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Jose Canseco's second book hits shelves next week, but copies are getting around already. In this tell-some sequel, Canseco says he hooked Alex Rodriguez up with a 'roid-distributing trainer (and that Rodriguez hit on his wife), that he thinks Roger Clemens may be on steroids, and that he personally injected then-White Sox Magglio Ordoñez with performance enhancing drugs.
I met Maggs (Magglio Ordonez) in 2001, when I was with the White Sox. ... When it was all said and done, when Maggs had the information he needed, he told me he was in. A few days later, we went into the back room in the clubhouse, and I jabbed a needle into his butt. ‘Ow,' he said. ‘That hurt.' ‘You'll get used to it,' I said.
In January, the NYT said that Canseco had asked Ordoñez for $5 million to keep his name out of the book and to bankroll a film. Ordoñez didn't press charges, and Canseco denies that this happened. Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball is due out April 1, but...everyone already knows the juicy parts. [Daily News, NYT]
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Why does baseball need to be "saved"?
The only people who seem to really get upset about steroids are:
- Old timey nostalgia fetishists.
- Stat Geeks. (see above)
- Congress.
- Sportswriters needing something to write about before a deadline.
- Idiots who will listen to anything sportwriters and/or congress tells them.
Everyone else seems to have greeted the whole "scandal" with a huge collective yawn. These people make a living with their bodies. And their bodies ability to recover (exactly what steroids and HGH helps with) is a tool for that purpose. It wasn't against the rules until very recently, and even so... I could use 'roids to get ripped as hell, I still need to be able to hit the ball.
A .300 hitter is a .300 hitter. Drugs or no drugs.
"A few days later, we went into the back room in the clubhouse, and I jabbed a needle into his butt. ‘Ow,' he said. ‘That hurt.' ‘You'll get used to it,' I said."
that was no needle in the butt ...
In this book, Teflon Sammy, AKA the "instant Michelin Man," escapes scrutiny again.
Sadly, one day the Cubs will put a heavily-muscled statue of him outside of Wrigley Field.
It wasn't against the rules until very recently, and even so
it was against the law, hence the problem. i doubt turning baseball clubhouses into methlabs is in the rule book, but i'd imagine that would get some attention as well.
@jimbo:
HGH is legal. So was Andro.
And if steriods was really ruining baseball, wouldn't it be reflected in the ticket sales and ratings?
@plumbum:
While I agree that the public cares far less about steroids than talking heads on TV and in print wish they would, to suggest that steroids won't help someone hit a ball is incorrect. They help with bat speed and hand-eye coordination, and would make for a significant bump in batting average.
I would think that a "body's ability to recover" is part of the athletic contest: those with better genes, or cleaner lives, or better work ethics, would have an advantage in this area, and tend to win more.
I agree. The public seems to have spoken, but I think part of this is that American society tolerates cheating more so than in the past. I can only speak for myself, but one of the attractions I have to sports is the idealist thought that these are athletes, not chemically-enhanced creatures.
plum, were any of them (maybe with the exception of rick ankiel) taking them legally? do you think that the 5% or whatever the number is of high school athletes that admit taking them, are taking them legally?
McGwire was (as far as we know) legal. And honestly, if someone said "Hey, put your long term health at risk and we'll give you 43 million dollars over 12 years and loads of fame" I would risk a lot.
And steroids DO NOT help you hit a ball farther. And eye-hand coordination is something that is developed in the nervous system, not the muscles.
When you lift weights and work out to exhaustion you damage muscle cells. That's why when you lift you're supposed to take a day off to let your body recover. But when you juice, you can lift as often as you like and cells bounce back faster. So, if I were to just roid up and sit around playing Xbox, I'd get flabby man boobs, my testicles would shrink, and I'd be angry all the time. (Wait a second...)
The drugs aren't magic "hulk out" juice. You need to work out constantly for the steroids to work, and even then you'd just get some extra pop in your swing. It would turn a warning track shot into a home run, but it totally wouldn't help you make contact. You'd have to do that on your own.
that was no needle in the butt ...
Good one, jimbo.
And steroids DO NOT help you hit a ball farther.
It would turn a warning track shot into a home run, but it totally wouldn't help you make contact. You'd have to do that on your own.
You just made both those points in the same post. Which do you believe? Because they totally contradict each other.
Last time I checked, a home run was farther than the warning track.