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Rumor: AL Playoff OF tests positive for steroids


DonkeyKongerko

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Deadspin's 'Who's the Mystery AL 'Roider?' post from yesterday included the following excerpt from this week's USA Today Sports Weekly:

 

"An American League outfielder on a postseason team tested positive for steroids, according to his agent, but the player is appealing the results."

 

Certainly interesting, but I didn't make much of it until we talked to Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll on today's Sports Bloggers Live. Will writes a weekly column for BP that Peter Gammons has called an "industry standard," and he also wrote a book called 'The Juice' earlier this year. His response when told of the rumor?

 

Carroll: "I really can't talk about it right now. It should be coming out within the next two weeks."

 

SBL: "Is this a name we're actually going to care about?"

 

Carroll: "Yes."

 

SBL: "Is it a World Series champion?"

 

Carroll: "I really can't talk about it."

 

SBL: "I would hope not, because that might turn those White Sox black... Will, cough once if he's on the White Sox... Cough twice if it's Gary Sheffield."

 

Carroll: "I was involved in the appeals process so I can't comment at all."

 

Here's the full audio interview. The dialogue dictated here takes place between 6:20 and 7:00.

 

If this is true, there's a 1-in-4 chance someone on the White Sox used steroids this season and then contributed to Chicago's first World Series victory since 1917. And there's a 100% chance a player used and then participated in the playoffs. So... Who was it? And what would Selig do if that player was the World Series MVP or the Game 2 hero? Would it be a Black Sox-level fiasco? Say it ain't so, Jermaine!

 

Given what we presume to know -- that the guy is in the AL, made the playoffs, is relatively significant and plays outfield -- the list of possibilities is only 12-deep:

 

· Chicago: Podsednik, Dye, Rowand

 

· Anaheim: Anderson, Guerrero, Finley

 

· New York: Matsui, Sheffield, Williams

 

· Boston: Ramirez, Damon, Nixon

 

As a fan of the game and none of the teams or players involved here (actually, Vlad is rad), I hope none of them are guilty. But if one is, I certainly hope he isn't on the White Sox.

 

http://journals.aol.com/dcsportsguy/mrirre...nt/entries/2162

 

I wouldn't be surprised if it's Sheffield but it seems like the big guys aren't getting caught. Being from USA Today gives this some substance and there could be some big news in the next couple weeks.

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QUOTE(DonkeyKongerko @ Oct 27, 2005 -> 06:40 PM)
http://journals.aol.com/dcsportsguy/mrirre...nt/entries/2162

 

I wouldn't be surprised if it's Sheffield but it seems like the big guys aren't getting caught. Being from USA Today gives this some substance and there could be some big news in the next couple weeks.

I hope its not one of ouor Sox. We would get so much s*** for being cheaters from the media and cub fans that i couldnt take it.

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There were exactly this same sort of rumors going around in early August. Nothing at all ever came from it. They all focused on Damon. Everyone on ESPN was asking about it, everyone heard it from someone else who was really in the know.

 

I'll believe it when I see it.

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QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 01:08 AM)
This scares me a lot.

 

Doesn't bother me too much. Since the players weren't on roids when the playoffs happened, I'm not going to worry about it tampering the results. I'd guess that about half of the outfielders in the playoffs were on the juice in the last few years.

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QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 01:12 AM)
f***ing if ARow gets caught juicing that will taint this WS so bad

 

There's just as much of a chance as it being another Sox outfielder. Of course, there's just as much of a chance as it being anyone else. I highly doubt it's Dye though, who seemed skinnier this year than in year's past.

 

Don't worry Sox fans....sit back, relax, and enjoy it!

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Remember Pods and Alex Sanchez have the same body type. Just because a player doesn't hit a s*** load of home runs doesn't mean they're not juicing. I think at this point in time if you're going to speculate about Row then you have to speculate about the other 11 evenly as well.

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I don't think speculating helps much. I would bet against Matsui more than anyone, probably Manny too. Do I only bet against Matsui because he's Japanese? Hmmm. Manny seems too fat to use steroids, but James Toney was fat and used juice so whoi knows. I think this is bad news no matter who it is.

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QUOTE(Kalapse @ Oct 27, 2005 -> 09:14 PM)
Pods or Dye would be worse.

About 1 million times worse. Rowand played OK, but was not decisive in any games. Pods won Game 2 with the walkoff, Dye game 4 with the bingle up the middle (no steroids there).

 

I'm praying that it is not a White Sox. Let it be Manny.

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QUOTE(BlackBetsy @ Oct 28, 2005 -> 01:37 AM)
About 1 million times worse.  Rowand played OK, but was not decisive in any games.  Pods won Game 2 with the walkoff, Dye game 4 with the bingle up the middle (no steroids there).

 

I'm praying that it is not a White Sox.  Let it be Manny.

 

The thing is, THEY WEREN'T USING STEROIDS DURING THE PLAYOFFS!

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Question for my fellow Sox fans: With the Sox's strict stance against steroids, do you think they would bring back a player if he did get busted for them? I would think that in this case, with the media criticism that the player/organization would face, it would be hard to bring back a player. Let's just hope it's not a Sox player.

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QUOTE(fathom @ Oct 27, 2005 -> 07:38 PM)
The thing is, THEY WEREN'T USING STEROIDS DURING THE PLAYOFFS!

 

Yeah but that doesn't really mean much. Its not any better that they weren't using right then. Plus, you don't know that whoever the outfielder is wasn't using during the playoffs. Thats just an assumption-probably right though.

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