A-Rod is a cheater

[walleyeking19]

Just heard that A-rod tested positve for steriods in 2003. The one guy i thought was clean now cheats just like Barry Bonds. Now i am wondering if anyone will break the home run record who didn't take steroids in my life time.

[CFRay]

I just heard that to on Sat. Sports Talk. Reusse stated that there will be a 20 year void in the hall of fame when this steroid era is finally over.

[SledNeck]

pretty soon it will come out that like 3 people in history of the modern era didnt use steroids.

[PierBridge]

Told ya!

[Scott M]

Often times Reusse is off-putting and provocative in ripping someone in the national or local sports landscape...but this time I think he hits the nail on the head.

No surprise over latest steroids allegations

by Patrick Reusse, Star Tribune

The Reusse boys' annual baseball trip took us to the Bronx in July 2007 to watch a four-game Twins-Yankees series. We spent a couple of games sitting near the home dugout in Yankee Stadium.

The first time we saw Alex Rodriguez in the batter's box from that low view, we offered a two-man chorus: "Dang ... he's enormous."

I had interviewed A-Rod from a media crowd and watched from near the batting cage as he took pregame hacks. But there was something about seeing him from that angle -- towering in the foreground of the Yankee Stadium scene -- that made you say, "This is an NFL defensive end, not a third baseman."

That put the shock meter at zero Saturday when Sports Illustrated's HSOforum broke the story that Rodriguez came up positive in 2003, when Major League Baseball tested for steroids for the first time.

This was the survey testing agreed on between management and the players association. The agreement was that if more than 5 percent came up positive, then the union would agree to a formal testing program. The threshold was exceeded when 104 players tested positive.

The names and the results were supposed to be confidential. Eventually, the courts gave the government access to the records of 10 players who had testified before the BALCO grand jury.

Barry Bonds is one of those 10 and is scheduled to go on trial March 2 on perjury charges. There's also a case in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Pasadena, Calif., with the government and players association fighting over the records of the 94 other players who tested positive.

Rodriguez's name comes from that list, according to SI.com. And now that one of those 94 has been named, we can expect more leaks.

That will be another full-blown steroids scandal just as Commissioner Bud Selig kicks off his second World Baseball Classic, the ridiculous event that excites both Bud and handfuls of fans around the globe.

The Rodriguez revelation wasn't the only body blow to baseball Saturday. The SI.com report also said it was told by three players that Gene Orza, CEO of the players association, tipped off A-Rod in September 2004 that he was going to be tested that month.

You have to go back to some of the nation's best college basketball teams fixing games in the early 1950s to find this level of embarrassment for an important sport. Baseball figured it could offer George Mitchell's report and put a name on the cheating, the Steroid Era, and the embarrassment would start to fade.

Now, within a period of a few days, we have the government unsealing evidence it plans to use at trial against Bonds, the game's all-time home run leader, and we have multiple sources telling SI.com that there are positive tests revealing that Rodriguez, the player who was supposed to wipe out the Bonds' stain on the record book, also was on steroids.

So, what the Steroid Era (roughly, 1994-2005) has brought baseball is the disgrace of Roger Clemens, previously advertised as the game's greatest pitcher of all time, and the pending trial of Bonds, the game's greatest slugger, and now an accusation aimed at Rodriguez, currently the game's best player.

There will be more jolts to come as the names attached to those '03 tests continue to be leaked. We should not be surprised if the allegations strike against more superstars. We should not be surprised if names on the list strike close to home.

Anything's possible from the Steroid Era, and yet Bud Selig, the man in charge during this long period of disgrace, continues as the boss (now at $17 million per annum).

The steroids web now includes Clemens, Bonds and Rodriguez -- the equivalent of Jordan, Bird and Magic being caught fixing NBA games -- and Baseball Bud simply goes on, apologizing and worrying about Netherlands vs. Venezuela.

Really, Mr. Selig, you're a nice enough fellow, but it's time to ride away on a golden parachute and make room for an articulate, square-jawed replacement who will declare war on the cheats (past and present) and restore trust in the Tarnished Old Game.

A-Rod is disgraced now -- A-Rod! -- and you were the man in charge.

That's your final hint, Bud. The game needs someone to make heads roll, and you're not him.

[Team Otter]

pretty soon it will come out that like 3 people in history of the modern era didnt use steroids.

That's hitting the nail on the head. Well said.

[Brian H]

Being born in 1955 I have watched a lot of sports. Imho THEY ALL ARE DIRTY. Basketball smokes dope by the semi load. Pro football ..........ya kidding me? They are pushing 300+lbs on the lines. Anybody remember what Chris Doleman looked like when he came to the Vikings? Chiseled out of stone! But, he was in the low 200's for weight, wasn't a big weight lifter. He was just fast! Hockey? My guess would be more into coke then steroids. Anyway, baseball is what it is. The stars were on steroids with few exceptions. A lot of players maybe didn't take steroids but they weren't good players one day and stars the next. If you question whether your hero was on 'roids just look at some photo's from when he came into the league vs what he looked like when he signed his big deal. Pictures are worth a thousand words.

Selig is just somebody doing what the owners ask. He looked the other way and watched a home run race. He looked the other way and watched his stars turn into cartoonish people. He turned the other way and watched the owners stuff their pockets and get all their new stadiums. In return for facing backward half his life he was given a $17 million dollar salary.

Baseball is what it is. A sport that goes through scandal and ups and downs. MLB didn't learn from the BlackSox scandal,MLB didn't learn from the Pete Rose scandal, MLB won't learn from the steroids scandal. The reason is simple. The people keep coming and the owners and players keep raking in the money. No reason to stop.

[DTro]

Being born in 1955 I have watched a lot of sports. Imho THEY ALL ARE DIRTY. Basketball smokes dope by the semi load. Pro football ..........ya kidding me? They are pushing 300+lbs on the lines. Anybody remember what Chris Doleman looked like when he came to the Vikings? Chiseled out of stone! But, he was in the low 200's for weight, wasn't a big weight lifter. He was just fast! Hockey? My guess would be more into coke then steroids. Anyway, baseball is what it is. The stars were on steroids with few exceptions. A lot of players maybe didn't take steroids but they weren't good players one day and stars the next. If you question whether your hero was on 'roids just look at some photo's from when he came into the league vs what he looked like when he signed his big deal. Pictures are worth a thousand words.

Selig is just somebody doing what the owners ask. He looked the other way and watched a home run race. He looked the other way and watched his stars turn into cartoonish people. He turned the other way and watched the owners stuff their pockets and get all their new stadiums. In return for facing backward half his life he was given a $17 million dollar salary.

Baseball is what it is. A sport that goes through scandal and ups and downs. MLB didn't learn from the BlackSox scandal,MLB didn't learn from the Pete Rose scandal, MLB won't learn from the steroids scandal. The reason is simple. The people keep coming and the owners and players keep raking in the money. No reason to stop.

Couldn't agree more, if people REALLY want a change and have Pro sports clean up their act, they will stop supporting them until they do so.

[Rippinlip]

Great conversation and agree to all, just another take on it.

Do you think we could do something better with all this money going into prosecuting all these LOSERS.

The way the economy is I think too much is being spent to see Barry roids and the rest of these clowns do the little bit of prison time that they "may" do.

Just upsets me that we are even talking about these freaks, it should be a 1 test positive and out of the league you go.

Problem is when they were doing this junk there was no rules in place to punish them and now we are trying to punish this jerk-baits for lying.

Sorry to vent, but with the economy in the toilet we just keep on spending cash to be used somewhere else.

Mark

[Brian H]

The economy is in the tank if you are in the construction or housing business. If you are in the business of Baseball or Government there is plenty of money around.

I say, drag them through the court systems. Put them in the public eye for 3-4 years and see how they feel when it's over. BTW, are you going to prosecute the owners for looking the other way or even endorsing their behavior?

[IFallsRon]

Halls of fame are pretty spare. They're no more than a museum celebrating the past.

Just saying, but most everyone who is a baseball dork sportswriter in a big city and has been there long enough to be a "hall" voter is nearly done or will lose their job soon as newspapers are pretty much done. The voting is even more subjective to how the dork sportswriter thinks rather than taking into account the player credentials.

And should the "halls" include life cheats like Kirby Puckett or Earvin Johnson and 100s more? We have a national holiday in January for a life cheat yet he is celebrated as a hero, a "hall-of-famer."

There's hard evidence that Pete Rose bet on baseball, a clear violation of baseball rule. Players who are suspected of being on the juice have little hope.

Are all who belong in the "halls" there? Likely not. Does it matter?

[Scott K]

A-Rod admitted to doing roids from 01-03

[SledNeck]

Move the rapists, molesters and wifebeaters out of prison and make room for A-Rod and Barry Bonds.

[Windy City]

I guess we should let everybody out of jail, except the rapists, molesters and wifebeaters. Yup, I feel safer already!

[genegodawa]

I say build more prisons...but NIMBY.

[LOTWSvirgin]

Will he be suspended even though this was in 01 02 03 that he used. The people who helped hide the test should get fined and everything else.

[LOTWSvirgin]

I think the forum should read the yankees are cheaters!!! So how many of the yankees have used or been accused of useing??

Giambi Clements Petite and now A-rod. Who else? No wonder the yankees spend so much money they have to support these guys habits. One more thing how come whenever they show highlights of some guy hitting homers they always seem to show at least one in the metrodome. Anyone else ever notice that.

[mrklean]

I give him props for admitting it, but when he said he didnt know what he was taking or who gave it to him i say [PoorWordUsage] and that it was only from 01-03 i dont know about that either.

[KMR85]

you could tell he didn't give a hoot with his apology...he has all the money he needs and that's all he cares about. he even laughed/chuckled a little during the interview. none of these guys are sorry they took steroids, they're millionares, so unless that gets taken away from them they will never be sorry.

[zepman]

Just think of the hundreds of millions of dollars the Yankees have paid out to these guys over the past few years and not one World Series ring to show for it. I think these guys should be responsible for returning portions of their HUGE contracts they signed as the result of the inflated #'s they put up while on the juice.

[mrklean]

I dont know if anyone listens to 93x in the morning they were talking about it today with Randy Shaver from Kare 11 they brought up a point that i have always thought was interesting, roids dont make you hit the ball better, they dont make you catch a ball better they dont make you a better player, they make your muscles bigger, help you recover faster. A guy like bonds, a-rod, they were already had an average that was .300 or better, they just hit more homeruns. Just think how many no name guys took roids my guess that list of no namers is 10 times bigger then the list with big names on it. The big name guys are the only ones being talked about when we know the list of no namers is much bigger

[Windy City]

Klean,

I agree with what you are saying, I have always said that the roids did not hit the ball square the player did but the roids may have gotten him back from an injury quicker or prevented one and they are for sure the reason that those warning track fly balls carried into the seats or into the Bay in Barry's case. That is why the records are tainted in my mind. And think about how many big leaguers who roided up beat out guys who played clean by running just a bit faster and throwing a bit harder and hitting a ball a bit further.

[timjones]

Be pretty hard to find anyone in any sport that isn't a boozer or doper now days. The clean guys are few and far between, usually the ones that aren't making the all-star games, because the dopers are outperforming them were normally they probably wouldn't be. Hard for anyone to look up to them. Overpaid spoiled brats.

[fishyguy]

Roids do make fly balls into HR's, doubles of the wall into HR's, etc... but I also believe there is something to making you a better hitter. The extra strength increases bat speed, bat speed allows that split second longer to decide fastball, change, breaking pitch, ball or strike. It may not be a gigantic difference but a little bat speed goes a long ways.

[Scott K]

If there wasnt much of an advantage do you think they would be taking it? I am sure they wouldnt risk getting busted for it if there wasnt much of an advantage over taking it.