Release the List!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 15:00
Hank Aaron this week called for the entire 103-name list of baseball players who tested for positive for steroids in 2003 to be made public. I believe most people, like myself, agree with him. Transparency is the only way for us to put the Steroid Era behind us once and for all. Don’t get me wrong, there will always be players who will try to gain an advantage using performance-enhancing drugs. But I believe we can eventually put the gross abuses of the Steroid Era in our collective rear view mirror if as much as the truth as possible is laid out on the table.
Some people call whoever is leaking names from the list to the press a hero. As much as I am glad to see any and all of these players outed, I say that he is doing a grave disservice to the game by only releasing one or two names at a time. If you’re committed to the truth coming out, if you’re willing to break the law, then fully commit–release the entire list!
By leaking only a handful of names, this person is furthering the suspicion, furthering the blame game… and allowing many other guilty parties to enjoy their clear names at the expense of a few. Those few deserve the wrath they receive, but these others should likewise have their names dragged through the mud in punishment for their otherwise scott-free crimes.
103 names… That’s an average of 3.43 per team. Even if some entire teams were on the juice and others had nobody using, that still translated to 4+ teams with guilty players. Beyond being completely illogical to expect that’s only a handful of teams were dirty, the Mitchell Report has already exhibited that the juicing occurred across the board on all the major league teams. Which means holier-than-thou fans eager to point the finger elsewhere need to face the music that at least somebody (if not several somebodies) on their favorite squads was (were) cheating, too.
103 names… That’s 13.7% of all players on the 25-man rosters, 8.6% of the 40-man rosters. And that’s only those who tested positive. How many used but weren’t caught?
And I don’t just want to see the list of names. I want to know what they were using, too. Because I do believe there are varying degrees of guilt, from the extreme culpability of injecting oneself in the butt with anabolic steroids to the milder offense of legally-purchased dietary supplements from GNC that may have had a banned substance (whether or not players knew about the banned substances being in such a supplement or not is a question we unfortunately cannot answer).
We should then compile a master document from all sources (the Mitchell Report, the 103 names, and any other evidence) of who used what and when.
For anyone guilty, the punishment should be:
1. No Hall of Fame consideration
2. All records receive an asterisk
I’ve seen some fans (mostly those who hide behind the veil of ignorance simply because no one on their team has been named yet) claim that all World Series titles from the post-strike, pre-testing era (1195-2003) receive an asterisk as well. I disagree. Since every team had juicers, the playing field was essentially level; no one team had a real steroid advantage. (If we’re going to asterisk championship, might as well be fair about it and star every Super Bowl champion of the 1980s, when that league was rampant with ‘roids.)
Individual records, on the other hand, bear comparison to history and those players of the past not using steroids. For justice to be served, for us to know which recent records are tainted and which are not (if any), for the all-time greats to continue to receive their proper record-book accord, we need to see the evidence. I want to protect that sanctity.
So, my request to you, baseball’s Deep Throat, is do the right thing… leak every last name!
Gairzo
says:
August 7th, 2009 at 3:06 am
There is no sanctity. As long as you have people who are driven to be the highest, fastest, strongest and who will do anything to achieve that goal, sanctity is a pipe dream.
And, if Deep Throat does release the list, he'll probably reveal his identity which will put him in legal jeopardy. Still, your point is well taken. I'd love to see it.
MLB can solve it in a relatively easy mathematical way.
Baseball is pretty unique in that in its 150 year history the major changes in the game were primarily out of the players’ control.. When the game began, balls were handmade and probably significantly softer than today. It wasn’t until the ‘30s that MLB understood they could change the nature of the game by replacing a “dead ball” with a lively ball.
In the ‘60s when Bob Gibson, Koufax, Drysdale, Marichal towered over people, the league lowered the mound. Statistically the number of hits, homers and career 3000 hit players increased after they lowered that mound. Modern day parks—PNC, the Jake, Camden Yards are 10-15 feet shorter than the obsolete cookie-cutter parks like the Vet.
In a 154 game season, Ruth set the standard with 60 home-runs. That record held to form over thirty years until Maris needed 8 more games to break it—by ONE single home run. Each record has yet to be broken. I have never understood the argument as to why Maris' achievement should not be asterisked or why that asterisk is a slight in any way–especially since Maris' record stood longer than Ruth's.
It is historically accurate to say Maris needed 8 more games to beat Ruth's record.
Statistically, Bonds, Sosa, and MaGwyer broke those record by eye-pooping proportions never before seen in the history of civilized sport..
Think about it: Maris broke Ruths record by 1.667%..Bonds broke Ruths record by an over 20% margin. Simply Bond’s record breaking margin is TWELVE TIMES GREATER than Maris’
Look at any sport’s stats; records are broken in a contained consistent pattern. If you superimpose the100 meter dash records from 1900 hundred until now on the same graph with swimming records or speed skating records you are going to see a remarkably similar pattern.
You can find the 100 meter dash progression here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_record_progres...
The record is is never broken, without wind, by more than .01 to.04 of a second. When it is, the runner was caught doping.
Let’s put Usain Bolts recent record-breaking performance into perspective. It took Bolt over three years to chop .05 (five hundredths) of a second off Asafa Powells record. This is well within the normal range for the 100 meter progression. If you put Bond’s margin of error onto Powells record, the Great Pumpkin Headed One would have had to run a jaunty 9.1.
Bonds would have been condemned as a doper the moment he crossed the finish line.
Prior to the technological breakthroughs in golf equipment the average drive was between 260-270 now it 290-300—and it’s held steady through the diligence of the PGA.
My average golf drive is 225 yards. If I add 20% like Bonds did over Maris. I AVERAGE 270 yard drives. Instead of a 24 handicap, my whole game would change. On 400 yard par fours I’d be approaching with an 8 or 9 iron instead of a 4 iron. I’d be a 12 handicapper in a month. (Mmmm, steroids good!)
Whenever you see a record broken in ways that similar records have never been broken, it has to be asterisked.
Babe Ruth holds the single season home run record. Henry Aaron is the only career home-run king in baseball history.
The cheaters deserve no recognition whatsoever.
Nate Barlow
says:
August 7th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I absolutely agree with you about Maris. The record deserved an asterisk, but there is nothing wrong with that. In my mind, it's for all intents and purposes, a different record: Ruth holds the 154-game record, Maris the 162-game. Both are great accomplishments.
But the cheaters… they deserve a different mark altogether. Yes, the numbers occurred, but how they got them diminishes their value to nothing.
Tony Clark
says:
August 18th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Here's the list…103 Steroid Users.
1. Nomar Garciaparra
2. Manny Ramirez
3. Johnny Damon
4. Trot Nixon
5. David Ortiz
6. Shea Hillenbrand
7. Derek Lowe
8. Pedro Martinez
9. Brian Roberts
10. Jay Gibbons
11. Melvin Mora
12. Jerry Hairston
13. Jason Giambi
14. Alfonso Soriano
15. Raul Mondasi
16. Aaron Boone
17. Andy Pettite
18. Jose Contreras
19. Roger Clemens
20. Carlos Delgado
21. Vernon Wells
22. Frank Catalanotto
23. Kenny Rogers
24. Magglio Ordonez
25. Sandy Alomar
26. Bartolo Colon
27. Brent Abernathy
28. Jose Lima
29. Milton Bradley
30. Casey Blake
31. Danys Baez
32. Craig Monroe
33. Dmitri Young
34. Alex Sanchez
35. Eric Chavez
36. Miquel Tejada
37. Eric Byrnes
38. Jose Guillen
39. Keith Foulke
40. Ricardo Rincon
41. Bret Boone
42. Mike Cameron
43. Randy Winn
44. Ryan Franklin
45. Freddy Garcia
46. Rafael Soriano
47. Scott Spiezio
48. Troy Glaus
49. Francisco Rodriquez
50. Sean Weber
51. Alex Rodriquez
52. Juan Gonzalez
53. Rafael Palmeiro
54. Carl Everett
55. Javy Lopez
56. Gary Sheffield
57. Mike Hampton
58. Ivan Rodriquez
50. Derrek Lee
60. Bobby Abreu
61. Terry Adams
62. Fernando Tatis
63. Livan Hernandez
64. Hector Almonte
65. Tony Adams
66. Dan Smith
67. Roberto Alomar
68. Cliff Floyd
69. Roger Cedeno
70. Jeromy Burnitz
71. Moises Alou
72. Sammy Sosa
73. Corey Patterson
74. Carlos Zambrano
75. Mark prior
76. Kerry Wood
77. Matt Clement
78. Antonio Alfonsaca
79. Juan Cruz
80. Aramis Ramirez
81. Craig Wilson
82. Kris Benson
83. Richie Sexson
84. Geoff Jenkins
85. Valerio de los Sanlos
86. Benito Santiago
87. Rich Aurilia
88. Barry Bonds
89. Andres Galarraga
90. Jason Schmidt
91. Felix Rodriquez
92. Jason Christiansen
93. Matt Herges
94. Paul LoDuca
95. Shawn Green
96. Oliver Rerez
97. Adrian Beltre
98. Eric Gagne
99. Guillermo Mota
100. Luis Gonzalez
101. Todd Helton
102. Ryan Klesko
103. Gary Matthews
Nate Barlow
says:
August 18th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
This looks like the RotoInfo list, which is widely considered to be of dubious origin at best, if not a downright fake.