PEDs, steroids, etc 2012

There's no hope of anyone confessing to anything unless they've already tested positive. The precedents couldn't be more obvious (e.g. cycling, Olympics). Instead of spending tens of millions on perjury trials that go nowhere, the feds should invest in developing better testing procedures.

or they can stop giving a shit

^^^^ x one billion

i guess i can see why you'd want to go after someone who lies to congress, i suppose, but then they shouldn't have been in front of congress anyway.

what is the government's interest in whether bonds was doping? that's bud selig's problem, or, as it turns out, not.

(btw has parliament expressed any interest in joey bats' remarkable transformation?)

What I meant is if they insist on giving a shit and spending tens millions of dollars, spend it on drug testing labs and not on lawyers.

Obviously multi billion dollar industries aren't going to police themselves, saying it's Bud Selig's problem and expecting him to get his house in order without being forced is as likely as banking CEO's or whatever doing the same. The govt has every reason to care, its only choices are to look the other way or to legislate them into changing their practices.

why? how does it change a citizen's life if athletes are doping or not? when wall street fucks up it involves a taxpayer bailout -- nothing of the sort (apart from local governments shelling out for stadiums -- maybe they should investigate) is the case with sports. should the government look into whether pro wrestling is fixed?

bud selig has every incentive to kick dopers' asses if their activities harm the baseball industry. it is far from clear that that is the case. if people had stopped attending baseball games out of their disgust for steroids, i'm sure bud would have been more proactive.

it's sad that hank aaron's record was broken by a dude with an enormous head, but it's hardly a crime.

nothing of the sort (apart from local governments shelling out for stadiums -- maybe they should investigate) is the case with sports.

Exactly, taxpayers are paying billions to subsidize sports.

Industries that pull in billions of dollars per year affect the lives of citizens basically by definition, on account of their size.

It's nothing to do with cheating. The government doesn't investigate sign stealing or the use of video replay or anything else related to the rules of baseball. Stealing signs are against the rules, but not against the law. If you rely on a trans-national network of drug dealers and potentially dangerous substances in order to run your $3B/y business (subsidized by taxpayers who don't receive any of that revenue), then the government has a reason to get involved.

Sports fraud is a federal crime in some countries (not to say that I agree with that, but it exists).

Food for thought:

http://www.wnd.com/2012/06/roger-clemens-and-the-big-government-circus/

A-Rod isn't going to be HOF-eligible for ~12 years, and you know what? A lot more of the sanctimonious voters will be dead or retired by then than ppl are assuming.
― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, August 7, 2012 10:45 AM (4 hours ago)

From the Yankee HOF-poll thread.

Are you just assuming it's older voters keeping the PED issue front and centre, or is this based on something more concrete? Tom Verducci, stridently anti-induction (at least in Bonds' case), is 45; Rob Neyer, pro-induction, is 46. I picked those two only because I knew where they stood on the issue, and figured their ages would be obtainable online. So if you're assuming, it would seem like a reasonable assumption, but who knows?

There's just going to be considerable turnover in the electorate in 10-12 years, and we may find out about some already enshrined "users" that will make the whole certainty of good-and-evil shoutfest element look silly.

And if the BBWAA really refuses to elect any slugger (or Clemens) from 1990-2008 by 2020 or so, I can see the HOF (which is independent of MLB) starting to float the idea of getting some other individuals to cast ballots. Which will break the "boycott."

The good-and-evil shoutfest--I find that tiresome in all kinds of contexts.

I agree that if someone who's already in is proven (or willingly admits) to having used PEDs, that would go a long way towards bringing this to a close.

Melky Cabrera +
Out for season

wow, something finally went right for the Royals (in the shittiest possible way)

starting to float the idea of getting some other individuals to cast ballots

something classy.. like the All-Star game vote!

also dammit Melky

Hate hearing about this stuff. Is it too obvious to wonder about the cause-and-effect of a player who establishes a pretty ordinary level of performance for his first five seasons, shows significant improvement in season six, even more significant improvement in season seven, then gets suspended for PEDs?

I hate that this happened because I really dislike this type of cynicism in baseball...I love when players randomly have a great year, hate all the speculation that comes with it (see: Raul Ibanez's 2009, A.K.A. "of course he's on roids"). And now this kind of speculation feels well-deserved.

Just to clarify, my speculation is 100% after the fact--it had never occurred to me beforehand that this was the reason for Cabrera's great season. Especially these days, I just assume no one would be silly enough to risk PEDs. It's not even the suspension, but the public-relations disaster that will be with you for the rest of your career.

it sucks that he basically called Andy Baggerly a liar for reporting what turned out to be true.

I've been cynical of every MLB player since Nook Logan homered in consecutive seasons.

@Buster_ESPN
Melky was like a bank robber who did everything right in his plan to steal millions – right up until moment his getaway car ran out of gas.

Just read something that pointed out a really awkward possibility: depending upon McCutchen, Cabrera has a reasonable shot at the batting title. He has 501 plate appearances, technically one short of the qualifying 502. But if you were to add one extra out, which is permissible if it comes to that, he'd only drop to .3457. I won't bore you with the math, but McCutchen would have to hit .317 the rest of the way (pro-rating his current stats) to win the title. Sounds easy enough for a guy hitting .360, but before this year he'd never hit higher than .286. Not sure when Votto returns, but he'd factor in too.

skrit, there are people who are neither in the BBRAA nor Eddie Slobbo.

Seems the Giants knew about the failed test for awhile (hence, Pence):

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/8/15/3245189/melky-cabrera-suspension-sf-giants-testosterone-peds

Cabrera winning the batting title would be hilarious and bizarre.

we may find out about some already enshrined "users" that will make the whole certainty of good-and-evil shoutfest element look silly.

I have my doubts, since there was a stigma even around weight training until the late 80's. Maybe it'll be something like "I was prescribed steroids to help recover from leg/arm surgery, and kept taking them during the season because they made me feel healthier". It's more likely that some influential HOFers will step forward and say "you have to let these 90's and 00's guys in".

they'll find a way to strip him of the BA title if he wins

I'd almost like to see that put to the test (really, I want McCutchen to win). I don't think they'd ever do that. I wouldn't either--numbers are numbers, and you live with the results.

im now hoping sf makes the playoffs & stays alive long enough (5 games i think) where hes eligible 2 come back & have ppl up in arms abt it

im now hoping sf makes the playoffs & stays alive long enough (5 games i think) where hes eligible 2 come back & have ppl up in arms abt it

― johnny crunch

We'll take new fans any way we can.

In a bizarre attempt to avoid a 50-game drug suspension, San Francisco Giants star Melky Cabrera created a fictitious website and a nonexistent product designed to prove he inadvertently took the banned substance that caused a positive test under Major League Baseball’s drug program.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/exclusive-daily-news-uncovers-bizarre-plot-melky-cabrera-fake-website-duck-drug-suspension-article-1.1139623

Ha ha wow

credit for attempt a creative solutioning.

He's the Stephen Glass of baseball.

BP reposted a Nate Silver article on steroids from 2005 that I missed the first time around:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=18053

Famed steroid cop Jeff Novitzky

^^^^
fuck this guy

rip bartolo colon, 50 game ban

Melky Cabrera's website creating associate banned from all mlb stadiums!

xp Perfect time for the A's to get Brett Anderson back whew.

Melky Cabrera's website creating associate

Bummed that I don't get to imagine him hunched over a computer wearing his uniform muttering "what is a Dreamweaver" to himself over & over now

rip bartolo colon

Tested + for formaldehyde

zuh?!

McCutchen's down to .349 all of a sudden. Assuming they don't deny Cabrera the extra plate appearance he needs, I'd say there's an excellent chance he wins the batting title. That'll be fun.

I might want to backtrack on some of those posts from a few years ago about how pro cycling accepts that people might have doped and moves on (assuming no confessions or positive tests) without trying to retro-actively re-assign winners, losers, and record holders like some people want to do with baseball.

Maybe the Armstrong case will give Bud some ammunition for taking away 200 of Bonds' home runs or whatever.

man that would turn me off of mlb pretty hard, hope it doesn't come to that

as stupidly as Bud runs things, others are stupiderer

they'll find a way to strip him of the BA title if he wins

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Thursday, August 16, 2012 11:30 AM (1 month ago)

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/9/21/3369564/melky-cabrera-batting-title-mlb-rule-change

FANK YEW!

i think that adding on of hitless ABs thing is kind of dumb anyway tbh.

i recognize the logic but it feels wrong

I'd love to hear how Melky's "offer" to disqualify himself went down.

they'll

At Melky Cabrera's request

RONG

AND IF YOU BELIEVE THAT....

holy crap, they strongarmed him into voluntarily surrending 3 WAR. but he's keeping the crystal All-Star bat.

giants are going to need to hustle to make up those wins.

From earlier this week:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mlb-commissioner-bud-selig-league-interfere-suspended-melky-cabrera-wins-national-league-batting-title-article-1.1163397

“We’ll see how it plays out,” the MLB commissioner said after taping an interview with the YES Network’s “CenterStage” in Manhattan on Wednesday. “We generally don’t interfere with that process.”