Jose Bautista, the Toronto Blue Jays slugger, has become a habitual victim of drug testing procedures used by the MLB.

The tests for evaluating presence drugs under the name of random drug testing policy conducted by the Major League Baseball are not so random, Bautista said.

From Sportsgrid.com:

Speaking at a recent banquet event in the Dominican Republic, however, Bautista told the attendees that there’s no reason for anyone to be suspicious of his Hulk-like outbreak over the past two seasons. Since, after all, he has been “randomly” tested 16 times for performance enhancing drugs. Yes, that’s 16 times in the course of two years.

Considering that over the previous two seasons he had only been tested three total times, to go along with his 28 home runs in 700-plus at-bats, it certainly seems like said tests may not be so “random.” But then again, that’s the current nature of the game. Everyone is guilty until proven innocent… 20-some-odd times over, and over again. It probably would take another 50 or so negative tests in order for the critics to be quieted down.

The two-time MLB Home Run Champion and newest member of the 50 HR Club was tested sixteen times in two years.

Tags:  Jose Bautista, Major League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

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Major League Baseball (MLB) has issued a warning to major and minor league players last week for stop ingesting deer antler spray.

It is being thought that some baseball players used to felt safe using a deer antler spray as an alternative to steroids with almost no risk of flunking a drug test.

From Sportsillustrated.cnn.com:

Deer antlers? Yes, chemists have figured out that the velvet from immature deer antlers includes insulin-like growth factor, or IGF-1, which mediates the level of human growth hormone in the body, and is also banned by MLB and the World Anti-Doping Agency, among others, for its muscle-building and fat-cutting effects.

The antlers are harvested from young deer, ground up and packaged into spray form. The substance is sprayed under the tongue. One manufacturer touts among its benefits “anabolic or growth stimulation,” “athletic performance” and “muscular strength and endurance.”

IGF-1, like HGH, cannot be detected in the urine tests used by baseball. Under the right circumstances, it could be detected in a blood test, but the players association has not agreed to blood testing.

The deer antler sprat was added by MLB to its list of “potentially contaminated nutritional supplements.”

Tags:  HGH, IGF-1, Major League Baseball, MLB, nutritional supplements, Steroids

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A batboy and equipment manager with the New York Mets from 1985 to 1995, Kirk Radomski, has pleaded guilty to distributing steroids and money laundering.

The 38-year-old former Major League Baseball clubhouse attendant sold steroids to dozens of players and received a sentence of five years probation but no jail time from a federal judge.

From Reuters.com:

“He is probably the most significant cooperator in the area of sports athletic doping,” prosecutor Matthew Parrella told the judge, explaining that the federal government was not seeking any jail time. “His extensive and immediate cooperation deserve recognition.”

Radomski has testified before former Sen. George Mitchell’s commission, which alleged widespread steroid use in Major League Baseball, and will appear before a congressional committee in Washington next week.

His lawyer said Radomski received anonymous threats by telephone after the Mitchell Report was released in December.

“I would like to apologize to the court, to my family, my friends for everything I have done,” said Radomski. “It hasn’t been easy on me or my family.”

Tags:  athletic doping, Kirk Radomski, Major League Baseball, New York Mets, Steroid use, Steroids

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The St. Louis Cardinals’ slugging left fielder, Matt Holliday, recently said that he never heard anabolic steroids and human growth hormone discussed anywhere in Major League Baseball.

Holliday said at the Cardinals’ Winter Warm-Up gala for fans at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, “I’ve obviously never taken part in any of that stuff.”

From NYdailynews.com:

Holliday, who hit a combined .313 with 24 home runs and 109 RBI last season splitting time between Oakland and St. Louis, met with reporters yesterday as McGwire was greeted with a standing ovation from Cardinals fans packing the Hyatt’s main ballroom. McGwire was reintroduced to St. Louis following his admission last week of using steroids for most his 15-year career with the A’s and Cardinals. He told Bob Costas on MLB Network last Monday that he had never discussed steroids with other players or heard others discussing steroids, despite the fact that he played in, and helped define, what he called the “steroid era.” McGwire hadn’t appeared publicly in St. Louis since 2005, the year of his evasive testimony about steroids before Congress, when he refused to directly answer questions under oath.

“I’ve only played six years (in the majors),” Holliday said. “In the six years I’ve played, I’ve never seen it (steroids) or heard anybody talking about using it.”

Holliday also remarked, “I don’t know whether it helps (performance) or doesn’t.”

Tags:  Anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, Major League Baseball, Matt Holliday, Steroids

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Rafael Palmeiro is sticking to his story that he did nothing wrong when he tested positive for an anabolic steroid five years ago.

The disgraced baseball slugger continues to maintain that he took a tainted shot of vitamin B12.

From Dallasnews.com:

Palmeiro played his final major league game Aug. 30, 2005. He finished his 20-year career with 569 home runs and 3,020 hits, numbers similar to those of Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Eddie Murray.

Will the voters from Baseball Writers Association of America remember those statistics when they receive the ballots in late November? Or will they give more significance to Aug. 1, 2005, the day Dallasnews.com suspended Palmeiro for 10 games after he tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid?

“I’d hope voters would look at my body of work over my career and maybe put more emphasis on that,” Palmeiro said. “That one steroid incident is unfortunately all people remember. They don’t remember the other 19 years that I played the game the right way.”

We have already seen the impact the implication of steroids has had on Mark McGwire, who received only 23.7 percent of the Hall of Fame votes last year, his fourth year on the ballot. Players need 75 percent of the vote to be inducted.

The former Ranger had a word about his test during a rare interview recently while he watched his son play for the McKinney Marshals in a Texas Collegiate League game.

Tags:  anabolic steroid, Eddie Murray, Frank Robinson, Major League Baseball, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Stanozolol, Steroids

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Alex Rodriguez, popularly known as A-Rod, who recently became the seventh and youngest player in Major League Baseball history to hit 600 career home runs is still crumbling under pressure to prove his critics wrong as he is always associated with anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs.

Rodriguez told Suzyn Waldman of WCBS Radio that he feels depressed when his name is always associated with steroids.

From NYtimes.com:

Rodriguez is part of a quartet of sluggers who carry the scarlet letter S on their broad backs. The retired stars Barry Bonds (the career leader with 762 homers), Sammy Sosa (609) and Mark McGwire (583) are all linked, to one degree or another, to performance-enhancing drugs.

They are stacked up in the stratosphere, waiting to see if the writers who vote for membership in the Hall will ultimately accept them. At the moment, there are no guarantees. McGwire, who has been eligible for four years, eked his way up to 24 percent in January, far short of the 75 percent needed for admission.

This overt withholding of honor is the legacy of a steroid era that began in the last decade, when McGwire, Sosa and Bonds all had surprisingly high home run totals at ages when most great sluggers are tailing off. Steroids were illegal by federal law and by edict of Major League Baseball, although no testing was in place during their peak years.

On his own, Rodriguez brought up his link with steroids Wednesday after the Yankees defeated Toronto, 5-1, at Yankee Stadium.

A-Rod may not find it easy to gain entry into the Hall of Fame once he becomes eligible five years after retirement due to his past links with steroids.

Tags:  A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez, Anabolic steroids, Barry Bonds, Hall of Fame, Major League Baseball, Mark McGwire, performance-enhancing drugs, Sammy Sosa, steroid era, Steroids

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The Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League have instigated investigations into doping claims. This was after it was learned that a Florida couple allegedly sold illegal steroids to players from the Washington Capitals and Washington Nationals.

Richard and Sandra Thomas, the couple, were arrested by the police in Polk County, Florida for possession of illegal drugs worth US dollars 200,000.

From Espnstar.com:

According to both the Tampa Tribune and Washington Times, Richard Thomas claimed to have sold the drugs to professional athletes in several sports, and identified both the Nationals and Capitals.

“We have no reason to believe there is any merit to this story, but the National Hockey League and the Washington Capitals take all such allegations seriously,” said Capitals president Dick Patrick in a statement.

“Capitals players have fully participated in the NHL’s random drug testing program, and at no point has a Capitals player tested positive. In addition our players have been tested at international events, such as World Championships and Olympics. We welcome and will fully cooperate with the NHL’s investigation.”

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly added: “The Washington Capitals have no knowledge of any aspect of this allegation.

“Capitals players were subjected to no-notice testing five separate times over the past two seasons pursuant to the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and there was no indication of any improper conduct or wrongdoing.”

Polk County sheriff Grady Judd said that Richard Thomas did not identify any individual players when making his claim.

Tags:  doping, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Steroids

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According to Don Hooton, chairperson of the foundation and father of the late Taylor Hooton, Mark McGwire is the best man to talk about and spread the word against steroids, its abuse and negative effects.

McGwire’s popularity among kids as well as his persona is an advantage for him as speaker about performance-enhancing drugs. Being back in the spotlight is a great way for him to start getting his message across especially to teens and young students.

Ever since retreating to a more private life after his retirement from Major League baseball, McGwire has been busy with his own foundation. He promised that his foundation would spread the message against steroids and its ill effects to its users.

Several months after the controversial congressional hearings on steroids, Don Hooton received an envelope containing a check from Mark McGwire’s foundation.

The Taylor Hooton Foundation was named after Don Hooton’s son, a high school baseball player who died after committing suicide. It was believed that the reason for his suicide was due to depression, a side effect brought about by his use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.

For the past three years, the Taylor Hooton Foundation has been receiving “substantial” amount of donations from Mark McGwire’s foundation, which his representatives, requested that the amounts be kept private.

From St. Louis Today:

Within a few months of the congressional hearings that have come to define baseball’s steroid era, Don Hooton, who testified at the hearings and is the father of a steroid-user who had committed suicide, received a nondescript envelope in the mail.

Tags:  Major League Baseball, Mark McGwire, Steroids, Taylor Hooton Foundation

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One baseball fan, Lucas Swineford requested hundreds of other baseball fanatics to protest against steroid. His urge to boycott the April 17 games is due to his dismay when New York Yankees, Alex Rodriguez admitted to the public that he used to take steroids. Swineford get disappointed to the fact that steroid is still an on going issue in baseball. During an ESPN interview of Alex Rodriguez, claimed that he was pressured to use steroids to maintain his million-dollar baseball career.

Lucas Swineford, founder of the Baseball Fans Give Back, appealed to the fans of Major League Baseball to donate at least half of the MLB ticket price to charity, and spend three hours of volunteer work instead of watching a game on that date. Lucas said that what he did was not a negative move; it’s a protest against steroid. He just wanted to encourage everyone to devote at least a day doing humanitarian efforts.

From NJ.com:

Swineford, who works in the IT department at Yale University and now resides in Easton, Conn., said he created Baseball Fans Give Back because he was disgusted by Yankee All-Star Alex Rodriguez’s admission during an interview on ESPN that he once used steroids.

“As a big baseball fan - I’m a Mets fan – I was frustrated and disappointed with the steroids issue that’s been going on in baseball,” Swineford said.

Lucas Swineford chose April 17 in honor of the late Roberto Clemente of Pittsburg Pirates. Clemente died in a plane crash on Dec. 31, 1972 when he was on his way to Nicaragua to bring help to the earthquake victims. Lucas said the he has always honored Roberto Clemente for his charitable works.

According to Lucas, bad athletes should not spoil the reputation of the whole group because athletes can serve as good influence to children.

Tags:  Alex Rodriguez, baseball, Major League Baseball, steroid

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