Following up on ARod and his "fatigue"

I don't care if this was a party scheduled 14 years ago, or 14 days ago. I don't care what the cause was, or which A-listers were present. This is why:

Alex Rodriguez's two days of rest was instigated by the front office, as was reported first here. But it shouldn't necessarily be taken as a slap at manager Joe Girardi. A-Rod just couldn't bring himself to admit he was wearing down whenever Girardi checked with him. So Yankees higher-ups Brian Cashman and Randy Levine engaged A-Rod and Yankees medical staff on a conference call (Girardi wasn't available at that moment), and Rodriguez finally admitted he was tiring to the point where he wasn't himself. Rodriguez's refusal to give Girardi the straight dope isn't a reflection on Girardi but the natural course for players who don't like to sit. So the decision was made on the conference call.

ARod was benched for fatigue. Not being "mentally tired"; fatigued. Skip the damn party, Alex.

I might be in the minority on this one, and I'm OK with that. If your (or my) management has a conference call to discuss your (or my) physical well-being and they recommend a few days off to rest, you (or I) should rest. Rest doesn't happen at 2:30am. I don't care what his "work" hours are.

This is not ARod bashing; I'd do the same thing for any player, any team. If you're hurt, you rehab. If you're sick, you do what you can to get well. If you're fatigued, you rest. It's that simple. Trying to justify it as anything else is silly.

Can you NOT do that right now?

Just a quick open note to ARod:

Dearest Alex:

It's been quite a 2009 for you, hasn't it? You admitted using PED's back in your Texas days. You had a tell-all some book come out as well, though it clearly flopped due to a lack of interest (or facts). You returned to your team only to hit a dramatic home run in your first at-bat. Since then, your presence in the lineup has been a boon for Mark Teixeira but your struggles have only gotten worse.

I'm OK with you not being your typical "ARod self" on the field; heck, you are still recovering from hip surgery. I have enjoyed the fact that you have been here so far and there has been no news about you. You got back to playing and that's great. Just as you promised.

You've been struggling the last few weeks and recently ended an 0-16 slide. It happens. Your manager gave you two days off so you could rest up from fatigue. This is totally reasonable as you have played every game since your return. Here's my problem, Alex: If you are given a few days off to rest, please rest. Partying like a rock star with actresses in South Beach*, while fun (just a guess), only serves to highlight your narcissistic ways. Focus on the team and only the team. Please. There's an off-season to party your tail off.

This team needs you to be a reasonable facsimile of your previous self if it's going to contend for the post-season. When your manager gives you a few days off, rest up. Your team will thank you. So will Yanks fans.

Best wishes,
Jason

* Here's the lowdown on ARod's night out:

It's not surprising that A-Rod is feeling a bit sluggish -- the wilting all-star was caught partying in South Beach with [Kate] Hudson, his main squeeze, in the wee hours yesterday morning.

The third baseman was seen leaving an exclusive party with the actress at around 2:30 a.m.

An update can be found here: Following up on ARod and his "fatigue"

Say it ain't so, Sosa (subtitle: Not Sosa-prised)

Yet another one bites the dust.

Sammy Sosa, who joined with Mark McGwire in 1998 in a celebrated pursuit of baseball’s single-season home run record, is among the players who tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the drug-testing results from that year.

The disclosure that Sosa tested positive makes him the latest baseball star of the last two decades to be linked to performance enhancers, a group that now includes McGwire, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and Rafael Palmeiro.

Sosa, who is sixth on Major League Baseball’s career home run list and last played in 2007, had long been suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs, but until now had never been publicly linked to a positive test.

What more can we say? Surprised? Of course not.

And now we're going to have to continue to bleed out the balance of the 104, 103 102 names not currently known. Which is equal parts dumb, sad and painful. I'm still torn on this. Should the 102 left in anonymity be kept there until someone outs them, or should MLB and the MLBPA agree to release the list and just get it over with? There's a poll to the upper left; please vote.

Sing it with me: One hundred and four dirty ballplayers on the wall, one hundred and four dirty players. Take one down, write a book about it...one hundred and three dirty ballplayers on the wall...

(shrugs)

Satire, I think

Sara K., a FOTB, has a great posting at her place. I think it's satire. Not sure. Here's part of it:

In a statement read by his agent, Scott Boras, Rodriguez said, "I am shocked at Palin's assumption that her daughter would be an unwilling participant in sexual activity with me. I am far better looking than Levi Johnston. Besides, she doesn't have the musculature that I normally crave when I am on the road. Levi is as cute as Jetes, though. Not as cute as me, but cute like that guy on American Idol." When reminded by a reporter in a post-game press conference that the daughter who actually attended the game was Palin's 14-year-old Willow, the Dominican-born former love interest of Madonna replied, "Age is nothing but a number. Hey, we're all dumb and stupid when we're young. Right, Yuri?"

Happy to contribute any time, Sara!

The #1 overall pick is a total crapshoot

If you like lists, the draft and nostalgia... here ya go: the #1 pick in every MLB draft since 1984...

• 1984: Shawn Abner, New York Mets
• 1985: B.J. Surhoff, Milwaukee Brewers
• 1986: Jeff King, Pittsburgh Pirates
• 1987: Ken Griffey Jr., Seattle Mariners
• 1988: Andy Benes, San Diego Padres
• 1989: Ben McDonald, Baltimore Orioles
• 1990: Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves
• 1991: Brien Taylor, New York Yankees
• 1992: Phil Nevin, Houston Astros
• 1993: Alex Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners
• 1994: Paul Wilson, New York Mets
• 1995: Darin Erstad, California Angels
• 1996: Kris Benson, Pittsburgh Pirates
• 1997: Matt Anderson, Detroit Tigers
• 1998: Pat Burrell, Philadelphia Phillies
• 1999: Josh Hamilton, Tampa Bay Devil Rays
• 2000: Adrian Gonzalez, Florida Marlins
• 2001: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
• 2002: Bryan Bullington, Pittsburgh Pirates
• 2003: Delmon Young, Tampa Bay Devil Rays
• 2004: Matt Bush, San Diego Padres
• 2005: Justin Upton, Arizona Diamondbacks
• 2006: Luke Hochevar, Kansas City Royals
• 2007: David Price, Tampa Bay Devil Rays
• 2008: Tim Beckham, Tampa Bay Rays

For every Chipper, Junior or ARod, you get a bunch of Bryan Bullingtons, Brien Taylors, Matt Bushs or Jeff Kings. Good luck, Strasburg.

Call it in the air...

Master of the Obvious: headlines edition

Not sure if the author created this headline or it was done by some editor, but talk about the most obvious, no-duh, headline possible:

Draft Preview: Selection highly important

Ya think? Maybe selection is important for the draft afterall. Now, maybe the Pirates can get back on track after all these years. Living Longer: Breathing highly important

Of course, that doesn't mean some teams are already swathed in hyperbole:

To put the next First-Year Player Draft in perspective from the Mariners' standpoint, Tom McNamara, the organization's new scouting director, said, "This is the most important Draft in the history of the Mariner franchise."

Drafting Junior, ARod, etc. was only kinda/sorta important. Whoever goes in THIS draft...now that's important.

A bit more on "Vote For Manny"

If you think my "Vote For Manny" is actually about wanting Manny to be selected as a starter in the All Star Game, please read on.

If you think my "Vote For Manny" is actually about wanting to embrace the pro-steroids stance, please read on.

If you think my "Vote For Manny" is actually about preventing the most worthy of players, such as Raul Ibanez, from getting selected to the All Star Game, please read on.

If you understood that the "Vote For Manny" is one part satire, one part sarcasm, one part fun, one part grandiose hopes the rules of the game will somehow change to make sense.... feel free to read on even though you already get it.


So what is "Vote For Manny" and why did I create it?

The issues surrounding Manny, the All Star Game, PEDs represents the "perfect storm" for MLB. Now, I am not a Bud Selig basher, but there are things he's done that I am critical of, just as I am complimentary of other things he's credited with. Having Manny, by far the highest profile player to test positive under the current testing rules, coming off his 50 game suspension a week prior to the ASG is unquestionably brutal timing for MLB. Currently, the rules state that a player cannot be part of the ASG if he's suspended and Manny won't be mid-suspension. I am sure they wish Manny isn't among the three highest OF vote-getters in the NL. Maybe that will be the case, maybe not.

The rules are out of whack and sometimes we need to make a travesty of something to enact change. Sometimes you need to do something radical to rally for change.

I do not want to see Manny in the All Star Game. Are we clear on this? I started the "Vote For Manny" site to illustrate the joke that the voting, the "this time it counts"/World Series home field advantage rule, the mandatory representation, the still-soft PED rules...has become. I want to see the best players selected, not the most popular. Ibanez is worthy and will have a spot on the team no matter what; his manager is managing the NL team. Not to worry, Phillies fans.

Here's how I'd change the All Star Game:

• Make the game an exhibition, like it used to be. Let the fans vote however they wish. If a contingent of fans wish to stuff the ballot boxes for one player, so be it. Each team will have a representative, no matter if they deserve the spot. (So those of you crying that Manny being elected a starter will take a precious spot, cry about the "mandatory representation" rule first.) We can play 9 innings, no extras. If it's a tie, so be it. Each manager will try to get every player in the game. At the end of 9 innings, shake hands and get ready for the 2nd half. No chest-thumping. It's an exhibition.
• Or make the game count for something (even the stupid WS HFA). But, if you are going to make it count, then first cease the mandatory representation and have the best 32 guys play. Then have a three pronged election for the starters (fans get 1/3, players get 1/3 and managers get 1/3). It's not perfect but it'd be better than what we have.
• My point is this: You cannot have a game that counts with a selection process that is fit for an exhibition. It's dumb.
• Also, a new rule: any player dinged for PEDs cannot play in an ASG within the next 12 months of the beginning of their suspension. That covers players who get caught in the 2nd half of a season so they can't be selected in the following ASG.

Let's also dispatch with the "what if Manny IS selected as a top 3 OF?" stuff, shall we? Manny has always come up with a phantom knee injury or some reason to NOT go to the ASG. Why will he start now? Answer, he won't. If Manny is indeed selected as a starter, I am quite certain his agent, Scott Boras, will carefully craft a statement which will politely thank the fans who voted, but Manny needs to focus on helping the Dodgers get to where they want to go in the 2nd half. There is no way Manny steps on the field in St.Louis. None. That means he does not take up any other deserving players' roster spots. Pierre, Ibanez....whoever.

The other, larger, more complicated issue this "Vote For Manny" site highlights is the lack of a deterrent the 50 game suspension actually is. Manny lost some $7m during his suspension, but he's made well north of $200 million over his career. So what has he lost? A shot at the HOF? A bit of pride? Some fans? Do you really think he cares? Really? When Manny is done playing and living on his own island, will he really care? Would YOU? Here's my question: If you were promised $200 million once you were done serving a 1 year jail sentence, would you serve the time? Would you risk the shame and embarrassment for generational wealth? So what's the deterrent to players using PEDs? Entrance into a museum? Or the chance at untold lifetime wealth?

And what about the "Steroid Era"? Given the popularity, the voting results, the resiliency of the game, is anyone really upset anymore? I mean, besides some of the chest-thumping writers and HOF voters? Manny is a cult hero in LA and was one in Boston. ARod's back to bashing HRs in the Bronx and cheered nightly. The game is littered with those implicated with the PED label and each player is cheered when he does something good for their team, booed when they don't. Isn't it crystal clear that the fans are completely sick of hearing, reading, seeing stuff about PEDs in the game? We root for the laundry. I'm no ARod fan, but when the player wearing #13 hits a game winning HR for my team, I am happy.

Speaking of ARod, after some thought, I will not create a similar site for ARod for one simple reason: He did not test positive for PEDs in 2008-09. He admitted to prior usage, whether we choose to believe his story or not. He has not tested positive this season. That's a big difference.


The perfect storm is on the horizon: Manny being elected a starter in the ASG. A vote for Manny is merely a statement to MLB that the rules need to be changed. It's not a vote for Manny, the player. Sure, the LA fans might actually want to see Manny, but that only highlights the point earlier; fans root for the laundry.

I hope this clarifies the reasons for my "Vote For Manny" concept. If you still don't get it or disagree, that's OK with me. I welcome the discussion. I enjoy the debate. Just please keep it civil.


UPDATE: One additional thought which I neglected to mention: If you are an NL fan of a contending team, would you want Manny ON your team to help possibly secure HFA? Forget the PEDs, if you can. If you close your eyes and imagine the top 3 NL OF, is Manny really NOT one of those three? Manny in LF (Braun?), Beltran in CF, Ibanez in RF. Pretty solid.

Reliving the blame in Texas

While many are trying practice revisionist history, Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News tries to remember that ARod wasn't the only thing going wrong in Texas earlier this decade:

You don't have to like him, but was it really A-Rod's fault that the Rangers never won when he was their shortstop?

Was it his fault that Hicks once tried to make like George Steinbrenner, then had second thoughts?

Was it his fault that Rangers pitching always stunk?
[...]
Was it his fault that the Rangers traded him to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias, and that Jon Daniels traded Soriano to the Nationals for Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge and Armando Galarraga, only to watch Wilkerson strike out at a world-record pace while Galarraga escaped to Detroit?

Was it A-Rod's fault that the Rangers took so long to get their priorities straight?

Meh, it probably was his fault anyways.

Yanks hoppin'

Which comes first, the winning or the loose clubhouse? Does one breed the other? Does it matter?

In yet the latest example of the new pie-in-the-face conviviality that has taken hold with the Yankees this season, Joe Girardi's lads Wednesday night held a Kangaroo Court session. It was their first since 1995 when Wade Boggs was the presiding judge and Buck Showalter was the manager.
[...]
However, Damon says, what can not be underscored is that, for the first time in his four years as a Yankee, this is a fun team to be a part of. Eight-game winning streaks - which the Yankees' became with Wednesday night's 11-4 rout of the Baltimore Orioles - can make a guy feel that way. Whether it translates into the championship that has eluded the Yankees since 2000 is another matter.

Togetherness was what Girardi made a point of in spring training when he arranged that surprise "Day at the Pool Parlor." Say this for Girardi, he recognized what guys like Damon are only now willing to talk openly about: The Yankee clubhouse was a joyless place in the latter years of the Joe Torre regime. Part of it was the personnel - how could anyone find any fun being around Kevin Brown? - but a big part of it was the generation gap that existed between Torre and his players.

I've long said I thought the Yanks were "too corporate". I've been looking at other successful clubs of recent vintage (namely the RedSox) and seeing players who seem to genuinely have fun with each other playing this great game and wonder why the Yanks couldn't do that. I don't blame it solely on Torre, but maybe there's something to the impact of Torre and his more stoic nature. Regardless of the reason, I am really enjoying watching a team get close and have fun. Winning does cure ills, but in a long season like this, I do believe it's important to have that comraderie.

Bill Maddon, the author of the above-linked story, gets it (emphasis mine):

"The rules here are much more family oriented now," said Damon,"and that's why you have free agents wanting to come to New York instead of a low-key place."

Funny, I thought it was the money. But there is no question that CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, for all the moolah it took to get them to come here, have had a major influence in changing both the personality of the team and the atmosphere in the clubhouse. Same with Nick Swisher, who was grateful to escape Ozzie Guillen's dog house in Chicago and get traded to the Yankees. In spring training, Sabathia took it upon himself to bring several of his new teammates over to Orlando to take in Magic basketball games, and Burnett has instituted the whipped-cream, pie-in-the-face treatment for the heroes of walk-off wins. Swisher, meanwhile, appointed himself the DJ from the moment he came into the clubhouse and, with Girardi's encouragement, the longstanding Yankee music ban was lifted.

Who knows if this change in team personality will actually result in one additional win or not, but it's good to see the team change from boring, hired guns to a group of guys pulling for one another.

I've gotta believe that this sorta thing will be great for ARod, as the guys will have no problem taking him down a peg or two.

"I took an absolute beating," Alex Rodriguez said, before leaving the clubhouse with his young daughter in his arms. "I think I just barely survived."

I am probably definitely making this to be more than it really is, more than it deserves, but I'm guessing if you ask any Yanks fan over the last decade-plus, they will all* tell you it's good to see the team roll forward and try to develop their own legacy instead of trying to shoehorn themselves into the "dynasty Yanks" from 1996-2000.

* Unless you are a crusty curmudgeon like Mike Franscesa or Murray Chass!

Other recent posts relating to the Yanks' "corporate" atmosphere:

• Reader mail: The "corporate" Yanks
• Huff mocks Joba
• All for one....
• Wishing Baldelli well
• The Art of Over-reaction

Refreshingly honest

Phil Coke was pretty shaky in the ninth last night. So much so that I had to get up three times to look away and distract myself. At least he was refreshingly honest about his first 9th inning experience:

"It's totally, totally different than I imagined it would be," the 26-year-old lefty reliever said of trying to lock down the final outs. "It's not the sixth, seventh or eighth - those are way easier."
[...]
"Mariano's really, really good at it and I'm not very good at it," Coke said. "But at least I got through it and didn't blow it, and I'm quite happy with that. I'm not out there trying to be Mariano Rivera."
[...]
Coke threw 30 pitches - "I feel like I just threw 500, I'm so beat," he said - walked a pair, uncorked a wild pitch and gave up an RBI groundout that made it a one-run game. He walked Carlos Gomez to put the tying run aboard with two out, after which Girardi paid a visit to the mound to tell him "that I'm the guy he wants in that situation, so let's go," Coke said. "I told him, 'Yes sir.'" Eight pitches later, he coaxed pinch-hitter Mike Redmond into a bouncer to second base to end it.

I slept pretty well after that last out was recorded.

The Yanks have won 6 straight (including a 4 game sweep of the talented Twins), 8 of 10 since ARod returned. Teix is mashing to to tune of batting .342 (13-for-38) with five home runs and 13 RBI in the past 10 games.

The Yanks have six more games this week at home, three vs. Baltimore and then three against the World Champs Phillies over the weekend. Would be nice to see this hot streak run a bit longer as Toronto faces Boston and they can beat each other up a bit.

Boomer wants selective justice

Friends, I want this great game to be played on a flat ground, just as most of you do. I don't want it to be a battle of the chemists. We've made some strides in the past few years, many coming at the expense of those outted (Bonds, Palmiero, McGwire, Sosa, ARod, Clemens, Manny, etc.). The one thing that I continue to ponder is just how pervasive the use of all kinds of PEDs were over the last two decades. Let's face it: the majority of players were doing something that's now banned (HGH, steroids, greenies, etc.). Remember, too, that the use of greenies goes waaay back, back to the grainy black-and-whites. Cheating isn't new.

This is not an assigning blame rant; I've done that plenty of times.

But what irks me are those who are calling for the stats of those outted (or presumed guilty) to be summarily stricken from the record books. This, of course, absolves those who haven't yet been outted. It also diminshes the performance of the hitters hitting against juiced up pitchers. It wasn't only the hitters juicing.

That brings us to Boomer Wells, one of my favorite players, who has the Wite-Out ready to go:

Wells also suggested that Rodriguez, who admitted that he used steroids during a three-year period while playing for the Rangers, should have his numbers scrutinized. Rodriguez hit three homers off Wells in 18 at-bats during that time period and the former hurler doesn't think those stats should count toward Rodriguez's bid for the Hall of Fame.

"Well, he claimed he was on the juice, so, no they shouldn't," Wells said.

Boomer, so we should just take his 3 HR off his ledger? What about revising your ERA? Should we do that, too? After all, it's a double book entry system; if you take something off one side, something has to come off the other side as well. What if removing one of those HR's would have resulted in a change in the result of the game? And what if that resulted in a win that got a team into the playoffs whereas otherwise they didn't make it? Talk about a slippery slope...

Of course, those who remain guilty in the shadows can sleep comfortably.

Now, Wells' primary thrust was to ban players from the HOF and to impose a zero-tolerance policy and I am choosing to focus on the stats side of it.

The hefty lefty said MLB should give harsher bans than the 50-game suspensions currently handed out to players who test positive for banned substances. He also said that players who have admitted to juicing should not be elected to the Hall of Fame.

"No 50-game suspension - ban them right away," Wells said. "That would stop (steroid use) in a heartbeat. Especially with the money they are giving out today. It would be incredible if they did that, you wouldn't have to worry about steroids or HGH."

So long as there's a reasonable appeals process, I can't say I disagree. What I'd hate to see are players getting heaved from the majors when they take something over the counter from GNC that contains substances not on the ingredients label. I would be in favor of a "one and done" policy.

Last part of this article which really made me chuckle is the tweaking of Clemens by Wells. Remember, these two were traded for one another, with Wells going to Toronto tearfully, as Clemens arrived in NY in 1999.

"I started calling [Clemens] Eli, because for years, he called me Eli, you know 'Whatever comes out of Boomer's mouth, he-lies.' Well I got payback," Wells said with a big smile. "It was great. Debbie and him on the first tee, (country singer) Toby (Keith) and I and a buddy of his were finishing up and I said, 'Toby, watch this.' I yelled 'Eli,' and Roger didn't like it very much, but he came over and said hello."

Can't you see Clemens, setting up to drive the golfball amidst a large gallery, the crowd hushes and suddenly, there's Boomer Wells yelling "Hey Eli!" and having Clemens snort fire. Not too dissimilar to the Judge Smails putting scene with Rodney Dangerfield's Al Czervik, right? With Debbie Clemens giggle at the expense of her husband just like Lacey Underall is in that picture to the right?

MLB targets agents

Looks like a quiet Monday MLB schedule is resulting in a bevy of PED-related stories. This one is particularly interesting as it's a different approach from what we've heard/seen so far:

Major League Baseball is in the early stages of investigating player agents who may be connected to the sport's steroid scandal.

Wow.

Just as I believe no team was immune to the PED craze, I am sure every agent's stable has to have someone who has been dinged, or at least someone who has used but not yet caught.

If the following doesn't set you back on your heels, color me impressed (emphasis mine):

While MLB does not have the authority to directly punish or ban any player agent who is discovered to be trafficking in steroids or other banned substances, state and federal courts have upheld the authority of players' associations to regulate agents.

In other words, no matter what baseball investigators discover, it will be up to the union to punish rogue agents, and law enforcement agencies to prosecute them. Could there be the equivalent of a drug lord or cartel procuring and providing illegal PEDs to players so they might fatten their contracts and extend their careers, with the money trickling up to agents?"

Nothing would surprise us," said the source, who requested anonymity because of the nature of the investigations. "There are some very principled agents. There are some agents who don't have principles. Do I believe there are some agents who facilitate getting players PEDs? Absolutely."

I'm not accusing anyone because I don't have a shred of proof, but I noted last week the number of high profile Boras clients who have been caught, admitted, outted. From that posting:

I'm mad that the man behind ARod and Manny, none other than Scott Boras himself, is nowhere to be seen or heard. Just in case you are wondering, here are the some of the Boras clients who have been tagged as users (though some may not have been clients at the time of their getting caught):

• Manny
• ARod
• Kevin Brown
• Canseco
• Pudge Rodriguez
• Eric Gagne
• Scott Schoeneweis
• Rick Ankiel
• Ron Villone
• Gary Sheffield

As noted in this 2007 Daily News article:

But after two Boras clients...showed up on the client list of Signature Pharmacy as having received human growth hormone, and, in Schoeneweis' case, steroids, several executives say they will look twice at a Boras client, no matter who it is.

"Absolutely," one GM says. "He talks about how involved he is with their lives - how could he not have known?"

If any agents happen to read this and care to comment, on or off the record, please email me. Please tell me what MLB is asking.

If you thought Chass was rough on Roberts...

... have a read of Shysterball's take on the Roberts' trash:

But for all of the anonymous source hoopla, I think the book's biggest failing is Roberts' hackneyed theme in which she argues, time and again, that A-Rod's manifest character problems are attributable to his father leaving home when he was a kid, which led to his subsequent search for strong male role models (coaches, steroids dealers, Boras, etc.). I'd say that whole line of the book reeks of sophomore psychology class, but most sophomores wouldn't beat the theme into the ground the way Roberts does. What's worse, there's nothing to back this up other than (1) the fact that, yes, Rodriguez's father left the family when Alex was a boy; and (2) page after page of Roberts giving voice to what she believes to be Rodriguez's thoughts at given points of his life. She doesn't even go into anonymous source land here. She simply says stuff like "Alex searched for meaning constantly as if the right catch-phrase from a self-help book could ground him in a normalcy he at once longed for and feared." Um, OK, except there's no one who supplies any facts to support a "search for normalcy" or any of the other emotional drama Roberts ascribes to him anywhere in the book. It's all half-wit, pop-psychology invention. As I've written numerous times in the past two weeks, Roberts has not earned the benefit of the doubt with her previous reporting, so she's certainly not entitled to the benefit the doubt with this purported clairvoyance either.

Nice work, Craig.

And if anyone wants to make that picture of Roberts into a fathead for me, I'll hang it in my office.

Murray Chass crushes Selena Roberts

The crusty Murray Chass has a field day treating Selena Roberts like human pinata:

Roberts has written a book about Alex Rodriguez, and it is a journalistic abomination. That phrase probably won’t appear in any advertisement for the book, but it should to alert prospective readers what they would be getting.

I use the word journalistic rather than literary for two reasons: 1, the book grew out of a Sports Illustrated project; 2, Roberts has been a newspaper and magazine reporter and columnist and as such has practiced the craft of journalism. Based on the book, however, she needs a lot more practice.

In general, Roberts makes far too many serious allegations about Rodriguez to hide them behind anonymous quotes. Rodriguez deserves more, but more importantly readers deserve more. There is far too much in this attack book for Roberts to expect readers to take it on faith that her anonymous sources are real and they can be trusted.

To quote the Batman fight scenes: "Bam Boff Sock Crash Whamm Pow Zap Splatt"

Many Manny thoughts

{Pardon my delay in getting this out, but work was nuts and I am only now (9pm) getting to unwind --jnr}

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Like most of you, when I first heard the Manny news, I was stunned. I have been saying that no name would surprise me, but I guess I was surprised nonetheless. Not surprised that he was using something, something which reportedly is used to mask/help recover from using other, more serious things....but more surprised that he was dumb enough to get caught. I'm disappointed, just as I said I'd be.

I think the whole "Manny being Manny" schtick is/was cute and fun, but ask any Yanks fan and we all feared when this guy strolled to the plate. From everything I have heard and read, he took his craft very seriously. Which makes this positive test that much more surprising.

I heard (via MLB on XM) many well informed voices (doctors and such) elaborate on what Manny was caught taking: the female fertility drug human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG. According to one doctor interviewed, this is no Viagra-like performance enhancer, as one 'source close to Ramirez' claims. Sorry. If you need that sorta help, you're not taking hCG; you're taking one of the many choices available to men these days. Don't BS us. We're better and smarter than that.

Another physician with experience in international drug-testing said LH and HCG are occasionally prescribed for men “whose testicles have basically stopped functioning.”

The physician, who asked for anonymity because of his standing in the drug-testing community, said HCG is used to re-stimulate the testicles, primarily in men with a history of steroid use.

Ramirez tested positive for the substance during spring training, then had another portion of the same urine – a “B” sample – tested again more recently, and it also was positive. Major League Baseball notified Ramirez of the second positive test after Wednesday night’s Dodgers victory over the Washington Nationals.

"A history of steroid use". Let that sink in for a moment. This doesn't appear to be the "I took HGH a few times to get back on the field" excuse that Pettitte used, does it?

Let the fact that this has been hanging over Manny for at least 6 weeks also sink in.

I'm not the Yanks fan who is going to point at 2007 and 2004 and call those titles into question. The whole game, every team, was infected with this PED usage. I'd love to be ultra-hypocritical and jeer at the Sox, but the Yanks teams were littered with junkies, too. Everyone's guilty, even the innocent. Sure, there's a part of me that wonders how the Sox seem to be so skillfully coated in Teflon that none of this sticks to them, even though they are no cleaner than any other team.

Jose Canseco was on the radio today, chatting about this, as you might expect. He essentially confirmed that hCG is used to help restimulate testosterone growth after years of steroid usage sapped his body's ability to make it naturally.

HCG most recently made news when former major leaguer and admitted steroid user Jose Canseco was caught attempting to smuggle it into the U.S. from Mexico.

The Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement stated that Canseco admitted to bringing it across the border because “he is currently on a hormone therapy plan because his testosterone levels are extremely low due to his past steroid use.”

HCG and LH were added to the banned drug list by MLB a year ago. They have been banned for male athletes by the World Anti-Doping Agency since 1987.

"Since 1987". And MLB added this to the list last year. Bud, it again falls on you. Sure the Union was complicit, but you, as Commissioner had your head in the sand, either failing to see what was happening or failing to act. Frankly, I am not sure what's worse. Major drug enforcement organizations had banned this substance 22 FREAKIN' YEARS AGO, but MLB just got around to it. Any wonder why we're no closer to digging out of the "Steriod Era" than we ever thought we were? That Mitchell Report thing was pretty good ruse, eh? Stupid waste of money.

Speaking of which, Mitchell Report prime source Kirk Radomski had this to say about hCG:

"I have used hCG numerous times," Radomski told ESPN.com. "It works great. You feel great. After you come off a [steroid] cycle, your body doesn't crash. It turns your [testosterone] production back on. It gives you more energy. It makes you feel like you're still on a cycle.

"Typically, people who use hCG have abused drugs. Their bodies have shut down. A perfect example is Canseco. He went across the border to get it. He admitted that he abused his body. People who stay on long [steroid] cycles would have to take it. People who go on short cycles or don't use [steroids] that much can get away without having to use hCG."

I really don't want to hear the "unknowingly", blind support crap that might bubble up over the next few days. I want to know the truth, dammit. How long was he taking PEDs and where did he get them? Enough already. You're already sitting on a 50 game suspension with your reputation being shredded. Just fess up, and do it the right way, not a sorta/kinda truth like ARod gave us. But that won't happen. He'll backpedal on the "mistake" excuse and that's all we'll get. So we will be left to presume that he's been guilty for years, just like we did with Palmiero and the rest.

I can't help myself, but if I hear anyone trying to give Manny the pass on this, I might scream. From Shaun Assael at ESPN:

According to the man who until recently was the point person in the Albany, N.Y., investigation into anti-aging clinics, hCG, the drug that cost Manny Ramirez a 50-game suspension, is commonly sold as part of a "stack" of substances that includes performance enhancers.

Mark Haskins, formerly an investigator for the New York State Department of Health, said places such as the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center routinely sent out hCG along with testosterone and Winstrol (stanozolol).

"I spent four years investigating this stuff, and 90 percent of the orders contained hCG," he said.

HCG is primarily a female fertility drug because it helps the body manufacture progesterone. When used by men, it spurs production of testosterone in the testes.

I'm mad. I'm mad that my adult years of being a fan are being viewed as an utter farce. What do I look back on? Who are MY era's Mickey, Whitey, Hank and Willie? The legends my Dad idolized. Sure, I have Thurman and Graig and Goose and Guidry and Mr. October. But I was 7-8 when those guys were winning. My older son is now 9 and his favorites include Jeter and Mo and I can only hope against hope that those two remain Clorox clean. A decade ago, I fully expected to eventually tell my kids about the glory days of McGwire and Sosa, ARod and Manny, The Rocket, Cal and the Kid. Good thing I have baseballs signed by the last two.

I'm mad that I have to explain this stuff to my boys. I should be concerned with teaching them the infield fly rule (once I figure it out myself), throwing ahead of the runner and hitting behind one. And not stealing with a 5 run lead. And the rest of baseball's wonderful unwritten rules. And how to fill out a box score.

I'm mad that the man behind ARod and Manny, none other than Scott Boras himself, is nowhere to be seen or heard. Just in case you are wondering, here are the some of the Boras clients who have been tagged as users (though some may not have been clients at the time of their getting caught):

• Manny
• ARod
• Kevin Brown
• Canseco
• Pudge Rodriguez
• Eric Gagne
• Scott Schoeneweis
• Rick Ankiel
• Ron Villone
• Gary Sheffield

As noted in this 2007 Daily News article:

But after two Boras clients...showed up on the client list of Signature Pharmacy as having received human growth hormone, and, in Schoeneweis' case, steroids, several executives say they will look twice at a Boras client, no matter who it is.

"Absolutely," one GM says. "He talks about how involved he is with their lives - how could he not have known?"

I'm mad that one of the best pure hitters that I have ever seen is now forever tainted with the permanent stink of a positive PED test.

I'm mad that we're going to have to endure things like this and the ARod book every Spring, it seems. Who's next? C'mon down. Grab the next biggest name, do some investigating, write a book and make lotsa loot. (Come to think about it, I should do it.)

I'm mad that we have to keep talking about this.

I'm just mad.

BREAKING NEWS: MANNY SUSPENDED

No kidding, this is serious stuff:

Manny Ramirez will be suspended 50 games for positive drug test

Manny Ramirez has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and will be suspended 50 games starting today, The Times has learned.
[...]
Ramirez is expected to attribute the test results to medication received from a doctor for a personal medical issue, according to a source familiar with matter but not authorized to speak publicly.
[...]
Ramirez would become the biggest star suspended under an oft-criticized major league testing program that started in 2003. He had been a model citizen since arriving in Los Angeles last August, following a stormy tenure with the Boston Red Sox.

This is the second drug scandal to rock baseball within four months. In a year in which baseball officials hoped their greatest concern would be the slumping economy, the two highest-paid players in the game have been revealed to have failed a drug test.

Other reports coming out that it's not steroid-related. Just ignorance. PLENTY more to come!

From Verducci:

The source said the substance was not classified as a steroid but was clearly defined as a banned performance enhancer according to the drug agreement between baseball and its players association. Banned substances can only be taken with prior knowledge and medical clearance from baseball's drug-program administrators. Such exceptions are known as Therapeutic Use Exemptions, or TUEs. The suspension is an indication Ramirez did not have a TUE for the substance.

Ramirez said in a statement released by the MLBPA:

"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons."

Somewhere near Tampa, ARod is giggling his tail off. Maybe he's flying up to NY right now to get into the line-up as a huge surprise... riding under the Manny fog.

Jay at FackYouk has some thoughts on the subject and asks 'Why couldn't it have been Papi?':

In addition, the Sox organization has been largely spared the of embarassment of this going down with him still on the team. The graphics on SportsCenter and the MLB Network and ESPN.com will carry the Dodger's logo. He won't have to answer questions at Fenway about it. All those clips of him mashing in a West Coast, National League uniform really deflect the stigma away from their two World Series titles and Manny's WS MVP. That's what I care about: the Championships.

Craig (aka Shysterball), over at his fancy-pants NBC gig, got serious:

Hey, how about that Mitchell Report!
Between Manny and Alex "boy, I couldn't be happier about this news" Rodriguez, can we now finally all admit to ourselves that the Mitchell Report was a sham? A public relations piece that failed to do anything other than convince the weak-minded that it approached comprehensiveness or represented finality, when it clearly did not? Alex Rodriguez's name wasn't in it, and based on even his own admitted timeline it should have been. Likewise, unless you believe that Manny Ramirez only came to performance enhancing drugs last Tuesday, there's a good chance his name should have been in it too. That is, if the thing was worth a damn, which it wasn't.

Any other thoughts, smart guy?
Just this, which echoes what I had to say back in February when A-Rod was busted: though I think it's inevitable, I hope that everyone who is about to come out of the woodwork to demonize Manny Ramirez and baseball stops to realize that each time a new player -- especially a superstar -- is pushed out of the PED closet, it means that the era in which we've been living is, ironically, less illegitimate than we previously believed. Why? Because the more players who are found to have used PEDs, the less accurate it is to say that anyone truly had an unfair advantage. Sure, on a matchup-by-matchup basis there were users facing non-users, but the caricature of a small group of cheaters ruining it for everyone else in the game grows more ridiculous as each new name surfaces. Many, many ballplayers have used PEDs in recent years. So many, I'd guess, that a blanket of soft presumption of PED use should be in order for the players of our age. Instead of judging these guys as harshly as we have been, perhaps we should simply grade their characters and accomplishment on a curve just like we do from players in the pre-integration age and pitchers from the deadball era. Different, lamentable, but not illegitimate or evil.

I can hear it coming...

Things that make me laugh...

With all of the ARod bashing that's being dished by Selena Roberts, including the embarrassing "b*tch t*ts", allegedy by teammates, I fully expect ARod to come out swinging leading with:

"Oh yeah, Selena Roberts has 'man hands'".

These are the things that make me chuckle.

You may now resume your normal activities.

One review of the ARod book

Friends, as you could probably tell by the fewer-than-usual number of posts here the last two weeks, I have been underwater at work. The good news is that it should crest on Friday.

I don't have the ARod book and unless some publisher wants to send me one to review, I won't have it either. But Lisa Swan from Subway Squawkers DOES and she put forth an excellent review:

What we do know is that Roberts does not attempt to interview some of the sources who would paint a more positive portrait of Alex, like Doug Mientkiewicz, Michael Young, and Lou Piniella. Instead, Roberts' work in the book is not just one-sided; it has a breathtaking lack of perspective. Alex's three MVP awards get about the same amount of space in the book as his oral hygiene habits. There are two pages about how A-Rod treated waitresses at Hooters, but not one word about how he let utility player Nick Green live with him and his family for two months in the summer of 2006.

Roberts also has a real taste for hyperbole. It's hard to take Roberts' work seriously when she compares Alex to the sociopathic "Talented Mr. Ripley" and the evil Mr. Potter of "It's a Wonderful Life." A-Rod may be a selfish narcissist - and a cheater - but he's not a monster.

There's much, much more and all of it is worth reading. Good Great work, Lisa!

Reader mail: The "corporate" Yanks

Got an interesting email last night. I'm posting it, not because I agree with all of it, but it at least made me think a bit.

It's from a long time Yanks fan living in upstate NY, far from metro NYC paranoia, crush, fear and loathing.

So I am watching the Yankee pregame today (vs Sox) when the following thought occurred to me:

When did the Yankees go from being an institution of winning, a paragon of power, to.....this? When you watch the Yankees, do you get a sense that they are inherently better than their opposition? I don't. I remember watching them against the Rays, the Royals, the Tigers....all this season....wondering if they were going to win THAT game? I see them tonight against the Sox wondering if they're going to win THIS game!

Can you remember...not all that long ago....being surprised when the Yankees lost a game where the star pitcher was starting? Cone.... Pettitte..... Wells.... Guidry.... whoever. Now when Sabathia takes the mound, we think "Can they win this game tonight?" No matter who they are playing. It's kinda like Team USA in Basketball....the world caught up. Only with Team USA, they actually DID something about it. They got hungry. They got angry. They dug in and played HARD....even when they lost. (did they lose in the Olympics? I don't think they did, but I think Spain gave them a run, if memory serves).

It just seems like a corporate, stuffy, bloated, non-cohesive atmosphere, ya know?

A couple of years ago, the whole "Corporate" atmosphere led to the team being in line. There was no one individual who was "above the team". Now the "Corporate" atmosphere makes them seem cool and insulated from losing; like they think "oh, well...tomorrow is another work day. Punch the clock. Work more tomorrow." Girardi has not infused any Fire... grit... determination into this team. Instead, he has melded into it. He's become a younger version of Torre, with better bullpen management.

I wish I could say this team has got to be torn down to start again, but the atmosphere in New York will never allow that to happen. The Yanks aren't the Pirates. They can't grow their own talent, they're only going to buy it. Still....it sure seems like they need an overhaul, doesn't it?

You kinda wish....(Prepare yourself...this may be blasphemy) that the Yanks would deal for a guy like Piniella was who would come into the locker room and punch Jeter in the teeth. Something....ANYTHING....to fire this team up. This .500 team is boring. Where is Willie Mays Hays?

Interesting.

There's a lot I don't agree with:

• We CAN grow our own talent; we just need to give them a chance instead of locking them behind major long-term FA acquisition
• Looking back on our heroes is dangerous; we tend to remember only the highs
• I do think the Yanks tried to do something about it. Sabathia is a natural born leader and while he's struggled this Spring, I am not worried. I am looking forward to seeing the real Teix (which will coincide with ARod's return). Both are younger, in the midst of their primes, not Randy Johnson/Kevin Brown-types.

I do wonder about Girardi, though. I expected a bit more passion, at least that's visible to me, the fan. I also think Jeter's quiet leadership has either gotten tired, lost or something. This team needs more guys like Swisher and Sabathia, guys who can keep on everyone. I was really into Orlando Hudson (even though there was no obvious position for him) simply because he's a non-stop go-getter and I think this team is devoid of them. I don't think Jeter is that guy any more. Now, he's the classy vet, a guy to look up to, but not the guy to lead and rally the troops.

What's been tough for me is that I am in perpetual conflict: I root for the laundry but I find the ownership/leadership ugly and offensive. The Stadium snafus have become such a profound turn-off to me, I am having trouble finding the words to explain it. The otherworldy slide of ARod into this comical, embarrassing caricature of a MLB hero is staggering. That Hank allowed himself to be held up at gunpoint by Boras and ARod into paying MORE than he opted out of will never, ever make sense to me. I should stop now, I'm veering off a cliff. The point is this: The team can be hard to root for with all of the background noise.

But I think the thrust is this: The team is lacking that "desperation to win". Not sure how you get that back, but the team sure needs it.

Thanks for the email, joeorange31.

The best thing I have read in some time

I've been totally underwater the last two weeks and this will continue at least thru the end of next week. I'm fighting to keep current and produce some worthwhile reading here every day. Somedays I am more successful than others, depending on my workload. (But staying employed is a good idea so that has to come first.)

I am belatedly getting to probably the best thing I have read in quite some time from the blogosphere, this from my good friend and FOTB, Shysterball. It's a long piece but it's more than worth the time as Craig really flexes his legal background to build and present an interesting case why he is skeptical of Selena Roberts' ARod book. Whether you agree with him or not, it's a compelling read.

What I do care about -- and the reason I have quoted all of this stuff by and about Selena Roberts -- is the culture of character assassination that has become inextricably linked to the subject of steroids in baseball. Every big name who has tested positive has not only been branded a cheater by the media, but a dirty cheater with evil and chicanery in his heart. Every assertion of innocence -- even to subordinate allegations -- has been met with scorn. In addition to censuring players under the rules of baseball, the media (and the public at large following the media's lead) has further demanded that high-profile steroids users be ostracized, and that the historical record be expunged, as best it can be, of their very existence. It has been a shameful few years in this regard, and I hope and pray that one day some semblance of perspective on the subject of performance enhancing drugs in baseball prevails. But we're certainly not there yet.

Enter Selena Roberts. The same Selena Roberts who has already demonstrated a clear interest in making Alex Rodriguez into a villain. The same Selena Roberts who smeared the Duke lacrosse players. Even if we concede that she gets the facts right in her upcoming book, can we have any faith that she presents them with even a semblance of balance, as opposed to surrounding them with innuendo, rumor, conjecture, and false sanctimony?

Great work, Craig. Reading this only makes me want to work that much harder to become better at what I do. Unfortunately for me, a post like that looks like Bob Beamon's 1968 long jump.