MLB 2007 - World Series

[Imran Siddiqui]

Uh oh... I jinxed him

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3008363

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel, who punctuated a storybook comeback from pitching travails by homering twice with 7 RBIs Thursday, joined the list of athletes linked to a Florida-based steroids investigation.

The New York Daily News reported Friday that Ankiel received a 12-month supply of human growth hormone in 2004 from a Florida pharmacy that was part of a national illegal prescription drug-distribution operation, citing records its reporters saw. That Orlando outfit, Signature Pharmacy, has been implicated in a steroids investigation run by Albany County (N.Y.) District Attorney P. David Soares, which has resulted in 22 indictments and several Florida clinic raids.

Though..

Ankiel has not been accused by authorities of wrongdoing, and stopped receiving HGH just before Major League Baseball officially banned it in 2005, The News reported.

The question whether Ankiel just went to a more secretive method of getting HGH after MLB banned it.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well the **** is really hitting the fan:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/09/07/drug.probe/index.html

Former World Series MVP and four-time All Star Troy Glaus, currently a third baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays, received multiple shipments of performance-enhancing steroids through an illicit distribution network, according to information obtained by SI.

A source in Florida with knowledge of the client list of Signature Pharmacy, an Orlando-based compound pharmacy, alleges that between September 2003 and May 2004, multiple shipments of nandrolone and testosterone were sent to Glaus at a Corona, Calif., address that traces to the player. Though the information only pertains to receipt and not actual use of steroids, both nandrolone and testosterone were on Major League Baseball's banned list at the time.

Glaus, then with the Angels, missed much of the 2003 season with a tear in his right rotator cuff and frayed labrum and underwent season-ending shoulder surgery after attempting a comeback in 2004.

The prescriptions, written in Glaus' name, were obtained through New Hope Health Center, a California-based anti-aging clinic that advertises the sale of anabolic steroids and human growth hormones on its Web site. The prescription was processed by Signature. The prescribing physician was Ramon Scruggs, M.D. According to the Medical Board of California, as of March 2007, Scruggs has been on probation and is prohibited from prescribing drugs over the internet. He also was reportedly involved in a lawsuit with Mobile-based Applied Pharmacy, which, ironically, was the subject of a previous multi-agency raid. (Contacted through New Hope and given the chance to comment on Friday, Scruggs responded with expletives and ended the conversation abruptly.)

Glaus hit 47 home runs in 2000, his breakout season, for the Angels. He was named World Series MVP in 2002. Despite missing significant portions of several seasons, he has hit 277 home runs in his career, an average of better than one every 16 at-bats. Messages seeking comment left for Glaus through both the Blue Jays and his agent were not returned.

Uh oh... how far will this go is the question?

[snoopy369]

I don't think anyone's particularly surprised by either of those... Glaus I had assumed was a frequent user in the class of McGwire and Bonds. His combination of highs and lows, along with his injury history, pretty much cinched it ...

[Berzerker]

figures, I just nabbed Ankiel for my fantasy teams

[Arrian]

Ack. Ugly.

Anyway...

The Yanks did what they should do and swept the Royals, beating up on Royals starters who had been pitching well. ARod was ridiculous. The starters were solid.

Now they're off to Toronto, and then Boston. Seattle and Detroit are 4 games back in the WC. Things are looking pretty good, but the rotation still worries me (Wang, Pettitte, Hughes, Kennedy, broken Clemens/Mussina). Some fun matchups for the Boston series, though.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

A-Rod has been pretty ridiculous lately. I think he's sown up the MVP, in my opinion.

And Pedro with another solid start. It appears that he knows the power pitching is gone (didn't hit 90 much at all so far) and thus has almost turned into a Maddux type, control and change speeds pitcher. It's very interesting to watch.

[Arrian]

He should be the MVP, yes. He's been awesome. Magglio has had a great year, but is clearly #2. In another year, he'd be a deserving winner. Hell, in some years Jorge Posada would be a deserving winner. The Yankees have some hard decisions to make over the winter.

Pedro has always been more than just a thrower. When he had both A+ stuff and command, he was the best pitcher in the game. Now that the stuff is diminished, he can still pitch well enough to win. That is pretty cool. Man, Pedro and El Duque (speaking of a guy who maximizes questionable stuff) on the same team.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well, of course, Pedro has been more of a thrower . But you can be a power pitcher and actually be a pitcher (see: Clemens, Roger; Seaver, Tom; etc). It seems though Pedro has lost the power part of his game. We'll see how he can adapt, though so far, so good.

[Arrian]

Of course, being in the NL doesn't hurt...

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Wow. Tampa Bay beats Boston 1-0 at Fenway. I didn't believe it was going to happen until the final out.

Great game by Kazmir. During the broadcast, one of the NESN guys (I don't remember if it was Remy or Orsillo) said something like "It's hard to believe you could look at this guy in the minors and say 'yeah, we should trade him." Jim Duquette will never live that down.

-Arrian

[MichaeltheGreat]

Yeah, that sucked, but Kazmir's tough.

Tonight was a bit of a ride though.

On the Theo's a genius-in-pinstripes side of things, Tito finally found a situation in which Gagme could be used.

Let's see - Wake's about done, Tavarez is about done, Matsubaka's well done, so let's trade a capable starting pitcher and another player for some short-term, high-risk bullpen "help."

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Arrian
Of course, being in the NL doesn't hurt...

-Arrian

A 235 ERA+ is still a 235 ERA+

Though now I've probably jinxed him

[Arrian]

****ing Tampa Bay AAA's. USELESS!!



Had they held on, things woulda been really interesting. Meh.

And Imran... yeah, that's nice, putting up a great ERA in the JV league.

He is still a good pitcher, and could probably still compete in the AL, but he wouldn't have a shiny 235 ERA+.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

Tell last year's St. Louis Cardinals about the "JV league" .

[Arrian]

Right after you look up the word "fluke" in the dictionary.

-Arrian