Comments on: Great Moments in incoherence: The drug testing program is working, so it must be scrapped!

By: townballblog

townballblog — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:01:40 +0000

Well… If he wasn’t, then his numbers this year are most definitely doing that for him.

By: stercuilus65

stercuilus65 — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:34:16 +0000

Braun wasn’t “cleared” of anything.

By: stercuilus65

stercuilus65 — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:32:22 +0000

Coming from the “brewcrew” what a surprise!

By: stercuilus65

stercuilus65 — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:31:14 +0000

The test taker did NOTHING wrong, the only incompetence was with the arbitrator.

By: deadeyedesign23

deadeyedesign23 — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 02:33:12 +0000

Players are only tested at the ballpark. A player can practice or play a game, apply a testosterone cream which leaves your system with in 6 hours, go home and by the next morning when he needs to be back at the park he’s clean.

By: 18thstreet

18thstreet — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 20:19:34 +0000

Did not know this. Thumbs up.

By: aceshigh11

aceshigh11 — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 19:37:45 +0000

Deport Obama AND Cabrera!! Put ‘em both on a slow boat to Kenya!!

THEY TOOK OUR JOBS!!

By: yahmule

yahmule — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 18:44:26 +0000

Rick Sutcliffe may be a giant goodball, but he did try to kill Eric Show after Show, the card carrying John Birch Society member, hit Andre Dawson in the face with a fastball because he couldn’t make the Hawk stop hitting homers off him. So, Sutcliffe gets at least one mark on the good side of the ledger from me, but, yeah, he’s undeniably stupid.

By: yahmule

yahmule — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 18:38:29 +0000

On one hand, I agree with you. On the other hand, the sportswriter who pointed out the jar of Androstendione in McGwire’s locker was treated like he took a dump in the punch bowl.

By: yahmule

yahmule — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 18:35:17 +0000

Apparently, the Mormons have some theories about that. Hint: It was white people. Shocker, huh?

By: yahmule

yahmule — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 18:31:56 +0000

Cue Sammy Sosa to scream, “I save baseball! I save baseball!”

Ah, no. McGwire and Sosa didn’t save baseball. If any one person ever saved the sport, it was Babe Ruth in the aftermath of the 1919 Black Sox scandal, but baseball is bigger than any one individual, even the Babe.

By: jkep

jkep — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 18:10:37 +0000

It seems these reporters have trouble differentiating between a failed system and a deterrence issue. Could it be the penalties are not enough of a deterrent? I would say that is a maybe. How many players used before the penalties were put in place compared to after? We just don’t know. However, I would put my money on some or most players that *would* use banned substances *not* using them because of the risk.

Is it a failed system? I’d say no. The system works well, as it catches players all the time.

Also, do we really need ad hominem attacks against differing opinions? The guys who wrote the articles are wrong, but I don’t think that is reason enough to brand everyone who disagrees with you as saying the “second dumbest thing you’ve heard all day.”

By: brewcrewfan54

brewcrewfan54 — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:30:41 +0000

Take your anti union rhetoric elsewhere. The protect the bad workers crap doesn’t even hold water when talking about sports. When a player sucks they don’t keep him around because of the union.

By: largebill

largebill — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:16:31 +0000

Some people don’t understand how a deterrent works. Melky losing tens of millions of dollars will cause some players to be more careful with supplement. A deterrent is not going to deter ALL players from doing PED’s just as fear of imprisonment does not deter ALL people from committing crimes, but does deter some indeterminate number.

By: deathmonkey41

deathmonkey41 — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:11:06 +0000

The unions aren’t there to promote the competent. They are there to bring the competent down to the level of the incompetent so no one looks bad.

By: ezwriter69

ezwriter69 — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:08:28 +0000

Yep, the system that allowed Cabrera to compile two-thirds of an MVP season and distort the closest division race in baseball before being caught is working just wonderfully.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:06:10 +0000

Sure…the punishment is so insignificant dudes take painstaking tasks to create fake websites w/ fake substances to make it appear as if failing the test was purely the result of ignorance.
I used to enjoy your work Tom Verducci!
With each article you are making that increasingly more difficult.
Rick Sutcliffe…I have nothing to say. Just…Rick. Sutcliffe.

By: mja2001

mja2001 — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:55:12 +0000

The only way to get teams to stop turning a blind eye to this, is to start vacating victories for any game a cheater played in. You think San Francisco would be happy right now losing out on their entire season? Ticket sales would bottom-out. THAT’S where the power is when talking about big-market teams. OH, and test EVERYONE, no more random screening.

Until that happens, the “brave” owners of clubs will continue to heroically stand for the purity of the game saying, “We just hope if they get caught before the trading deadline but after we have a 10 game lead in the division!”

By: kehnn13

kehnn13 — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:39:00 +0000

1. If you go to the link that was provided (http://mlbplayers.mlb.com/pa/pdf/jda.pdf), you will see

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL’S
JOINT DRUG PREVENTION AND TREATMENT PROGRAM

2. from page 11- all Players shall be tested for the presence of Performance Enhancing Substances and Stimulants as follows:
(a) Each Player shall be tested upon reporting to spring training.
(b) All Players will be selected for an additional unannounced urine specimen
collection on a randomly selected date.

3. 2. Additional Random Testing. In addition to the testing conducted pursuant to
Section 3.A.1 above, an additional 1,400 tests shall be conducted of randomly-selected
Players at unannounced times for the presence of Performance Enhancing Substances and
Stimulants. Of these additional tests, the IPA may conduct collections at unannounced
times during the off-season (i.e., the period not covered by the definition of the
championship season contained in Section 3.A.1); provided, however, that any off-season
collections shall only be for the presence of Performance Enhancing Substances. The
IPA shall conduct up to 200 off-season tests during the 2012-13 off-season; up to 225
off-season tests during the 2013-14 off-season; and up to 250 off-season tests for all other
off-seasons covered by this Program. Each Player shall remain subject to additional tests
under this Section 3.A.2 regardless of the number of tests taken by the Player during any
calendar year.

Unless that is a fake document, it certainly looks like all players are tested at least twice a year.

By: CJ

CJ — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:32:33 +0000

OR, you can offer 10 G’s to buy the site and say someone hacked your account and put it there without your knowledge or consent. I hear that works every time.

By: CJ

CJ — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:30:55 +0000

saying the system only tests “20%” would be a factually wr– wr– umm, incorrect assertion. Try again. Hint: scroll up just a little higher from this post where actual facts and sources are used.

danandcasey – Aug 21, 2012 at 11:49 AM
Here is a link to the program description: http://mlbplayers.mlb.com/pa/pdf/jda.pdf

The program calls for every player to be tested (unannounced) during spring training for PEDs and stimulants (urine test) and hGH (blood test). The program also calls for every player to be tested (unannounced) during the regular season for PEDs and stimulants (urine test) on a random date. Testing during the season for hGH is only if there is reasonable cause that the player took hGH.

The program also calls for an additional 1400 tests for PEDs and stimulants (urine test) during the season and the off-season – random and unannounced.

By: kevinbnyc

kevinbnyc — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:24:03 +0000

1. We learned the system was flawed because of Ryan Braun. We learned it still works because of Melky Cabrera.
2. If Melky should be deported, Braun needs to be exiled to Elba.

By: cur68

cur68 — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:21:39 +0000

For all 10 (as of this writing) of you who think this is some sort of plausible argument, please cite your source/reasoning for the “100 inmate” analogy.

Random drug testing is turning up a few cheats at the Major League level. There are two potential reasons for the “few” category: a) there’s only a few PED users or b) the testing doesn’t work and there’s rampant PED use.

Never lose sight of ‘a’ just to blindly assert ‘b’ without any evidence. If you do this is known as the ‘pull it out your ass method’ of statistical measure and you better get ready for the pummeling you are about to take from the many many astute people who read this little blog thingy…

By: churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged

churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:19:00 +0000

All sports commentary:

http://xkcd.com/904/

By: sportmentary

sportmentary — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:11:34 +0000

Good article. I was actually thinking some of the same things as you when reading that piece yesterday. We also shouldn’t assume that a so called independent body wouldn’t have their own agenda. Nothing’s perfect.

http://www.sportmentary.com/2012/08/how-stupid-can-melky-be.html

By: sdelmonte

sdelmonte — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:00:54 +0000

Thank you again for being a voice of sanity.

By: bsbiz

bsbiz — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:54:55 +0000

Sorry. I’ll suspend myself for 50 articles.

By: danandcasey

danandcasey — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:49:52 +0000

Here is a link to the program description: http://mlbplayers.mlb.com/pa/pdf/jda.pdf

The program also calls for an additional 1400 tests for PEDs and stimulants (urine test) during the season and the off-season – random and unannounced.

By: churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged

churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:45:59 +0000

Couple of points:

For one, nothing like a national sportswriter, who was present during the “Steroid Explosion” in the 90s but said absolutely nothing, getting holier-than-thou about how we need to clean up the game of baseball. Buster Olney is right, reporters should have said something back then. They have no write to moralize when they were all silent as it was going on.

Two, as dumb as Cabrera might have been, now that a little more information has come out about his website, is it really that dumb? According to this deadspin link*, They actually had a product which MLB ordered and sent to the Montreal lab for testing. It’s not like he bought http://www.ineedaquickwebsiteforasleightofhand.blogspot.com

*http://deadspin.com/5936526/melky-cabreras-fake-website-sent-mlb-investigators-all-the-way-to-the-dominican-republic

The likelihood is slim that they would add him to an NLCS roster when they are playing well and he is a walking distraction who hasn’t played in two months and has disgraced the franchise.

Barry Bonds says hello. Then again, Verducci thinks a ranking of players based on BA determines how good a hitter they are…

By: yahmule

yahmule — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:38:59 +0000

If someone pulls a bunch of wild numbers out of thin air, it doesn’t mean their argument is working.