Wendigo
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- Posted: Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:33:39 +0000
Quote:
Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, Nelson Cruz and Melky Cabrera are among the players whose names have been tied to the now-closed clinic, called Biogenesis of America.
Major League Baseball, according to earlier reports, is preparing to suspend about 20 players with connections to Bosch’s clinic.
One source familiar with the case told ESPN that the commissioner's office may seek 100-game suspensions for Rodriguez, Braun, and other players, which is the penalty for a second doping offense. The players' connection to Bosch would constitute one offense and prior statements to MLB officials denying the or the use of PEDs would constitute another, the network's source said.
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/06/05/mlb-reportedly-seeking-to-suspend-rod-braun-others-in-doping-scandal/#ixzz2VNlxWoba
Major League Baseball, according to earlier reports, is preparing to suspend about 20 players with connections to Bosch’s clinic.
One source familiar with the case told ESPN that the commissioner's office may seek 100-game suspensions for Rodriguez, Braun, and other players, which is the penalty for a second doping offense. The players' connection to Bosch would constitute one offense and prior statements to MLB officials denying the or the use of PEDs would constitute another, the network's source said.
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/06/05/mlb-reportedly-seeking-to-suspend-rod-braun-others-in-doping-scandal/#ixzz2VNlxWoba
Quote:
The league may seek to ban the players for 100 games by counting the doping itself as one infraction and lying about having taken the drugs as a second one, ESPN reported. Major league players can appeal any possible suspensions, as Braun did in 2012.
That year, a drug test showed high levels of testosterone in his body, but the outfielder successfully disputed the testing process, and the suspension was overturned in February.
Asked about the ESPN report Tuesday, Braun said he was sticking by his previous account. "The truth has not changed," he told reporters, declining to comment further.
...
The league filed a suit against Biogenesis in March for allegedly supplying PEDs to players and advising them on how to avoid detection during drug tests.
ESPN reported that MLB may drop the suit against Bosch, if he cooperates in its investigation.
...
New York outfielder Vernon Wells was discouraged by the scandal.
"We've done so much as a group to try to rid ourselves of conversations like this," he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/05/us/sport-baseball-scandal/index.html
That year, a drug test showed high levels of testosterone in his body, but the outfielder successfully disputed the testing process, and the suspension was overturned in February.
Asked about the ESPN report Tuesday, Braun said he was sticking by his previous account. "The truth has not changed," he told reporters, declining to comment further.
...
The league filed a suit against Biogenesis in March for allegedly supplying PEDs to players and advising them on how to avoid detection during drug tests.
ESPN reported that MLB may drop the suit against Bosch, if he cooperates in its investigation.
...
New York outfielder Vernon Wells was discouraged by the scandal.
"We've done so much as a group to try to rid ourselves of conversations like this," he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/05/us/sport-baseball-scandal/index.html
Quote:
The agreement would be a significant boon in baseball's efforts to corroborate reports, initially from the Miami New TImes, that Rodriguez, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera and more than 20 other players received banned substances from Biogenesis, a since-shuttered wellness clinic.
Cabrera, when approached by USA TODAY Sports before the Blue Jays played his old team, the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night, said he had no knowledge of a possible suspension. Cabrera served a 50-game suspension last season when he tested positive for testosterone, missing the Giants' run to the World Series title.
"I don't know anything about it," Cabrera said in Spanish. "This is the first I hear of it. If they suspend me again, I think that would be a harsh punishment because I already served my sentence. But it's up to them.
"I believe I've already served my sentence, especially missing the playoffs. That's what hurt me the most, getting suspended and not being able to play in the playoffs.''
...
"The Players Association has been in regular contact with the Commissioner's Office regarding the Biogenesis investigation. They are in the process of interviewing players, and every player has been or will be represented by an attorney from the Players Association. The Commissioner's Office has assured us that no decisions regarding discipline have been made or will be made until those interviews are completed. It would be unfortunate if anyone prejudged those investigations.
"The Players Association has every interest in both defending the rights of players and in defending the integrity of our joint program. We trust that the Commissioner's Office shares these interests."
Rodriguez, who admitted using performance-enhancing drugs while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-2003, has denied any links to Biogenesis; documents obtained by New Times indicate he may have received PEDs from the clinic in 2009 and 2012.
The three-time AL Most Valuable Player is not expected back from hip surgery until next month. On Opening Day, in regard to the MLB investigation of Biogenesis, he told reporters that "At some point, I feel that everything will be good."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/06/04/mlb-biogenesis-suspensions-tony-bosch-alex-rodriguez-ryan-braun/2390405/
Cabrera, when approached by USA TODAY Sports before the Blue Jays played his old team, the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night, said he had no knowledge of a possible suspension. Cabrera served a 50-game suspension last season when he tested positive for testosterone, missing the Giants' run to the World Series title.
"I don't know anything about it," Cabrera said in Spanish. "This is the first I hear of it. If they suspend me again, I think that would be a harsh punishment because I already served my sentence. But it's up to them.
"I believe I've already served my sentence, especially missing the playoffs. That's what hurt me the most, getting suspended and not being able to play in the playoffs.''
...
"The Players Association has been in regular contact with the Commissioner's Office regarding the Biogenesis investigation. They are in the process of interviewing players, and every player has been or will be represented by an attorney from the Players Association. The Commissioner's Office has assured us that no decisions regarding discipline have been made or will be made until those interviews are completed. It would be unfortunate if anyone prejudged those investigations.
"The Players Association has every interest in both defending the rights of players and in defending the integrity of our joint program. We trust that the Commissioner's Office shares these interests."
Rodriguez, who admitted using performance-enhancing drugs while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-2003, has denied any links to Biogenesis; documents obtained by New Times indicate he may have received PEDs from the clinic in 2009 and 2012.
The three-time AL Most Valuable Player is not expected back from hip surgery until next month. On Opening Day, in regard to the MLB investigation of Biogenesis, he told reporters that "At some point, I feel that everything will be good."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/06/04/mlb-biogenesis-suspensions-tony-bosch-alex-rodriguez-ryan-braun/2390405/
Quote:
Parents with teenagers in sports, boys and girls who studies show are already trying PEDs to play better, should be thankful that their kids will see the news of more athletes being disgraced by doping.
...
History will judge this move as one of the most positive and aggressive yet in the fight against doping in sports. How many times have we heard an owner or player or announcer say baseball's "Steroid Era" is over?
Such wishful thinking. The "Steroid Era" in baseball is just beginning.
We should use the Olympics as our guide. The International Olympic Committee started full-scale drug testing in 1972. MLB began its official program in 2004, although Commissioner Bud Selig started drug testing in the minor leagues in 2001. So MLB is 32 years behind the Olympics. What's more, with so much money to be made in baseball, it stands to reason its cheating is worse.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/brennan/2013/06/05/mlb-biogenesis-suspensions-tony-bosch-alex-rodriguez-ryan-braun-column/2390781/
...
History will judge this move as one of the most positive and aggressive yet in the fight against doping in sports. How many times have we heard an owner or player or announcer say baseball's "Steroid Era" is over?
Such wishful thinking. The "Steroid Era" in baseball is just beginning.
We should use the Olympics as our guide. The International Olympic Committee started full-scale drug testing in 1972. MLB began its official program in 2004, although Commissioner Bud Selig started drug testing in the minor leagues in 2001. So MLB is 32 years behind the Olympics. What's more, with so much money to be made in baseball, it stands to reason its cheating is worse.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/brennan/2013/06/05/mlb-biogenesis-suspensions-tony-bosch-alex-rodriguez-ryan-braun-column/2390781/
So, yet again it comes to this. Pro ball players seem to have been using this Biogenesis anti-aging clinic as a front from which to acquire banned performance-enhancing drugs. And not, you know, back benchers; I don't even follow baseball, and I've heard of A-Rod.
Here is what interests me. This is hardly the first, last, or only steroid scandal to come out of pro sports. It seems to have become more or less endemic in baseball; the preferred solution seems to be marking down the affected season with an asterix in the statistics, and otherwise ignoring it.
Doesn't the nature of these gargantuan, tax-exempt, antitrust law-exempt, recruiting-in-the-peewee-leagues sports organizations lend itself to cultivating relationships with performance-enhancing drugs?
And might it not solve the whole performance-enhancing drug problem to outright ban dopers, rather than suspending them for a brief period and reinstating them later?
