Say it ain't so A-hole?
Ok, so that's a bad title I saw on another sports blog, but it seems to summarize the feelings of a lot of baseball fans these days. Nothing seems to surprise us when it comes to athletes. From sure fire Hall of Fame Pitchers who are juiced, to pot smoking Olympic swimmers, it seems the pedestal is the only thing that's still standing when it comes to our role models in sports.
Alex Rodriguez's name is on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003. Sports Illustrated broke the story yesterday. Rodriguez has declined to discuss the test results saying "You'll have to talk to the union.", referring to the baseball players association.
MLB seems determined to avoid accountability for any of this and continues to protect its stars as illustrated by the statements of Rob Manfred, MLB's Executive VP of Labor Relations who said, "We are disturbed by the allegations contained in the Sports Illustrated news story which was posted online this morning. Because the survey testing that took place in 2003 was intended to be non-disciplinary and anonymous, we can not make any comment on the accuracy of this report as it pertains to the player named."
Remember that there were no penalties for a positive test until 2003, the same year that Rodriguez allegedly tested positive. The results of that years testing of 1,198 players was supposed to be anonymous, but Federal Agents armed with search warrants seized the reports as part of the governments investigation of the BALCO scandal. The list of 104 Players who tested positive was supposed to remain sealed, but sources close to the case told Sports Illustrated that Rodriguez was one of the players who tested positive.
Rodriguez, who has belted 553 homers has a real shot at breaking the Home Run record held by another man who was juiced, Barry Bonds. A quick check of his records below will give you an idea why he will threaten the Home Run record, he's just 33 years old.
Ok, so that's a bad title I saw on another sports blog, but it seems to summarize the feelings of a lot of baseball fans these days. Nothing seems to surprise us when it comes to athletes. From sure fire Hall of Fame Pitchers who are juiced, to pot smoking Olympic swimmers, it seems the pedestal is the only thing that's still standing when it comes to our role models in sports.
Alex Rodriguez's name is on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003. Sports Illustrated broke the story yesterday. Rodriguez has declined to discuss the test results saying "You'll have to talk to the union.", referring to the baseball players association.
MLB seems determined to avoid accountability for any of this and continues to protect its stars as illustrated by the statements of Rob Manfred, MLB's Executive VP of Labor Relations who said, "We are disturbed by the allegations contained in the Sports Illustrated news story which was posted online this morning. Because the survey testing that took place in 2003 was intended to be non-disciplinary and anonymous, we can not make any comment on the accuracy of this report as it pertains to the player named."
Remember that there were no penalties for a positive test until 2003, the same year that Rodriguez allegedly tested positive. The results of that years testing of 1,198 players was supposed to be anonymous, but Federal Agents armed with search warrants seized the reports as part of the governments investigation of the BALCO scandal. The list of 104 Players who tested positive was supposed to remain sealed, but sources close to the case told Sports Illustrated that Rodriguez was one of the players who tested positive.
Rodriguez, who has belted 553 homers has a real shot at breaking the Home Run record held by another man who was juiced, Barry Bonds. A quick check of his records below will give you an idea why he will threaten the Home Run record, he's just 33 years old.
Year - HR's
1994 - 0
1995 - 5
1996 - 36
1997 - 23
1998 - 42
1999 - 42
2000 -41
2001 - 52
2002 - 57
2003 - 47
2004 - 36
2005 - 48
2006 - 35
2007 - 54
2008 - 35
Let's hope that professional baseball can one day find the courage to clean its house, pay the short term price and vindicate the thousands of ball players from the past who played clean and had their records broken by a generation of self-absorbed, spoiled athletes who thought millions of dollars were not enough...so they chose to cheat. Shame on you MLB.
1994 - 0
1995 - 5
1996 - 36
1997 - 23
1998 - 42
1999 - 42
2000 -41
2001 - 52
2002 - 57
2003 - 47
2004 - 36
2005 - 48
2006 - 35
2007 - 54
2008 - 35
Let's hope that professional baseball can one day find the courage to clean its house, pay the short term price and vindicate the thousands of ball players from the past who played clean and had their records broken by a generation of self-absorbed, spoiled athletes who thought millions of dollars were not enough...so they chose to cheat. Shame on you MLB.
