2007 MLB General News Thread

[ruffriders23]

Giants tickets: $75
Crab Samiches: $15
Record Breaking Homerun Ball: $500,000
Having your head get bigger due to steroid juice oozing off of something that Bonds came in contact with: PRICELESS!

[ruffriders23]

Carlos Zambrano is signing a 5 year, 90 million dollar contract today with the Cubs.

[trashtalkr]

Card's Rick Ankiel Linked to HGH

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.

Ankiel's HGH prescriptions, including Saizen and Genotropin, were signed by Florida physician William Gogan, who provided them through a Palm Beach Gardens clinic called The Health and Rejuvenation Center, or THARC, the newspaper reported.

The drugs were shipped to the 28-year-old Ankiel at the clinic's address, the paper said. The pitcher-turned-outfielder lives close by in Jupiter.

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.

MLB does not test for HGH, but a player who is known to have used it or even possessed it from the time it was banned can face a 50-game suspension.

Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty said: "This is the first I've heard of this. If it's true, obviously it would be very tragic, along with everything else we've had happen to us this year."

MLB officials also declined comment, saying they would "look into" the allegations, but weren't sure whether any action could be taken.

Brought up Aug. 9 in his first major league appearance since he pitched for the Cardinals in 2004, Ankiel is batting .358 with nine homers and 29 RBIs in 23 games. He also homered twice against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 11.

Signature is at the center of an investigation by the Albany district attorney's office. Authorities there have been looking into an Internet ring involving performance-enhancing drugs and allegedly involving athletes from several sports.

Source: ESPN

[trashtalkr]

Source Says Troy Glaus Received Steroids

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 allegedly illegal internet 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.

Source: Sports Illustrated

[trashtalkr]

Oriole's Jay Gibbons Received Steroids and HGH

In the ever-widening Signature Pharmacy scandal, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons is the latest pro athlete tied to an alleged illegal internet drug distribution network. According to information obtained by SI, Gibbons received shipments of performance-enhancing steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) from an Orlando-based compound pharmacy raided last spring as part of a multi-agency bust, even after both drugs were on Major League Baseball's banned substance list.

A source in Florida with knowledge of Signature Pharmacy's client list alleges that between October 2003 and July 2005, Gibbons received six separate shipments of Genotropin (a brand name for synthetic Human Growth Hormone), two shipments of testosterone and two shipments of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone produced naturally during pregnancy, but taken by anabolic steroid users to stimulate the production of testosterone, which is suppressed as a result of steroid use. The information regarding Gibbons only pertains to receipt and not actual use of the drugs.

Testosterone was banned by MLB in 2003, the same year baseball initiated steroids testing. HGH was added to the banned list in January 2005, but Gibbons allegedly received a shipment in July of that year. (HCG is not banned.) The prescriptions were written in Gibbons' name and sent to a Gilbert, Ariz., address that traces to the player.

The drugs were obtained through South Beach Rejuvenation Center/Modern Therapy, a Miami Beach anti-aging clinic, and were processed by Signature. Of the two prescribing physicians in Gibbons' file, one was A. Almarashi. Investigators believe Almarashi is an alias for a Queens, N.Y., doctor, Ana Maria Santi, who was stripped of her medical license in 1999, but continued writing bogus prescriptions for thousands of on-line customers she never examined. In July 2007, Santi pleaded guilty to a felony count of criminal diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions, making her the first person to do so in a case spearheaded by the Albany County (NY) District Attorneys office and New York State's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

The "Almarashi" signature was also affixed to prescriptions for Genotropin and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) allegedly sent to Texas Rangers outfielder Jerry Hairston Jr. in 2004. In Hairston's case, the drugs originated from a compound pharmacy in Alabama, according to documents reviewed by SI, but similar to the Gibbons' case, the information pertained only to the receipt of and not actual use of the drugs. Moreover, Genotropin was not yet banned by MLB.

Hairston and Gibbons were teammates in Baltimore at the time. (Hairston, a third-generation major leaguer, has emphatically denied any connection. "Not one time have I taken steroids or anything like that," he told SI last March. "I would never do anything like that to jeopardize my career or my family's name.")

Gibbons, 30, has spent his entire Major League career with the Orioles, and made his big-league debut in April 2001. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Aug. 13 with a right labrum tear. He did not respond to messages left on his cell phone and with the Orioles' media relations department.

Source: Sports Illustrated

[AYHJA]

Jesus Christ, I hate baseball man...

Everybody is juicing, period...LoL...

[trashtalkr]

Giants To Sever Ties With Bonds

Well, at least the San Francisco Giants found a way to dissuade the local media from obsessing over the state of Barry Bonds' sprained big toe.

They gave him the boot.

Harsh? Sure, that characterization is harsh. But it's never easy for a team to sever ties with a player who's been the face of the franchise for a decade and a half -- particularly when the player has no desire to leave. Factor in Bonds' ego and the feeling among some people in the Giants' front office that the team has catered to his whims for too long, and Bonds and owner Peter Magowan were never going to part ways as the best of friends.

Judging from his farewell press release, Bonds felt more wronged by the timing of the decision than the cold, hard reality that the Giants don't want him back in 2008. After 15 seasons in San Francisco, five MVP awards and 586 home runs, he has one more homestand to bask in the adulation, choke back the emotions and prepare for a new life in a different area code.

"I think a classier move would have been to give Barry a little more notice so he could have had the appropriate amount of time to say goodbye to his fans and have some closure," said Jeff Borris, Bonds' agent. "It is what it is."

For the Giants, the announcement is a testament to the belief that you can't move forward while clinging to the past. Despite baseball's 11th-highest payroll and a pretty darned good rotation, the Giants are last in the National League West with a 67-86 record and limping to the finish. When general manager Brian Sabean looks around the division and sees the young talent that Los Angeles, Arizona and Colorado are running out every day, he has to realize the Giants are light years behind, doesn't he?

"I keep hearing that the Giants' goal is to get younger for the future," Borris said. "Obviously, Barry is their oldest player. But it seems sort of contradictory to get rid of your oldest player when he's the best player on the club."

Still, Bonds is a 43-year-old man with a history of knee problems, which means he can expect to be pigeonholed as a designated hitter this winter. He ranks near the bottom of NL left fielders in zone rating and range factor, and ardent Giants-watchers can cite a number of balls this year that he simply couldn't reach because of his physical limitations.

"He's not horrible," said a West Coast scout, "but he's below average by major league standards now. I would think if you wanted to get the most out of him as a hitter, you'd want him to be in the American League where he could DH at least some of the time."

Where could Bonds wind up? Maybe Texas, Detroit or Oakland can find a way to make things work. If Borris is a magician, maybe he gets the Yankees or another big-market club to bite. But all those teams had their shot at Bonds last year and gladly passed.

Borris declined to speculate on whether Bonds might be willing to take a cut from his $15.8 million base salary in 2008. "I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on money," he said. But the agent discounted the prospect of 3,000 hits as a motivating factor, even though Bonds is a mere 65 hits short.

"Barry's had only one goal since his first day in the big leagues, and that's to win a World Series," Borris said. "Anybody who knows him knows that he's all about winning and being a good teammate. That's it."

Starting next week, Barry Bonds will be all about finding employment. And there's one team he can definitely cross off his list.

Source: ESPN

[Buffmaster]

Go Rockies!

[trashtalkr]

Cubs Win NL Central

They lost on the field, fought in the dugout, fell out of contention before the season's midpoint. Then, the Chicago Cubs did something that defied their long history of failure and disappointment.

Somehow, they pulled together and won the division.

Chicago's two biggest offseason investments took them the final step toward the playoffs on Friday night. Alfonso Soriano hit another leadoff homer, Carlos Zambrano kept his cool and the Cubs clinched the NL Central with a 6-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

"Hopefully we can have a few more little parties like this," said Lou Piniella, who enjoyed a champagne shower in his first season as the Cubs manager. "They're fun."

This celebration was so unexpected.

The Cubs invested $300 million in their roster in the offseason, a big-budget solution to their last-place finish in 2006. By June, it looked like a lousy business decision. Chicago was 8½ games out on June 23, with long-suffering fans ready to write them off.

On Friday night, that $300 million paid a return: 30 cases of fine California champagne, sprayed giddily on everyone and everything in the visitors' clubhouse at Great American Ball Park.

Now, they get another chance to make a run at their first World Series title since 1908.

"We're as good as anybody going into the playoffs," closer Ryan Dempster said. "We've played as good as anybody. Since the All-Star break, we've been playing great."

Source: ESPN

[trashtalkr]

Carlos Pena and Dimitri Young Are MLB Comeback Players of the Year

Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Dmitri Young of the Washington Nationals, who made it back to the majors as non-roster spring training invitees, were named the 2007 Comeback Player of the Year for their respective leagues on Tuesday.

Pena set a number of Devil Rays single-season records in 2007 with 46 home runs, 121 runs batted in, 103 walks, a .411 on-base percentage and a .627 slugging percentage. He is only the 11th player to collect 100 walks, 45 home runs and 120 RBIs in a single season.

A 1998 first-round draft pick of the Texas Rangers, Peña was released by the New York Yankees last August after six years in the majors in which he appeared in games for the Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. He was the first player in Major League history to hit more than 40 home runs the season after being released.

Young, who was let go by the Tigers during the 2006 season, in which he battled alcohol addiction, earned his second career All-Star Game invitation with the Nationals in 2007. He hit a career-high .320, tied for eighth in the National League, and had 13 home runs, 74 RBIs and 38 doubles.

The 30 team beat reporters from MLB.com selected the award winners. Previous winners include Jason Giambi and Ken Griffey Jr. in 2005 and and Jim Thome and Nomar Garciaparra in 2006.

Source: ESPN