While many of us have been pondering the impact the Mitchell Report will have on free agency, the latest report of baseball players using steroids has been filed. Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, who also broke the news of Paul Byrd receiving HGH and co-wrote Game of Shadows, say that current player Jose Guillen, as well as former players Matt Williams, and Ismael Valdez, all bought performance-enhancing drugs. Fainaru-Wada and Williams base their report on business records for the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center. Chew on these quotes provided by Fainaru-Wada and Williams for a moment:In February, [Jose Guillen] was quoted by ESPN The Magazine as saying he had been approached about using steroids earlier in his career but had declined."That is something I never considered in my life," Guillen is quoted as saying. "You're ruining your whole career. You're ruining your reputation. This really is hurting baseball right now, the image of the game."
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Since retiring, Williams has publicly questioned the performance-enhancing value of steroids for baseball players. In April 2004, while the BALCO steroids scandal was beginning to unfold, Williams said he hoped Giants outfielder Barry Bonds would be exonerated in the case, and he downplayed the impact the drugs might have on a player's power hitting.
"The other side of that coin is, you still have to hit the ball out of the ballpark. You still have to hit the ball properly," Williams told reporters at the time.
"If you put some foreign substance in your body, you don't all of a sudden learn how to hit homers," he said. "The question is: Are they illegal? Yes. If you get caught doing it, should you be punished? Yes. What that is, I don't know. I had a hard enough time playing third base."
Lesson be learned: be wary of any player who defends Bonds and/or the use of performance-enhancers. Additionally, I think this news might help explain Jose Guillen's volatile nature, as well as his sudden rise to success. Williams, for the record, used the typical "I was following doctor's orders" excuse. That doctor for the record, was actually a dentist who prescribed the drugs for Guillen, Valdez, and Paul Byrd. We'll see how Guillen and Valdez defend themselves.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
11-06-2007 @ 1:47PM
Matt said...
If Matt Willimas did them, then evrybody was and is doing them. A-ROID is the next to go down!
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11-06-2007 @ 6:30PM
Ralph Garcia said...
This is said as our current day in baseball will be known as "the steroid era." Why can't all these players be like Mickey Mantle who had a great workout ethic and built his body naturally. Mantle hit tape measure homers before steroids even came out in 1954. It was used as a horomone to help dwarf children grow. Later in the year, these kids developed cancer. Aaron and Mays were also great players with great workout ethics. In fact, most of the newer members of the 500 HR club will now be suspected of taking steroids.
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11-06-2007 @ 7:08PM
Jay said...
My thoughts exactly. A-Rod bitch slapped that ball out of Arroyos hand during the '04 ALCS, talks about how pretty he is, gets caught with striper (which is only wrong because he was stupid enough to get caught-I personally like strippers.No commitment issues-no expected phone calls in the morning- Don't have to worry about knocking them up) but I digress .Those dingers he was hitting this year were uncharacteristic and in his mind probably the best way to walk out on the Yankees, a team destined for years of rebuilding before they see another post season. A-Rod is smarter than the rest of us,or so he thinks. I hope he ends up with some ding-a-ling team with a contract lower than what he expects or was going to get with the Yankees and a Money Order receipt found behind his cleaned out Yankee locker made out to Balco.
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11-06-2007 @ 8:40PM
kdm98 said...
This is sad. It just goes to show that Bonds wasn't nearly the only one, but merely the most prominent. Baseball should be embarrassed, but I don't think that the leaders are.
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11-06-2007 @ 8:41PM
T said...
YA BETTER ADD NASCAR'S CARL EDWARDS TO THE LIST
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11-06-2007 @ 8:46PM
Lu said...
Might be easier and quicker to count the ones that aren't using steroids!
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11-06-2007 @ 9:21PM
ray said...
it is sad that the professional level of sports has come to so much drug use. i can understand that the need to preform is to make the big money is part of the driving force to take drugs. it is time we punish the abuser properally . look what was done to Pete Rose for gambling is this not just as bad, there should be heavey fines, loss of play and pay for not playing,also monthly drug testing . these players make plenty of money to pay for the testing. last but not least if the crime is continued a band from play should be issued, i know there is a lot of money these teams put up, but it is not fare to the fans to be cheated out of a honest game .
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11-06-2007 @ 9:24PM
Dave said...
Maybe this will explain Guillen's eratic behavior, and his ability to go from zero to mega-bitch in 2 seconds. He was kicked off of the Angels, while in a playoff hunt, for being a hothead. That may also explain his wanting to fight the whole Angels team when he had a run-in with his former manager. I know he is a jackass. I just thought it was a natural situation, not drug induced stupidity.
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11-06-2007 @ 9:36PM
Chris Adams said...
Mickey Mantle... hahaha Mickey Mantle was drunk during games... let's all be like Mike Cameron and Mickey Mantle
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11-06-2007 @ 9:46PM
Ralph Garcia said...
At least we know that Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada did not use steroids because those guys came up very skinny. They took a while to fill out and build up muscle naturally. These three players will last longer. I'm hoping the Yankees resign Rivera and Posada.
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11-06-2007 @ 9:55PM
Janet Cangialosi said...
It's amazing this steroid use has been going on for decades Coaches knew, other players knew, hell even the Commissioners knew yet now all of a sudden it's SHOCK. Do you actually believe that any one human being can do what you expect these men to do every single day at every single game I mean god forbid they have an "off" day either fans, media or ownership would wipe the floor with them. Is it wrong definitely, but why is it wrong now, yet for years it wasn't is it because now America is holding Owners, Coaches and other players accountable?
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11-06-2007 @ 10:02PM
claytor said...
The flip side are the pitchers who have used the exact same stuff to keep their velocity, and stay fresher between starts.
So if Barry and all these other guys were doing it to be stronger, then isnt it also a bit justifiable to assume in a sense its possibly even keeled because guys like Clemens and Grimsley used as well?
The entire situation is a bloody mess, and you have casualties on both sides of the fence, the players suffer because their career is on the line due to owners who want to see them hit 3480967489 homers every year, and the fans suffer because frankly, it shouldnt have ever been about blowout scores.
The pitching duel was always the cooler aspect of baseball for me, i cant for the life of me understand how anything, and i mean ANYTHING, compares to feats like no hitters, or Larsens perfect game, or striking out 300 batters in a season. Thats truly amazing.
We ALL lose because we ALL had a hand in it to some degree, and thats the real shame in this tarnished era of America's Pasttime.
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11-06-2007 @ 10:52PM
karen j. raufeisen said...
nascar comment
Carl Edwards, get real,
He has no muscles,is very thin and very young! That is why he can do his backflips. He is a healthy YOUNG man. His gymnastics has nothing to do with steroids. Hope you were kidding!
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11-06-2007 @ 10:55PM
blackcatmagic64 said...
Someone please help me with this... why would a baseball player need steroids? I could see how a football player would be tempted by them because a player is so active on the field. But, a baseball player just pretty much stands there and throws a ball occassionally or has to be at bat maybe 5 times or less during a game. It just makes the player angry all the time from what I can see. Totally stupid...
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11-06-2007 @ 11:25PM
George B Vieto said...
The steroid era of baseball will hurt the game for the short period and then the fans will forgive and forget. At least the fatality rate is not as bad as professional wrestling.
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11-07-2007 @ 12:13AM
sue said...
one person I believe should be checked out is alfonso soriano I think this guys on something
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11-07-2007 @ 12:45AM
h.johns said...
Get real, all you former bench-warmers, 3rd stringers,etc. Talent CANNOT be put in a bottle.
Homers may go a bit farther, but the player has
to have the ability to make contact with that
ball. If money could buy talent, most players
would be garbagemen. Very few, if any, had the
resources before becoming pros to purchase pills.
Their records before the alleged steroid use, should
be looked at by all you naysayers.
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11-07-2007 @ 12:56AM
pavco said...
Looks like the mask has come off of Matt Williams.....Mr.Clean Cut in his own opinion. Williams currently has a minority interest in the Dbacks and coachs their Double A club...and also a club in the Arizona League.
Time for Williams to be forced to sell his minority interest in the Dbacks and get out of baseball for the good of the game............He's a fraud !
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11-07-2007 @ 1:22AM
SD said...
Do any of you goody-goodies who are quick to convict know anything about performance enhancing agents OTHER than what the press has told you? Read peer reviews? Research data? Wonder why all of a sudden this is a BIG issue? Take a look at the economic state of the union. Price of gas. Casualties in the middle east. Learn the facts. Then you might realize what a bs distraction this is. Do you really think athletes (and regular folks) wanting to be leaner, stronger, younger etc...are among the top 1000 problems in this country? Please....WAKE UP.
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11-07-2007 @ 1:26AM
Hal said...
BARRY BONDS HAS TALENT! STEROIDS(the clear) JUST MADE HIM STRONGER,QUICKER REFLEXES,AND INCREASED STAMINA, WITH MORE MUSCLE MASS(bmi).PLAYERS NOT USING STEROIDS ARE AT A DISADVANTAGED. HAVING A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD IS THE PRIMARY GOAL IN MLB.
BARRY BONDS SHOULD FESS UP TO STEROID USE, AS I BELIEVE HIS TRAINER WILL CAVE IN TO INVESTIGATORS SOON. IF BARRY HAS NOTHING TO HIDE, THAN WHY THE SILENCE? WHY GO TO JAIL????? HMMMMMM............
(THE TRAINER/MANAGER I MEANT)
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