Amazing that people can have so much hate for a guy who's never failed a drug test, who's admitted to using steroids during a period when Baseball had not made any rules against them, and who's really been one of the greatest players in the history of the game, and until now (and I'm still not sold on the PED suspension without at least a positive urine/blood test), really hasn't been proven to have broken any of the rules.... I believe MLB was on a "witch-hunt" to help alleviate the Yankees of some of their hefty payroll in order to help them out.... Ryan Braun DID fail a test, and when it all was sorted out, it's been determined that it was a LEGITIMATE test, not a jaded sample, therefore, he deserves what he's gotten, but any player suspended over this evidences I feel is getting the screws put to them. MLB should have periodic random drug testing where each player gets hit at least monthly, then they could save all of the $$$ they've blown on some 8 month long investigation, and keep the players "honest" by way of a regular testing plan to ensure compliance....
But I'll chime in. If you were to go to jail for possession (or selling) of a controlled substance, served your time in jail and got out. You're trying to start your new life and have gone through all the apologies etc... Who are the last people on planet Earth that you are going to associate yourself with in ANY way at all? Are you going to go back to the hood to visit old friends? Take a chance again of selling just a little? Come on man!
A-Rod never failed a drug test, and MLB went on a witch hunt to get him after they somehow let Braun's case go to an arbitrator who screwed it up. I think the whole problem lies in the MLB and it's hit-miss drug testing program in all honesty. But for so many years, they never even had a drug testing program. Many of the commonly known PED's weren't "illegal" to use in the MLB. Now they're blasting A-Rod, McGwire, Sosa, Canseco, etc, many of whom really didn't break any MLB rules for years. If A-Rod used PED's in the era they are illegal, and you have a urine test to prove it, which you would if you did monthly random testing that hit each player in the league, then you'd have all the evidence you needed without having some 8-10month long (or likely longer) expensive investigation. So many people "hate" A-Rod now where once upon a time he was a well liked young phenom, a rising star, following the path baseball hoped he would, hitting home runs, fielding amongst the best in the game, stealing bases, etc, now he's the heel of MLB, and one of the most hated players of the modern era, without good cause from what I've seen. Then again, I'm an advocate of mild use of PED's such as HGH if it's going to help repair a mildly strained/torn oblique or hamstring, and allow a player to return to duty faster. Full blown anabolics as used by some body-builders are another story, but I don't think many of these guys are/were using the major anabolics otherwise they'd have bulked up too much and lost bat-speed, arm-speed, whatever.... If patient comes into the hospital with an inflamed shoulder, we often times put them on steroids to reduce inflamation/pain, and allow the joint to heal. What I believe many of these guys were doing is helping their bodies along during the rigorous 162 game season where you don't get a week to heal between games, and you constantly re-aggravate an injury until the season is over. In reality, baseball was better WITH steroids and less public knowledge of what went on in the locker rooms. As for the record books, I say that until you can show me that Mickey Mantle or Brooks Robinson or Roger Maris or whomever never used anything, I could care less. While I despise Barry Bonds, I think it's difficult to not place him in the HoF, with the career he had. It's about recognizing the feats of the player on the field, not the personality of the player off of it.
When did a test become available for HGH? Did you not watch what happened with Bonds? I don't think steroids hurt his bat speed.:D he swelled up like a balloon. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
I don't like cheaters,but baseball ain't baseball anymore. And with the price that it cost to take a family of 4 to a game these days I really don't care if they juice. I want to see a monster hit a ball 600 feet, 120mph fastballs and runners so fast there's smoke on the base path.
