The 2009 Major League Baseball Thread

[Drew_Kingsley]

Ortiz wants season-long ban for steroid users

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- David Ortiz says players who test positive for steroids should be suspended from baseball for the whole season.

The Boston Red Sox designated hitter says the way to clean up the game is through testing and not by taking players to court. Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada pleaded guilty last Wednesday to misleading Congress about performance-enhancing drug use in baseball.

Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen suggested the same one-year ban on Sunday.

"I feel we have to do something very drastic about this situation," Guillen told the Chicago Tribune.

Ortiz also says he feels fine after wrist problems last season limited him to 23 homers. He says he took a few months off from swinging and felt a little strange when he started doing it again. But now he says he feels fine.

Ortiz was at Boston\'s spring training camp Monday, the reporting day for position players. The first full-squad workout is Wednesday.

Hopefully this is a sign that Ortiz never juiced...  now that he made this statement, he will look like an absolute clown if it ever comes out that he did.

[FrankZappa]

otriz was always huge though, so if he did it wouldn\'t be as obvious.

I really hope not though. I\'m causiously proud that no one on the sox has been accused.

can\'t wait for baseball. :banjump:

one of the interesting points I\'ve heard though: dispite the accusations, tv ratings and game attendences have continued to rise the last few years. As much as people complain, they are still spending the money to see it..

[Yoda]

Unfortunately no one other than A-Rod has been persecuted in this round of steroid investigations.  But let\'s not forget that the Mitchel Report which points a lot of fingers at Yankee players and none at Red Sox players was completed Mitchell (a Red Sox director).  I\'m not saying that he left people off, but it is fishy that the Red Sox and the Brewers who are owned by Selig\'s daughter) are the only teams spared in the report.

[Spacey]

I like the idea of a one year ban without pay.

[Yoda]

I agree.

[Gfunk]

Unfortunately no one other than A-Rod has been persecuted in this round of steroid investigations.  But let\'s not forget that the Mitchel Report which points a lot of fingers at Yankee players and none at Red Sox players was completed Mitchell (a Red Sox director).  I\'m not saying that he left people off, but it is fishy that the Red Sox and the Brewers who are owned by Selig\'s daughter) are the only teams spared in the report.

Wait, what about Eric Gagne and Whats His Face, oh yeah Brendan Donnely?! :lol:

[Spacey]

I have no problem with lying but if you are going to lie, make damn sure your lie will check it if looked into.

A-Rod might be the dumbest mutha fucka in MLB.

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."

A representative of Rodriquez\'s disputed the accuracy of the ESPNDeportes.com report.

Veras allowed ESPNdeportes.com to check the official records of the agency, which oversees, monitors and tracks the pharmaceutical inventory that is legally sold in the Dominican Republic.

ESPNdeportes.com reached out to numerous pharmacies in locations such as La Romana, Santiago, San Pedro de Macoris, Bani and barrios like Juan Baron and Palenque. The result was identical: each pharmacy reported that the substance Primobolan is not available for legal purchase, over-the-counter or even with a prescription.

Contrary to Primobolan, testosterone is available as an over-the-counter steroid in Dominican pharmacies.

Rodriguez, who tested positive to Primobolan and testosterone, as reported by SI, said Tuesday at Yankees spring training that his cousin, Yuri Sucart, repeatedly injected him from 2001 to \'03 with a mysterious substance from the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez explained that they bought the over-the-counter drug, which he termed "boli," from a pharmacy in the Dominican Republic.

"The same applies for the period of time [2001-03] as mentioned in Alex Rodriguez\'s confession," added Vera, who conducted an examination of official records in chronological order starting in the year 2000. "And we do keep track of every single product which means that no pharmacy can legally sell a substance if it\'s not properly registered here".

Dr. Milton Pinedo, president of the Dominican Federation of Sports Medicine, said that the substance Primobolan is available in the underground market of the Dominican Republic.

"No pharmacy carries this product; no pharmacy has this product as registered in its inventory," sadi Pinedo, who oversees the anti-doping testing of Dominican athletes at Olympic level prior to international competitions. "You can get this but you have to go to the underground market."

Another alternative is the Internet.

"A quick search will show that there\'s a huge market out there which means that you don\'t need to travel to the Dominican Republic to get this stuff -- you simply need a credit card," Pinedo added. "Legally, no one here sells Primobolan."

Yoel Adames is a contributor to ESPNdeportes.com.

Primobolan Illegal in Dominican Republic

A-Rod works with banned trainer

[Yoda]

I know that all of this information is important to the integrity of the game, and believe me, I agree with that, but can we start focusing on baseball.  Here are my two thoughts and MLB has to do one or the other.

1. The tests were anonymous and taken at a time when there was no penalty for using steroids, so then let MLB take it hands out of the pot and let the police or feds get involved if they choose to take this case up.

2. Fine or ban him not for testing positive, but for trafficking a banned substance into the US.

I\'m tired of the A-Rod train, I just want to get to some baseball.

[Spacey]

2 days until the Spring Training games begin.

Not even sure I am ready for baseball season to begin.

[Wolfman]

Good thing the Yankees are making all this noise in the offseason, because once they start actually playing baseball they\'ll be much quieter.  

First they spent 8 years steadily declining from "dynasty" to "loud and mediocre".  But then starting with Roger Clemens, then Kevin Brown, Corey Lidel, Jason Giambi, and now culminating in A-Rod they\'ve taken a left turn at mediocre and become an outright freakshow.  Oy.  I feel bad for those of you who have to root for these guys.  

Don\'t you wish you just had a bunch of good old fashioned homegrown scrappy baseball players like Pedroia, Youkilis, Ellsbury, Varitek, Lowrie, Papelbon, Lester, Delcarmen, and Buccholz?  So much easier to root for....

[ChrisPitch]

I think the biggest question for the Yankees this year is: can A-Rod hit Sabathia\'s weight?

[bezerker]

Don\'t you wish you just had a bunch of good old fashioned homegrown scrappy baseball players like Pedroia, Youkilis, Ellsbury, Varitek, Lowrie, Papelbon, Lester, Delcarmen, and Buccholz?  So much easier to root for....

b to the allin.  see you in the playoffs tampa

[Yoda]

Don\'t you wish you just had a bunch of good old fashioned homegrown scrappy baseball players like Pedroia, Youkilis, Ellsbury, Varitek, Lowrie, Papelbon, Lester, Delcarmen, and Buccholz?  So much easier to root for....

No... I\'ve been a Yankee fan through the good, the bad, the steriods and I\'ll still be a Yankee fan till the day I die...

[wildcoyote]

I think the biggest question for the Yankees this year is: can A-Rod hit Sabathia\'s weight?

No one will ever hit .400 again.

[FrankZappa]

If there is one thing certain about baseball, it\'s that no record is set in stone. I\'m sure someone will break .400 again clean. could be next year, could be 100 years from now, but it will happen again.