A-Rod in contact with FBI

Everyone relax. Alex Rodriguez has not been accused of doing anything wrong, yet. But he has agreed to help with an investigation of Dr. Tony Galea by the FBI.

Dr. Galea has treated Tiger Woods and Jose Reyes before, and A-Rod is just planning on answering questions for the investigation.

I really don’t think he is going to wind up in trouble after all this. But, what if he did?

I think it would be detrimental do his career. He’s already made it through one huge media scare last spring. As we saw last year, nobody is going to bring anything negative up if he hits the way he is capable of.

But if he has a slow start to the season, the negative questions may get raised again.

I doubt it will happen, I’m just sayin’.

Quotable: McGwire choked up on interview with MLB Network

Mark McGwire sat down with MLB Network's Bob Costas tonight from 7-8 p.m to show the world how sorry he is for using steroids. However, the most important thing people got from this interview is that McGwire believes performance enhancing drugs do not enhance performance.

As you can see from part of the transcription below, he said he believed he could have hit 70 home runs in 1998 and collected 583 homers over his career without steroids, just as a result of his God-given ability. I'm not even going to bother discussing why steroids do enhance performance. Ask any doctor, they'll tell you the same thing. I actually asked an athletic trainer, one who is very knowledgeable about PEDs, and he told me they did, unequivocally.

Sorry Big Mac, but that is just not a believable idea. I don't believe you for a second. I can understand you only used them when you were recovering injury, but those things that make you recover quicker also give you more strength. Not to mention, the PEDs sped up your recovery time, which in turn helps your performance. There's no argument here.

I was glad McGwire finally came out earlier today, and he definitely gets more credit than guys like Barry Bonds. But to believe that his power numbers were not abnormal and not related to the stuff he took, is just flat out stupid. So now I believe he has some more admitting to do, because I think he knows he is just dodging the full impact of what he did.

Some notable quotes from the interview:

Could you have hit 70 home runs without using steroids?

"Absolutely."

McGwire went on to say how people still talk about his homers he hit in little league, high school, legion and the minors.

"The only reason I took steroids was for my health purposes."

They made you stronger than you ever could have been without steroids. They didn't just speed up your recovery.

Asked on what PEDs he took:

"The names I don't remember. The steroids I took were very low dosages, just because I wanted my body to feel normal."

You are making millions of dollars to play baseball. How do you not know what is going into your body?

Why not say what you are saying now back in front of congress in 2005?

"So 2005, I was ready willing and prepared to talk about this. I wanted to talk about this. My lawyers Mark Bear Marty Steinbre, I meet them back there. We talk about the situation. Marty laid out a couple scenarios: If you go out there and you talk about this, without protection, there's a very good chance of prosecution."

"I wanted to get this off my chest. I had to do what I had to do to protect myself, my family and my friends. Anybody that was in my shoes would have done the same exact thing."

Nobody in baseball who has admitted to taking steroids has been prosecuted. I think you should have tried harder to work something out with the D.A. and your lawyers.

Did your family ever ask questions about your use of steroids?

"I have never been asked."

People don't need to ask you when they already know.

Do you think your body broke down because of the steroids you took?

"If you look at when I started taking it in the winner of '93/94, I broke down in '94. I took it the winter of '95, I broke down again. It could have been. For some reason, I kept doing it. I mentally thought that maybe if I keep doing this, maybe I'll feel better and better and get out of this rut of being a mash unit."

"For some reason." Maybe it's because they helped you hit more home runs? Just a guess.

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"I never talked about it. I can't remember conversations about this in any of the clubhouses I played. If I ever did, which I don't remember, I walked the other way."

Do you view your numbers as authentic? Completely legitimate?

"Unfortunately I decided to take steroids because of injuries. When I look at my hand-eye coordination, what God gave me, I'd have to think so"

Great question by Costas. No way McGwire would answer that one directly.

How much does the Hall of Fame matter to you?

"I'm not doing this for the Hall of Fame. I'm doing this for me to get this off my chest. I played this game of baseball because I was given the ability to play. If I get lucky enough to get in there, that's just icing on the cake."

Everybody wants to get into the Hall of Fame. It should matter to you especially since you have the numbers and the records as a first-balloter.


Will St. Louis forgive you?

"I'm asking for a second chance. I have a lot to offer. I have a whole Rolodex of things I'd like to teach hitters."

You set a nice example. Teach hitters to take steroids? Just kidding, Mark.

If you had a Hall of Fame vote, would you vote for Mark McGwire?

If I had a Hall of Fame vote, I'd leave it up to the writers.

You would.

McGwire finally admits to using steroids

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody. But at least now Mark McGwire has finally admitted to using steroids. Oh, and I'm sure it's no coincidence he's admitting this a few days after he earned just 23.7 percent of votes to be elected into the Hall of Fame.

In his statement to the Associated Press, he admitted he used steroids on and off throughout his entire career, dating back to the 1989/1990 offseason and including his record-breaking 1998 season. A source close to him said he used HGH as well. After telling congress in 2005, "I'm not here to talk about the past," he's finally here to talk about the past.

"I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come," McGwire said. "It's time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected."

So now that he's come out, do we forgive him? Does he eventually make the Hall now? First, some have said his numbers alone don't merit an induction. Sorry folks, but if you have 583 career home runs and shattered Roger Maris' single-season home run record you have reason to be in the Hall of Fame.

Second, I'm having some trouble forgiving him. Unlike Alex Rodriguez, McGwire is admitting to using steroids throughout his entire career. If you want to subtract the few years A-Rod and Barry Bonds supposedly used steroids, they may still have the credentials to be Hall of Famers. But when you admit to an entire career tainted with steroids, it's tough to forgive. Sorry, he did win a Rookie of the Year Award without steroids, supposedly.

The only thing going for him was his final statement about the current state of baseball.

"Baseball is really different now -- it's been cleaned up," McGwire said. "The commissioner and the players' association implemented testing and they cracked down, and I'm glad they did."

I'd hope he has this attitude toward Major League Baseball. Why? Because he's still in the game! He accepted a position as the hitting coach for the Cardinals in 2010. I'm not sure if it's in the best interest of the club to keep him in that role, because now fans may put into question any feats Albert Pujols or Matt Holliday might accomplish. I've always believed Pujols is clean, but having an ex-juicer like McGwire as his hitting coach may put his future records into question.

I wonder if anyone else from the Steroid Era will come out now (I'm talking to you Bonds and Sammy Sosa). Now is the best time to do it! I'm sure more on McGwire's case will come out in the next few days. Stay tuned.

Pettitte bolsters Hall of Fame argument

Andy Pettitte has the most wins of any active pitcher since 1995, and is second in starts and innings pitched, trailing only Greg Maddux.

I read that fact in Tom Verducci’s Sports Illustrated article earlier this month, titled “World Domination.” The premise of the story is that the Yankees had a lot of performances from older players exceeding expectations.

Anyway, after reading that fact about Pettitte, I started thinking about how he was a borderline hall of famer going into last year. Now he can call himself the winningest pitcher of his era, and that includes World Series rings as well. Here’s a look at his career line:

Years	W	L	GS	IP	ERA	SO	WHIP
15	229	135	458	2926.1	3.91	2150	1.361

What I think hurts him most is his high ERA.

I argue that it isn’t that high for the Steroid Era. Plus, he has a lot of other things going for him.

• He’s collected the most wins of any pitcher during his time
• He has five World Series rings and 18 postseason wins
• He has one of the best pickoff moves ever
• He has won 21 games in a season twice
• He spent most of his career on the big stage of New York

One thing I neglected to mention is his use of HGH. He admitted to using HGH twice in order to recover from an injury more quickly. His usage should hurt his chances a little bit, but I don’t think as much because at least he admitted it. Barry Bonds hasn’t admitted anything yet.

What’s the difference between steroids & HGH?

When performance-enhancing drug (PED) discussion comes up in the news, steroids and HGH are thrown around all the time making it seem like they are synonymous.  However, I recently sat down with an expert on the matter, Quinnipiac baseball athletic trainer Adam Pallone, who clearly explained the difference.  And it is a big one.

Anything that enhances performance is classified as an ergogenic aid, steroids would be one example. … Steroids are the big one, human growth hormone is the other big one.  Both of them are two separate categories encompassed under that sports enhancement umbrella.

Pitchers will use [steroids] more for recovery purposes.  You’ll see a lot of relievers using it because ‘I have to pitch night after night.’  Sometimes it’s not to up that 90 mph fastball to a 95; sometimes it’s just to be able to throw again tomorrow.

For hitters, being able to react to a 95 mph pitch, that’s a split second thing.  Being big and stocky and having large muscles doesn’t make you faster to your reaction, it makes you slower.  The tradeoff is, you still gotta be able to hit the pitch 400 ft, 500 ft.  And that’s where I think the big oversight of all of this is – human growth hormone.

The bottom line is, steroids make you stronger and slower, but HGH improves your hand-eye coordination and eye sight, which allow you to make better contact with the ball.

Pallone graduated in 2004 from Central Connecticut State University with a degree in athletic training – a highly-touted program at CCSU.