Author: Dr. Steroids

The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced the results of this years balloting. Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken were both named on well over the required 75% of ballots cast by the Baseball Writers Association of America. This years results were of particular significance because it was the first year players widely associated with steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs were eligible. McGwire, thought to be a shoe in for the Hall before Jose Canseco’s book and his congressional testimony, appeared on 128 of a record 545 (23.5%) ballots falling way short of the 409 needed to be inducted. McGwire’s lack…

The Major League Baseball Players Association will fight the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling that gives investigators access to the names and urine samples of 80-100 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs anonymously in 2003. Union Leader, Donald Fehr issued a statement in reaction to court’s ruling wherein he stated the union’s position. “We will consult with our counsel, and then determine what our next step should be in our fight to protect the Constitutional rights — including the basic right to privacy — of our members.” Fehr also placed the issue in a larger context. “In…

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned three lower court decisions, and in a 2-to-1 decision, ruled that federal prosecutors could use the names and urine samples of the 5-7% of players who tested positive as part of Major League Baseball’s anonymous survey testing in 2003. When federal investigators raided the testing labs for the results of 10 players linked to BALCO, they also seized computer files containing the test results of the other players not named in the government’s subpoena and warrants. Investigators were previously unable to determine who the other players were as each player was assigned…

Yahoo! News has reported that defense attorney, Troy Ellerman, lawyer for BALCO president Victor Conte (briefly) and vice-president James Valente, was the source of the BALCO grand jury documents published and expounded upon by San Francisco Chronicle reporters, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams in December 2004. Larry McCormack, a former private investigator who worked on the BALCO federal steroids case and a co-tenant of an office with Ellerman in Sacramento, Calif. where the two worked together on cases in 2004 told Yahoo (and the FBI) that Ellerman was the source of the leaks. McCormick’s role in the investigation has been…

Guillermo Mota signed a two-year $5 million contract to remain with the New York Mets. Mota was acquired from Cleveland in August and was absolutely dominant down the stretch. In his 18 appearances with the Mets, Mota compiled a 1.00 ERA with a WHIP of 0.833 and over a strikeout an inning. All the while Mota had performancing-enhancing drugs, presumably steroids, in his system. Assuming he will be drug-free in 2007, Mota seems very likely to revert to his 2005/first-half-of-2006 self, and will likely decline from there as he hits his mid-thirties. So was this contract a reward for using…

The Hall of Fame Ballot was released Nov. 27. For the first time some serious suspected and admitted steroid users are eligible. Players inextricably linked to steroids including Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, and Ken Caminiti are listed alongside surefire first-ballot candidates Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. Caminiti and Canseco wouldn’t get many votes (if any) even if they weren’t tied to performance-enhancing drugs, so the real controversy/debate lies with McGwire. McGwire finished his career with 583 home runs, seventh in baseball history, and of course, set the single season home run record in 1998 with 70 before Barry Bonds…

The Hall of Fame ballot containing candidates for 2007 was released Nov. 27. Surefire first ballot players Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. headline the first-time candidates on the 2007 baseball writers’ Hall of Fame ballot released today. The 2007 ballot marks the first time players who have admitted using steroids and/or Human Growth Hormone or are widely accused and implicated in the steroid scandal are included. Jose Canseco, Ken Caminiti and Mark McGwire are the players causing the controversy. Canseco and Caminti both admitted their use of steroids and neither have the statistics to warrant induction into the Hall,…

The next or perhaps more accurately, the newest generation of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is insulin-like growth factor-1 or IGF-1. The first synthetic version of IGF-1 approved for sale in the United States was Increlex. To understand Increlex one needs to look at human growth hormone. Human growth hormone is a favorite among athletes and celebrities for its healing powers and anti-aging capabilities. In the liver, hGH converts to insulin-like growth factor-1 promoting growth. While recombinant human growth hormone been around since the 1980s, synthesized IGF-1 wasn’t approved for use until 2005. In August, 2005, the FDA approved Tercica’s IGF-1…

Track coach Trevor Graham, who helped launch the federal probe of steroid use reportedly will be charged by the grand jury following up on that very matter and all of Bay Area Laboratory Co-op’s dealings. The grand jury that is expected to indict Graham is the same panel investigating baseball slugger Barry Bonds for tax evasion and perjury related to his testimony about not knowingly using performance enhancing drugs. Graham initiated the whole controversy by anonymously mailing a vial containing “the Clear,” a previously undetectable steroid to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Graham acknowledged mailing the…

New York Mets pitcher, Guillermo Mota, was suspended 50 games Wednesday for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy. It was the third suspension this year (following Yusaku Iriki and Jason Grimsley) and fifteenth suspension overall. Mota admitted full responsibility in a statement issued the same day. “I used extremely poor judgment and deserve to be held accountable. To my teammates and the entire Mets organization, I am sorry. I truly regret what I did and hope that you can forgive me.” “To baseball fans everywhere, I understand that you are disappointed in me, and I don’t blame you. I feel…