Does this Tejada mess change things for Raffy...?

[Ruzious]

I think there some validity to the question. But I think Raffy's reputation has been "tainted" so badly that it'll be extremely difficult to clear his name. Maybe the only one who can is Tejada - and he certainly hasn't shown any inclination to do so. I doubt anyone else in power is going to try to help clear Raffy - even if they could.

[Mad Mark]

I think Palmeiro's biggest problem going forward is that you can't prove a negative. I don't know what he did and when he did it, but I am in the camp that finds his steroids saga odd and somewhat troubling.

[OsEatAlEast]

I always kind of seemed funny to me. But if memory serves wasn't Palmiero in a season long funk up until about a month before his test positive when he started tearing it up?

That was always kind of odd to me.

[DonnyUnitas]

I believed Raffy's story then, and I believe it now. I think history will look at Raffy with a better light than he's currently under.

He was thrown under the bus by Tejada (and the organization, imo) during what can only be described as a witch-hunt. Instead of fessing up and risking Miggy, who was, at that time, the face of our franchise, it was much easier to pin it on Raffy and send him sailing. He was retiring soon thereafter anyway.

In my opinion it's one of baseball's darkest, most regrettable stories.

I may have my head in the sand, but Raffy was my hero when I was a child...and he's still a hero of mine today.

[OK_Os_Fan]

Raffy probably thought MLB was going to sweep his positive test under the rug like they had previously for other players or the other times he'd been tested, but since Congress was cracking down on MLB, they decided to make him an example because of his recent publicity of getting 3000 hits. What more to show that you aren't afraid of taking down the big guns and saying that no player can break the rules than penalizing a future HOFer, especially one that made such a dramatic statement in front of Congress saying that they didn't take steroids IMO.

Raffy was the perfect sacrificial lamb. MLB and the Player's Union hung him out to dry.[/QUOTE]

I tend to agree with the scapegoat theory.

Raffy was used at the time because it was convenient. Frying a big name player at the end of his career made the powers that be look good. It made for plenty of photo ops.

Fry one fry em all. To pick and choose is nothing short of showboating.

JMHO.....

[RVAbird]

I don't want to rehash the whole Raffy business but, you will not find his name among the 104. Congress checked his prior test results to see if they could prove perjury. It is common to buy B12 laced with steroids in the DR. Tejada didn't even have to know his B12 was contaminated. Raffy's explanation is the simplist and most logical IMO.

Honestly, this makes a lot of sense to me and I wouldn't be surprised if it were true. I think assuming it is true is a bit naive, but it just makes sense.

On the other hand, as I've said consistently about the steroid issue, I don't particularly care. He's still one of my favorite Orioles.

[Moose Milligan]

I believed Raffy's story then, and I believe it now. I think history will look at Raffy with a better light than he's currently under.

He was thrown under the bus by Tejada (and the organization, imo) during what can only be described as a witch-hunt. Instead of fessing up and risking Miggy, who was, at that time, the face of our franchise, it was much easier to pin it on Raffy and send him sailing. He was retiring soon thereafter anyway.

In my opinion it's one of baseball's darkest, most regrettable stories.

I may have my head in the sand, but Raffy was my hero when I was a child...and he's still a hero of mine today.

Gotta disagree...there were arguments at the time that Raffy wasn't a HoFer before the bust.

As stupid as they were, the arguments were there. I highly doubt Raffy gets much consideration for the Hall..and if he does, it'll be a Rangers hat.

[JayThomas]

Gotta disagree...there were arguments at the time that Raffy wasn't a HoFer before the bust.

As stupid as they were, the arguments were there. I highly doubt Raffy gets much consideration for the Hall..and if he does, it'll be a Rangers hat.

Come on Moose ... 3000 / 500 is a pretty sure ticket to the Hall. For the record, I'm also a huge Palmeiro supporter.

[JBugaboo]

Raffy was the perfect sacrificial lamb. MLB and the Player's Union hung him out to dry.

Put me down for being in this camp. Wasn't it Jose Canseco who defended Raffy for being the scapegoat?

But to answer the question - no, IMO the Tejada mess won't change anything for Raffy. The above quote may unfortunately have something to do with that.

What WILL change things for Raffy is if, in the future, someone who DOES make it to Cooperstown subsequently admits to 'roiding up. That I think will inevitably open the doors down the road.

[JBugaboo]

Come on Moose ... 3000 / 500 is a pretty sure ticket to the Hall. For the record, I'm also a huge Palmeiro supporter.

That doesn't change what some talking heads were saying. And the BBWAA is comprised of writers, a strong correlation.

[JayThomas]

That doesn't change what some talking heads were saying. And the BBWAA is comprised of writers, a strong correlation.

I'm disagreeing with the line about little consideration before the bust. Everyone with 3000/500 is in, so sans 'roids Raffy is a surefire bet, in my mind.

[LookitsPuck]

To think that any of these players did not know what they were taking is absolute hogwash. They know what they did. They knew what they took. These are a major league baseball players and elite (at some point) players at that. They're not going to chance their career by taking something they don't know. They knew damn well what they were, they knew their doping schedules, they knew how to mask it with epi-testosterone. They knew that HGH and steroids together would get the best results.

[Mark Carver]

I'm not sure if anyone has ever brought up this point before, but does anyone think Raffy might have been telling the truth about his positive test results?

I think it's pretty certain that Tejada was juicing and the whole scenario of Raffy "accidentally" taking 'roids might actually fly. I'm still not sure if I believe it, but it's an interesting thought.

Before the positive test, Raffy ranked right up there with Cal and Eddie for me. My heart would love for him to be vindicated somehow, but my head knows that's very unlikely...

Sure, I always "accidentally" buy my vitamin B12 from my neighbor and have my wife shoot it in me everyday...

Palmeiro is grown man, paid big bucks to play MLB. If he wanted vitamin B12, he should have gone to a doctor and acquired it legitimately.

[blid]

I don't think Vitamin B12 is a controlled substance. There's no reason to get it from a doctor. If he'd taken injections of it before but not recently, and Tejada offered him a vial, why no

[Mark Carver]

I don't think Vitamin B12 is a controlled substance. There's no reason to get it from a doctor.

Can you buy it over the counter in injection form? That's what Palmeiro used and claimed as his defense. Principle still applies for him anyway. Why get it from Tejada and have his wife shot it in to him?