Gibbons 15-day suspension?

[cindyluvsbrady]

Neither is Gibbons cheating by using illegal drugs to get a big multi million dollar contract that possibly kicks a clean honest player off the roster, lying about it, being the loudest mouth blasting Palmeiro, etc.....

I was wrong about Jay.

When he was first caught, I predicted that sooner, rather than later, he would come out and say the right things and be a man. After all, he accepted all the good (fan adulation, PA's millions$$, perks of mlb, etc) so he should accept the bad.

Instead, he pulls a Raffy and goes into hiding. Only now does he offer a lame "death bed" confession through a statement by his agent/lawyer. And what a lame confession it was-

Yeah, sure Jay. Poor baby, you were ONLY trying to get over an injury.

What, no doctors or pharmacies in Maryland could help you ??? So you went to one in Florida ?

Of course, it was strictly a coincidence that other mlb'ers knew that was a good supply for their "injuries" too.

What about those steroids that were delivered to your house ? You forgot to mention those. Were they for an injury too ?

At this point- I am sick of these guys and thier lame actions. The cover up and the lame excuses by those that are caught are WORSE than the actual "crime". Grow up BOYS. We aren't stupid. Just be men about it.

Stop insulting our intelligence.

You misunderstood what I was saying!!!!!! There is nothing funny about anyone abusing drugs.

It is in very poor taste to imply I have needles laying around my house for my children.I dont think in anyway drug abuse is a joke!

[ScottieBaseball]

You misunderstood what I was saying!!!!!! There is nothing funny about anyone abusing drugs.

It is in very poor taste to imply I have needles laying around my house for my children.I dont think in anyway drug abuse is a joke!

Lighten up a little, Cindy. It wasn't an insult directed at you. Sometimes the best thing to do in situations like these is to try and inject a little humor and that's all that happened here.

[DrungoHazewood]

I'm turning into a broken record here, but Jay also said nothing in his confession about the testosterone (steroids) delivered to his house.

And the hypocrisy displayed in those quotes is incredible.

I don't care all that much about superstars who take PEDs to become superhuman. Is it wrong, yeah, and there should be better testing so we don't have to deal with the issue anymore. But putting asterisks on records and things like that, eh, whatever. People have always cheated in this sport (and every sport), and guys who are already stars aren't keeping anyone out of a job by using the stuff.

But for some reason, it's the Gibbons type of case that really pisses me off. Fringe major leaguer uses PEDs and gets 20 million dollar contract while other fringe major leaguers are fighting for their professional lives, hoping to get a prorated share of the $300 thousand ML minimum if they're lucky, and the pittance that MiLs make if they aren't. It bothers me. Especially when the fringe major leaguer is his team's labor representative and makes numerous statements against PED's.

Players like Jay Gibbons are the most likely players to use PEDs. The incentives for them were/are far, far, far, far, greater than for players with established jobs or players who had almost no chance of making the majors. For a fringe major leaguer the difference between using PEDs and not using PEDs could literally be $10s of millions of dollars.

Economic incentives are the reason you see many more guys like Gibbons, Guillen, Ismael Valdez, Dan Serafini, Scott Schoeneweis, Jason Grimsley, and Alex Sanchez being caught than guys like Giambi and Bonds.

Before baseball cracked down on steroids asking Jay Gibbons to not use was asking him to willingly leave $millions on the table even though he had almost no chance of being caught or punished.

[cindyluvsbrady]

Lighten up a little, Cindy. It wasn't an insult directed at you. Sometimes the best thing to do in situations like these is to try and inject a little humor and that's all that happened here.

I respect you Scottie.Your awesome:)

This is all just so sad to me!

[Tx Oriole]

I don't want him on the team but i am not going to not forgive him. Hell we all make mistakes. He got caught. Will serve his penalty. Maybe the O's can get out of his contract. Anyway i hope they can. How many more years is his contract for?

[Flosman]

I don't think less of Jay because he got caught. I actually understand what he did. I do not like Jay as a player at all, but he is a decent guy in the community and I think he really cares, he just is not very good. I think many are sitting on their high horse saying he should not have used PEDs, without considering the environment all players are in and players in the recent era in particular. I don't think Jay is a great athelete and he worked his butt off to get where he got. I don't think he makes it without some medical help and I suspect many on here would do the same thing he did if put in the same situation.

[The Wedge]

Players like Jay Gibbons are the most likely players to use PEDs. The incentives for them were/are far, far, far, far, greater than for players with established jobs or players who had almost no chance of making the majors. For a fringe major leaguer the difference between using PEDs and not using PEDs could literally be $10s of millions of dollars.

Economic incentives are the reason you see many more guys like Gibbons, Guillen, Ismael Valdez, Dan Serafini, Scott Schoeneweis, Jason Grimsley, and Alex Sanchez being caught than guys like Giambi and Bonds.

Before baseball cracked down on steroids asking Jay Gibbons to not use was asking him to willingly leave $millions on the table even though he had almost no chance of being caught or punished.

That's exactly what I was thinking. It pisses me off more when players with the talent to be in the big leagues and make good money at it without PED's are mentioned as being possible users. Or you know they did them though they've never been "caught" or publically admitted (like Bonds).

[The Wedge]

You know, instead of trying to play the noun game (steroids vs. HGH, but I said I never did steroids!) and back tracking, maybe Gibbons should try to use his position as a PR tool for MLB and their desperate scramble to clean the game up. He could totally be "I used because I felt without them, I'd never make the team, and I saw others use them and didn't want to be left out," etc etc. And if the Mitchell Report is going to be as revealing as it seems it will be, he wouldn't be betraying trust by just saying he saw people doing them.

But of course he was going to lie back then.

[ScottieBaseball]

I respect you Scottie.Your awesome:)

This is all just so sad to me!

The respect is mutual, Cindy. It's sad to me as well. I want all of my sports heroes to be clean-living, law-abiding, Boy Scouts off the field and vicious, aggressive, cut-throat competitors on the field. Even though I realized my expectations were too lofty a long time I ago it still stings every time something like this happens.

I personally believe Jay will serve his suspension and turn things around here. It's my guess that this whole thing has been weighing on him to the point that it rendered him befuddled in the batter's box.

It's only fair to warn you, though, Cindy. Brace yourself. When the Mitchell Report is released and names are named, I'm inclined to believe more than one of our favorite players are going to have their images tarnished.

[blueberryale77]

Even if I did accept his apology as a fan, I wouldn't go making a big deal about the apology like Roch did in his first blog about this yesterday. Then, when people questioned Roch's objectivity, Roch had the nerve to get righteously indignant about it.

To me, this column is much more objective than what Roch chose to emphasize (ie: let's give him credit for not tearing the clubhouse apart like Raffy did).

Of course it's impossible for a reporter who is first and foremost a human being and has been covering the Orioles for years (I believe Gibbons' entire career) to be completely objective. The blog gives Roch the opportunity to be a little less objective and even to get on a bit of a soapbox. While I know the media try to avoid establishing real friendships with the guys they cover, they do see an awful lot of them and it would be hard not to develop some kind of empathy. I just think Roch knows how rampant the issue was in baseball and has seen how overblown the reaction can be when one particular individual is caught and doesn't want to see Gibbons, someone he clearly likes, pay an undue price for the sins of many. I can't blame him for having feelings. In fact, that's probably the main reason his blog is so worthy of reading most of the time.

[Mackus]

What did everybody expect Jay to say earlier? When asked about steroids even if he was using, he has to say he's never done them, and that it hurts to be accused and what not. Anything else would be incredibly stupid.

Not a single person here can honestly say that they would admit to something like that without any proof or reason to do so.

This is what annoys me the most about the steroids thing, the hypocrisy of the people who are so up in arms about it. As soon as these people voluntarily come forward and admit every wrong or illegal thing they've ever done in their lives, they have no right to get angry at athletes for lying about their past (or current) steroid abuse.

Sure, go ahead and be disappointed, angry, or whatever about the actual steroid use, but criticizing players for lying about their personal use is ridiculous IMO.

[blueberryale77]

What did everybody expect Jay to say earlier? When asked about steroids even if he was using, he has to say he's never done them, and that it hurts to be accused and what not. Anything else would be incredibly stupid.

Not a single person here can honestly say that they would admit to something like that without any proof or reason to do so.

This is what annoys me the most about the steroids thing, the hypocrisy of the people who are so up in arms about it. As soon as these people voluntarily come forward and admit every wrong or illegal thing they've ever done in their lives, they have no right to get angry at athletes for lying about their past (or current) steroid abuse.

Sure, go ahead and be disappointed, angry, or whatever about the actual steroid use, but criticizing players for lying about their personal use is ridiculous IMO.

I agree with you for the most part, but there are some players (not necessarily implicated players, but players in general) who have answered questions on the subject without ever saying, "I never used steroids." This may have more to do with their facility with the English language than their superior honesty, but it is possible not to lie without admitting use. Gibbons, on the other hand, appears to have issued a number of vehement and even indignant denials. That's a little different than asked point blank if you've used steroids and simply saying "no."

[Dr. FLK]

Thats not funny!!!!!!!!

You misunderstood what I was saying!!!!!! There is nothing funny about anyone abusing drugs.

It is in very poor taste to imply I have needles laying around my house for my children.I dont think in anyway drug abuse is a joke!

Lighten up or put me on ignore, one or the other. It was obviously a joke about Gibby and PEDs...I'm not sure there is another person around who really thinks I believed you let your children play with syringes. I'm not the one who made Captain Popup use the stuff...he made that glorious decision all on his own.

[PoorMike]

Of course it's impossible for a reporter who is first and foremost a human being and has been covering the Orioles for years (I believe Gibbons' entire career) to be completely objective. The blog gives Roch the opportunity to be a little less objective and even to get on a bit of a soapbox. While I know the media try to avoid establishing real friendships with the guys they cover, they do see an awful lot of them and it would be hard not to develop some kind of empathy. I just think Roch knows how rampant the issue was in baseball and has seen how overblown the reaction can be when one particular individual is caught and doesn't want to see Gibbons, someone he clearly likes, pay an undue price for the sins of many. I can't blame him for having feelings. In fact, that's probably the main reason his blog is so worthy of reading most of the time.

Good analysis, and I agree.

However, when 'we' say "hey Roch, maybe you're too close to the situation to see the forest for the trees" he shouldn't come back and say that we should make our opinions more "intelligent". It makes him sound defensive.

...and STILL...even after that, why is no one asking why he's totally omitted the steroid issue?

I just think his apology deflects blame, and omits part of the issue. Then Roch "gives him credit" for not being Raffy, and gets defensive and even condescending when we question why JG deserves this "credit".

[ledzepp8]

The question is will they try and void his contract. It worked so well with Ponson maybe they should do it again.

I'm not sure I understand the eye rolling...do we even know what happened with Ponson?