Jump to content

Miami Steroid clinic thread


SOXOBAMA

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 127
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2013-01-31/ne...-biggest-names/

 

Open the neat spreadsheet and scroll past the listing of local developers, prominent attorneys, and personal trainers. You'll find a lengthy list of nicknames: Mostro, Al Capone, El Cacique, Samurai, Yukon, Mohamad, Felix Cat, and D.R.

 

Then check out the main column, where their real names flash like an all-star roster of professional athletes with Miami ties: San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera, Oakland A's hurler Bartolo Colón, pro tennis player Wayne Odesnik, budding Cuban superstar boxer Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Texas Rangers slugger Nelson Cruz. There's even the New York Yankees' $275 million man himself, Alex Rodriguez, who has sworn he stopped juicing a decade ago.

 

 

 

Read further and you'll find more than a dozen other baseball pros, from former University of Miami ace Cesar Carrillo to Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal to Washington Nationals star Gio Gonzalez. Notable coaches are there too, including UM baseball conditioning guru Jimmy Goins.

 

The names are all included in an extraordinary batch of records from Biogenesis, an anti-aging clinic tucked into a two-story office building just a hard line drive's distance from the UM campus. They were given to New Times by an employee who worked at Biogenesis before it closed last month and its owner abruptly disappeared. The records are clear in describing the firm's real business: selling performance-enhancing drugs, from human growth hormone (HGH) to testosterone to anabolic steroids.

 

Interviews with six customers and two former employees corroborate the tale told by the patient files, the payment records, and the handwritten notebooks kept by the clinic's chief, 49-year-old Anthony Bosch.

 

Bosch's history with steroids also adds credence to the paperwork. The son of a prominent Coral Gables physician named Pedro Publio Bosch, he was connected with banned substances when slugger Manny Ramirez was suspended for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy in 2009. At the time, MLB confirmed the Drug Enforcement Administration was probing the father and son for allegedly providing Ramirez with HCG, a compound often used at the tail end of steroid cycles.

 

The Bosches were never charged with a crime. Both Pedro and Anthony Bosch failed to respond to a hand-delivered letter and then, reached on their cell phones, declined to speak with New Times. The nine athletes and one coach named in this article didn't respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment, but when New Times began asking questions last week, players' agents leaked information to the New York Daily News and ESPN to soften the blow.

 

MLB issued this statement responding to questions about the Bosches: "We are always extremely disappointed to learn of potential links between players and the use of performance-enhancing substances and have been active in the issues that have emerged in South Florida... anned substances... have no place in our game."

 

Taken as a whole, New Times' three-month investigation into Biogenesis adds fuel to the raging national debate over the role of steroids and HGH in sports. It follows an embarrassing Hall of Fame election that saw no steroid-era stars enshrined and comes just weeks after cycling star Lance Armstrong described to the Oprah Network his own chemical cheating. Now, as baseball teams head to spring training under a tougher new policy, the Biogenesis records affirm that the war on doping has been as futile as the War on Drugs.

 

"In general, almost every drug these records describe coming from this clinic is well-known in the world of illegal doping," says Dr. Gary Wadler, a past chairman of World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List and Methods Sub-Committee, after listening to a description of the records.

 

The story of how Anthony Bosch built the East Coast version of BALCO the notorious California lab that provided baseball greats such as Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds with steroids doesn't just shine a harsh light on America's drug-addled pro sports. It also makes clear that federal crackdowns have done little to police anti-aging clinics, which earn millions annually from average citizens wanting to look younger and from elite athletes seeking an edge.

 

"Anti-aging clinics contend their services are legal because they are treating aging as a disease. Therefore, they'll tell you, testosterone is a medical necessity for aging adults, as is human growth hormone in some cases," says Shaun Assael, author of Steroid Nation, a book about the history of performance-enhancing drugs in competition. "But that's an argument that's already been litigated in sports."

Edited by SOXOBAMA
Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to the Miami New Times, Alex Rodriguez is among the players linked to an anti-aging clinic in Miami which distributed performance-enhancing drugs.

Big news. This clinic, run by Anthony Bosch, was reported over the weekend as being investigated by MLB and the Drug Enforcement Agency. The New Times were given patient records by an anonymous source and they suggest that Rodriguez was given HGH as recently as last year, sometimes under a nickname. Other current MLB players are listed in the report, including Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon, Yasmani Grandal, Gio Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz. Of course, Cabrera, Colon and Grandal have all been suspended for PEDs in the past year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to the Miami New Times, Alex Rodriguez is among the players linked to an anti-aging clinic in Miami which distributed performance-enhancing drugs.

Big news. This clinic, run by Anthony Bosch, was reported over the weekend as being investigated by MLB and the Drug Enforcement Agency. The New Times were given patient records by an anonymous source and they suggest that Rodriguez was given HGH as recently as last year, sometimes under a nickname. Other current MLB players are listed in the report, including Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon, Yasmani Grandal, Gio Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz. Of course, Cabrera, Colon and Grandal have all been suspended for PEDs in the past year.

 

I wonder if the Yanks could let A Rod go and not pay him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 29, 2013 -> 08:25 AM)
I wonder if the Yanks could let A Rod go and not pay him.

Nope. If they could let him go for using PEDs they'd have done it before last season. They're stuck with him and that contract until it runs out or he retires in shame and embarrassment.

Edited by Steve9347
Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 29, 2013 -> 08:32 AM)
Nope. If they could let him go for using PEDs they'd have done it before last season. They're stuck with him and that contract until it runs our or he retires in shame and embarrassment.

 

He's essentially been found guilty twice now. His name has already been dragged through the mud, but now you have to imagine that he's going to be treated even worse than Bonds.

 

I mentioned in another thread that he probably won't break the record at this point. I say the hell with that - he's probably not even going to get to 700. They're going to give him all the time in the world to come back from this injury, he's going to have to clear his name, yada yada...and then he still has to hit another 53 home runs. At his rate from last year, and the rate at which is body is degrading, he might not be more than a 15-20 homer a year guy.

 

Really makes you reconsider those 450 foot blasts he hit now too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 29, 2013 -> 08:38 AM)
Damn Cesar Carrillo too? He actually lived right around me on the southeast side of Chicago back in the day and I saw him play in little league. That sucks to hear.

 

Got him paid, because he was not very good at pitching.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

None of this should surprise anyone.

 

Not even after after MLB implemented a PED policy "with teeth", because those teeth were a lot like the ones in a newborns mouth. Did anyone believe A-Rod at any point- even before whatever limited use he eventually conceded to? I certainly hope no one here was pulling for that clown for the reason that he would rightfully reclaim the HR record from that meanie cheater bully Barry Bonds.

Edited by Swingandalongonetoleft
Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 29, 2013 -> 07:53 AM)
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2013-01-31/ne...-biggest-names/

 

Open the neat spreadsheet and scroll past the listing of local developers, prominent attorneys, and personal trainers. You'll find a lengthy list of nicknames: Mostro, Al Capone, El Cacique, Samurai, Yukon, Mohamad, Felix Cat, and D.R.

 

Then check out the main column, where their real names flash like an all-star roster of professional athletes with Miami ties: San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera, Oakland A's hurler Bartolo Colón, pro tennis player Wayne Odesnik, budding Cuban superstar boxer Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Texas Rangers slugger Nelson Cruz. There's even the New York Yankees' $275 million man himself, Alex Rodriguez, who has sworn he stopped juicing a decade ago.

 

 

 

Read further and you'll find more than a dozen other baseball pros, from former University of Miami ace Cesar Carrillo to Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal to Washington Nationals star Gio Gonzalez. Notable coaches are there too, including UM baseball conditioning guru Jimmy Goins.

 

The names are all included in an extraordinary batch of records from Biogenesis, an anti-aging clinic tucked into a two-story office building just a hard line drive's distance from the UM campus. They were given to New Times by an employee who worked at Biogenesis before it closed last month and its owner abruptly disappeared. The records are clear in describing the firm's real business: selling performance-enhancing drugs, from human growth hormone (HGH) to testosterone to anabolic steroids.

 

Interviews with six customers and two former employees corroborate the tale told by the patient files, the payment records, and the handwritten notebooks kept by the clinic's chief, 49-year-old Anthony Bosch.

 

Bosch's history with steroids also adds credence to the paperwork. The son of a prominent Coral Gables physician named Pedro Publio Bosch, he was connected with banned substances when slugger Manny Ramirez was suspended for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy in 2009. At the time, MLB confirmed the Drug Enforcement Administration was probing the father and son for allegedly providing Ramirez with HCG, a compound often used at the tail end of steroid cycles.

 

The Bosches were never charged with a crime. Both Pedro and Anthony Bosch failed to respond to a hand-delivered letter and then, reached on their cell phones, declined to speak with New Times. The nine athletes and one coach named in this article didn't respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment, but when New Times began asking questions last week, players' agents leaked information to the New York Daily News and ESPN to soften the blow.

 

MLB issued this statement responding to questions about the Bosches: "We are always extremely disappointed to learn of potential links between players and the use of performance-enhancing substances and have been active in the issues that have emerged in South Florida... anned substances... have no place in our game."

 

Taken as a whole, New Times' three-month investigation into Biogenesis adds fuel to the raging national debate over the role of steroids and HGH in sports. It follows an embarrassing Hall of Fame election that saw no steroid-era stars enshrined and comes just weeks after cycling star Lance Armstrong described to the Oprah Network his own chemical cheating. Now, as baseball teams head to spring training under a tougher new policy, the Biogenesis records affirm that the war on doping has been as futile as the War on Drugs.

 

"In general, almost every drug these records describe coming from this clinic is well-known in the world of illegal doping," says Dr. Gary Wadler, a past chairman of World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List and Methods Sub-Committee, after listening to a description of the records.

 

The story of how Anthony Bosch built the East Coast version of BALCO the notorious California lab that provided baseball greats such as Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds with steroids doesn't just shine a harsh light on America's drug-addled pro sports. It also makes clear that federal crackdowns have done little to police anti-aging clinics, which earn millions annually from average citizens wanting to look younger and from elite athletes seeking an edge.

 

"Anti-aging clinics contend their services are legal because they are treating aging as a disease. Therefore, they'll tell you, testosterone is a medical necessity for aging adults, as is human growth hormone in some cases," says Shaun Assael, author of Steroid Nation, a book about the history of performance-enhancing drugs in competition. "But that's an argument that's already been litigated in sports."

Do you think they closed because MLB is now going to test for HGH? I'm sure this is what they were selling to the MLB as they were testing for everything else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 29, 2013 -> 08:36 AM)
He's essentially been found guilty twice now. His name has already been dragged through the mud, but now you have to imagine that he's going to be treated even worse than Bonds.

 

I mentioned in another thread that he probably won't break the record at this point. I say the hell with that - he's probably not even going to get to 700. They're going to give him all the time in the world to come back from this injury, he's going to have to clear his name, yada yada...and then he still has to hit another 53 home runs. At his rate from last year, and the rate at which is body is degrading, he might not be more than a 15-20 homer a year guy.

 

Really makes you reconsider those 450 foot blasts he hit now too.

 

I wonder what this does to his HOF chances? He's never really come clean as to his start date, and no one talks about his positive test.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 29, 2013 -> 08:40 AM)
Got him paid, because he was not very good at pitching.

 

He was damn good as a kid back then. But then again, he's not the most talented I've personally seen or played against even though he's the only one whose made it to the bigs (although he sucked) at this point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 29, 2013 -> 08:42 AM)
I wonder what this does to his HOF chances? He's never really come clean as to his start date, and no one talks about his positive test.

Well, right now anyone who was busted and some who were suspected aren't getting in, so I'd say he wouldn't based on how these guys are voting today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (flavum @ Jan 29, 2013 -> 08:49 AM)
I wish they would go to stiffer penalties--

 

1st offense-- 1 year suspension and voided contract

 

2nd offense-- Lifetime ban

 

It's plenty stiff right now (that's what she said).

 

I do wish provisions could be put in to void contracts based upon positive tests, but the MLBPA would never go for that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (flavum @ Jan 29, 2013 -> 08:52 AM)
I am too, but it seems like a 50-game suspension isn't enough of a deterrent to not try to get away with it.

 

Only the Olympics have a tougher penalty system, and people aren't paid for that.

 

I'd be OK with like 50, 1 season, lifetime, but as is, baseball's policy is tougher than even football's - you miss 1/4 of the season with increasing penalties after that. In baseball, you miss 1/3 of the season. I think it's plenty fair.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...