Those people who broke the BALCO scandal, they risked everything to tell the truth. They can get up on their high horse if they like. The rest of them can go eat donut weights.

To compare that and supplments to roids or HGH is like comparing apples to oranges. The only player I know who benefited from drugs before the steroid era was Doc Ellis who was on LSD when he no-hit San Diego.

Plus it’s incredibly moving and sublimely good.

Re Piazza and all the others, I am determined not to be surprised by anything from anybody. It’s the only sane course of action these days.

There was little McGuire was going to say that was really going to ..mean anything to us. Yeah, it’s the Era’s fault, as much as it is his. I interpreted that as regret at taking them, but knowing that given the opportunity to do it all over, he still would. All things considered he’d prefer a completely fair and balanced league, but he knows he was going to take any advantage he could get.

Whatever. Everyone was cheating. Whether amphetamines, HGH, steroids, etc. They were rampant. Andro was legal at the time anyway, but McGuire felt no particular guilt at taking it. He didn’t see it as cheating. no one did. He left it in his locker and one day a reporter saw it and started to make a connection. The Mitchell report supports that pretty much no one cared and cheating was everywhere. Lo Duca got shipments to Dodger Stadium for example.

I really hope he didn’t, but it is a reach saying he (or any other Met) never touched the stuff. The word seems to be that Selig pushed steroids and players, wanting to keep up for competitive and financial reasons, were left to either juice up or be passed by. I don’t have sympathy for McGwire, but I also think it’s being sort of dishonest to blame our defeats on his (or A-Rod’s, or Sosa’s, or whomever’s) steroid usage.

And about dignity, I’m not sure you can blame the players for taking advantage of a broken system. Hating the less proverbial player as opposed to the equally less proverbial game.

As he was getting older his home runs did not travel further and his throwing arm got weaker. Pudge Rodriguez could throw runners out while on his knees while Mike would have difficulty nipping Mo Vaughn. These are not signs of a player on roids or HGH.

It won’t make me look bad, it will make me feel quite disappointed. If he did, I would hope Mike would come clean and admit it on his own so he can at least retain some of his dignity.

If the steroid issue was actually isolated to a small sample of players, these complains would be legitimate.