A-Rod Linked to Performance Enhancers. Again.
Who knows how good the Phillies will be this year? It’s looking possible we’ll at least have some good old-fashioned Yankees schadenfreude to enjoy this year:
An anti-aging clinic in Coral Gables, Fla., that had been under the scrutiny of Major League Baseball for several months has now been identified as a supplier of performance-enhancing drugs to a half-dozen players, including the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez.
Miami New Times, in a report released Tuesday, said that a former employee of the clinic, which is now closed, had provided it with medical records from the facility that tie Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, Gio Gonzalez, Bartolo Colon, Nelson Cruz and Yasmani Grandal to the use of performance-enhancers.
Cabrera, Colon and Grandal were suspended in the past year by baseball for positive drug tests. Gonzalez and Cruz have not previously been linked to the use of performance-enhancers. Rodriguez, who is now recovering from hip surgery, has admitted to using performance-enhancers from 2001 to 2003, when he was a member of the Texas Rangers.
A-Rod’s back acne and sudden, inexplicable bursts of rage declined comment. Remember, though, he previously said he hadn’t juiced at all since 2003.
Major League Baseball’s official statement:
“We are always extremely disappointed to learn of potential links between players and the use of performance-enhancing substances. These developments, however, provide evidence of the comprehensive nature of our anti-drug efforts. Through our Department of Investigations, we have been actively involved in the issues in South Florida. It is also important to note that three of the players allegedly involved have already been disciplined under the Joint Drug Program.
“We are in the midst of an active investigation and are gathering and reviewing information. We will refrain from further comment until this process is complete.”
Taken as a whole, New Times‘ three-month investigation into Biogenesis adds fuel to the raging national debate over the role of steroids and HGH in sports. It follows an embarrassing Hall of Fame election that saw no steroid-era stars enshrined and comes just weeks after cycling star Lance Armstrong described to the Oprah Network his own chemical cheating. Now, as baseball teams head to spring training under a tougher new policy, the Biogenesis records affirm that the war on doping has been as futile as the War on Drugs.
As long as America has elite athletes looking for an edge — a situation that seems unlikely to change in this lifetime — there will be someone like Tony Bosch in the shadows, buying the drugs and concocting the creams and injections to help those athletes try.
