One players take on the Mitchell Report, Canseco, Clemens, records, looking back or going forward….
Dec 19th, 2007 by Curt Schilling
Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens, Andy Petite, Todd Pratt, Gary Bennett, Paul Byrd, Dave Justice, Fernando Vina, Alex Cabrera, Brian Roberts, Lenny Dykstra, and many more. I know them, or have been friends with them, or know them through competing against them, and many more names on that list.
If you plan on writing some idiotic off the cuff rant slanted one way or another feel free to close the page now, it will be deleted. The opinion I am offering is mine and mine alone. Regardless of whether you view it as right or wrong it’s my opinion from what some might call an insiders perspective.
First off on the Senator himself. I’ll take the word of the many reputable people I have heard talk about Senator Mitchell and after reading the report I don’t think I’m wrong. People wanting to point to his apparent ‘extreme bias’ based on his position as a senior member of the Red Sox organization are on a wild goose chase. I would argue that most of the people calling his character into question are doing so because they can’t relate to someone possessing integrity and an unbiased opinion in his position. Meaning those people are saying “If it were me I’d be unfair and taint the report to read in favor of the Red Sox”. (The conspiracy theorists out there are having a field day with Senator Mitchells relationship with Boston and his integrity, I don’t have any issues with either and I think if you look at his reputation and record you can safely say this man has made a living out of doing some pretty damn good stuff.)
I disagree. I think that given the people that talked, the people that had to talk to make this stuff come to light, had far more bearing on the names and groups of players in question than the man leading the investigation. I would also argue that of all the people put ‘out there’ in this report his take on the Red Sox dealings with Brendon and Eric Gagne will have people up in arms much more than many other parts of this report.
Agree or disagree, if you start your assessment of this report with a biased opinion of Senator Mitchell and you question his integrity then I’d argue you’re not seeing this for what it is. But that’s your right.
As for the names on the list, and Lord knows there’s no shortage of those, I have feelings very strongly in some cases due to personal history, and opinions in many others. I’ve played, roomed and lived with some of these guys, and competed and gotten to know others.
To Andy Pettite, Brian Roberts, Gary Bennett, thank you. All three of these guys I know, Andy not very much, but the other two I know very well. I played a few years with Gary, worked out at API and competed with Brian. Gary Bennett is a guy who I always respected because I never figured him as a guy that would be able to play as long as he has. He was always a hard worker and a nice guy and I always enjoyed throwing to him because he cared about his game calling skills. He’s made a nice career for himself and my hope is that it was more through his hard work and effort than through cheating, either way he’s a friend of mine and always will be. Brian Roberts worked as hard as anyone I’ve ever been around. Not to mention he’s about as kind and giving as anyone you’ll ever meet. I know how regretful he is and I know that this mistake is not indicative of his choice making in life. He screwed up, knows he screwed up and admitted it. I’ve always had huge amounts of respect for Andy Pettite, as a competitor and as a person. Someone who’s made his beliefs as a Christian very public and always been the big game pitcher as well. He says he did this one time to recover from an injury, I believe him.
What does all of this mean? As it pertains to this report it means absolutely nothing. These three guys were man enough to admit they were caught, made a huge mistake, and asked for forgiveness. There will be many who say they only admitted what they did because they were caught, which is probably true in every case, but the fact of the matter is that when you look at how many names are now out there, very few have chosen to own up to the mistake and take responsibility. To dissect the manner of their apologies, or try and discern intent is irrelevant to me. I know all three guys are good people. The world is full of good to great people that have made mistakes of this magnitude or worse. I’ll argue that this mistake in many cases doesn’t define the people I know, but merely points to another fact of our lives that people continually dismiss.
We’re human, we make mistakes, some bigger than you, some smaller, but at the end of the day it’s what makes us human. These guys made mistakes and I do mean mistakes. They didn’t accidentally do this, this was a conscious decision with far reaching implications and they should be held accountable. Problem is the fans version of accountable is completely dependent on their opinion of the player in question. If you are a fan then all is forgiven, or there is much less vitriol than you might have for other names mentioned.
Bottom line is you will act and react based on your opinions of these players. Opinions you’ve formed based on media coverage given by the very same people now reporting this story. Short of actually meeting any of these players the only things you know about them are what’s been reported to you via television or newspapers over their careers. You can’t know in any depth how good or bad any of these guys are. You know their home to first times, their OBP, WHIP, and you know some of them are ‘gamers’, but as people you can’t know what they are really like can you? Does that really matter though? That’s for you to decide and I am sure their inclusion in this report has significant impact on your opinions of them as players and as people, how can it not.
Jose Canseco? Not sure where to start. I would offer that there is a small amount of personal history on my end. Back in the early 90’s Jose and I were represented by a firm called Beverly Hills Sports Council. Jose ran a celebrity softball game in Miami after the huge hurricane and I had a chance to spend some time the evening before the event with him. My impressions were that he was an extremely shy guy, incredibly nice and caring. He was very much into the Miami community and giving back as well.
About 15 years later I am not sure those things don’t still ring true, but what’s happened over the past few years has made me think other things about him. I heard him on WEEI this past weekend and he was lying. He was stating that I lied in front of Congress and that I was reprimanded afterwards. Neither of those is true. I have stated many times before, and since, that I was called before Congress, subpoenaed actually, based on a comment I made to a sports illustrated writer a few years before about my thoughts on the % of players using PED’s in MLB. Based on 2-3 quotes I made, Congress felt compelled to call me to the meeting to offer an ‘anti-steroids’ opinion.
Please remember this. At a Congressional hearing you are sworn in and any and everything you say can be used for future actions against you or someone else unless you are granted immunity, even with immunity if you lie you lose that right. Everything I had as an opinion to that point, and for the most part now, was thought, opinion, conjecture. Having to this day never seen anyone inject steroids or HGH, I was in no position to speculate, nor would I. To even mention a name as someone I ‘thought’ was using, or do anything of that sort would amount to defamation of character of people I was guessing may have used. I couldn’t do that, others can and have but I could not.
As far a Jose goes, my opinion on what he’s done is, I guess, rather convoluted. On one hand Jose lied about every aspect of his professional career as a player. His entire career, all of it, is a sham. He never belonged in the big leagues and anything he ever did in the major leagues is a hoax. He made it clear that he would not have been the player he was had he not cheated. His statistics should be erased, his MVP given to the runner up and he should go down as the guy who broke the silence on a horrible period of the game, period. He was never in his life a major league player.
The problem I have, and the opinion I have, is based on the fact that he lied his entire career, every single day of it. He cheated his entire career, and lied about it. He spent his entire career on the record claiming he didn’t use PEDs, yet only when his life was in shambles and only when it served Jose Canseco the most, did he ‘come clean’. Only then did he become this bastion of truth and honesty. Is that not the scam of scams? He made his hundred million or so, and when he was no longer good enough to compete up here, only when cheating stopped being enough to keep him competitive, only then did he scream ‘blackballed” and vow to get his revenge. Only then did he tell the truth, or his version of the truth.
Which in the end gets us here. Say what you want about Jose, and there are things I disagree with and think he’s wrong about, but I have yet to find someone he’s named who’s NOT been guilty or tried to clear their name. The view I have on that is maybe a bit too simplistic but I look at it like this. If Jose had named me in his book, it would have taken about 20 minutes for me to issue a press release vehemently denying the allegations, which would have been as closely followed as possible by as large a legal action as I could have possibly taken to sue for slander, libel, defamation of character and anything else I’d have been able to legally do. It’s either that, or I’m guilty. There is no gray area here, you either did, or you didn’t and Jose, up through today, hasn’t called out anyone that’s sued his ass off for false representation, slander, libel or whatever you would do if someone said something like this about you, that you didn’t do.
So regardless of what you might think about him he has broken the flood gates on a topic that went unspoken on for far too long. The amount of damage done to the sport will be far reaching and I don’t know that we’ll ever truly know how bad it is until people a few generations from now are looking back on this era.
This past week he made a comment publicly that he was ’shocked’ that Alex Rodriguez was not mentioned in the Mitchell report? Based on what he has said and done he was clearly saying to me that he has personal knowledge of Alex as it relates to PED’s? How can he do that? Are we at a place where people are ok with names being thrown out this callously is ok? I hope like hell Alex stops anyone from mentioning his name as it relates to this and legally shuts up Jose from mentioning his name anymore as it relates to steroids or PEDs.
Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds. I know both of these men. Roger had a profound effect on my career from a very early point. His ‘undressing’ of me and lecture were a major turning point. I’ve always respected his career accomplishments and regarded him as the greatest pitcher to ever play the game. Now I, like every other Yankee, Clemens fan am faced with a dilemma. The two men that fingered multiple players, from my understanding, both testified with immunity, but only if they told the truth. So these guys had every reason in the world to NOT lie. That doesn’t mean they didn’t, but there is an immense amount of incentive for them to NOT lie when they gave their depositions because lying would have seen them open to legal actions beyond what they are already facing. So the question to me then becomes this. It’s no mystery that Roger and Andy are as close as any two teammates I know of. Andy makes no bones about Rogers influence in his career. Their personal trainer, the trainer Roger took to Toronto, then to NY, has admitted to administering PED’s to both men. Andy has admitted he did, and that it was a mistake and he never did it again. Roger has denied every allegation brought to the table. So as a fan my thought is that Roger will find a way in short order to organize a legal team to guarantee a retraction of the allegations made, a public apology is made, and his name is completely cleared. If he doesn’t do that then there aren’t many options as a fan for me other than to believe his career 192 wins and 3 Cy Youngs he won prior to 1997 were the end. From that point on the numbers were attained through using PED’s. Just like I stated about Jose, if that is the case with Roger, the 4 Cy Youngs should go to the rightful winners and the numbers should go away if he cannot refute the accusations.
I met Barry Bonds in the early 90s. Like Jose, Barry was represented by Beverly Hills Sports Council and I was invited to a dinner along with Gary Sheffield to celebrate Barry’s 2nd or 3rd MVP. By the way that was just about the only time I’ve ever interacted with Sheff and he was the kindest, most polite guy I had ever met. Incredibly well spoken and incredibly respectful and kind. That was where I first met Barry. We had a chance to talk a bit but I listened much more than I spoke (my how times have changed). I obviously respected the player, who wouldn’t? That next year we were playing against SF and he hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th inning off of me to tie a game (1993), and stood at home plate for about 3 days. I made a few comments and he did his thing. I stopped being much of a fan at that point. Over the past 13 or so years the rest of my opinion of Barry has been formed, fairly or unfairly, by playing with and talking to former teammates, clubhouse guys and other people in the game, as well as competing against him. Barry is pretty much the guy that’s been represented by the media as a whole in my opinion. Take that for whatever it’s worth. The big difference in where we are now, and I think in the court of public opinion, is that many things have happened in the past few years that have presented opportunities for him to ‘clear his name’ (no pun intended), and he hasn’t.
Someone wrote a book about Barry which outlined a ton of things that Barry supposedly did, and nothing happened. Barry instituted legal action to bar the publishers of the book from profiting from sales. Nothing about the allegations in the book, nothing, just tried to stop them from making money. Barry testified, with immunity, in front of a Grand Jury. In the opinion of that Grand Jury Barry lied under oath no less than 4 times and is now facing indictment. Barry’s personal trainer has gone to jail for failure to testify in the Grand Jury proceedings. My question is, if you did nothing wrong, and know of no crime being committed, why would you have to go to jail? What information would you possess that would land you in jail for failure to disclose? If you are innocent, and no one is hiding anything, why is anyone going to jail? More importantly to me, how good of a friend would I be if I allowed someone I considered to be my friend to go to jail for me? What does that say about me? What does that say about my guilt/innocence? If I haven’t committed a crime why would anyone I am friends with have to go to jail for failure to answer questions about me or my activities?
It may not be that simple, or I might just be naive and stupid. But if I am being called in front of a grand jury to give testimony, and I am given total immunity from prosecution as long as I tell the truth, why would anything beyond my testimony be in discussion after I testified? If lying meant jail time and losing my life, and family, is there anything short of the safety and health of my family that would be worth that price? For me I’d have to say no.
This could all be crap in the end, Barry could be totally innocent of all charges of perjury and his relationship to Greg Anderson, Victor Conte and Balco, and all the evidence found against him could be false.
Whatever happens now though, can you separate what Barry is accused of from what Roger is accused of? If they are both found not guilty cool, if not then they are one in the same no?
If neither of those things happen, and both of these men end up being caught, what does that say about this game, us as athletes and the future of the sport and our place in it? The greatest pitcher and greatest hitter of all time are currently both being implicated, one is being prosecuted, for events surrounding and involving the use of performance enhancing drugs. That sucks.
Your opinions will have all personal bias, they have to, it’s what humans do. Fans in NY will continue to rant and scream about the fact that there are multiple Yankees in this report given by a member of the Red Sox organization. There are Bonds fans railing on Roger now, he needs to be vilified the same way Barry has been.
I don’t know the answers to any of this beyond what I feel. The sport needs fixing. It’s become clear that testing has to involve an outside party at some point and that the MLBPA and MLB need to find common ground on testing that allows investigation for probable cause instead of only relying on positive tests.
Scream all you want about the testing program in MLB but there isn’t a test in existence that can identify the the presence of HGH with any amount of accuracy. My understanding of the NFL Program is that a player must test at 6 times the normal level of HGH in their system to be a positive. I don’t know the details, I just know testing is woefully inadequate in catching people that use it. The use of Steroids in the game is significantly lower now than it was. I believe that is a combination of a good thing and a bad thing. I think testing truly has reduced the amount of people that use, but I also think that Senator Mitchell nailed it when he said that there has been a significant shift from oil based to water based drugs in the past few years. Every expert I have heard speak on testing has talked about the immense difficulties in keeping up with the cheaters, who are in a constant race to find the new and better thing that takes months for testers to even discover, and even longer to create tests to reveal.
So there is my long winded opinion. It’s only mine, so don’t put words in anyone else’s mouth for me. This stuff is not fact, it’s what I think and feel, and I don’t speak for any other players either. I have no desire to talk to the media about this issue beyond this post. Bottom line for me is that your beliefs and perceptions are going to be shaped on your opinions of the players before this report was issued, and most people are not or do not choose to forgive or be flexible with players they don’t know or don’t like, but openly embrace ‘their guy’ for coming clean or worse yet “there is no way he is guilty’. No one named in Jose’s book that he claims has used has taken the effort or made the commitment to clear their names, and with the exception of Dave Justice, Roger Clemens, every person named in the Mitchell Report has either already been caught, or admitted to using since the report was issued. I am hoping that every person that was named and did use admits to it, admits it was a mistake (where applicable), and asks for forgiveness (if they want it) and moves on.
At the same time I pray that ANYONE in this report that is innocent, steps up and clears their names, now, today. No one has, and through today no one has done anything but issue a crafted statement in someone else’s words denying their guilt or association in any of this.
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OK, well everyone else has weighed in on this so I guess I can too. First of all I will start with Curt. After what Curt Schilling did in 2004 and 2007 for the Boston Red Sox, and their fans, he has elevated himself just shy of sainthood, and I don’t mean that as a dig! He is a great guy, and the real deal through and through.
Is Curt naive about PED? Well I wouldn’t say that exactly, but I think a little perspective from one who really knows what they do is in order. Now powerlifting isn’t baseball, but it takes damn hard work, and PED that I and ALL of my peers took in the old days before testing and even before they were illegal convinces me of one thing. If you don’t have talent, you ain’t gonna excell! Anyone who thinks so needs a reality check. I don’t doubt they made guys like Canseco better, but you can’t get there without natural ability no matter WHAT you put in your body. Hitting a major league pitch is about the hardest thing to do in sports, and if it were as easy as taking a drug, then I and a slew of my friends would have all been 300 hitters! That is ridiculous of course, because it takes talent and hard work to play the game, no matter what you might be putting in your body.
I think that the sad part of this debacle not only with Canseco who seems to me just an opportunist with a big mouth and a desire to make money by implicating his fellow players, is that people like Senators who are one step above criminals themselves, made a big deal about something that should have been handled by MLB internally.
While our brave service men and women are at war and dying by the day, these political clowns made a big show of the so called steroid hearings and the Mitchell Report. Why did they do it? Well it just so happens that on that very same day another illegal alien “amnesty” was quietly being worked on in Congress, and so the media circus of televised “steroid hearings” provided cover for these corrupt clowns to totally disregard the will of the American people to secure our borders, and enfore our laws, not undermine them!
There is no epidemic of kids taking them because of major leaguers. That claim has no proof behind it, but since when do politicians tell the truth about anything?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ5f0pcLin8
This interview with Bryant Gumbel is a case in point. I don’t advocate their use, but I get so tired of the lying and distortion surrounding this issue. Have rules against doing something, YES, and those rules should be obeyed until such time as we wish to change them in the proper way, but don’t lie, distort, and misinform, just for the sake of supporting a political agenda. Tell the truth!!!
Interestingly in a side note Tylenol kills about 5,000 kids a year from toxic reactions.
http://marshallbrain.com/cp/tylenol.htm
Why don’t any of these pompous Senators investigate the drugging of our kids by pharmaceutical companies? Answer: because the pharmacuetical companies pay them not to, and so they don’t care!
The Mitchell Report was what??? He had NO power of subpoena with which to compell testimoney. This was NOT a criminal investigation, it was a publicity stunt that cost MLB $40 million, and sullied the reputations of many players who may or may not have done wrong.
What has happened to this country when people can conduct so called investigations that have no legal weight and drop names of people alledging they have broken the law with absoutely no evidence except for the statements of a known felon who had already admitted he lied? He was being squeezed by the fed to “give up people” although he claimed otherwise….duh!
Now that having been said, I feel that if MLB has proof that players broke the rules those players should be punished in whatever way the league rules specify. It should have been done by the league and names released ONLY after incontrovertable proof had been established that they had used banned substances.
Now I must say (respectfully) that if Curt had been fingered by this felon, Curt’s reputation would have been forever tainted no matter how many denials he made. OK, lets be real, you and I know that Curt Schilling has never used PED, and would never use them, I would bet my life savings on that because of his values and the way he lives his life, but he would still bear the stain of doubt that some people would have harbored that he, despite the denials HAD used PED, because some lying felon had thrown out a name under pressure, to make it easier on himself.
Such is the danger in reckless investigations that prove nothing and go nowhere. The Mitchell Report was a form of organized slander, sanctioned by MLB, because even though it is very likely some were guilty, the standard of proof accompanying the public “naming of names” was pitiful to say the least, and would NEVER have stood up in a court of law!
Any competent defense attorney would have made confetti of the “trainer’s” testimony in this case, as he was already a felon who had admitted lying previously.
I would have sued Mitchell and MLB for sheer recklessness and irresponsibility. Why is it that only we as ordinary people are required to obey the law. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things, and MLB and Mitchell, not to mention the criminals in Congress chose the wrong way. No surprise here!
Now for my very favorite part, and Curt, I hope you are reading this! What anabolic steroids do is two fold. First they increase protein turnover rates, which means you can build muscle faster, and they also rev up the nervous system so that you can be quicker and more explosive. These qualities are critically important in most major sports.
OK, that having been said, I will tell you that they not only increase strength, but they increase BAT SPEED as well! So guys taking them would be able to boost their average as well as hit more homers.
What are anabolic steroids? They are synthetic analogues of the male hormone testosterone. Both men and women’s bodies naturally produce testosterone, although in minute amounts compared to how much you could inject or take in a pill.
Anything that significantly boosts testosterone levels will help you with strength and quickness, Androsteindione would to an extent, but a lot of it will convert to estrogen, as will anabolic steroids.
Now here is where it gets interesting. A high testoterone level is healthy in males AND to a degree in females as well. Why do you think that young major leaguers can run faster and hit better than older ones? Yeah….you guessed it, higher natural levels of testosterone!
Why are younger men on average healthier than older men? Yep you guessed right again, testosterone! See where I am going with this. Now I am not saying to use a banned substance, but what I am saying is that all athletes should keep their hormonal profiles as close to their “youthful” levels as possible with safe and legal substances and supplments.
Why??? Because not only does this boost their performance, but it also makes them healthier at the same time! In ths short term it is possible to boost performance with dangerous substances, that harm one’s health.
However in the long term, this approach would never work! Canseco is really the proof. His mistake was not trying to boost his performance, his mistake was the substances he used to do it!
Is safe performance enhancement possible??? Hell yeah! The information is out there for anyone who wants to do the research. Keep in mind that hormone levels dictate performance.
Why do you think Curt Schilling struggled the entire season after his surgery after the 2004 World’s Series? It as because trauma, (and what he went through certainly qualifies as that) depresses hormone levels, well actually it depresses the “anabolic hormones” in the body, while elevating the bad hormones. Voila, tough season for this valiant trooper.
The following season was different for the Schill! He was older, but pitched better, stronger. Gee wiz…..how could THAT be? Hmmm, maybe his natural levels of anabolic hormones had finally recovered and allowed him the energy and strength to pitch more effectively. I would be any amount of money that this was a BIG factor.
Lessen: maintain optimal hormone profile all of your life! Now Curt is going through rehab for the shoulder. If I were Curt, I would consult someone like oh……Charles Poliquin. Why?
Well here is a story about a young lady that coach Poliquin was working with named Adrian Blewitt. Adrian was training in the shotput for the Olympics when she was diagnosed with Hodgekins Lymphoma. She was getting chemotherapy and it initially took her 10 full days to recover sufficiently from a treatment to work out again.
http://tour.ftvideo.com/showgal.php?g=content/genex/profiles/AdrianeBlewitt/2080/2_1&s=4
Charles, throught the use of herbs, supplements, ect. go that turnaround time down to 24 hours! Adrian ended up gaining 11 lbs of muscle while undergoing chemotherapy!!! Astounding!
That is the power and health benefit of maintaining proper “anabolic homeostasis” for athletes and actually for everyone! I haven’t even mentioned other items like “serrapeptase” which breaks down scar tissue, or creatine which believe it or not actually helps speed and explosiveness because it helps the nervous system. Ironically it helps older people as well retain their vigor and health.
So the lesson that hopefull will be learned by MLB players and other athletes alike is that performance enhancement is not a dirty word. It can be done legally and safely, and if done right will actually make an athlete healtheir extending their playing years and also extending the years they can play at the top of their game.
It can be done, and it IS well worth doing, not only for sport, but for life itself.
Just my 2 cents!
George
http://www.age-better.com
ps - Curt, you ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK, well everyone else has weighed in on this so I guess I can too. First of all I will start with Curt. After what Curt Schilling did in 2004 and 2007 for the Boston Red Sox, and their fans, he has elevated himself just shy of sainthood, and I don’t mean that as a dig! He is a great guy, and the real deal through and through.
Is Curt naive about PED? Well I wouldn’t say that exactly, but I think a little perspective from one who really knows what they do is in order. Now powerlifting isn’t baseball, but it takes damn hard work, and PED that I and ALL of my peers took in the old days before testing and even before they were illegal convinces me of one thing. If you don’t have talent, you ain’t gonna excell! Anyone who thinks so needs a reality check. I don’t doubt they made guys like Canseco better, but you can’t get there without natural ability no matter WHAT you put in your body. Hitting a major league pitch is about the hardest thing to do in sports, and if it were as easy as taking a drug, then I and a slew of my friends would have all been 300 hitters! That is ridiculous of course, because it takes talent and hard work to play the game, no matter what you might be putting in your body.
I think that the sad part of this debacle not only with Canseco who seems to me just an opportunist with a big mouth and a desire to make money by implicating his fellow players, is that people like Senators who are one step above criminals themselves, made a big deal about something that should have been handled by MLB internally.
While our brave service men and women are at war and dying by the day, these political clowns made a big show of the so called steroid hearings and the Mitchell Report. Why did they do it? Well it just so happens that on that very same day another illegal alien “amnesty” was quietly being worked on in Congress, and so the media circus of televised “steroid hearings” provided cover for these corrupt clowns to totally disregard the will of the American people to secure our borders, and enfore our laws, not undermine them!
There is no epidemic of kids taking them because of major leaguers. That claim has no proof behind it, but since when do politicians tell the truth about anything?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ5f0pcLin8
This interview with Bryant Gumbel is a case in point. I don’t advocate their use, but I get so tired of the lying and distortion surrounding this issue. Have rules against doing something, YES, and those rules should be obeyed until such time as we wish to change them in the proper way, but don’t lie, distort, and misinform, just for the sake of supporting a political agenda. Tell the truth!!!
Interestingly in a side note Tylenol kills about 5,000 kids a year from toxic reactions.
http://marshallbrain.com/cp/tylenol.htm
Why don’t any of these pompous Senators investigate the drugging of our kids by pharmaceutical companies? Answer: because the pharmacuetical companies pay them not to, and so they don’t care!
The Mitchell Report was what??? He had NO power of subpoena with which to compell testimoney. This was NOT a criminal investigation, it was a publicity stunt that cost MLB $40 million, and sullied the reputations of many players who may or may not have done wrong.
What has happened to this country when people can conduct so called investigations that have no legal weight and drop names of people alledging they have broken the law with absoutely no evidence except for the statements of a known felon who had already admitted he lied? He was being squeezed by the fed to “give up people” although he claimed otherwise….duh!
Now that having been said, I feel that if MLB has proof that players broke the rules those players should be punished in whatever way the league rules specify. It should have been done by the league and names released ONLY after incontrovertable proof had been established that they had used banned substances.
Now I must say (respectfully) that if Curt had been fingered by this felon, Curt’s reputation would have been forever tainted no matter how many denials he made. OK, lets be real, you and I know that Curt Schilling has never used PED, and would never use them, I would bet my life savings on that because of his values and the way he lives his life, but he would still bear the stain of doubt that some people would have harbored that he, despite the denials HAD used PED, because some lying felon had thrown out a name under pressure, to make it easier on himself.
Such is the danger in reckless investigations that prove nothing and go nowhere. The Mitchell Report was a form of organized slander, sanctioned by MLB, because even though it is very likely some were guilty, the standard of proof accompanying the public “naming of names” was pitiful to say the least, and would NEVER have stood up in a court of law!
Any competent defense attorney would have made confetti of the “trainer’s” testimony in this case, as he was already a felon who had admitted lying previously.
I would have sued Mitchell and MLB for sheer recklessness and irresponsibility. Why is it that only we as ordinary people are required to obey the law. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things, and MLB and Mitchell, not to mention the criminals in Congress chose the wrong way. No surprise here!
Now for my very favorite part, and Curt, I hope you are reading this! What anabolic steroids do is two fold. First they increase protein turnover rates, which means you can build muscle faster, and they also rev up the nervous system so that you can be quicker and more explosive. These qualities are critically important in most major sports.
OK, that having been said, I will tell you that they not only increase strength, but they increase BAT SPEED as well! So guys taking them would be able to boost their average as well as hit more homers.
What are anabolic steroids? They are synthetic analogues of the male hormone testosterone. Both men and women’s bodies naturally produce testosterone, although in minute amounts compared to how much you could inject or take in a pill.
Anything that significantly boosts testosterone levels will help you with strength and quickness, Androsteindione would to an extent, but a lot of it will convert to estrogen, as will anabolic steroids.
Now here is where it gets interesting. A high testoterone level is healthy in males AND to a degree in females as well. Why do you think that young major leaguers can run faster and hit better than older ones? Yeah….you guessed it, higher natural levels of testosterone!
Why are younger men on average healthier than older men? Yep you guessed right again, testosterone! See where I am going with this. Now I am not saying to use a banned substance, but what I am saying is that all athletes should keep their hormonal profiles as close to their “youthful” levels as possible with safe and legal substances and supplments.
Why??? Because not only does this boost their performance, but it also makes them healthier at the same time! In ths short term it is possible to boost performance with dangerous substances, that harm one’s health.
However in the long term, this approach would never work! Canseco is really the proof. His mistake was not trying to boost his performance, his mistake was the substances he used to do it!
Is safe performance enhancement possible??? Hell yeah! The information is out there for anyone who wants to do the research. Keep in mind that hormone levels dictate performance.
Why do you think Curt Schilling struggled the entire season after his surgery after the 2004 World’s Series? It as because trauma, (and what he went through certainly qualifies as that) depresses hormone levels, well actually it depresses the “anabolic hormones” in the body, while elevating the bad hormones. Voila, tough season for this valiant trooper.
The following season was different for the Schill! He was older, but pitched better, stronger. Gee wiz…..how could THAT be? Hmmm, maybe his natural levels of anabolic hormones had finally recovered and allowed him the energy and strength to pitch more effectively. I would be any amount of money that this was a BIG factor.
Lessen: maintain optimal hormone profile all of your life! Now Curt is going through rehab for the shoulder. If I were Curt, I would consult someone like oh……Charles Poliquin. Why?
Well here is a story about a young lady that coach Poliquin was working with named Adrian Blewitt. Adrian was training in the shotput for the Olympics when she was diagnosed with Hodgekins Lymphoma. She was getting chemotherapy and it initially took her 10 full days to recover sufficiently from a treatment to work out again.
http://tour.ftvideo.com/showgal.php?g=content/genex/profiles/AdrianeBlewitt/2080/2_1&s=4
Charles, throught the use of herbs, supplements, ect. go that turnaround time down to 24 hours! Adrian ended up gaining 11 lbs of muscle while undergoing chemotherapy!!! Astounding!
That is the power and health benefit of maintaining proper “anabolic homeostasis” for athletes and actually for everyone! I haven’t even mentioned other items like “serrapeptase” which breaks down scar tissue, or creatine which believe it or not actually helps speed and explosiveness because it helps the nervous system. Ironically it helps older people as well retain their vigor and health.
So the lesson that hopefull will be learned by MLB players and other athletes alike is that performance enhancement is not a dirty word. It can be done legally and safely, and if done right will actually make an athlete healtheir extending their playing years and also extending the years they can play at the top of their game.
It can be done, and it SI well worth doing, not only for sport, but for life itself.
Just my 2 cents!
George
http://www.age-better.com
Interesting post, Curt. Regarding the steroids era, I’ve written a light-hearted piece in response to what I feel is a general aversion to referencing actual historical statistics and trends in discussing how steroids has affected baseball statistics (both batting and pitching). The data is out there, this issue can be quantified. I’ve tried to make this point, and also tried to give a little analysis on how these changes might affect fantasy baseball this coming season.
Take a quick read…(i’d love to hear your thoughts on this issue):
http://www.draftmvp.com/blog/?p=54
Nice work, Curt. Hopefully we can get back to following the game we love soon!
Curt,
After wasting a day today listening to the Clemens/McNamee hearings all I can add is a sincere “thank you” for your honesty.
Wow, that was pretty biased! Are you sure you are a writer or do you pretend because your life is so boring— like your writing style.
I recently wrote a column for our weekly newspaper out here in Central Texas (The Marlin Democrat - piece set to run in the 01.30.08 issue) regarding community support for teams and players, as well as briefly talking about the pure passion for the game and the individuals that comprise a true winning, championship team.
Below is where my column picks up in discussion of The Mitchell Report and Roger Clemens… just thought I’d share it with you.
Let’s not forget the trash and ridiculous things that were said about you as well - not in regards to steroids, but in regards to a bloody sock.
Let’s also not forget that I commented on that piece, Curt, and I gave you my full support - both as a sports writer and member of the media, as well as from a fan point of view and someone that truly loves everything about sports… and especially the game of baseball…
Looking at an issue off the field of play, yet remaining in sports and revolving around respect and support, I’d like to briefly say a word or two about the ongoing and controversial Mitchell Report – which named Roger Clemens as a user of performance-enhancing drugs.
In my opinion, and despite the flack the All-Star pitcher has received from both the sports media as well as the fans, Clemens is innocent.
After watching the former Houston Astros ace and Texas Longhorn legend during an interview on 60 Minutes, I believe Roger is telling the truth – there’s no way Mitchell’s Report can accurately prove that Clemens used steroids.
I simply don’t believe it and refuse to believe it – and Clemens was right on the money when he made comments about how in America, people are guilty until proven innocent.
And just because his best friend, Andy Pettitte, admitted to doing it, don’t just assume that a) Roger knew and b) he was being injected too.
I’m sure that Pettitte’s admission to steroid use came as just as much of a shock to Clemens as it did to the rest of the baseball world – leaving fans of all ages to wonder what has happened to America’s Pastime.
Here’s the point: despite the lack of evidence against Roger, despite the fact that this is basically one person’s word against another person’s word, and despite a country that will let former President Bill Clinton off with a slap on the wrist for perjury while holding America’s professional athletes to a higher standard, Clemens still isn’t getting much support.
Nor is he getting much respect – and it’s simply sad and pathetic that people would rather believe a convicted felon, forced to tell officers anything and everything they wanted to hear in order to avoid a prison sentence, over a dedicated and hard working athlete like Roger Clemens.
Roger is innocent.
And, I must say that I wholeheartedly agree with Houston Astros first baseman Lance Berkman’s analysis of the Mitchell Report.
“In my opinion, I think that really, the Mitchell Report in general is silly,” Berkman recently told MLB.com reporter Alyson Footer. “Instead of trying to figure out what happened in the past, if they really wanted to address the substance abuse problem in baseball, they should spend that money to implement blood testing. That’s the only way you’re going to catch guys using HGH.
“Who cares what a guy did seven or eight years ago? Let’s work on getting that out of the game now. The only way to do that is to blood test. I’m a huge advocate of that. I think they should do that. I’d be willing to submit to that at any time, and I think that other players should, too.”
Leave it to Lance to say what’s on his mind.
And I love him for it.
Whether you agree or disagree, my view on the Mitchell Report is simply this: it is not completely accurate and definitely lacks the facts in properly identifying players as having used performance-enhancing drugs in the past.
In addition, I completely agree with Berkman’s rants and raves about steroids in baseball.
“Far more good would be done for the game of baseball if we just say, ‘Let’s try to do something about what we can control, which is the future,’” Berkman said. “There’s no doubt that for the sake of the fans, and really for the health of the game, they need to do something. And I think that blood testing is the next step.”
Amen, Lance.
Now let’s play some baseball…
This reminds me of the days when certain pitchers claimed never to have thrown a spitball–when I’m sure quite a number of them doctored it in some way.
Well, another piece of the puzzle falls into place. Clemens has stated and acted as if he was blindsided and if he had known about the allegations from the Mitchell report, he would have been right down there to defend himself. Latest news has it that he was informed of allegations and would have heard what evidence, etc… that was found. Clemens refused to speak to them. If he did do steroids, I personally wish that he would just confess and throw himself at the mercy of MLB and us fans. To see him crumble from hero to bum gives me no satisfaction, but if he is lying, he is just digging a whole so deep that he will join the company of Bonds and Conseco in the minds of baseball fans– a bum and fraud.
I find it amazing how we readers can see who the Yankee fans are and who the Redsox fans are in this blog. A lot of the replys are being left by over zealous fans who only care about their team winning and can care less about what is right or what is wrong. Have we reached a point where we can do anything we want in this world so long as we “don’t get caught” or “we can escape being proven guilty, like O.J.”? Whatever happened to truth and justice? I think it went the same direction as taking responsibility for our own actions. Sad.
What’s with the nonsense with Pete Rose on steroids? He was 5′11”, and his weight throughout his career ranged from 192 to 200 lbs. He had a whopping 160 career home runs and 198 stolen bases. Yeah, he was a real brickhouse of power and a blur on the basepaths. Man, they must have had really crappy steroids back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s ! (well, except for the East German swim team).
Curt,
I found this to be one of the more thoughtful baseball-related posts on your site. I do agree with others that re-writing the history books of awards, while ideologically attractive, is not feasible, but I would be keen to hear your views on the way forward. Also, what’s MLBPA’s role in moving forward? To your point, after a bit of a delay, Clemens has come out and done much of what you suggested as the response an innocent player should/would take. However, it seems that he is only digging a deeper hole for himself (for the moment, in the court of public opinion, though it seems likely more courts are in his future). While his methods didnt help, does it suggest that coming over the top of your accuser may not be the best way for an innocent to set the record straight?
And it’s a shame your blog is making headlines in the New York Times. The media should be ashamed of themselves more than you should.
To Curt Schilling,
I think you have no right to bad mouth Roger Clemens. You’re claiming to write a blog as a fan of the game. WHY DON’T YOU LEAVE THAT TO THE REAL FANS? You get paid millions to pitch, don’t you? Not write immature blogs about your fellow players. Roger Clemens is innocent until proven guilty. What evidence does the Mitchell Report have? Allegations from one of his ex-trainers. There is absolutely no physical evidence that Clemens did take steroids or HGH. So you have no right to say he should give back his 4 Cy Young Awards to the rightful players. Clemens has never tested positive for steroids or any other illegal substances and let’s just say he did in fact take performance-enhancing substances. The rule wasn’t established until 2002 and McNamee said he did not use them after 2001. So, he never technically broke the rule. So isn’t this baseball’s fault? I’m sure someone that worked for the MLB had knowledge of performance-enhancing drugs.
Another thing. Has Roger Clemens ever shown up looking completely different? No. In the beginning of Barry Bond’s career, he was very slim. And one year he comes to spring training and you can tell he has been juicing. There is no way for one person to become that jacked up in a matter of an offseason or even a couple of seasons. Clemens has pretty much been the same size his whole career. He’s always been a hard worker and he’s probably the hardest working player the game has ever seen, especially for a man his age. And people have good second halfs all the time. Just because his performance took a big step after the All-Star Break doesn’t mean anything. Was he pitching 10 miles an hour faster? NO! He simply won most of his games and was getting outs.
You have no right to judge people, especially a pitcher that you will never match up to. What are you known for? Pitching with a bloody sock? Wow Curt! That’s quite an accomplishment. I can’t believe you are regarded by some fans as a great pitcher, let alone actually have fans. Oh and let’s not forget you were also alleged as taking steroids. And once again no physical evidence. How did you “refute” your allegations?
So here’s some advice for you: Worry about your own career and stop making a fool of yourself.
With deep regards, RamboLurch
Roses’ whole carear was Roid rage!
How do you feel about the Cy Youngs now Schilling, do you still think Clemens should give them up now? He said he didn’t take (banned substances) and he filed a lawsuit. Now what proof do you have that you didn’t take (banned substances)?
Way too many sidebars develop from this conversation.
First - for those that cry about tainted records, if you truly believe that MLB players from eras past did not use ulterior forms of PED’s you are absurdly ignorant. Nothing was ever tested 50 years ago - but steroids were definitely popular among top level athletes - even in the olympics. So trying to burn people at the stake with a less than plausible argument is plain ridiculous. “Oh he doesn’t deserve that record” well maybe the guy that set the record 35 years ago didn’t deserve it either. Get over it, set proper testing procedures from here on out and follow them.
This has got to be one of the more inane and ridiculous things I have read in a very long time. As someone with a public voice Mr. Schilling I would have hoped you would have shown more responsibility with your statements. One of the things you state is “why would McNamee lie when lying could cause him to face jail time?” well try this answer on for size…he was facing federal charges if he did not name names and apparently NO PROOF was required just a name from the mouth of someone who essentially is a drug dealer. Hence he won’t face jail time for lying because he can not be caught, how does one prove their innocence in a case like this? You want Roger Clemens to bring a lawsuit againt him to clear his name ok wonderful, for arguments sake say he files suit. Now if there was already proof of steroid use by Roger Clemens I am sure the media would have been all over it, so obviously it doesn’t exist, he himself says Roger supplied the needles and PED’s so there is no paper trail no anything to prove this accusation. For arguments sake say Roger wins the lawsuit, will that make you a believer in his innocence?? I doubt it, I am sure you among many other rather unfortunate people will still have your doubts and claim” just because he didn’t prove it doesn’t mean it isn’t true”. I am thoroughly disgusted that people especially people like you with a public voice are not outraged that a whole career can be swallowed by a shadow and the character of a person can be assassinated just by making an accusation and having no proof to back it up. Then again, it is not your career or character that Mr. McNamee has attacked, rather it is is that of Roger Clemens and many others. To assume that if a person chooses to stand on their record of being an honorable and hard working person rather than involve themselves in a circus and a battle that can not be won implies guilt is nothing short of ignorance and you should be ashamed of yourself. Try to actually use something resembling intelligence when you use that public voice of yours.
60 Minutes— well, we’ll see what Roger has to say in his defense. This could really be pivotal in his careeer and HOF status. I really hope he somehow is able to vindicate himself, but all ready from what I hear, it’s not too promising. Mike Wallace is his “bud”, and there were injections, but not steroids. The whole thing is starting to smell really bad. If he did do it, I wish he’d just ‘fess up to it– its better to do something wrong and admit it then to compound the problem by being a liar as well.
Our century’s Shoeless Joe Jackson— I hope he does prove his innocence, but if he lies- that should be it– no HOF and no Cy Young’s -take them all away and give them to that year’s runner up.
And if nothing happens to the steriod users— Pete Rose should automatically be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, hell, he should be in anyway. He never changed the course of the game as a player like these guys did (especially Bonds).
If anyone was on steroids when he played it was Pete Rose. If you are suspisious of Clemens using junk to be able to play at 45 then what do you think about Nolan Ryan and his Goodys powder. They all tried this and that along the way, now it is illegal and they test you for it. Just let it go, whats done is done. Play Ball and piss in the cup!
Curt, you’re in a unique position to make a difference in how this problem is handled. The steroid problem could have been stopped at any point, and can be stopped in the future, by only one group: the players. I realize players have a union, and even before the union the “what happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse” mentality has always been foremost in the minds of the players in any sport. However, there comes a time when the good guys have to step up to the plate and help get rid of the bad guys. Only the players know who’s doing what, and I believe there are a lot more Curt Schillings and Todd Heltons and Derek Jeters out there than there are Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffields and, sadly for me as a Yankee fan, Roger Clemens. This is not an owners’ problem or a commissioner’s problem - it’s a player problem, and it will not go away until the players decide to do something about it. You can lead the way simply by turning in anyone in the Boston clubhouse that’s still using. Once you’ve broken the barrier, I’ll bet that all the real leaders in the game will follow suit. Someone has to throw the first pitch…
Curt, you are in my opinion (asside from arguably Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens and I even would gladly argue that) the best power I’ve ever seen pitch. You had a solid array of breaking stuff (wicked slider if I remember with the Phils that used to give me chills back in the day) but you always threw an amazing fastball back in the day, and still at 41 can get it up there. I still honestly don’t get why you campaign for George W. Bush (just kidding, even though I don’t agree with a single thing he does) but I will forever have the respect for you and Nolan Ryan as two of the best pitchers the game has ever seen. I can’t say the same for Roger if it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt (and not made a laughingstock out of like Barry Bonds’ situation) that he is in fact a steroid user. I’m sure you’ve spoken to Clemens in the past. Has he ever struck you as a steroid user? I always admired his amazing stuff and endurance, but I’ve admired yours too. I know that you wouldn’t tarnish the game by using banned substances, and this (despite the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry) has made me respect you even more. Also, I’m just wondering, do you personally (at all) know Brian McNamee at all, and if you do, are you surprised that he allegedly behaved in such an illegal manner? What makes matters worse for both Bonds and Clemens (moreso for Clemens) is that both were HOF candidates and Roger probably a guarenteed HOF had he not done the stuff.