Sun:Grimsley names 3 O's in banned drug case

[orioles119]

I have no reason to believe this Fed Agent. The guy is out to get people.

Check... Mr. Novitzky unplugged...

To White, Novitzky -- who did not participate in this article -- seemed to have an unusual interest in the ballplayer. He mentioned Bonds frequently after a sighting or a Giants game. One day at court Novitzky struck up a conversation with White that went beyond the usual talk-radio banter.

"That Bonds. He's a great athlete," White says Novitzky told him. "You think he's on steroids?"

White took a moment before replying, in his bourbon-and-cotton voice, "I think they're all on steroids. All of our top major leaguers."

Novitzky seemed to care only about Bonds. "He's such an asshole to the press," he said. "I'd sure like to prove it."

White is undercover agent Iran White. Novitzky is is Jeff Novitzky, an IRS agent. It was Novitzky who pressed the investigation. However, given his statement above, I wonder if it would have ever happened if Bonds had been a nice guy. It seems to me Novitzky, for some reason, was out to get Bonds, rather than catch criminals or clean up a sport.

[mweb]

Fine, fine. Higher percentage, smart ass.

I'm not sure about that. Jansen spoke out about steroids in football recently, and he suggested that 20% of players were using. Other than that, I don't have any estimates, but considering he was speaking against steroids, I don't see why he'd purposely greatly underestimate it. I think a lot more than 20% of baseball players are using.

[mweb]

Roberts, Tejada and Gibbons

Grimsley for Bautista is now officially the worst trade in Orioles history!!!

I wonder if anyone still cares to defend that trade?

[orioles119]

The thing about the NFL is that noone wants to believe it - yet the evidence is right there... Maybe Moose Milligan is on to something. The NFL's image is made of teflon, yet the press would love to poo-poo baseball for some reason.

Not only do you have the steriod and performance enhancements crap, you also have the *****ing and moanin' about the length of the game, etc.

[orioles119]

I wonder if anyone still cares to defend that trade?

Um... Bautista is really 40 years old?

I'm grasping for straws here...

[TyCobb]

The thing about the NFL is that noone wants to believe it - yet the evidence is right there... Maybe Moose Milligan is on to something. The NFL's image is made of teflon, yet the press would love to poo-poo baseball for some reason.

Not only do you have the steriod and performance enhancements crap, you also have the *****ing and moanin' about the length of the game, etc.

I think most football fans "know" that they use steriods and they can careless. I think football isn't a sport where you talk about the past as much as it is with baseball. Thats is what bugs me with steriods.

[mweb]

The thing about the NFL is that noone wants to believe it - yet the evidence is right there... Maybe Moose Milligan is on to something. The NFL's image is made of teflon, yet the press would love to poo-poo baseball for some reason.

Not only do you have the steriod and performance enhancements crap, you also have the *****ing and moanin' about the length of the game, etc.

I think a big reason why baseball gets ripped for it is because the sports and it's record are considered sacred. Steroids taint that image and taint the records.

People don't care that much about footballs history or it's records, and even if they do, if everyone is using steroids, it really wouldn't affect the numbers. It does in baseball, and by a lot.

[orioles119]

I think most football fans "know" that they use steriods and they can careless. I think football isn't a sport where you talk about the past as much as it is with baseball. Thats is what bugs me with steriods.

Probably because of how young the idea of the NFL is compared to baseball. In the end, the casual baseball fan could care less too. It's the overhype by the media that does the sport in. I'm not trying to abstain the players - but still... if a 50-game suspension is handed to any player, then I'll care. True it's not much to go on, but that's the only thing. We'll never know 100% whether they are playing the game clean or not, so why not enjoy the game for what it is - flaws and all. In the end, all sports are flawed. Labor strife, performance enhancements, they're in every sport.

[giantfan]

Nobody even cared that a recent super bowl team was getting steroids from a Dr in Carolina. That news was swept under the rug like it never existed. Obviously steroids and hgh are a much bigger problem in the NFL but people just don't care.

[TyCobb]

Probably because of how young the idea of the NFL is compared to baseball. In the end, the casual baseball fan could care less too. It's the overhype by the media that does the sport in. I'm not trying to abstain the players - but still... if a 50-game suspension is handed to any player, then I'll care. True it's not much to go on, but that's the only thing. We'll never know 100% whether they are playing the game clean or not, so why not enjoy the game for what it is - flaws and all. In the end, all sports are flawed. Labor strife, performance enhancements, they're in every sport.

The game is suppose to be perfect. The players aren't.

This Fed agent has some splanning to do:

"I'm told he has denied saying all of this," Randy Hendricks, who represents Clemens and Pettitte, told The Associated Press on Saturday night. "It's an agent's recollection about a conversation he had about conjecture."

[orioles119]

I think a big reason why baseball gets ripped for it is because the sports and it's record are considered sacred. Steroids taint that image and taint the records.

I agree with this... although I do feel that the history of the game is separated by different eras... and unfortunately, this is the steroids era - a time when only the best pitchers get in the hall of fame. No hitter from the last ten or fifteen years will be able to get in (those hitters who came into the league within the last ten-fifteen years that is). The baseball writers won't allow it and the veterans committee for sure will be vehemently against it.

[mweb]

I agree with this... although I do feel that the history of the game is separated by different eras... and unfortunately, this is the steroids era - a time when only the best pitchers get in the hall of fame. No hitter from the last ten or fifteen years will be able to get in (those hitters who came into the league within the last ten-fifteen years that is). The baseball writers won't allow it and the veterans committee for sure will be vehemently against it.

I disagree with the hall of fame comments. Plenty of players from the steroid era will get in imo.

[TyCobb]

I disagree with the hall of fame comments. Plenty of players from the steroid era will get in imo.

McGwire No, Sosa No -- and if they don't get in, Bonds shouldn't.

[orioles119]

Nobody even cared that a recent super bowl team was getting steroids from a Dr in Carolina. That news was swept under the rug like it never existed. Obviously steroids and hgh are a much bigger problem in the NFL but people just don't care.

Well, here's the 60 minutes report on it...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/29/60II/main683747.shtml

Of course the public want steroid use in the NFL swept under the rug because it's quote-unquote (I type it out for emphasis) "America's game." They want to believe that the NFL is perfect while MLB is treated like the black sheep of the sports leagues when it comes to performance enhancements. Last year, a defenseman for the Blue Jackets, Bryan Berard, was caught taking steroids (link), but that too was swept under the rug and he was issued an international ban, but he was allowed to continue play in the NHL. Now, the lack of public outrage could stem that it is the NHL - the fourth, maybe fifth or sixth most popular sport - but it's still a big deal.

Just seems that the media and the government want to do something about baseball, but not the other sports. Frankly, that's ridiculous.

[2632]

The ESPN.com article - the 3 O's have known about this since June....

Sorry if someone already linked to it.