Sources: Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003

[Superman]

Ok. I think the Yankees would be good for baseball if there were a more level playing field. Since there isn't, I say they're not.

Going back to what I initially said:

Baseball really does need a salary cap, but the fact is that the sport is more compelling because of the Yankees. And if they were winning every year as a result of their spending, there would have already been some changes made. (The grumblings have become louder in the past two seasons; the Mets GM openly criticized the Yankees spending a few weeks ago.)

I understand your point. I don't think MLB (in particular, the owners' association) will allow this free spending by the Yankees to continue. There's already been complaints about it from other teams, much louder this season than any year past. I mean, we always hear fans and radio show hosts complain about it, but I think this offseason is the first time I can remember an official from another team criticizing them for spending so much.

And by the way, I'm an Angels fan, so I'm as upset about the Yankees spending as anyone else is, considering the way they burned us down to get Teixeira. But it's up to MLB and the owners to do something about it.

 

[Superman]

Lets see what happens when the other 104 names are released and who they are.

Barry Bonds home run chase would have been much greater if roids weren't over his head.

The Mitchel report also wasn't from a drug test. It was based off testimony of people.

This testing happened over five years ago. The names were supposed to be sealed, the testing was to be anonymous. Baseball promised it would be (and might be facing a lawsuit from Rodriguez). I'm skeptical that we'll see the other 104 names released.

And we've known for years that there were 104 players who tested positive. It's not talked about all that much.

The Mitchell report was the biggest inquisition to date into the issue of illegal PEDs in baseball, and it really doesn't come up very often anymore. It was only released a year ago, and it's already relegated to the past tense.

The fact that Barry Bonds is largely considered an insufferable jerk has something to do with the way people viewed his home run chase also. It probably would have been better had it not happened under the shadow of these steroid allegations. But, then again, had Bonds not taken steroids, would the chase have even happened? His record breaking home run ball sold for $750k. The most viewed World Series game in the last seven years was Game 7 of the 2002 Series, Angels vs. Giants. That's the series that got me hooked.

The Steroid Era has damaged Baseball's credibility, but the players who owe their careers to illegal PEDs saved a dying league and introduced a lot of young fans (like myself) to the game. I know they lost a lot of purists in the process, but without Bonds, McGwire and Sosa (and Griffey, respects), baseball would be a lot worse off than it is right now.

 

[Section 101]

This testing happened over five years ago. The names were supposed to be sealed, the testing was to be anonymous. Baseball promised it would be (and might be facing a lawsuit from Rodriguez). I'm skeptical that we'll see the other 104 names released.

And we've known for years that there were 104 players who tested positive. It's not talked about all that much.

You realize the Feds have the test results now?

They came in after the balco trial with a warrant for those that testified to see if they were lying under oath. So they ended up taking all the tests. If they use them as evidence it will go public.

 

[kingsnation]

“I didn’t think they were steroids,” the New York Yankees star said. Later, he admitted, “I knew we weren’t taking Tic Tacs.”

Making his second public attempt to explain a 2003 positive drug test while with Texas, baseball’s highest-paid player described a clumsy scheme in which a cousin persuaded him to use “boli”—a substance he said the cousin obtained without a prescription and without consulting doctors or trainers. Rodriguez said the cousin, whom he wouldn’t identify, told him it would cause a “dramatic energy boost.”

Cousin? Tic Tacs?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-yankees-rodriguez&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

[VF21]

I watched the whole press conference. If more athletes at least admitted their mistakes and were as open as A-Rod, this might all end up being a step back in the right direction for MLB.

 

[kingsnation]

I watched the whole press conference. If more athletes at least admitted their mistakes and were as open as A-Rod, this might all end up being a step back in the right direction for MLB.

True, so you believe him completely then? Was 2003 the last time??

 

[VF21]

I think he was an honest as he could possibly be and was forthright in his responses. I like that he didn't name his cousin and I like that he tried to answer every question as long as it was relevant. Do I believe him completely? It's not something I've thought about.

 

[Spike]

Rut Roh...

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- According to the official in charge of the agency which regulates pharmaceutical drugs in the Dominican Republic, Primobolan was not available for legal purchase, over-the-counter or with a prescription in his country between 2001 and 2003.

Dr. Pia Veras, who oversees the regulatory agency, told ESPNdeportes.com that Primobolan is known as "boli" in the streets of Dominican Republic, and was not legal for purchase during the aforementioned years.

"What Alex Rodriguez stated at the press conference [in Tampa] doesn't make sense," Veras said. "It is important for us to clarify that such substance has not been registered and is not currently registered for legal sale in Dominican pharmacies -- not now and the same applies for the years 2001 to 2003."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3920425

Seems like someone isn't quite telling the truth...so much for that confession.

 

[SLAB]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3921929

Banned trainer worked with A-Rod.??

Presinal's interview came before the New York Daily News on Friday reported that Rodriguez, the New York Yankees' MVP third baseman, and Presinal have had a longstanding relationship and that Presinal accompanied Rodriguez for the entire 2007 season. According to the Daily News' sources, Presinal stayed in the same hotels as A-Rod but in a separate room with the "cousin" A-Rod said was his source for steroids during his years as a Texas Ranger.

 

[kingsnation]

***A-Rod Update***

Sources: A-Rod to miss 10 weeks after hip surgery

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will have surgery to remove a cyst from his right hip and will be out 10 weeks, Rodriguez's brother told ESPNdeportes.com on Thursday.

Joe Dunand, Alex Rodriguez's older brother, told Enrique Rojas of ESPNdeportes.com during a phone interview that immediate surgery was recommended, and that rehabilitation would take about 10 weeks.

A source close to the situation told ESPNdeportes.com that the surgery is scheduled for Monday in Colorado.

There has been no confirmation from the Yankees regarding the scheduled surgery.

 

[JSin]

no surprise.

I feel like such an old fart, but I LOVED baseball back when 30 home runs in a season was a lot.... I mean for first basemen and left fielders, not shortstops and second basemen. I get really depressed over the big strike and subsequent 'roid era - it is actually heartbreaking to me.

nothing means nothing in baseball since all the juicing started. sad.

Right... because before the first person got caught with steroids in baseball nobody cheated ever... comical.

 

[VF21]

I think you totally missed the point he was trying to make. It's not about nobody cheating ever...it's about cheating becoming so widespread and so accepted that people don't see anything wrong with it...

It's fine if you don't agree but I don't think there's a need to resort to snarky comments about it...

Nice to see you around, BTW.

 

[JSin]

I think you totally missed the point he was trying to make. It's not about nobody cheating ever...it's about cheating becoming so widespread and so accepted that people don't see anything wrong with it...

It's fine if you don't agree but I don't think there's a need to resort to snarky comments about it...

Nice to see you around, BTW.

It's not that it's accepted, it just isn't baseball apocolypse. If someone tests positive for a banned substance they should be banned, period, I don't know anyone who would disagree with that. But claiming that baseball isn't the same or it was better in the old days is foolish. Players have ALWAYS tried to cheat, and have always taken advantage of unfair situations. Babe Ruth batted against a segregated part of the population, and had ground rule doubles counted as HR since there was no ground rule double rule, and was no stranger to addictive substances. I'm sure speed/meth was heavily used by players not too long ago. Sports hasn't changed, just the media has, you know more now. So to act like the game is bad now is laughable, especially since its almost self-regulating since both players on offense and defense are gaining the same advantages.

 

[SLAB]

It's not that it's accepted, it just isn't baseball apocolypse. If someone tests positive for a banned substance they should be banned, period, I don't know anyone who would disagree with that. But claiming that baseball isn't the same or it was better in the old days is foolish. Players have ALWAYS tried to cheat, and have always taken advantage of unfair situations. Babe Ruth batted against a segregated part of the population, and had ground rule doubles counted as HR since there was no ground rule double rule, and was no stranger to addictive substances. I'm sure speed/meth was heavily used by players not too long ago. Sports hasn't changed, just the media has, you know more now. So to act like the game is bad now is laughable, especially since its almost self-regulating since both players on offense and defense are gaining the same advantages.

Great post.
I agree 1000%