Alex Rodriguez linked to Steroids (2003 test)

[Qalbert]

apparently Bender Rodriguez is an alcoholic

[Cephius]

Glad you're posting in it then. Thanks for your contribution.

More on topic: Bonds right now is the greatest player to have ever played the game, but with the help of steroids. Without steroids he would have, without a doubt in my opinion, still have been one of the top 10 players ever, possibly even top 5. All of that should be enough to get him in the Hall, in my opinion. Maybe it's because I've been a Giants, and by extension a Bonds, fan my entire life, but he and Clemens are the only 'roided players who deserve a place in the Hall; we'll see what A-roids does from here on out.

Careful, make sure you put best offensive player in there. Bonds' defensive metrics are pretty lackluster.

Any old-schooler will tell you that Willie Mays was the best player to play the game in terms of offense, defense, baserunning, etc.

But yes, Bonds is the best offensive talent the game has ever seen, roids or not.

[Akiyama]

I guess it's easy to be the best offensive talent when your defense is horrendous, huh?

Just kidding. Everyone knows baseball isn't easy. The thing is though.. all of the stuff Bonds DID do is all moot now as we don't know how long he cheated.

[archibaldcrane]

Careful, make sure you put best offensive player in there. Bonds' defensive metrics are pretty lackluster.

8 gold gloves and 514 stolen bases? I'd say he's got fielding and baserunning covered pretty damn well.

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

Careful, make sure you put best offensive player in there. Bonds' defensive metrics are pretty lackluster.

Any old-schooler will tell you that Willie Mays was the best player to play the game in terms of offense, defense, baserunning, etc.

But yes, Bonds is the best offensive talent the game has ever seen, roids or not.

Bonds is the only guy with 500 HR and 500 stolen bases insn't he? Also, didn't he "invent" the spin and throw for lefties?

[Cephius]

No one takes gold gloves seriously as a defensive metric, come on Even Jeter has won some!

And yes, in his pre-roid days Bonds stole a lot of bases. When he was pumping out 70-HR seasons you didn't see him stealing much though. My point was: Willie Mays was a better all-around player than Bonds.

[MrW]

He really hasn't stolen that many bases since 97-98? I'm not totally sold on the gold gloves either. It doesn't really say how great of a fielder you are. He misjudges a lot of fly balls :/ (during his career)

[pohibaba]

He never had a great arm (re: Pirates v. Braves NLCS), but he had great range in his younger days and he was always a threat to steal for the fist 10+ years of his career. Willie Mays had always been the greatest player in my eyes, but I think that the career Bonds had surpassed him.

[Dimmauk]

I was watching the Obama News Conferance last night while waiting for Heroes to start and this made me LOL

Michael Fletcher, The Washington Post.

Q Yes, thank you, sir. What is your reaction to Alex Rodriguez's admission that he used steroids as a member of the Texas Rangers?

THE PRESIDENT: I think it's depressing news on top of what's been a flurry of depressing items when it comes to Major League Baseball. And if you're a fan of Major League Baseball, I think it -- it tarnishes an entire era to some degree. And it's unfortunate, because I think there are a lot of ballplayers who played it straight. And the thing I'm probably most concerned about is the message that it sends to our kids.

What I'm pleased about is Major League Baseball seems to finally be taking this seriously, to recognize how big of a problem this is for the sport. And that our kids, hopefully, are watching and saying, you know what, there are no shortcuts; that when you try to take shortcuts, you may end up tarnishing your entire career, and that your integrity is not worth it. That's the message I hope is communicated.

Out of all the shit that is going on right now with the world and the economy, this fucking dumbass asked that question.

[Mizango]

He really hasn't stolen that many bases since 97-98? I'm not totally sold on the gold gloves either. It doesn't really say how great of a fielder you are. He misjudges a lot of fly balls :/ (during his career)

Once you watch a few Sox games under your belt and see Manny being Manny you get an appreciation for anyone in the outfield lol.

But yeah I agree for the most part.

[MrW]

Lol@ Manny. You take the good with the bad I guess. But not to take anything away from Bonds. He was a tremendous hitter. As far as steriods go... it isn't like it makes you a "better" hitter in my opinion. He still has amazing form and is a sound hitter. Steriods probably turned some of those doubles into home runs though. I was a fan of his when he was a Pirate. Jay Bell, Andy Van Slyke and Barry Bonds. Was fun times watching them play as a youngster.

[Cephius]

As far as steriods go... it isn't like it makes you a "better" hitter in my opinion.

How does it not make you a better hitter? Being able to hit HRs that would otherwise be pop flies, or being able to muscle a cutter into left field instead of grounding out to short makes all the difference in hitting. Bonds' ability as a hitter - and what enabled him to draw walks a record number of times - was his ability to hit a baseball a very long way. Steroids had everything to do with that.

[MrW]

I'm sorry. Maybe I wasn't clear. Better hitter as in his skillset. If he couldn't hit a broad side of a barn, steriods wouldn't do shit for him anyway.

[Tyche]

I was watching the Obama News Conferance last night while waiting for Heroes to start and this made me LOL

Michael Fletcher, The Washington Post.

Q Yes, thank you, sir. What is your reaction to Alex Rodriguez's admission that he used steroids as a member of the Texas Rangers?

THE PRESIDENT: I think it's depressing news on top of what's been a flurry of depressing items when it comes to Major League Baseball. And if you're a fan of Major League Baseball, I think it -- it tarnishes an entire era to some degree. And it's unfortunate, because I think there are a lot of ballplayers who played it straight. And the thing I'm probably most concerned about is the message that it sends to our kids.

What I'm pleased about is Major League Baseball seems to finally be taking this seriously, to recognize how big of a problem this is for the sport. And that our kids, hopefully, are watching and saying, you know what, there are no shortcuts; that when you try to take shortcuts, you may end up tarnishing your entire career, and that your integrity is not worth it. That's the message I hope is communicated.

Out of all the shit that is going on right now with the world and the economy, this fucking dumbass asked that question.

From the looks of the conference, Obama pre-screened all of the reporters, knew their names, and what they was going to ask. I'm pretty sure Obama wanted to hit on that story since it's one of the top sports stories of the year.

[Dimmauk]

Tejada charged with lying about steroids

By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer 31 minutes ago



WASHINGTON (AP)—All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada has been charged with lying to Congress about steroids, with the baseball player scheduled to appear in court Wednesday where he is expected to plead guilty.

The charges against Tejada, who currently plays for the Houston Astros, were outlined in documents filed in Washington federal court on Tuesday.

The documents indicate that a plea agreement has been reached with Tejada, who won the 2002 American League Most Valuable Player award while playing for the Oakland Athletics and is a five-time All-Star.

Tejada faces as much as a year in jail if convicted on the misdemeanor charge of making misrepresentations to Congress. Under federal guidelines, he would probably receive a lighter sentence.

Messages left for his attorney, Mark Tuohey, were not immediately returned.

The documents were filed a day after superstar Alex Rodriguez admitted to past use of performance-enhancing drugs.


The FBI also is investigating whether Roger Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young winner, lied to Congress last year when he denied using steroids or human growth hormone.

In the documents filed Tuesday, Tejada is charged with lying to investigators for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in 2005 when he denied knowledge of an ex-teammate’s use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The teammate is not identified in court documents, but is referred to as having played with Tejada on the Athletics.

Tejada “unlawfully withheld pertinent information from the committee because defendant Tejada, before and during his interview with the committee staff, then and there well knew that player #1, one of his teammates on the Oakland Athletics, had used steroids and HGH,” the papers state.

In fact, prosecutors charge that during spring training in 2003, Tejada had purchased a substance believed to be HGH from the player, giving him payments of $3,100 and $3,200.

In the Mitchell Report, which examined steroid use in baseball, Oakland outfielder Adam Piatt is cited saying he discussed steroid use with Tejada and having provided Tejada with testosterone and human growth hormone.

The Mitchell Report, issued in December 2007, also included copies of checks allegedly written by Tejada to Piatt in March 2003 for $3,100 and $3,200.

The criminal charge against Tejada is contained in a six-page information, a legal document used often when a defendant has struck a plea deal with prosecutors.

Tejada came under scrutiny after another ex-teammate, Baltimore Orioles’ Rafael Palmeiro, testified before the House committee.

In January 2008, the House panel asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Tejada lied to committee investigators when he was interviewed in connection with the Palmeiro steroids case.

When that same House panel held a hearing in March 2005, Palmeiro jabbed a finger at lawmakers and declared: “I have never used steroids, period.” Palmeiro was suspended by baseball later that year after testing positive for a steroid.

The committee looked into whether Palmeiro should face perjury charges but eventually dropped the matter.

Palmeiro said his positive test must have resulted from a B-12 vitamin injection given to him by Tejada.

That prompted Congress to talk to Tejada.

Associated Press Writers Howard Fendrich and Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report

[MrW]

Wow lol. With the shitstorm that is now the MLB, people better bust out their ponchos. If this keeps up, Orestes "The Big O" Destrade is gonna be a first ballot HoF!

[archibaldcrane]

No one takes gold gloves seriously as a defensive metric, come on Even Jeter has won some!

And yes, in his pre-roid days Bonds stole a lot of bases. When he was pumping out 70-HR seasons you didn't see him stealing much though. My point was: Willie Mays was a better all-around player than Bonds.

I think that if you take personality out of the question (since we're talking about how good a -player- they are), you'd be crazy to take Mays over Bonds if you were redrafting the entire MLB history of players to make a team to win the World Series.

Maybe that's just me.

[pohibaba]

Luckily, they play different positions and so you wouldn't have to make that choice! The tough one would be Bonds v. Williams, but I still think I'd take Bonds.

[Akiyama]

Barry Bonds versus Ted Williams? o.O

[pohibaba]

Yup, probably the two best all around left fielders of all-time. I just think that Bonds would be a better all around threat and would fit into a line-up better than Williams.