/ken-caminitis-goody-bag/) he does not bother with nutrition supplements. “When you feel sluggish, it makes you feel like you have a little left in your gas tank.”
So, we're saying, we believe that manager Bochy got some significant help to his managerial career .514 record with the Giants and even with San Diego where he was . 494 when he had Camininiti and Gwynn and others.(As reported before, we don't believe Gwynn used PEDs his entire career but became caught up in the culture when he could most benefit in his later years, much like his friend, Barry Bonds on the Giants.)
Interesting to note that the Giants-despite team President Larry Baer's comment that the team doesn't like to go after PED players for the very reputation the team already has- continue to sign known PED users such as Michael Morse this year. This strategy may be catching up with them as we note in a coming article.
Way back in 1997, Sabean in his second year as GM with the Giants already was virtually sanctioning the use of PEDs, believing that players were going to use anything that would give them that edge. Ever since then we've seen Sabean and the Giants resort to the 'if you can't beat them join them' philosophy and has accepted that so-called inevitability of steroid use by signing many a known and suspected player.
From Pete Williams’s 1997 USA TODAY story titled “Lifting the game: Creatine is baseball’s new gunpowder" we have this key quote, reprised in Fan Graphs (http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/ken-caminitis-goody-bag/)
In my mind, the most important quote comes near the end from Brian Sabean, then in his second year as Giants general manager (notable in itself):
Steroid use “wouldn’t surprise me,” says Giants general manager Brian Sabean. “If it gives somebody an edge, guys are going to use it. Look how it’s affected other sports. We’d really have our head in the sand if we thought it wasn’t here in baseball.”
Again, that was back in 1997. Nowhere has Sabean said the team would not bring in players with a PED history and he's been doing it ever since.
The list of Giants who have used PEDs since then is longer than that of any other team. Rather than working against such an acceptance, Sabean and the Giants have lead in the open-door policy for drugs which has, in our opinion, severely tarnished , if not ruined baseball. Now, PEDs are commonplacein baseball. If not 50% of players are using, per the late user, Ken Caminitti, himself, or Balco's Victor Conte in more recent times, a good percentage are due to MLB''s continued weak or ineffective drug testing program, which has not caught a single player in the past two seasons, to our knowledge - and not because the sport is clean. All or at least four of last years division winners had indicted PED users on their teams. We could name names but we won't get into that; hopefully that will come to light sooner than later by authorities higher than ourselves. And, the PED beat goes on...
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performance enhancing drugs in baseball, doping in sports, peds,#peds, Giants peds, #SFGiants, #peds in baseball, playoffs, #playoffs
San Fran Giants - Interesting look back at Bruce Bochy Era - Bochy Over-rated? Bruce Bochy, SanFrancisco Giants, Pablo Sandoval, med peds, san fran giants, doping in sports
According to limited news sources, Major League Baseball announced changes to the MLB drug testing program for 2014 March 28. There was little coverage of this in the media, only a few sources including NBC's Hardball.com, the Los Angeles Times and a few local newspapers which ran stories largely innacurate and incomplete. Which makes us wonder if people really care or are burned out on the subject of #performing enhancing drugs (#PEDs) and drug testing in baseball.
News sources like the Los Angeles Times report general player happiness with the new plan, of which the main feature considered by most is the added 30 game suspension (from 50 games to 30 games) for a first conviction.The problem is that if the tests are lacking it doesn't matter how many days the suspension; players will not be caught if these tests cannot detect the designer drugs (like the most popular one for testosterone) players have been using of late which are said to be undetectable to current MLB drug tests. There was a reported upgrade in the test for #HGH (#human growth hormone), as only the Hardball article even bothered to consider, but nothing to address the testosterone, which besides being undetectable is also said to be gone from ones system within hours after use. On top of that the test for testosterone was noted to be given as little as once to each player once during the entire season, last year, and we see nothing changed there.
Note that were were ZERO suspensions last year on the major league level after only 5 the previous year(two against the San Francisco Giants players). Baseball Commissioner Selig and MLB will tell you that this is because baseball is cleaner now, but we see it as because baseball testing has still not caught up to the players' designer drugs, particularly the testosterone. The man perhaps most knowledgeable of PEDs and who went to jail for dispensing them himself, has admitted, himself that baseball has lagged behind and even suggested the appropriate test for testosterone. To our knowledge, still nothing as been done.As a result you see World Series in recent years being affected by players likely using PEDs. San Francisco, Detroit and Boston all likely benefitted from drug use; one player, Jhonny Peralta was allowed back for the playoffs with Detroit after a mid season drug suspension, only to .417 in the playoffs, perhaps single-handedly knocking out the Oakland A's from the playoffs. Note also players well into the latter stages of their careers recently getting huge contracts based on stats likely inflated by drug use, in our opinion (and should be anyone's opinion when one looks at the unlikely stats ala Barry Bonds achieving sudden late career success. Then there are the younger players, like Peralta, who don't have track records to compare.
In reacting to the new drug laws , players interviewed , such as Manager Bob Melvin and Jed Lowrie of the Oakland As, seemed to express positive reactions, noting , again, the lengthened suspension. No comment from the San Francisco Giants. Certainly players who are still using testosterone will be happy, as they will not have to worry about 80 games or 50 games since they will likely never be found out.
According to the article in Hardball.com, 'The enhanced testing procedures
The number of in-season random urine collections will more than
double beginning in the 2014 season, from 1,400 total tests to to 3,200;
Blood collections for hGH detection will increase to 400 random
collections per year, in addition to the 1,200 mandatory collections
conducted during Spring Training;
Carbon Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry tests will be randomly
performed on at least one specimen from every player. Basically, this is
an enhanced analysis of blood samples which are considered more
effective in detecting hGH in blood and are tests endorsed by the World
Anti-Doping Agency.
The enhanced punishment
A first-time violation of the Joint Drug Program will now result in
an unpaid 80-game suspension, increased from 50 games. A player’s
second violation will result in an unpaid 162-game suspension, increased
from 100 games. A third violation will result in a permanent
suspension from Baseball.
A suspension of 162 games will result in 183 days worth of pay
docking, to account for the fact that players are paid baed on a 183-day
schedule as opposed to being paid per game. This was implemented in
reaction to Alex Rodriguez still receiving some pay this year despite a
162-game ban.
Every Player whose suspension for a performance-enhancing substance
is upheld will be subject to six additional unannounced urine
collections, and three additional unannounced blood collections, during
every subsequent year of his entire career.
MORE: To read the full summary of the MLB-MLBPA joint drug program modifications, click here'
The hardball article goes on:
'There are also some advantages to players under the new system.
Specifically, if a player tests positive, he can argue to an arbitrator
that his use of PEDs was not intended to enhance performance. This
changes things from the “zero tolerance” policy which previously existed
and under which someone faced first-time discipline even if their PED
use was accidental.
Many anti-doping experts already viewed Major League Baseball as
having the toughest drug testing regime in all of U.S. team sports. This
only increases baseball’s lead in this regard. It does, however, present some reasons for concern. As we at HBT argued this morning,
the playoff ban for those players who tested positive and have already
served their entire suspensions seems somewhat draconian and will result
in harsher penalties for players on winning teams than those on losing
teams. It also punishes innocent players on playoff teams in ways the
previous system did not before. Moreover, merely adding games to first
and second offenses may make everyone feel like the system is tougher,
but it must not be assumed that the same basic incentive to cheat — if a
player can get away with it, it could mean millions of dollars — will
always persist. We execute murderers yet murder still occurs.'
HGH, #steroids, Drug Testing, #PEDs, peds, testosterone, MLB, baseball drug testing, Human Growth Hormone, Drug Testing, Biogenesis, New York Yankees, Alex Rodrigues, san francisco giants,
BASEBALL IS BACK - GET 'SOLD OUT' GIANTS TICKETS only $10
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INSTANT REPLAY BIG NEWS Baseball season is back. The big news this season will be the instant replay that will finally make it into this last bastion of major league sports after being a big part of football for many years . Teams awill be given one option per game to challenge umpire calls. If they get the call reversed in a team's favor, they are allowed a second such challenge.
NO CHANGES IN DRUG TESTING*
The 'bad news' for baseball purists is that there was no tightening of baseball's PED testing
for the new season. As last year, testing is given as little as one time during a season.
With designer drugs' ability to leave the system quickly and no new advanced tests,
players using such PEDs will likely continue to skate free and rack up big numbers -
while pulling down escalating salaries.(*The day after this writing MLB did make changes to baseball drug testing and penalties for convictions, however, from our understanding these new modifications don't amount to a hill of beans.See updated blog, above
To the best of our knowledge no players were suspended from MLB last season,
after five were suspended the prior season including two San Francisco Giants
Commissioner's office will point to this as evidence that baseball has cleaned up,
but, in fact, nothing in the drug testing has changed - and we know from the prior
year when the few players WERE caught by simply being stupid and not following
'the plan.' Former steroid lord Victor Conte calls those players ' dumb and dumber
for not getting away with such a beatable test. The Biogenesis fiasco in Miami was not
a matter of players being caught by drug testing but the commissioner's office paying off
a disgruntled employee of Tony Bosch - thereby getting Bosch to name names.
There were some 20 players there who passed baseball's tests in 2012 so we imagine at
probably a lot more around the country who continue to use. Just look at the world series
teams the last three years and you will note aberrations in players numbers - eg older players
suddenly raising numbers after down years. We can name names but we won't at this time.
We've been over this many times in these pages.
Much like the world at large, living in an unreal universe of genetically modified food and
supplents we put into our bodies , we approach a time when our lives will be fully artificially run by comp uters-robots-drones.Why should people care about some drugs in the system. Performs lip synch to computer-refined vocal tracks. Why not ball players get a little help, too?
PLAYERS SALARIES THROUGH THE ROOF
Players are now signing 10 year contracts into their 30s for tens of millions of dollars. Take the most
recent one, Miguel Cabrera of Detroit, signing for just under $300 million for 10 years.
He'll be 42 at the end of that contract and likely in a figurehead position at that point just to fill
out his contract , long after the body gave out. But, who's to say that a little 'help' might keep a
player going a few extra years. It worked for Barry Bonds, who played to age 42 with some of
his best years at the end. That's why the players take the drugs - to extend their playing day (with
greater performance) . Perhaps MLB is all too aware of this and thereby teams are willing
to sign players to longer contracts knowing the 'effectiveness' of such PEDs in not only
improving player performances but extending careers. (But then, there are those players who
suddenly break down as we've seen this season with the Giants and other teams... Not to say it's cause and effect,
'NO NAME' A's May Be Stronger Than Higher-Salaried Giants
No longer does money necessarily buy success. Witness last year's Yankees not finishing the playoffs- or the Dodgers for that matter, getting cut down two rungs below the finals, Then
you have a low-salaried team like Oakland, finally playing up to it's 'Money Ball'
reputation, nearly going all the way while their cross-Bay rivals, the San Francisco Giants-
it's team salary $100 million higher than the A's - not even making the playoffs. Perhaps
Giant 'strategy' of over-paying and keeping players too long is taking it's toll now, as well
as, perhaps , the affects of aging and so-called- magic coming off the bloom.
san francisco giants, oakland a's, san francisco giants schedule ,san francisco 49ers, san francisco giants tickets oakland athletics, san francisco giants schedule, 2014 san francisco giants, stadium,Baseball, 2014, instant replay, #PEDs, drugs in baseball, #steroids,San Francisco Giants news, rumors ,san-francisco-giants The latest San Francisco Giants news, trade rumors, scores, live coverage, free agent updates, power rankings, mock drafts BASEBALL IS BACK - GET 'SOLD OUT' GIANTS TICKETS only $10
ALEX RODRIGUEZ FINALLY GETS HIS DAY IN COURT - ON TV's 60 MINUTES Alex Rodriquez never did get the trial he probably deserved. So, his case went before TV's 60 Minutes Sunday night, January 12. Rodriquez has sued the Commissioner of baseball calling his suspension of 211 games (later reduced a still whopping 162) 'a witchhunt.' When Selig is questioned by 60 Minutes whether Rodriquez is being 'singled out' Selig simply replies that Rodriquez'actions were 'beyond comprehension,' without giving specifics. Well, there certainly was no trial and not a whole lot of justice as we could see it. Now, mind you, we're not defending Rodriquez purported use of PEDs, by any teams; in fact, we're vehemently against their use , which we feel has been the ruination of baseball today.
It is our belief that Commissioner Selig, who appears to be a very nice man, personally, never was able to control performance enhancing drugs in baseball. The problem has gone on probably as long as Selig has been commissioner -almost two decades- and doesn't seem to have improved, though he tells us that he is now proud to have 'the strictest drug policy in all major sports.' As far as singling people out, others, such as Barry Bonds, have tried to obstruct justice. In fact Bonds was even convicted in his court case NOT for using steroids but for OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE. Others like Rafael Palmeiro lied under oath during the Mitchell Hearings. As for Rodriquez, guilty or not guilty as he may be of steroid use there were no court hearings of which we know. If the man wants to appeal that group (Biogenesis) conviction, he should be allowed a fair trial. With the commissioner's reign coming to an end he no doubt wanted to finally put an end to what has ruined baseball in the eyes of many, including our own. He thought he could pick on one man, Rodriquez, and scare off everyone else. By so doing, Rodriquez has had to ratchet up his case and say some of things that probably should have been saved for the court room. What's had to come out in the media, instead, has probably infuriated Selig, but it's his own fault for the willy nilly way he has handled PEDs in baseball. Sure, there's a good chance that Rodriquez used steroids but just because he's the 'golden boy' big name of the 20 or so Florida lab cases, he shouldn't\ have been singled out with a stiffer penalty (players normally get 50 games for one PED infraction and 100 for two). Rodriquez, to our knowledge, has not been personally convicted of PED usage. He was just one of many whose name was turned over by the Biogenesis lab in Florida, after its owner , Tony Bosch, was ratted on by a disgruntled employee. As Bosch feared for his life he came forward to major league baseball. There was no court case for Bosch, either. He could be lying for all we know. Selig has approached the whole matter in a very unscientific manner. As the lawyer we believe him to be, he should know better, innocence until proven guilty And, as far as Selig being proud to have the 'best drug testing' in baseball, there wasn't a single PED conviction at the major league lever this past season, to our knowledge. Don't tell us , Mr Selig , that the problem is cleaned up, that nobody is still using. Your most recently updated drug policy barely called for a single testing during the regular season (2013) after testing was only given during the preseason during prior years - this after a decade and dozens of PED convictions, including the Mitchell report findings (At least the government did a formal hearing, from which little was done by MLB, thereafter, to change things , to our knowledge. What would stop players from continuing to use PEDs - especially the new designer, now undetectable ones - when they knew they were unlikely to be tested more than once during the season-and normally with warning (the latest testosterone drug can be out of one's system and undetectable within hours)? The main reason we make an issue of the Rodriquez-Selig case is that it brings to a head what's been going on for years, mishandling of drugs in baseball to the ruination of the game. Sure, some newer fans, especially, have only grown up to see baseball played one way, on steroids. But many of us vintage fans remember when the Golden Era of baseball when games were played on a level playing field. Living in the Bay Area and having to see an otherwise mediocre San Francisco Giants team, sans PEDS, steal two World Series in three years with THREE CONVICTED PLAYERS doing enough on their own to put the Giants over the top has been difficult. (At least we had a team across the Bay, in Oakland, with only one KNOWN user.) ALEX RODRIGUEZGETS HIS TRIAL ON TV's 60 MINUTES
He had never pitched a shutout before , let alone a complete game. He had only won 10 games and lost 20 in a journeyman 10 year career. Now at an age when pitchers with his history are already out of the game or close to it,Yasmeiro Petitis suddenly pitching better than all the other Giant starting pitchers - and most in baseball for that matter.
So, he didn't quite get the perfect game September 6, coming just one hit away, the Giants fans are ecstatic, of course. But before we get too excited, one has to question this picture.
When the Giants top starters Bumgardner, Cain, Linsecum haven't come this nearly close to a perfect game how the heck can an over the hill nobody do it. Think Brady Anderson suddenly nitting 40 homers onoe year after never hitting more than 10 before or after.
In three years with Arizona, before coming to the Giants he had over a 5. ERA with less than a strikeout per inning. After leaving baseball for two years he comes to the Giants at age 30 and cuts his ERA nearly in half and more than a strikeout per inning. He's never been known as a velocity pitcher yet his velocity, if anything has gone up a little since 2009 instead of beginning to drop as it usually does for pitchers around age 30
A player just doesn't cut his lifetime ERA in half at an advanced age over a prolonged period. We saw the same thing happen with Scutaro last year, raising his average nearly 100 points the second half of the season after coming to the Giants from Colorado. Granted it's been only three games so far with the Giants but Petit looks like , if anything, he's improving his numbers and the fact that the Diamond backs showed no improvement but hit worse against him the second time around makes one further ask questions.
-Its not like the Diamondbacks had never seen him before the Sept 6 one hitter...the Diamondbacks had a good look at him last week already.
- You've got the perfect candidate for using PEDs.. the 30 year old pitcher at the crossroads of either retiring or going for it with PEDs. At least one minor league Giants coach is known to even have suggested to such action to a player in a similar career situation.
- Latin players, particularly those from Venezuela have been the big culprits in the recent PED busts, with another Venezuelan and Giant, Melky Cabrera , leading the pack lastyear.com.com\
We've seen Venezuelan pitchers for the Giants such as Machi and _____ improve their numbers once with the Giants, but not like what we've seen from Petit in the last three games since coming up to the Big Leagues. It's reminiscent of Chad 'the incident' Gaudin who suddenly became the no. 2 most successful starter after coming up midseason. He may not be from Venezuela but we have questions about him, too, and not just his penchant for visiting young women on gurneys in hospitals.
We're afraid It's the same old Giants story, that of bringing in players, mostly Latin, er Venezuelans, in recent years - players who've done virtually nothing to distinguish themselves but once with the Giants they almost always hit 30-50 points higher than their career average - or the last team they came from. I know we're not supposed to talk this way but by now it's our strong belief that GM Sabean purposely goes after these rejects in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle, or , more likely something else in a bottle and syringe, perhaps. It's happened year after year in the lax state of baseball testing , which, by the way, hasn't caught a single player all year; baseball had to go after Biogenesis to save face since its own testing is well behind the curve of designer PEDs that go undetectable to their tests. You can chalk up some of the past to lack of good judgement and the influence of Bonds around them - decent guys like Aurilia, Matt Williams, Santiago . Then there were Mendoza guys like Marvin Bernard who were still able to raise their numbers into the respectable range. There was more innocense back then, except for Bonds . Today, players should no better and we cant feel sorry for them .
We don't know where Petit is getting his stuff but it would seem there's plenty to go around once players land on the Giants. San Francisco is, after all, the BALCO and BONDS capital where it all really began in the most liberal city in America where the smell of canabis in the stands was rampant during their World Series home games. You can throw in local guys McGwire and Conseco, too , yet that was from a slighty earlier, not so much designer drug era. If the Giants didn't have such a consistent history, year after year , of having convicted PED users (not to mention the ones not caught) we wouldn't be as quick to jump on this. Just to many dots connected. Remember, it took almost 10 years before a couple of brave reporters broke the Bonds story
- And, just an afterthought or sidelight that we thought it rather bizarre that the Giants would interview Petit - in Spanish , no less (Petit doesn't speak English after playing American basebally nearly 10 years) over the PA system after the game. If it had been no hitter or perfect game
it might be understandable but one there's a big difference between a one hitter and perfect game - agt least in status.
