Author: Dr. Steroids

Human growth hormone (hGH) is a polypeptide hormone synthesized and secreted by the anterior pituitary gland which stimulates growth and cell reproduction in humans and other vertebrate animals. In the liver, hGH converts to insulin-like growth factor-1 promoting growth. Secretion levels are highest during puberty and decrease during adulthood and are directly related to aging. The attempt to synthesize hGH began in the 1930s when Dr. Choh Hao Li, at the University of California’s Experimental Biology Laboratory, sought to isolate hormones. In 1971 he successfully synthesized hGH from the pituitary glands of human cadavers. Over his career, Dr. Li isolated…

The Steroid Era is now cemented in baseball lore alongside the Dead Ball Era. The Dead Ball Era, notorious for a lack of offense, began in 1900 and ended in 1919 when the White Sox threw the World Series and Major League Baseball made a number of changes that favored offense. Baseball historians will inevitably compare famous Dead Ball stars like Joe Jackson and famous Steroid Era players like Barry Bonds not only to eachother but to the stars of the future. This is what baseball people do. It’s important for baseball fans to best be able to understand when…

According to a court filing Thursday, the San Francisco Chronicle has agreed to be held in contempt of court for refusing to assist a federal grand jury probing who leaked the secret testimony from the BALCO grand jury. The agreement is largely procedural, allowing the entire case to move before the appeals court which will ultimately decide if the fines and prison terms for its journalists, Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wadaand are to be upheld. The newspaper joined its two employees in their refusal to assist the government’s investigation into the leaked grand jury documents and testimony. The government would…

In light of the redacted names from the Jason Grimsley affidavit hitting the papers, Roger Clemens entire career has been called into question. Clemens now find himself in the middle of the controversy alongside Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. UPDATE: Clemens was heavily implicated in the Mitchell Report. His former trainer, Brian McNamee told investigators that he provided Clemens with anabolic steroids and human growth hormone and personally injected Clemens at least 8 to 10 times according to the Report. As to whether or not Clemens is actually in the affidavit. UPDATE: The Grimsley affidavit was unsealed December…

These men are resposible for helping rid baseball of steroids and human growth hormone (hGH). Certain people such as Bud Selig and Jose Canseco have had a profound effect on the scnadal and will ultimately prevent countless players and children from using steroids and hGH. But since their actions have also contributed to countless instances of performance-enhancing drug use (selig with his complacency, Canseco directly and indirectly may be the worst of all) this column is loathe to consider either a hero. Journalists Thomas Boswell Boswell broke the silence about steroids in September 1988 in an interview with Charlie Rose.…

As Game of Shadows’ authors Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada await their appeal, and ultimately a decision on whether or not they go to jail, the government continues its investigation into who leaked BALCO transcripts and court documents to the San Francisco Chronicle. Meanwhile, Barry Bonds’ lawyer, Michael Rains, is trying to leverage the government into abandoning its perjury investigation of Bonds. Rains claims to have his own evidence as to who leaked the BALCO grand jury testimony and court documents. Rains says the leak is inside the federal government, and has threatened to go public with his information if…

U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered Barry Bonds’ personal trainer, Greg Anderson released from jail Thursday, citing a legal “snafu” that has arisen in the case. Alsup said Anderson must be freed because a federal appeals court hadn’t affirmed his contempt order within the required 30 days after he was jailed for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating Bonds. The 9th US District Court of Appeals declined to reissue a new contempt order. Instead they sent it back to the judge saying Alsup’s ruling regarding the tape recording was not clear enough. “This snafu has arisen by an…

The roster is full of would-be-still-might-be Hall of Famers including Bonds, McGwire, Clemens, Rodriguez and Palmeiro. Tejada and Sheffield could join them, or rather join them in not joining them in the Hall, depending on how the Hall voters reconcile the era and the statistics. This year will be the first year players (McGwire, Canseco, Caminiti) deeply entangled in the steroid era are eligible. Nevertheless in their prime the players in this lineup would do some major damage, if they could make it through a season without self-destructing. Grimsley and Canseco would probably quite literally be beaten up, repeatedly, at…

Five of the redacted names from the Jason Grimsley Affadavit by IRS Special Agent, Jeff Novitzky, have finally leaked to the media after four months of speculation. Multiple media outlets have now published the redacted names of six former teammates including David Segui who confessed to ESPN that he was taking human growth hormone legally. UPDATE: The Grimsley affidavit was unsealed December 19, 2007. It does not name Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Brian Roberts, or Jay Gibbons. The only mention of Miguel Tejada is in reference to a single conversation about amphetamines. All five aforementioned players were featured prominently in…

Currently, players are awarded arbitration after three years and free agency after six years of major league service time. Given the six year span under one team’s control, players are likely to be reaching their potential when their first shot at free agency comes around. There is an inherent likelihood that a player will perform better with years of experience while still maturing physically. It is a recipe for salary inflation as players tend to reach free agency while hitting their physical peak. Players are then paid more for what they have done rather than what they are projected to…