Results tagged “steroids”

The Curse of the Bambino has got nothing on steroids. The New York Times has revealed two more names that appear to be on the 2003 list of 104 major leaguers who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs—David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, both of the Boston Red Sox at the time. The list is the same one that dragged A-Rod's off-season through the mud this February when he was outed as testing positive. While names on it continue to trickle out, its legal status is being fought over in the courts. The Times says multiple lawyers connected to the litigation "spoke anonymously because the testing information is under seal by a court order." There is no word on what specific drugs were tested. When Ramirez tested positive for a banned substance in May, he defended it as a fluke stemming from a recent prescription. Ramirez and Ortiz were at the heart of a Boston lineup that led the team to its first World Series victory in over eighty years in 2004, and then another in 2007.

After going on Mike & Mike in the Morning to continue his denials of taking performance enhancing drugs, Roger Clemens decided to contact Houstonist (yes, part of the Gothamist family) and offered to take readers' questions: "The fans and the folks in Houston have always been great to Deb, the kids and me and we’re grateful for the support. I know a lot of baseball fans read the Houstonist and that they have asked questions about the false allegations against me. I welcome the chance to answer the questions of your readers." Yes, there are questions why Houstonist was picked as a follow-up to ESPN Radio, but Houstonist has confirmed the email's address with the Roger Clemens Foundation and until editor Jason Bargas gets to meet Clemens in person and see how he reacts to photos of Mike PIazza, we'll just assume it's legit. And Gothamist readers, you can pose your questions on the Houstonist post—your commenting usernames will work there, too.

Guilty person? Or the guiltiest person? Roger Clemens went on ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning Show to repeat his denials of performance-enhancing drugs use. He ended his lengthy media silence in the the wake the release of a book detailing said alleged use. Clemens didn't say anything new — he thinks drugs are bad, personal trainer Brian McNamee never injected him with anything illegal and that it would be impossible for his DNA to be on any drug-related paraphernalia. Based on his family history or heart attacks, Clemens said, it would be "suicidal" to take PEDs. He points to Manny Ramirez's case as a point in his favor. After all, Clemens has never failed a test, and "we have great testing." Clemens was also "sad" about Alex Rodriguez's admitted use, but he said, "I try to root for him." When asked if he expects to make the Hall of Fame, Clemens said, "Obviously I would love to get in, but I don't have any control over that. I think they [his stats] speak for themselves."

[Updated 5:45 p.m.]Manny Ramirez is going to be suspended for fifty games by Major League Baseball after getting caught using a banned substance. The LA Times broke the story, saying that the suspension will begin immediately, keeping Ramirez out until July 3 and costing him $7.7 million, roughly 31% of his $25-million salary.

The new accusations against A-Rod in the upcoming biography on him—that he used steroids while on the Yankees and tipped off pitches to opposing players—are now being looked into by Major League Baseball. Officials had already met with A-Rod to ask questions soon after his initial admissions of using illegal steroids while with Texas Rangers. A sports law expert told the Times, “The last thing (Commissioner Bud Selig) wants is for someone else, like the federal government or Congress, to try and intercede and take this matter out of his hands.”

Over the last six months, we've learned that Alex Rodriguez has been given the nicknames A-Roid, A-Fraud and A-SWF. Now we're told of nickname for the slugger back in 2005..."Bitch Tits." According to the upcoming biography that first broke the news he had tested positive for steroids, A-Rod was called that by fellow Yankees who noticed some extra cuppage on the third baseman, a sign to some that he was using HGH. A-Rod has denied using steroids during his tenure with the Yankees, but the book talks to players and management who say that many in the organization suspected that he was and it quotes one major leaguer who accuses him of using HGH with former Yankee Kevin Brown in 2004. Other new revelations in the book include allegations that A-Rod used steroids as early as high school, tipped off pitches to friends on opposing teams and, most heinous of all, only tips 15% when he eats at Hooters.

Hey, do you remember that A-Rod fellow? Plays third for the Yankees, ran into some scandal a few weeks ago then hurt his hip? Sound familiar at all? Just in case you hadn’t had enough of Alex Rodriguez, here comes the latest — an interview with Details magazine that confirms more of what we already knew; the guy absolutely doesn’t get it.

A-Rod’s hip surgery went “exactly as planned” and it is possible that the slugger could return faster than the original estimate of 6-9 weeks. Last night Alex Rodriguez was released from the hospital and actually began his rehabilitation, riding on a stationary bike. Dr. Marc Phillipon, A-Rod's surgeon, said "there were no surprises," and that because everything went so well, that there was "no doubt in my mind this is the best option for Alex and the Yankees." You may recall that the other options for the Yankees' All-Star 3rd baseman included waiting out surgery until after the season and a more invasive surgery. Monday's surgery will require another operation following the baseball season.

The Mets brought retired superstar Darryl Strawberry down to camp as a hitting instructor, but it didn't take long before he started giving an unofficial lesson in media relations. When asked if he would have taken steroids had they been commonplace in the '80s, he responded, "Hell, yeah, I would have used them. Are you kidding me?...And I wouldn't have denied it, because you guys know I don't deny anything." He also didn't fault the newest public enemy in the steroid scandal, Alex Rodriguez, for lacking any of the notorious candor of the former Mets All-Star with a tell-all book on its way. The Straw Man told reporters, "He's taking the bullet for everybody. He admitted he was wrong and everything. I think that should be enough for everybody." As for A-Rod's much-criticized defense of being "young and stupid" when he took banned substances, Strawberry said, "Sometimes people question that, but over the years of my life, I've realized, you are stupid when you're 24 or 25 years old."

After postponing his meeting with MLB officials yesterday so that he could play in one last spring training game before joining the Dominican team in the World Baseball Classic, Alex Rodriguez did eventually get together with league brass and was described as "cooperative" by the commissioner's office. As expected, the two hour meeting centered around two men with close ties to A-Rod, cousin Yuri Sucurt and trainer Angel Presinal, as well as inquiries as to just where Rodriguez obtained steroids from. Both the Yankees and the slugger seem to think that the change of scenery for the WBC for a few weeks will be beneficial to all parties. Rodriguez joked that his leaving means that "we're going to give (media relations director) Jason Zillo a three-week vacation. He's the happiest guy here. I expect him to be fresh when I get back." As for the scandalized slugger, manager Joe Girardi said, "I see him more relaxed every day...The first couple days, you know, you could tell it was weighing heavily on his mind...I think he's done really well."

Alex Rodriguez is hoping that he can take a rain check on his scheduled meeting today with MLB officials so that he can play in his Grapefruit League game with the Yankees. The slugger was expected to be on the team bus this morning to Sarasota to play the Reds in what will be his final spring training game with the team before he breaks to participate in the World Baseball Classic.

It took all of two days for reporters to track down just who Alex Rodrgiuez's steroid-supplying cousin was. It wasn't too difficult for ESPN to find Yuri (pronounced "Judy") Sucart because a source tells them, "He's been following Rodriguez around for years telling anyone and everyone that he was Alex's cousin, friend, and 'personal manager.'"

A day after Alex Rodriguez's uneven admissions of the "specifics" of his steroid usage during a half hour of answering questions, today he is being held to task by media outlets everywhere. None seem too satisfied with the version of events they got yesterday. Reporters don't seem particularly interested in figuring out the identity of A-Rod's unnamed cousin who allegedly provided and injected him with steroids, possibly because as one major leaguer put it, "I wonder if his cousin even existed. That was my first thought. Is his cousin made up? I don't know."

   

Alex Rodriguez stepped to the microphone and offered apologies and a somewhat uneven admission as he tried to put his past use of steroids behind him. While A-Rod admitted that he was injected with a substance two times a month for three years, he claims that he did not know that it was a steroid at the time.

"I didn't think they were steroids. That's part of being young and stupid. It was over the counter. It was pretty basic. It was amateur hour.... It was two guys doing a very amateur thing ... All these years I never thought I did something wrong."

Reporters and most news channels are eagerly awaiting Alex Rodriguez's first post-steroids usage admission press conference in Tampa. The talk was scheduled for 1:30 p.m., so A-Rod and the Yankees crew are currently running late.

Tomorrow will mark Alex Rodriguez's first time answering questions in public from anyone outside of ESPN's Peter Gammons since news broke that he tested positive for steroids in 2003. The Yankees have scheduled a press conference for A-Rod at their spring training facilities in Tampa's Steinbrenner Field tomorrow.

Embattled Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is apparently trying to work the charm offensive. Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts, who co-wrote the story that revealed his steroid use during his Texas Rangers days, says the player called her to apologize for his remarks during his ESPN interview (A-Rod had complained, "What makes me upset is that Sports Illustrated pays this lady, Selena Roberts, to stalk me... Really respectable journalists are following this lady off the cliff and following her lead."). Rodriguez seems to be enjoying things in spite of the controversy: He went on a Valentine's date with a model last night; an onlooker told the Daily News, "They were not holding hands, but they looked very happy; he seemed very into her."

Alex Rodriguez certainly seemed in better spirits than the last time we saw him during his first public appearance yesterday since admitting to ESPN's Peter Gammons earlier in the week that he had in fact taken steroids for at least three of the years he has played baseball professionally. A-Rod joked to the crowd at the University of Miami, "As you all know it's been a very quiet week for me, so it's really nice to get out on a Friday night."

It took Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig longer to respond to Alex Rodriguez's admission that he had taken steroids than it did for A-Rod to come forward after the allegations surfaced—and Selig didn't even have to rush back from canoodling in the Bahamas (we hope). Selig released a statement today saying, "What Alex did was wrong and he will have to live with the damage he has done to his name and reputation." In an interview with USA Today, Selig also hinted at his possible desire to suspend A-Rod (despite having no grounds to do so) as well as reinstating Hank Aaron as the home run record holder because of the steroid scandal (only to have an MLB rep quickly take that idea off the table). While many have pointed the figure to baseball's lax role as a factor in the course of the scandal, Selig chose to focus on the fact that A-Rod had not taken steroids since the MLB's anti-doping policy went into effect in 2004 and pointed the finger at the Players' Union saying that the formation of said policy "received no cooperation from the Players Assn. and virtually none from the players."

The Brooklyn DA's office charged a Staten Island doctor with illegally providing steroids to bodybuilders and weightlifters. Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes says that Dr. Richard Lucente, who has a clinic on S.I.,"wrote prescriptions to patients who had no medical need for them, then steered them to a pharmacy in return for $30,000 in kickbacks." That pharmacy is Lowen's in Bay Ridge; its pharmacist Joseph Rossi killed himself last year during the probe. Lucente ultimately made $500,000 from 220 clients. The Staten Island Advance notes that the death of bodybuilder Joseph Baglio is at the center of the case. Baglio was also heart transplant recipient and his heart gave out during a competition; "Prosecutors charge Lucente began prescribing Baglio steroids and human growth hormone in 2005, and continued to do so after Baglio's heart transplant in late 2006."

Alex Rodriguez said, "I was stupid for three years. I was very, very stupid," when discussing his steroid usage with ESPN's Peter Gammons. Over the weekend, reports broke out that the Yankees slugger tested positive for steroids during his days on the Texas Rangers. A-Rod added, "When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day." [Entire video of the interview after the jump.]

Alex Rodriguez is probably wishing right now that having a "Single White Female-like obsession" was the worst verbal jab that was thrown at him this off-season. Instead reports of his positive steroid results turned today into "Christmas for Yankee haters" as they found a new nickname for him across the covers of local papers: A-Roid.

For years it has seemed like New York’s biggest complaint about Alex Rodriguez is that he isn’t Derek Jeter. It never mattered what A-Rod did, it didn’t live up to what Jeter has already accomplished. In light of yesterday’s revelations, A-Rod can only hope he returns to a world where measuring up to Jeter is his biggest problem. The story seems unimpeachable and the charge is sensational: A-Rod failed a steroid test in 2003.