And let’s not go there with the “there are bigger fish to fry than a bunch of doped up ballplayers” rhetoric.

Who are you suggesting do the frying?

The problem with performance enhancing sustances is, is that some players will always seek new and innovative ways to gain an edge that haven’t even ben thought of yet. I wrote roughly the same three years back. Will anyone atempt to argue this?

as part of their deal to test everyone, anonymity was guaranteed.

but what is to stop them releasing a list of everyone who has never tested positive?

or is that trying to be a bit too cute?

that the guys who used don’t simply admit it. If most/all of the guys under suspicion did the “Andy Pettite” thing … “Yes, I used — sorry I did it — I feel bad” … the issue would’ve gone away a long time ago.
I’m on record … I have very little issue with steroid use (I don’t think it’s a good thing, necessarily – I’m just not sure how much impact steroids have on performance). However, denying it when asked is much worse, in my opinion … this (the denial) is what reveals the character of the athlete, not the steroid use.
If you’re man enough to stick that needle in your ass, then you ought to be man enough to tell the damn truth. “Keeping your mouth shut” is the same thing as denial, by the way. It’s sad … not the steriod use so much, but the lack of integrity after the fact.

“It appears that not only was it 104, but three of the greatest of our, or any, generation appear to be on top of this list.” —Curt Schilling

Wow, Schilling thinks Cust is one of the top three players of our/any generation?!

…especially after this current stuff, I wouldn’t be talking to anybody about anything, unless it was under subpoena. Guilt or innocence would be irrelevant. I’d be pulling a George Hendrick. It’s clear that even things that are “guaranteed” to be anonymous aren’t necessarily so. And yes, I understand that neither MLB nor the union ratted anybody out, but it’s clear they cannot protect them, either.

I was listening to ESPN radio and their company line is that SI has 4 individual sources and all 4 were confirmed by ESPN before they went on attack mode. ESPN is stating that there is no “if A-Rod is guilty”, it has been confirmed.

I hate all the steroid era as much as the next but if I’m Alex Rodriguez, I take one for the team right now and use my hundreds of millions of dollars to sue everyone involved. First up, MLB and the players union- this was an anonymous test, no names were attached to the samples and these are blood test, covered by privacy laws. These test should never have been turned over to the government, they should have been destroyed, as promised when they were administered. I would sue the U.S. government, SI, ESPN- anyone and everyone.

I want A-Rod to be the face of steroids, but more than that, the face of the players standing together for their rights. This announcement cost A-Rod tens if not hundreds of millions in future earnings as the home run champ/MLB great. Sure, he is probably guilty but equally important in this situation is his right to privacy under U.S. laws. I don’t want to see the other 102 names- an eighth grade math class could do statical analysis and narrow the field to a 150 or so. I want to see a player turn the tide, shut up the talking heads and get paid from the people who were supposed to protect him. I’m sure this isn’t the popular opinion but it’s mine.

That’s a gem that shines in this piece. Well done, 67.

I was about to dismiss this story out of hand based on the subject matter, but the deployment of a Curt Schilling quote really made me stop, think, and change my mind about the entire matter.

1. I don’t believe that that alone would move us past the “Steroid Era.” I still believe we are very much in the Steroid Era, though I also think there is some evidence for declining use.

2. Besides the players, it would be great if Selig, owners, GMs, managers etc who looked the other way would come forward and take their lumps too. Selig’s feigned innocence schtick is almost insulting.

Sorry, but I find that both funny and ironic. LOL!!!

“I don’t care, but I feel the need to explain to everybody in excruciating detail why I don’t care.”

in contrast, is looking rather good in this whole mess.

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/02/08/mystery-player/#more-1603

sometimes it makes me sad and confused, sometimes I want to brush it off and ignore it with disgust, sometimes it makes me slightly bitter toward baseball, sometimes I just dont care.

what’s right? i dunno. I pretty much agree with EVERYBODY’s posts above mine. even the ones that take opposite stances.

that the only way to get anything right is to do it right the first time.

The very sad thing is that I don’t think baseball CAN work its way out of the past sins. There is no way they can / will release the whole list. Thanks for the nice idea, Curt, but it’s unworkable. The taint will simply hang over the sport for the steroids era, and that era will last until baseball proves to a hypercritical public that it’s doing anything reasonably possible to prevent cheating.

Firing bud selig would probably be the necessary first step in showing us it’s relevant. And a resignation won’t do it – a firing is needed.

A-Rod confessed.

And it’s also hurting me

God I feel so bad right now. As much as I hated A-Rod before, I respected him for being a good decent classy face for baseball, now this….

it’s funny to go back and read all the old threads, when most people were still in denial even when it came to an obvious juicer like mark freaking mcgwire!

(and why doesn’t devo post in these steroids threads anymore?)

but I am not really sad that A-Fraud has been called out. Maybe it is petty but I have never like Rodriguez. He seemed stuck up but i guess I would be too if I had his talent. I’m surprised he admitted and apologized so quickly but it is the smart chocie.

I still fondly look back at the steroid era. If most players were doing it then it was close enough to an even playing field for me.

all you people who don’t care about steroid use, what about the allegations that the players union tipped off certain players to upcoming drug tests?

I applaud the MLBPA for looking out for its members’ interests

I think we’re all ready for daily DLDs.

I’m not particularly outraged about the steroid use, but I really really hate the culture of dishonesty that has built up around players denying it. I wish they’d all just man up and say, “yeah, everyone was juicing and I did, too. I know it sucks, but that’s how it was.”

Although I’d love for the truth to be out on the other 103, I don’t see how the results get released. By agreement they’re not supposed to, and if the names do come out it will probably without proof, which means half the guys will be pussy jackasses and continue to deny it.

Good for A-Rod for coming clean. Sure, it’d be nicer if he’d done it sooner, but better late than never. My preference ranking for steroid users goes something like this:

1. Admitted it openly before he was caught.
2. Admitted it openly after he was caught (eg, A-Rod)
3. Wishy-washy admission (eg, Giambi)
4. Explicit non-denial
5. Shut the hell up and don’t say anything (eg, Tejada)
6. Wishy-washy non-denial denial (eg, Bonds, McGwire)
7. Continue to deny it vigorously in spite of ample evidence (eg, Cust)

I’m not sure if anyone really qualifies for #1. #4 is my imaginary category for anyone who wants to fess up but is worried about legal consequences. He could say something like, “Because of potential legal issues, I cannot confirm anything about my use of PEDs. But you’ve all heard the rumors and I choose not to deny any of them.”

I don’t know how to solve it. I don’t know how to feel about it. I don’t know who to blame, or who to point fingers at, or even why I should care.

Good conversation though…

at this point would be Cal Ripken. That would be hard to take. Everyone else, wouldn’t be much of a shock.

The others that would make me say “oh boy” would be Nolan Ryan and Derek Jeter. I would imagine we would never even know even if Ripken and Ryan did use.

OR DO YOU WANT TO SEE ME SOCK A FEW DINGERS?!!!!!!!

Marquez I disagree. It is not enough. They need to put a spotlight on the vast number of users so that this era is put in the proper perspective. Only then should they move on. This is the tip of the iceberg.

I don’t really know how I feel about steroids. There are several opinions bouncing around in my head, but I can’t really latch on to any one of them more than the others. Sometimes it feels like you have to be on one side of the fence or another. I’m neither for them nor against them.

I don’t currently condone steroid usage. I think that, for the most part, the side effects outweigh the benefits. If they could develop steroids that had absolutely no side effects, I would actually encourage steroid use for health’s sake.

What I want to know is, why are the players accountable to us? Yeah, I’ve paid for a few tickets, but I received value for what I paid. They don’t owe me anything. People feel cheated that they put money into watching something fraudulent? Man, you’ve gotta pick your battles. The memories I have of watching the A’s in the late 80s and early 90s are just as real and special to me, even with the knowledge that multiple players were juicing.

As an avid baseball fan, I do revere records, but not for their purity. While I feel the records are a sight to behold, they aren’t paramount. If the Hall of Fame decides to put an asterisk next to Bonds or A-rod, I won’t lose any sleep. They still hit the homers, steroids or not, and I still enjoyed them.

I don’t understand the obsession with the integrity of the game. While personal integrity is very important to me in my associations, it’s much less important in my entertainment. That said, it seems that every era seems to have some stain. People are expected to uphold some mythical standard that seemingly never existed. Like 74mk said, things would be a lot easier to explain if we thought of baseball players as normal human beings, and not role models.

Please don’t quote Schilling . I can’t stand the guy and it sickens me to even see his name. Thank You.

Please consider updating the link to Schillings blog entry in question. There’s more recent entries listed now and the blog entry you wanted to link to has been pushed downward.

is when we’re using the HGH Era in the present tense. And really, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Thomas_(AL_baseball_player)

scroll down to section 9

and I saw “MLB Superstars”, a DVD that trys to show why the best players are so great at baseball. 3 of the 4 guys on the front cover; Bonds, Clemens, and A-Rod. Doh! Ivan Rodriguez was the 4th guy on the cover, was he ever linked to PEDs?

Here’s some steroid look-a-likes of before-and-after pictures of Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi: http://morehardball.blogspot.com/2009/02/twins-other-than-minnesota-super-sized.html