Say it Ain't So Papi

Well it looks like were gonna see all those names eventually. First up, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.

The Rise of Ibanez

Yes, this is the second post based on something Jayson Stark said today, and yes, I do read people besides hacks from ESPN, but this article Stark wrote about Raul Ibanez had me a little upset.

I try to avoid steroid talk here, but I just couldn't this time. Ok I'm sure most of you have heard about Raul Ibanez being accused of using steroids by a blogger last week. Ibanez was quite upset that the notion could be put forth simply because he was having the best season of life at age 37. Many in baseball have come to his defense in this regard, pointing out that he has moved from a pitcher's park to a hitter's park in Philly and that he now has a much better lineup surrounding him.

Stark goes into great detail in his defense of Ibanez, using various methods of statistical analysis to prove that this all makes sense and that steroids would be an absurd reason to explain his meteoric rise to the tops of the home run charts. He laments that fans would jump to such a conclusion simply because of the time we live in.

I just have this to say to Stark: Shut your mouth.

Now I will say that during the off season I though Ibanez was a perfect pick up for the Phillies. He was a better hitter than Pat Burrell and could actually play defense. I figured his numbers would go up with the move to a better lineup and park, but like everyone else I never expected to see such a huge jump.

The reality I would like to impart to Mr. Stark is this: It is because of the time we live in and the players have no one to blame but themselves. Maybe if players don't like being accused of using steroids then they should stop using them and if clean players don't like falling under suspicion then they should do something about the situation and culture rather than hiding behind locker room privilege and a greedy union.

The players are the ones who can change the atmosphere of the game not the fans. Many fans chose to show blind faith when players told them they were clean and accusations to the contrary were ridiculous. Now, I think the fans have earned the right to be skeptical and players need to reap what the sow, same with the writers. So while Raul Ibanez is probably and innocent casualty at this point ask yourself this; Is anybody who played during that time or wrote about baseball during that time really innocent? Isn't the greatest evil not standing up to those who do bad things?

If Raul has a problem with that kind of thought process then talk to the union rep.

Manny Joins A-Rod

This just in from the LA Times.

You can check it on SportsCenter too.

Update: Manny is claiming the positive result is from a prescription he received from his doctor. I'm inclined to not believe any excuse by any player nowadays and I'm sure this wasn't the first time Manny used. I know some players were clean during that era of baseball but this just solidifies the fact that even the best of the best were probably juicing.

At least this takes some heat off of A-Rod as he returns tomorrow. Many of those national media guys will have their hands tied with Manny stories. I'm sure they will still come after him but the more names that come out the more the heat on A-Rod will come down.

Update: Seems like Manny may not have used steroids or HGH but a sexual performance enhancer. I don't know what he would prefer we thought about him: cheater or ...you know. Embarrassing.

A New Perspective on Mark McGwire

Here's another interesting column from Joe Posnanski of SI.com. Perhaps Big Mac had it right all along.

A-Rod to stand before firing squad

Today is the big day for A-Rod as he and his fellow Yankees stand up before the media. Will he give us all the juicy details? Will he put this issue to rest and allow the Yankees to focus on baseball for once?

Probably not.

Whether it's being a masochist or whether he just has to many people whispering in his ear or maybe he just loves that it's all about him, A-Rod just doesn't know how to act like an average person and put things to bed.

Today could be the last major day of controversy for him or it could be the next step in a long line of incidents that causes the Yanks to self-destruct over the course of the year. Hopefully the fact that Andy Pettitte will remind Rodriguez of how these things should be handled. But probably not.

I may watch the press conference but then again I may just take a nap and wake up when actual baseball stuff happens.

Thoughts on Steroid Admissions

So far the steroid-accused sports star has followed one of two patterns once the news breaks. Pattern numero uno: Lie that you never did it. Then the report comes out. Then there's the denial in the face of overwhelming evidence. Pattern number two: Lie that you never did it. Then the report comes out. Then you admit your PED usage and repent.

But I have often wondered what would've happened if A-Rod had just told the truth a year and a half ago. What if when he was asked the question by Katie Couric, he just said, Yeah, I did some stuff between '01-03. I'm not proud of it and I regret it. I haven't done it since. And he did this not because he had no choice because he got caught, but because it was the right thing to do and he didn't want to lie about it. What would the public perception be then?

Let me just clear up a couple of other things for the idiot media. They're jumping all over him because he said he didn't know what he took. Here's my take. He said he didn't know exactly probably because the stuff has a 17 letter name that he can't recall at the moment. He also probably ordered it by some code name like Rhino Juice or something. Furthermore, by giving the actual steroid name or by even saying the word steroids or drugs he might incriminate himself. And if the Feds want to get you, they'll get you. We all know they love a good witch hunt. That's why he kept saying, "that stuff" or "substance" in the Peter Gammons interview.

Finally, how many irritating nicknames will we see? That bastion of journalism the NY Post gave us A-Hole. I personally like A-Roid, or perhaps HGH-Rod. Is that last one too much of a stretch? Offer up your own.

Confessions of Yankee Drama Queen

Well A-Rod confirmed the Selena Roberts and Dave Epstein story to an extent in his interview with Peter Gammons on ESPN. Rodriguez claims that his only transgressions with steroids occurred in the highly localized time frame of 2001-2003.

I'll give A-Rod some credit for at least admitting that he used steroids but his storyline about trying to live up to his contract will only go so far. His story reads a bit too easy and is far to hazy during all of the important parts for it to be truly believable.

It was a easy choice for A-Rod to admit his use as he has several examples to draw from in the Steroid Era's recent history. I'm sure he and Scott Boras looked at the cases of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens juxtaposed to the tales of Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi. It was a no-brainer.

But what is ridiculous is that as A-Rod tries to jump out of the pot he may have just jumped into the fire. During his interview he attacked the co-author of the breaking story Selena Roberts. Now it isn't that surprising that A-Rod would go after Roberts given the fact that she helped break this story and is currently writing a book that supposedly will not paint A-Rod in a very good light.
But it is surprising that he made claims that are quite serious and easily proven or disproved. From the transcript at ESPN A-Rod made these claims:

I mean, what makes me upset is that Sports Illustrated pays this lady, Selena Roberts, to stalk me. This lady has been thrown out of my apartment in New York City. This lady has five days ago just been thrown out of the University of Miami police for trespassing. And four days ago she tried to break into my house where my girls are up there sleeping, and got cited by the Miami Beach police. I have the paper here. This lady is coming out with all these allegations, all these lies because she's writing an article for Sports Illustrated and she's coming out with a book in May.

That's some pretty heavy stuff to throw at someone. Now A-Rod claims to have some paperwork regarding the incident and for his sake I hope he does because right after he said that I'm guessing that the University of Miami and the Miami Beach police probably got a 1,000 phone calls.

I'm not sure why Peter Gammons failed to follow up on that juicy tidbit but I'm sure we will here plenty about it especially since Roberts has already adamantly denied the allegations.

Hopefully this admission of guilt expedites the process and baseball will move on. The more it gets talked about the worse it is for baseball. Hopefully some good things come out of this though. Maybe the MLBPA starts to lose some of its struggle-hold on baseball. Maybe Bud Selig gets fired (I wish but not likely). If anything perhaps baseball starts to really take a look at itself and decides that it doesn't like what it sees and changes are made because fans wont be able to endure much more of this steroid ridiculousness.

Update 9:02: Bad news for A-Rod. Pete Abraham, fresh off of a one week vacation, noted that Selena Roberts was not cited for any of the transgressions A-Rod claims she was. I hope A-Rod has his copies handy.

The News on Arod

Well it would be hard for someone not to know what is going on with Alex Rodriguez right now. The news of his positive steroid test in 2003 has spread like a wildfire through the Internet, TV and radio. For those of you who somehow missed the story, you can check out the story at SI.

Now my initial reaction was probably the same as most Yankee fans. I was angry. Arod essential destroyed what little faith most baseball fans might have still had in the superstars left over from the steroid era. I was hoping that most of his statistics and ability came naturally and might have erased the stains of Bonds and Clemens.

But it looks like me and anyone else who had faith in him was wrong. Sure Arod had his issues, but none of them were cheating related. None of them were really going to harm the integrity of the game. Now that has all changed and what support Arod was getting from the Yankee fan base may have all but vanished for the time being. I say the time being, because like most fan bases who have controversial figures as an integral part of their team, they learn how to forgive when that player wins them games.

For me, I'm somewhat burned out with steroids. This was the final straw and what is most upsetting for me is that this will ruin baseball for me for the next nine years. Everything the Yankees do and everywhere they go this is going to follow them, overshadowing whatever they accomplish individually or as a team. As much talent as the Yanks have recruited this off-season it will be hard to imagine that they perform up to their ability while this distracts them. There isn't much the Yankees can do about Arod now as they have locked themselves into a Bonds-like situation until his contract runs out in 2017.

It's a dark day in Yankeeland and it will be a long time before the clouds lift away. At least Arod will be in the World Baseball Classic for the better part of Spring Training and Yankee Camp will have time to settle in and ready themselves before the Arod Circus rolls into town. As for me my anger has already subsided. All I can say right now is that I'm disappointed. Watching the Yankees with Arod in the lineup just wont be the same anymore.