Major League Baseball has taken an unprecedented step in the Biogenesis of America investigation, paying a former employee of the South Florida anti-aging clinic linked to performance-enhancing drugs for documents on athletes named in the case, the New York Times reported Thursday night.

The move, according to the newspaper, came after at least one player linked to the clinic bought documents from a former employee there in order to destroy them. The Times, citing two unidentified people ...

MLB seems to be just grasping at straws here:

Two sources familiar with the case told “Outside the Lines” that MLB was looking for a man with a similar name believed to have been a black-market PED connection for Bosch, though it turned out not to be da Silveira.

“They realize he has no involvement whatsoever with Biogenesis or distributing performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes,” said Emil Infante, who represents the 30-year-old da Silveira.

This debut game easily shattered the previous weekday regular season game sales by a mile (previous was 14000+, yesterday was 20k)

Elephants closer is (since last season) former Tigers pitcher Aussie Brad Thomas (who also doubles as their pitching coach, heh)

Manny Rhino doll have completely sold out, pre order now and you’ll get it in June.

Major League Baseball filed a lawsuit Friday against Anthony Bosch and five others connected to the South Florida anti-aging clinic that allegedly provided some of the game’s biggest stars with performance-enhancing substances.

The suit, filed in the 11th judicial circuit in Miami-Dade County, Florida, charges that Bosch and his associates “actively participated in a scheme ... to solicit or induce Major League players to purchase or obtain PES (performing-enhancing substances) for their use ...

[ Gio ] Gonzalez said he passed a drug test administered two days after the report was published on Jan. 29. The league, however, doesn’t require a failed drug test to suspend a player; MLB can issue a 50-game suspension if it proves the player used or possessed banned substances.

At Hardball Talk, Calcaterra said of this B-Pro guest piece by former journeyman pitcher Eric Knott:

We should spill way less ink about who we think “the real Home Run King” is — as if that matters — and think way harder about those frequent minor league suspensions and what they mean to the people who are faced with the choice to take dangerous drugs or wind up out of baseball.

Against that backdrop is this excellent column from Eric Knott. Knott pitched 11 years in the minors and ...

The cesspool that is The Daily News…where you have 83-year-old-writers taking potshots and they don’t even know it!

If, in fact, the Levinsons never heard of Bosch before all this, then they are at least guilty of not doing a proper monitoring and counseling job with their clients. Indeed, in the past, the Levinsons took pride in vetting their clients, as well as being very selective in whom they would represent.

“If there was one thing about the Levinsons that set them apart from all the ...

ESPN.com’s T.J. Quinn and Mike Fish, citing documents procured by “Outside the Lines,” add five names to the list of ballplayers linked to Anthony Bosch’s controversial Biogenesis clinic.

Those names are Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera , Astros outfielder Fernando Martinez, A’s reliever Jordan Norberto, Padres reliever Fautino De Los Santos and Mets prospect Cesar Puello. Here’s the heart of the matter regarding these five players:

  Sources said the players, like those who have been named ...

“I had a Toradol shot almost every single game for the last 10 years of my career,” Schilling told Yahoo! Sports. “It was never administered by a doctor at home or on the road. I didn’t think it was wrong.”
Though Schilling said Reinold never injected him with Toradol – he declined to say who did – the right-hander said he saw Reinold inject other players.
“Absolutely he did,” Schilling said.
. . .
More than 300 Toradol shots over his career taught Schilling their vitality. He said he ...

Chicks dig the hit-and-run.

• Fans like close games and close pennant races more than home runs

One of the great myths about The Steroid Era is that steroids “saved baseball” and made for a great period of huge economic growth. It’s baloney. After the great home run race of 1998, per game attendance went down three of the next five years. Take the best per-game attendance in The Steroid Era (1995-2003) and it would be the worst attendance rate of The Testing Era (2004-2012).

We are ...

In which our intrepid reporter is asked the question that is on everyone’s mind:

Baseball Analytics: If you could take a pill that helped you perform your job at such a high level that your earnings would increase 5X would you take it (we promise there will be no side effects)?

Jeff Passan: All right, Morpheus ...

I can’t answer without understanding the other variables. Is this pill legal? What are the moral and ethical implications of taking this pill? What will my parents think of me? My ...

The controversy surrounding the apparent client list of a Miami clinic that includes Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, and others continues to be a major story after more than a week after the Miami New Times released it. While the specifics are still under investigation and names leak out from various outlets, the heart of the matter is still poorly understood. What are these drugs that are listed near the names (or code names) of professional athletes?

This article will provide some answers. ...

Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
I can’t control myself

Reg Presley…I think he loves you.

So all that being said, what do I believe needs to be done to bring a screeching halt to PED usage in baseball?

I think it is simple. The first positive test, you lose a year. Any money you have made up to that point must be repaid to the organization. The second positive test, you are banned for life from the game. There are so many kids like myself who come out of high school or even college who, if they ...

Braun is on a list that includes Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera and Cesar Carrillo, who the New Times reported received PEDs from Bosch. Also on the list are New York Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli and Baltimore Orioles third baseman Danny Valencia, who weren’t listed near PEDs either. The record matches a document the New Times posted with Braun’s name redacted and Cervelli and Valencia’s cut off.

Can he handle the Taiwanese media?

Manny Ramirez has had discussions with the EDA Rhinos in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan, reports FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi on Twitter.

Ramirez, 40, had hopes of making a return to the major leagues and has been playing in the Dominican Winter League. Ramirez last played in the MLB in April 2011; he was released by the A’s last June after hitting .302/.348/.349 with no homers in 17 games with Triple-A Sacramento. Over his 19-year career ...

I believe that Ray Lewis cheated. I believe that to be true based on circumstantial evidence, his age, his overcompetitiveness, the history of that specific injury, and the fact that his “recovery” made my #### detector start vibrating like an iPhone.

I believe in my right to write the previous paragraph because athletes pushed us to this point. We need better drug testing. We need blood testing. We need biological passports. We need that stuff now. Not in three years. Not in two years. Now. I ...

If A-Rod leaves, who will Yankees media have left to blame?

Alex Rodriguez is unlikely to ever wear the pinstripes again, sources familiar with the Yankees’ situation with their troubled third baseman told the Daily News, no matter what happens regarding new allegations that he is again involved with performance-enhancing drugs.

According to numerous baseball sources, the hip surgery Rodriguez is now recovering from will likely derail his playing career, leaving him in such a diminished ...

He opined that (1) the effect of amphetamines should be most pronounced on day games after night games; (2) batting should be more affected than pitching, on the grounds that even Whitey Ford probably drank a little less the day before he was supposed to pitch; and (3) the effect should be bigger in the 1970-74 period than in the 2006-2010 period, since in the latter period there was testing; indeed, in the prior period I don’t even think it was illegal.

He then said: “Hey, JonathanF: ...

Case in point: the ongoing scandal over alleged performance-enhancing drug use by some of baseball’s greatest players that has torn apart followers of the national pastime. This year marked the first time since 1996 that not a single player was selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame, despite having some of the biggest names in the history of baseball up for nomination. Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa — all first-ballot candidates, all suspected steroid users, all de-nied. Baseball ...

KD : I have one question, one challenging question for you. You know how much I respect you, but one thing I’ve read that irks me a little. I think you’ve had some ceremonies where the team introduces Hank Aaron as “The real home run king” or “The true home run king.” Am I right on that?
JS : Yeah.
KD : Are you OK with that? Is that your domain?
JS : Listen. If you were in Atlanta and you worked for our organization, you would feel the same way. He’s without dispute, people in baseball ...

Last year I moved my line and decided that unless there was some kind of tangible connection to PEDs, I would consider voting for a player. I changed because of Jeff Bagwell, a guy who sure looked the part of a drug user but was never linked to it. It seemed unfair to exclude him based only on suspicion.

Now I’ve decided to erase the line completely.

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and the rest of the scoundrels will get my vote. I’ll look at the players based on their statistical merit, how they ...

Carlos Ruiz has been suspended 25 games for amphetamine use, according to multiple reports.

Ruiz had a career year last season, batting .325 while knocking in 68 runs to go along with 16 home runs.

The Phillies have yet to confirm the news and no statement from Ruiz has been released, but the news does come from Major League Baseball.

According to Wikipedia, amphetamines- also known as adderall- produce “increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.” ...Read More...