Good article. I obviously like it because it reinforces my views of the situation, but I think it is useful to read. Hope it stays up awhile.

That is a good article.

Through his agent, Alan Nero, Piniella, now the Chicago Cubs manager, declined comment on that characterization. “He’s not interested in getting into a ‘he said, she said’ kind of thing,” Nero said.

Did Piniella just call Shane Monahan a girl?

Did Piniella just call Shane Monahan a girl?

Naw. Himself. The more macho they are in public...

"I was in the locker room for two years with the Mariners, and I'll be honest with you: The only person that I didn't see take greenies was Dan Wilson. He was a big Christian guy, big moral guy. He just didn't believe in the stuff. I took greenies -- the amphetamines and that stuff. It is tough. We get beautiful accommodations, let's say that. But flying from Tampa to Seattle, three time [zone] changes, and then playing the next afternoon or night … all these guys are using them."

I would bet that the prevalence of steroid users was nearly as ubiquitous as the prevalence of amphetamine users, with the only exceptions in most clubhouses being a few born agains and a few others who were wary of all inorganic chemistry. (I was told this by a friend who played in the majors for two organizations, neither of which was Seattle.) And while I don't know anyone personally on a current major league team, I would guess (as Monahan does) that HGH today is as prevalent as greenies and steroids were before testing.

of all inorganic chemistry

All these drugs fall into the realm of organic chemistry.

HTH.

Okay, Chris, I stand corrected: the fear is of organic chemicals, then. This comes from Wikipedia, fwiw:

"Inorganic chemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the properties and behavior of inorganic compounds. This field covers all chemical compounds except the myriad organic compounds (compounds containing C-H bonds), which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disciplines is far from absolute, and there is much overlap, most importantly in the sub-discipline of organometallic chemistry."

"Organic chemistry is a specific discipline within chemistry which involves the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation (by synthesis or by other means) of chemical compounds consisting primarily of carbon and hydrogen, which may contain any number of other elements, including nitrogen, oxygen, the halogens as well as phosphorus, silicon and sulfur....

Because of their unique properties, multi-carbon compounds exhibit extremely large variety and the range of application of organic compounds is enormous. They form the basis of, or are important constituents of many products (paints, plastics, food, explosives, drugs, petrochemicals, to name but a few) and (apart from a very few exceptions) they form the basis of all earthly life processes."

I was just making a joke, Rich.

Monahan seems very reasonable and believable.

I guess when I was regularly working out in that gym, all those really big guys were juicing?

Nothing new in this article. It pretty much sums up what everyone who's been paying attention to baseball in the last twenty years already knows.

Course, I'm sure we'll still get comments discrediting Monahan, saying that he doesn't know what he's talking about, that his observations are useless and innaccurate because he's not willing to name names, etc, etc. Basically, the people who don't want to believe how rampant steroids were/are will once again find an excuse not to.

Dude, I thought the speed was supposed to be free.

I guess when I was regularly working out in that gym, all those really big guys were juicing?

Mostly.

"I was just making a joke, Rich."

Apparently, your joke was right, Chris. I mistook the colloquial meaning of "inorganic" to be taken the same way it is used in chemistry.

Of all the shortcomings in my education, it is my failure to have ever learned anything about chemistry I regret most. Although I was a fairly good student in high school, I learned nothing in chemistry class. My teacher was a serious alcoholic who gave everyone an A who simply attended his class. And that is all I did, learning nothing. (I don't know why I never took a chemistry class in college. I guess it was the old "take the easiest path" formula.) By contrast, I had a great physics teacher and learned a lot. The college physics class I took was far easier than the one I had in high school.

This was a good article, arguably the best I've read on the subject in some time.
***
Of all the shortcomings in my education, it is my failure to have ever learned anything about chemistry I regret most.
Mine too.

"I was in the locker room for two years with the Mariners, and I'll be honest with you: The only person that I didn't see take greenies was Dan Wilson. He was a big Christian guy, big moral guy.

So you're telling us he only snorted meth and had sex with a gay prostitute?

So Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martinez all used amphetamines?

Say it ain't so Shane Monahan....say it ain't so.

Apparently, your joke was right, Chris.

Well, I knew I was right - I'm a chemist. I meant that it was a minor mistake - I was joking that it had any importance.

But yes, I wish everyone knew more chemistry.

I looked through some of Fish's archive on ESPN.com. Seems like one of the best reporters I've come across in a while, sports or otherwise.

Great read ..
Great line ..

I was in the locker room for two years with the Mariners, and I'll be honest with you: The only person that I didn't see take greenies was Dan Wilson. He was a big Christian guy, big moral guy. He just didn't believe in the stuff.

So, pretty much anybody sporting a Monahan jersey is a drug pusher, right?

He remembers paying cash, and even bartered baseball gear, for steroids and amphetamines.

"There were two or three guys," he says of the suppliers, though he says he is unable to recall their names. "You'd go up to them and say, 'Hey, I need some greenies. What is it going to take?'

Well, it might be 100 bucks here. It is a jersey here, or a dozen baseballs and two bats. And you'd give it to him."

I can't imagine anybody actually bought a Monahan jersey.

All of these guys automatically become suspects (hello again, Arod!)

http://www.baseball-reference.com/oracle/at-distance.cgi?d=1&n1=9835

I knew it! F'n Marzano!

Nobody quadruples their power stats without a little "assistance."

certainly not Rico Rossy

The steroids are troubling, but don't forget, methamphetamines are just Tang before they put the orange flavoring in.

Dan rules!

dan,

patiently

jim bouton said that greenies has NO effect on any normal, well-rested person except to make them gay and get clobbered. therefore greenies can't enhance performance.

they are only banned because you can die if you overdose. focus and concentration got nothing to do with hitting/throwing/catching baseballs. even IF the greenies could do that which they can't because jim bouton and all the old guys says so.

and even if they ONLY worked on tired hung over guys, it still has no effect on their statistics because it didn't make their muscles bigger or their testicles smaller.

oh yeah,
we only give greenies to little boys in skool to p#ssify them, turn them into grrrls, and as you can see, all them old ML ballplayers are all p#ssified from taking them. you need to be reading up on modern literature.

Basically, the people who don't want to believe how rampant steroids were/are will once again find an excuse not to.

I miss the old days, my favorite was I'm old and fat therefore any athlete could put on 15-20 lbs of muscle in the offseason.

Great article though. I like the players who come forward but don't rat anyone else out.