Look, I’d love to take the man at his word. I’d love to say his name appearing on the list of PED users was the result of a foolish mistake. And I’d love to say that lovable David Ortiz is believable in his claims that he never used steroids.

But I can’t believe him. Can’t do it. Can’t do it.

To believe what David Ortiz said at Saturday’s press conference is not only naïve, but it’s borderline stupid. Sure, what he said is completely plausible. But it’s completely plausible that what he said is nothing but a fabricated story.

In case you missed it, about a week and a half ago, the New York Times reported that David Ortiz was on the list of baseball players found to have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Then this past Saturday, he sat down in front of the media, claimed he has never taken or bought steroids and said that he probably just took some over the counter drug that wasn’t banned back in 2003.

Well, I would love to believe that, but unfortunately not only have I heard that before, but also it’s coming a week later than I would have liked to have heard that.

First, Ortiz’s claim that he never took steroids is completely irrelevant. He could have taken another PED and that would be just as bad as having used steroids. Him even specifically referring to his non-steroid use seems disingenuous to me, because both Ortiz and I know that steroids are not the only thing that can wrongfully improve one’s performance.

That aside, how can I believe that Ortiz didn’t purposefully take PEDs when it took him over a week to come out say just that?

When he had the opportunity to face the situation head on, he deflected questions and said that he would research the situation and then get back to the media. But if he really was not guilty of any wrongdoing, then why didn’t he say right then that he never took PEDs? Why couldn’t he bring himself to say it when the situation first arose?

Was it because he was unsure of what he tested for and didn’t want to come out fighting this thing only to find out he was in a lose-lose situation?

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The reason Ortiz didn’t immediately take on questions from the media was because he needed time to develop a full-blown and legitimate excuse. If he had said something right away, he could have possibly backed himself into a corner that he couldn’t fight his way out of.

However, by taking his time, and gathering all of the facts, Ortiz came out with a believable excuse, the support of his industry, and no one can outright call him a liar. Afterall, it is possible that he took some over-the-counter drug that triggered a positive test, and who am I to say that is not what happened?

Well, I don’t know who you consider to me be, but I’m say it. Big Pai is a lying! And I don’t believe his nicely woven fabrication. If he wanted me to believe then he should have came out Roger Clemens style and yelled to the high heavens that none of this was true from the beginning. He should have admitted that he took an over-the-counter drug from the get. And he should have never acted all aloof about the situation, as if he was never told that he was on the 2003 list.

But he did none of those things. Instead, everything he did last week when confronted with the New York Times report was in direct contrast of what someone who simply made a mistake should have or would have done.

I’d love to believe David Ortiz is simply the victim of his own stupidity, but to believe that, I’d have to become of victim of mine.

The post "Do I Believe David Ortiz?…Hell Naw!" was originally published at TSW.

Of course David Ortiz, aka “Big Papi”, used performance-enhancing drugs. If you were surprised by this, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you.

In case you haven’t heard, David Ortiz tested positive for using some sort of performance enhancing drug on the league’s PED “survey” during the spring of 2003. Ortiz’s name was leaked to the New York Times yesterday from a list that possibly includes as many as 100 players who also tested positive for some sort of PED in 2003. Other notable players whose names have been leaked from this list include Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Jason Grimsley and the already known user, Manny Ramirez.

There was no noticeable weight change. We didn’t see David Ortiz’s head get any bigger. And we certainly never had any reason to believe that Ortiz was associated with the likes of BALCO, Radomski or McNamee.

But like I have said many times before: the proof is in the numbers.

David Ortiz didn’t just go from being an okay player to being a really good player. He went from being a decent baseball player, to testing positive for PEDs, to becoming one of the top 3 or 4 power-hitters over a 5-year span. He went from hitting 58 homeruns from 1997 to 2002, to hitting 244 homerun from 2003 through yesterday. Those 244 homeruns in the last 6.5 years are 4 times more than the number of homeruns he hit in the 5 years prior. At bat for at bat, he went from hitting a homerun every 25 at bats from ’97 to 2002, to hitting a homerun every 14 at bats since 2003, when he joined the Boston Red Sox and tested positive for PED use.

And the fact that Ortiz tested positive for PEDs in 2003 doesn’t mean that was the first season he started using them. Who knows when he began his PED regiment? Could it have been in 2001, when his homeruns went from a homerun every 42 at-bats in 2000 to a homerun every 17 at-bats in 2001? Or maybe he started in 2002, when his batting average went up 38 points, his slugging percentage went up 25 points, and he had the highest OPS of his career-to-date.

Then again, we can’t point to any specific date, because Ortiz has yet to tell us the truth or add anything to the story. He denied commenting on the situation after his game with the Red Sox yesterday, although he did claim that his positive test was breaking news to him, despite the fact that the Mitchell Report explicitly states that all baseball players who tested positive for PEDs during the 2003 survey were notified of their failed test.

Sounds like somebody is just burying himself deeper.

And now, in my own way of adding insult to injury, are we to be certain that Ortiz isn’t on something right now? Maybe that kind of question and that type of speculation on my part doesn’t hold up to the strictest of journalistic ethics, but I’m just using common sense here. If a guy has tested positive for PEDs before in the past, has lied and/or deceived the public about his own use, has been hypocritical in his own comments about PED use, and may have just lied to the public yesterday, can we not fairly suspect him of PED use right now?

One of the byproducts of using some PEDs is that once you stop you immediately fall off a cliff in terms of your production—especially if your entire level of performance was a result of using PEDs. This is why questions immediately arose at the beginning of this year when Ortiz’s bat couldn’t get the ball out of the yard for about the first 2 or 3 months of the season. Speculation arose, fairly or not, as to whether his drop-off in production was the result of “cycling off.”

Certainly, with this latest revelation against Ortiz, people have good reason to continue their speculation, if you can even call it that now that he has been outted as a previous PED user. And with his sudden “return to form” over the past month or so, is not fair to speculate that a known PED user may have gone back on “the juice” to get rid of the ridicule and derision he has faced as a result of underperforming?

I think it’s fair. It may not be fair to be publicly suspicious of someone who hasn’t shown up on this PED list, but for someone who has already been found guilty, I don’t see any lines of integrity being crossed.

In fact, the only person who will lose integrity will be Ortiz if he doesn’t start to face the music and be more forthcoming about his PED use. Sure, fans will never look at him the same way they looked at him before, but for a guy who has meant so much to the community of Boston, and maybe the entire nation, its time he own up, be a man, and say he was wrong.

I don’t want an apology, an explanation or a future promise. Just say you were wrong for your deceit, your hypocrisy, and the millions of dollars you collected under false pretenses, and then go back to playing baseball.

Of course, Ortiz doesn’t have to admit anything, especially not because I, the media or the fans say so. Besides, from my own point of view, his paucity of ownership couldn’t get to think any less of him.

The post "David Ortiz Linked to using Performance Enhancing Drugs" was originally published at TSW.

Sammy Sosa lied to you.

He lied to me. He lied to baseball. And he lied to the general public. He went before Congress and pleaded ignorance to the whole situation, and he just suggested last week that he was innocent of any accusations of performance-enhancing drugs.

It has now been reported that Sammy Sosa tested positive for steroids in 2003. It’s not as if you or anyone else is surprised by that. The numbers that Sosa posted after most people believe he began to use steroids is ridiculous. I mean, he is the only player in the history of baseball to top the 60-home run mark on three different occasions. And let’s face it, Sosa never demonstrated that kind of potential early on in his career when his slugging percentage was below .500 from ages 20 to 24.

So with reports being as they are, Sosa has been proven a liar. His efforts 2 weeks ago to speak out against PED claims against him now get reserved in the Rafael Palmero “Oh, really?” category, as Sosa has now been exposed beyond belief.

His testimony before Congress where said he never used any illegal drugs is laughable, even if it may have been technically true.

And the efforts of a guy that Chicago Cubs fans loved for his effort, his sprinting out to right field, and his signature celebrations, which included his patented hop after his fraudulent homeruns and his kiss-point-kiss gestures, are now buried underneath the lies, the cheating and exploits of one of the men who was a lynchpin for steroids use in baseball.

The post "Sammy Sosa Positive Steroid Test Just Continues to Bury His Legacy" was originally published at TSW.

This is it. New York fans have been waiting for this Alex Rodriguez. This A-Rod doesn’t give a damn about the tabloids, what people are saying about him or the pressure of the media. Nah, this A-Rod is about getting his business done, giving his all on the baseball field, and telling everybody to F-off when he leaves the locker room.

You have to respect a man, who for the last 2 years, has been ridiculed about his romantic acquaintances and then shows up to Yankee Stadium, fresh off a steroids bust, with Kate Hudson as his latest “showmance.” I mean, that takes balls. A-Rod’s PR people had to be begging him not to get involved with any high-profile women at this point in his life. Nevertheless, the new A-Rod said to hell with it and started dating the girl who literally starred in “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”.

However, truth be damned, that doesn’t matter to A-Rod—or at least it doesn’t appear to matter to him. The Yankees slugger, and newfound cheat, has hit 7 homeruns in just 15 games. At that pace, he will break his personal homerun record of 57 homeruns, and he’s already missed 26 games this season.

Makes you wonder why he ever went on steroids, huh?

Oh, well. A-Rod doesn’t care what you wondering anymore. He’s too busy doing his thing: saving the Yankees’ season.

That’s right. A-Rod, or Boy-wonder, is coming up clutch in his own post-steroid era. Rodriguez already has a walk-off homerun and a 9th inning, game-tying homerun this season. The man’s late-inning hitting problems appear to be a thing of the past, and as a result, he has the Yankees on their best streak of the season, winning games like it’s nobody’s business.

If the Yankees keep winning, and as long as A-Rod stays healthy and plays moderately well, Yankees fans will have to look back on this season and point to A-Rod’s return as the reason for the team’s success in 2009. Before him, they were just a .500 team with their biggest everyday acquisition sucking it up like Hoover since the season began. Now with A-Rod in the line up, the Yankees have won 9 of their last 10 games, are in the thick of the AL East race with Toronto and Boston, and Mark Texeira is hitting everything thrown his way with A-Rod batting behind him.

So say what you will Yankees’ fans, but the man you love to hate, who many of you wanted traded after the steroids revelations, is currently in the process of saving your team’s season. And if this new A-Rod manages to take your team to the playoffs and continues to come up clutch like this, he may very well become the cornerstone of this franchise for years to come—steroids allegations be damned.

The post "Suddenly Clutch Alex Rodriguez is Saving the Yankees Season" was originally published at TSW.

How fickle are fans of baseball?

I listen to sports talk radio, especially the New York shows, so I know what kind of venom was spewed in Alex Rodriguez’s direction after he was outted as a steroid user. But now that he has jacked a couple of homeruns in front of the Yankee faithful, the venom has quickly turned into Love Potion #9.

This past Saturday, the New York Yankees played at home, and Alex Rodriguez was booed early in the game. However, upon hitting the game-winning, walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 11th inning, the flip-flopping crowd of 45,455 cheered A-Rod as he trotted around the bases after giving the Yankees a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Of course, I’m not surprised by this at all. While A-Rod may be a one-time steroid user, he’s the Yankees’ steroid user, and obviously the fans are going to love him when it benefits them to do so.

But just because it’s predictable doesn’t make it okay.

What kind of fandom is that? Why boo your man when he is down, only to get on his back when he’s doing well? That’s what you call a fair-weather fan, and apparently, that’s the only type of fan there is in the sport of baseball.

Take Barry Bonds, for example. There is probably a library’s worth of books on his steroid use, yet Bay Area fans continue to cheer for him to this day, all because he broke records and built a stadium for them—mainly due to his use of performance-enhancing durgs.

Then there is Eric Gagne. You know, the guy who essentially got the consecutive saves record because he was probably using performance-enhancing drugs during his streak. He was awarded opportunity after opportunity, and his fans supported him, right up until he started to suck, then he was cast aside.

And peering into the future, how about everyone’s favorite not-so-idiot savant anymore, Manny Ramirez. If you think for one second that he won’t be immediately cheered after he hits his first homerun into Manny-wood after his 50-game suspension, then you’re just kidding yourself.

Of course, I’m sure I can’t limit this to baseball fans. There have been many NFL players who have violated the league’s drug-policy, who have gone on to have fruitful careers and are beloved by their teams fans.

But why are fans like this? Why are they so outraged by players steroid use, but so forgetful when players try to win their favor with homeruns and sacks?

I don’t understand it. Me personally, I’m not really as outraged by steroid use, so I would never boo a player for having done them. Thus, I don’t understand the dichotomy myself. However, if there is anyone out there who does, please let me know.

The post "Why are baseball fans so fickle?" was originally published at TSW.

There is no more being surprised.

Mark McGwire. Sammy Sosa. Barry Bonds. Roger Clemens. Alex Rodriguez. And now, Manny Ramirez. Even if Babe Ruth himself comes back from the grave and admits to using performance-enhancing drugs, there is no one out there whose steroid use would surprise me.

A little journalistic prudence before I continue; not all of the players I mentioned above tested positive for steroids or any other performance-enhancing drug. That being said, they all have been linked to doing just that, and in the court of public opinion—and most importantly, my opinion—they all have cheated in some form or another (including Babe Ruth).

So what if it came out tomorrow that Albert Pujols or David Ortiz was using steroids? Two names that once upon a time were thought to have been exempt from this conversation. But with A-Rod’s recent outing, how can we neglect to suspect any and every slugger out there? And the fact that Pujols took it upon himself to say that we can trust in him, shouldn’t that make us even more suspicious. Afterall, we all heard Katie Couric ask A-Rod if he used steroids, and he adamantly said, “No.” She even asked A-Rod if he ever thought of or was tempted to use performance-enhancing drugs, and he said, “I’ve never felt overmatched on the baseball field. I’ve always been in a very strong, dominant position. And I felt that if I did my work as I’ve done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn’t have a problem competing at any level. So, no.”

The audacity of this guy!

Of course, anyone who would feel the need to tell the world that he has never been overmatched and that he has always been in a “dominant position,” is the very same type of person that would use steroids. No humble, self-effacing person with any sort of humility would ever utter the words A-Rod spewed out of his mouth. But someone with the goal of being the greatest ever and being loved by all, is the same type of person who has the audacity to sound overly brash and is probably so overly competitive, that he would use steroids.

That’s why, when Pujols comes out in a magazine and (for no apparent reason) says that we can trust in him, I have no choice but to take his brash statement as evidence that I probably can’t trust him.

With Manny Ramirez joining the Mt. Rushmore of the steroid era, that puts even more people into the category of possible users. Afterall, when we think of performance-enhancing drug users, we often think of the gladiator type bodies associated with McGwire, Bonds, Sosa and Alex Rodriguez. We don’t usually think of plain-bodied, bordering on pudgy, Manny Ramirez, who doesn’t exactly come across as the most chiseled left-fielder in the majors. But if even a stout Manny Ramirez was using performance-enhancing drugs, then why not suspect C.C. Sabathia or Ryan Howard?

I don’t mean to suggest that either one of them is cheating, but my point is that with so many people having been caught, and with Manny Ramirez proving you can use this stuff, be great, and still have a rather plain body-type, how we can not suspect everybody of being cheaters?

While I know that is unfair to the players who are great and didn’t and/or don’t cheat, but that’s just the way it is. This is the sport they chose to be a part of, and with all of the perks of being a professional baseball player, this is just one of the downsides they have to encounter. Because even though I’m sure not every single baseball player used performance-enhancing drugs, I refuse to be surprised ever again. Many people feel the same way I do, and until baseball figures out a way to assure its fans that these cheaters have been ousted, the sexiness and lure of its players will continue to dissipate—along with the sport of baseball itself.

The post "Steroid Users Won’t Surprise Me Anymore" was originally published at TSW.

Rick Reilly is obviously one of the more enlightened sports columnists out there. However, I think he’s a little delusional on this one.

In his latest piece for ESPN-the-Mag, he wrote a whimsical piece on taking all of the steroid-aided MVP awards away from their juiced-up winners and giving them to their rightful owners—the “clean” players who finished in 2nd or sometimes 3rd place.

However, in the piece, I don’t think Mr. Reilly lifted every cloud of suspicion. He ends up giving Frank Thomas the 1998 MVP award after taking it away from Mark McGwire. Now, while I certainly don’t think Thomas did steroids, can we really say with 100% certainty that he didn’t?

Reilly actually ends up giving Albert Pujols 3 more MVP awards, taking all 3 away from Barry Bonds. Now once again, I’m not accusing Pujols of being on ‘roids, but I can’t say that I would be surprised if he came up on that list of 103 players. That may not be fair to Pujols, but this is the boys’ club that he belongs to, and unfortunately for him, a lot of his club members are cheaters. Sometimes being guilty by association in the court of public opinion is just a cold, hard fact of life.

Lastly, Reilly only takes away one of Alex Rodriguez’s MVP awards. I guess he is making an unstated distinction between taking away MVP awards from steroid users and taking MVP awards from steroids users only when they are suspected of using steroids. And while I certainly don’t disagree with Reilly using the latter as justification for taking only 1 MVP award away from Rodriguez, that would have to mean that we believe that A-Rod only used steroids from 2001-2003 like he said. Not to say I don’t believe A-Rod, but who’s really credible in any of this?

Anyway, you can check out the piece at ESPN.com and look at his other strippings and re-awards. I think you will find this to be a very precarious piece.

The post "Rick Reilly: "I’m ready to give them to their rightful owners"" was originally published at TSW.

I love the Commissioner of baseball, Bud Selig.

Okay, so I’m lying. I really don’t like him—at least from a sports perspective. And for him to utter the following words, well it doesn’t help his case with me.

Commenting on the suggestion that he is to blame for the MLB’s steroid era, Bud Selig said, “I don’t want to hear [that I] turned a blind eye to this or [I] didn’t care about it. That annoys the you-know-what out of me. You bet I’m sensitive to the criticism. The reason I’m so frustrated is, if you look at our whole body of work, I think we’ve come farther than anyone ever dreamed possible. I honestly don’t know how anyone could have done more than we’ve already done.”

Oh really Commissioner Selig? You don’t know what more someone could have done?

How about putting an end to all of this from the beginning? Selig would have had to have been a fool not to have known that steroids were an issue following the great homerun race between McGwire and Sosa in 1998. He couldn’t have done anything to stop that particular season, but he could have done something to stop it the very next season.

Selig could have easily implemented one of the most vigorous steroids testing systems there is in 1999. And I don’t want to hear that the Players Association would not have allowed that.

Screw them!

Selig represents Major League Baseball! If the Players Association refused to take testing, then you have two options. One, you can make it very easily for players to partake in the baseball season without being a member of the union. Or if for some reason the players actually decided to act as one and strike with the union, then Selig could say to hell with them and dare them to go on strike for the 1999 season.

I don’t think any player would have been happy foregoing millions of dollars for an entire year. Especially those with newly implemented contracts. It would have been ludicrous for them to walk away from all of that money, and they wouldn’t have done it. Now granted, it would have been tragic if the players did walk away and for a second time in the 1990’s there would have been a baseball stoppage. But you know what, if Selig screamed to the high heavens that all of this was happening because the MLBPA was refusing to accept drug testing, I’m sure the problem would have eventually been resurrected.

But Selig did nothing to escalate the issue of steroids use when it was at its peak. He didn’t even remotely try to force the MLBPA’s hand. It took governmental intervention for drug testing to be implemented into baseball, and without Congressional help, who knows where we would be with this issue right now.

So Selig can play dumb if he wants to (and of course he wants to, afterall, he profited off this whole steroids fiasco as much as any ball player), but we all know the truth. There is plenty more he could have done.

No, I’m not blaming him for the steroids era. He didn’t stick the needles in anybody’s ass. But he sure didn’t try to put a halt to it. You don’t have to be a cook to break the egg, if you know what I mean…

The post "Oh Yes, Selig, You Could Have Done More!" was originally published at TSW.

All of this talk about Alex Rodriguez and the dozens of others that have been accused of using steroids is rather pointless. At the end of the day, all the conversation does is stir up a meaningless debate, which in turn adds yet another storyline to baseball games, which ultimately results in higher attendance numbers during the summer.

People don’t really care about steroids in the game going forward. Yes, they are always angry about what happened in the past because hindsight is 20/20. Nevertheless, if you ask somebody to question whether the homerun his or her favorite player just hit was the result of steroid use, no fan is willing to make the steroid issue that personal.

To be honest, my only interest in the whole steroids issue is the different ways the media goes about covering different players’ use.

So why is that?

Why doesn’t the fan care? Why will people fill up the stands despite seemingly having so much to be enraged about?

Reason #5:
Baseball is about a good time.
This really reiterates my point from before. Nobody goes to a baseball game to scold baseball players on respecting the game itself. They go to baseball games to have fun, drink, eat, and cheer their team on to victory. That’s what going to a baseball game is about. That is what watching a game on TV is about. I don’t turn on my TV at a specific time, to a specific channel to anger myself and take part in a lecture on why steroids doesn’t belong in the game of baseball. I tune in because I want to see baseball and my team, because that is what gives me pleasure. Sure, if my team is using steroids, it isn’t the greatest thing in the world, but the game is bigger than that, and that’s why I or any fan watches baseball games.

Reason #4:
Fans are just rooting for their teams.
Fans don’t care about individuals so much as they care about the jerseys those individuals are wearing. So unless you can tell a fan that all 20-something players on the roster are using ‘roids, then they have no reason to think twice about rooting for their team and cheering their players on. Yes, Yankees fans won’t like Alex Rodriguez for a game or two. However, the second he blast a homerun over the left field wall of the New Yankee Stadium to give their team a lead, they will cheer him on as if it was 2007 all over again.

Reason #3:
Numbers in baseball aren’t what they used to be.
The steroids issue is a disaster because it allowed people to break all kinds of records, and records and the numbers they represent are more important to the sport of baseball than they are to any other sport. However, they aren’t as important as they used to be. People of my age and my generation do not care about the numbers so much. So many of the records and numbers have been amassed or surpassed over the years—in part because of steroids—that the numbers have lost their luster. Thus, when some 50+ year old writer is crying about the sanctity of the number 755 because he saw that homerun, nobody under the age of 30 was even alive for that. Let’s face it, a new generation of fans is surfacing, and they don’t care about record numbers as much as the last generation did. There are so many more numbers that we have to worry about in our everyday lives that paying attention to who has the most doubles in the history of the game doesn’t really resonate with us anymore.

Reason #2:
Do we even really like these players?
In addition, while this generation is taking a step back from numbers, perhaps we’re taking a step back from the players as well. Sure, there’s more adoration for them because they are highly marketed, thrown in the faces of fans and make ridiculous amounts of money. However, they are not icons anymore. I mean, you can’t tell me that there is a player in the Major Leagues today that even resembles half of what a Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron meant to fans in previous generations. Today’s players are just manufactured celebrities who occasionally make promotional appearances and for the most part hide in anonymity whenever they aren’t on a baseball field. As a result, fans feelings aren’t hurt the same way when an attention-driven A-Rod test positive for steroids, and thus the fallout for the game of baseball isn’t all the bad.

Reason #1:
Like with most issues in sports, none of it really matters.
The #1 reason fans don’t care about steroids in baseball enough to let it effect their participation in the game is because at the end of the day, this is just another sports controversy.

Ultimately, this conversation is no different from Jordan vs. Bird, whether or not to institute instant replay, or arguing about whether or not Santonio Holmes got his second foot down on that game-winning catch in the Superbowl. The fact is, none of it really matters. None of that is going to help fans pay their rent, keep their job, or pay for their child’s education. None of it will protect the economy, stop global warming, or lower gas prices. Sports is just sports. It’s a conversation, centered around a game, that is virtually inconsequential to anything of any secular meaning. Steroids are just a continuation of that conversation. If anything, steroids extend the conversation in a way that popularizes the sport.

Afterall, is there such a thing as bad publicity?

We’ll find out when we get 2009’s attendance numbers. And if they correspond with the current trend, even with the economy and what not, it’s hard to say that steroids gave baseball a black eye. In fact, the only black thing that steroids has given baseball, is a bottom line.

The post "Five Reasons People Don’t Care About Steroids in Baseball" was originally published at TSW.

Sports Illustrated is reporting that its sources have told them that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003 when the test did a “survey test” with the sole purpose of calculating the number of players in Major League Baseball who were using steroids at that point and time. Unfortunately for A-Rod, his alleged positive test is not only being used for surveying purposes, but also to indict an entire career of baseball excellence.

There’s no questioning it, Alex Rodriguez is one of the most prolific baseball players to have played the game. He’s been the greatest in this sport for at least the last 4 years, and he has been the best in the American League for maybe the last 8, 9 or maybe even 10 years. And if he had retired 3 days ago, he would have immediately have been a 1st ballot Hall of Famer.

But now, just 2 days after SI’s report surfaced, Alex Rodriguez may have went from Hall of Famer to the most tainted man in baseball. Of course, A-Rod’s I have nothing to say about the situation comment did not help his cause. We all know that the omission of an issue such as this often signals guilty to the rest of the public. Now, that’s certainly not fair in a society where we preach that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but as time has told us, that doesn’t apply to baseball players suspected of using performance enhancing drugs.

With this allegation against A-Rod, Rodriguez will now face the next 9 years of his New York Yankees’ contract with an entirely different outlook. No longer is he just the great player who could never get it done in the clutch, but now the public will add the title of “cheater” to that designation. That doesn’t bode well for a player that many regard as being extremely ego-centric and sensitive to public scrutiny.

Certainly, Rodriguez has faced his doubters before, and he has responded to them with amazing seasons that haven’t been duplicated by very many in modern-day baseball. But he still has yet to have answered the call of his most earnest critics who have badgered the slugger for his inability to perform in the postseason. Because of that, one has to wonder whether or not Rodriguez will be the same with this cloud floating over his head. It didn’t really seem to bother Barry Bonds, but Roger Clemens’ life, nevermind his baseball career, was turned upside down once he faced such allegations. So it’s a reasonable question to ask whether or not Alex Rodriguez will ever be A-Rod ever again…?

Nevertheless, even if A-Rod is able to muster out great seasons, and even take over as the Home Run King when it’s all said and done, what will it be worth? Almost nobody celebrates Bonds’ achievements, but many people pointed to A-Rod as the person who would go on to eventually rectify Bonds’ so called “wrongdoing.”

Now that’s no longer a possibility. No matter what A-Rod does on the baseball field, it will always be tainted. His multi quarter-of-a-billion dollar contracts may have been earned with a scientifically-enhanced foundation. And if that’s the case, everything A-Rod has ever worked for, such as money, fame, respect and baseball talent, may all be fraudulent. And while he’s innocent until proven guilty in the courtroom, in the court of public opinion the verdict is in…

The post "Alex Rodriguez: Guilty in the court of public opinion" was originally published at TSW.

In the wake of the Mitchell Report Hearings on Capitol Hill, Major League Baseball’s most prominent player said he doesn’t mind being tested for HGH, even if it means having to give the league a blood sample.

The post "Jeter Says Sign Me Up!" was originally published at TSW.

Don’t let the people out there fool you. There is indeed a test for HGH.

Just recently (sometime shortly after the Congressional hearings with Roger Clemens), I heard Mike Golic of the ESPN and the “Mike & Mike” show said that “if” there was a blood test then it would be interesting to see if the MLB Players Union would accept that.

The post "Oh, There is A Test for HGH!" was originally published at TSW.

Can somebody please tell me what a black person in this country is supposed to think when he or she hears that a white man essentially facing the same accusations that a black man is facing is possibly having talks of getting pardoned by the President of the United States before he is even indicted of charges?

Yeah, I don’t know what to say either.

But that is possibly the case with Roger Clemens.

Anyone who watched the House of Oversight and Government Reform hearing over steroids, with baseball player Roger Clemens and his ex-trainer Brian McNamee, was witnessed to the apparent bipartisan practices throughout that hearing. Quite frankly, it was disgusting to watch the people who make up the body of our legislative government take party lines on an issue as clear-cut as steroids use.

You had the democrats pretty much in line with the lead chairman of the committee, Henry Waxman, and his belief that Andy Pettitte was credible and therefore he believed that Roger Clemens was lying about his steroid use.

And then you had the Republicans who pretty much were all of the notion that Brian McNamee was lying and that Roger Clemens was telling the truth.

It was disgusting to see that, especially since the Republicans, who in all honesty, seemed to be way out of line in their questioning of Brian McNamee. It gets even more disgusting when you consider the possibility that the Republicans probably took the side of Clemens because of his affiliation with Republican President, George W. Bush.

Speaking of Bush, he is the reason many people believe Clemens may get a pardon if found guilty of perjury for his statements made on Capitol Hill and his denial of having used steroids or HGH. But if Bush does that, why wouldn’t he do it for Marion Jones or Barry Bonds who both faced federal prosecution for alleged perjury in the court of law?

It’s all conjecture, but the assumption is that due to Clemens close relationship with the President, he would pardon Clemens just as he has done for friends in the past, just as many Presidents throughout history have done in the past. Even more conjecture would lead to the theory that Clemens and Bush are close, both from Texas, and thus it is not impossible that Clemens has helped carry the Republican hat with a donation or two to some of Bush’s previous campaigns.

And while that is all fine and dandy, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. And if it is fair that Clemens gets a pardon, then it is only right that Jones and Bonds get pardoned for the same convictions, should that end up being the case. Because while one could make the argument that this is a pardon out of friendship, party, or class, the fact of the matter is, you have a white male pardoning another white male, while two equally prominent figures, who happen to be black, don’t receive the same treatment. Now how is that fair for the goose?

The post "Pardon Me, Clemens?" was originally published at TSW.

A man is always innocent until proven guilty in the court of law. I think the same should be applied to a man accused of something in the court of public opinion. And in the court of public opinion, Roger Clemens was proven to be guilty at the Congressional Hearings on Steroids on February 13, 2008.

Now I’m not saying that Clemens was proven to be guilty lawfully and thereby should be sent to prison. No, but there was enough circumstantially damning evidence that would suggest that Roger Clemens to HGH/steroids from Brian McNamee. Here are there three most critical arguments against Roger Clemens.

Debbie Clemens did the Rocket in. – Let’s just ignore the fact that Roger claims that his wife took HGH from his trainer without his knowledge and that she did in their master bedroom. Because that certainly oozes with honesty, right? But when Roger claimed that Andy Pettitte misheard him, and that in 1999 he told Andy that his wife had used HGH, as opposed to he himself, that completely went against the sworn testimony from his wife’s affidavit. In that affidavit, Debbie Clemens claims that she received a shot of HGH from Clemens in 2003, thus it would make it impossible for Clemens to have told Pettitte that his wife was on the stuff in 1999.

Nanny-Gate. – Apparently, I too “misheard” something that went on in the hearings. I thought that the Nanny had told Congress that she remembered Clemens taking her to the house of Jose Conseco (where allegedly Clemens’ dealings in HGH and steroids began). I’m getting conflicting reports from various sources, including Congress. However, regardless of that, what is consistent is that the Nanny said she was there with the kids and Debbie Clemens. Clemens admittedly says he teed off for a round of golf at 9am and that Jose Conseco only lived 20 minutes away from the golf course. Thus, it is not impossible at all that Clemens could have been at Conseco’s house, and even if not, he could have met with Conseco within the vicinity of house. But you cannot come to the conclusion that Clemens didn’t meet with Conseco that day. And even if you could, in now way does it negate the fact that he could have taken HGH or steroids.

Everyone else must be lying. – It’s kind of this simple. Andy Pettitte says Brian McNamee injected him with HGH. Chuck Knoblach says the same thing. Debbie Clemens admits to McNamee shooting her with HGH. Of course, Brian McNamee says he gave all of them HGH shots. And on top of that, Pettitte claims that Roger told him that he indeed had used HGH. For all of these people to come to these admissions and then have Roger Clemens’ claim that he never received HGH from McNamee when his wife, teammates, and best friend all got HGH from Roger’s trainer is beyond belief. I think Representative Elija Cummings said it Roger Clemens best when he told him that, “It’s hard to believe your story…You’re one of my heroes, but it’s hard to believe you.”

The post "Roger Clemens’ Three Strikes…" was originally published at TSW.