Marchman on Twitter: "Anon. guy who says he was ripped off by dope pusher provides what he says are the pushers' implausibly detailed notes to reporter. Nothing squirrelly about that!" In a response to a reader's question, he added, "Of course it could well be legit, but there's a lot that raises my eyebrows here."

That should raise some skepticism, but FWIW Gio Gonzalez's dad confirms he worked with Bosch, allegedly so he could lose weight, not so his son could use any products.

Also, I have to say: Gio Gonzalez's name is kind of getting buried here. Should be a much bigger deal than it is.

Is any of the stuff he reportedly received ("Order 1.c.1 with Zinc/MIC/... and Aminorip. For Gio and charge $1,000.") banned?

Marchman on Twitter: "Anon. guy who says he was ripped off by dope pusher provides what he says are the pushers' implausibly detailed notes to reporter. Nothing squirrelly about that!" In a response to a reader's question, he added, "Of course it could well be legit, but there's a lot that raises my eyebrows here."

There was also this FTFA:

Interviews with six customers and two former employees corroborate the tale told by the patient files, the payment records, and the handwritten notebooks kept by the clinic's chief, 49-year-old Anthony Bosch.

He could have faked the famous athlete ones and added them to the legit entries, but the report goes beyond simply relying on a disgruntled employee.

Unconnected to the content, the date stamp on the article is Thursday, January 31. Am I crazy or is that two days from now? Is this something that's going to run in print then but is already on the web now?

In regard to content, this is pretty lame. It's not good for anybody to have more of this coming out. I foolishly hoped/thought it might be done, at least for now.

Is there a procedure for punishing players who haven't failed tests?

Sure. Think back to the drug wars of the mid-80s. The commissioner can use things that are a matter of public record in the disciplinary process. (see for instance the fallout from the Curtis Strong affair)

Now there are limits to his powers of discipline in this area. The commissioner tried to suspend Pascual Perez for a full year based on his arrest and it got rolled way back.

I don't insist that the commission would win the inevitable grievance though. This is uncharted territory given that there's formal testing. I suspect an arbitrator would want more than "he's a client", but that he'd want at least a plausible explanation from the player for his dealings with the company (which could be as simple as "convenient and reliable". Their core business might well be PEDs but that doesn't mean that's all they did)

Marchman on Twitter: "Anon. guy who says he was ripped off by dope pusher provides what he says are the pushers' implausibly detailed notes to reporter. Nothing squirrelly about that!" In a response to a reader's question, he added, "Of course it could well be legit, but there's a lot that raises my eyebrows here."

There's a lot more than an "anon[ymous] guy" providing "implausibly detailed notes to [a] reporter" here:

Interviews with six customers and two former employees corroborate the tale told by the patient files, the payment records, and the handwritten notebooks kept by the clinic's chief, 49-year-old Anthony Bosch.

Bosch's history with steroids also adds credence to the paperwork. The son of a prominent Coral Gables physician named Pedro Publio Bosch, he was connected with banned substances when slugger Manny Ramirez was suspended for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy in 2009. At the time, MLB confirmed the Drug Enforcement Administration was probing the father and son for allegedly providing Ramirez with HCG, a compound often used at the tail end of steroid cycles.

The Bosches were never charged with a crime. Both Pedro and Anthony Bosch failed to respond to a hand-delivered letter and then, reached on their cell phones, declined to speak with New Times. The nine athletes and one coach named in this article didn't respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment, but when New Times began asking questions last week, players' agents leaked information to the New York Daily News and ESPN to soften the blow.

edmundo

cmon, galvis is a 22 year old guy - you seriously expect him to gain no weight/muscle from age 17 on? he is hardly canseco

and his stats hardly show all this increased power

The detail in the NewTimes article is pretty believable and damning.

My working assumption is that all pros are doping, so what I'm about to write does not mean I think anyone is innocent. OTOH, the detail to which you refer is, so far as I can tell from RTFA, confined to stuff that the clinic owner wrote in a journal, a journal in which he also wrote numerous fabricated resumes about himself. The employees who were interviewed all said that though the clinic owner name-dropped constantly, they'd never seen anybody famous in the clinic or with the owner. Since the article also makes clear that the clinic owner is a welsher, a con man, and not a very honest guy, I don't consider the evidence all that compelling. There's a reference to payment records, but the article does not say that the records form a direct link to the athletes. Corroborating evidence appears to me to be thin on the ground, though certainly some cancelled checks from A-Rod and the like or a bank record showing a cash withdrawal contemporaneous with a payment noted in the journal would change things considerably. And that will probably arrive in time. Taken on its own merits, the evidence in TFA is not that great. But of course, since we're all prepared to believe the worst, we accord it greater significance.

Think back to the drug wars of the mid-80s. The commissioner can use things that are a matter of public record in the disciplinary process. (see for instance the fallout from the Curtis Strong affair)

FWIW, those mid-80s drug suspensions were rolled back too by a judge, at least in the case of the year-long suspensions for cocaine use for Willie Wilson, Jerry Martin, Willie Aikens and Steve Howe in 1984.

oh yeah - and the stuff galvis was busted for is not used by roiders because it doesn't do much of anything - i checked it out - probably because they don't have any cervixes

Unconnected to the content, the date stamp on the article is Thursday, January 31. Am I crazy or is that two days from now? Is this something that's going to run in print then but is already on the web now?

Probably, although it should be noted that New Times is a weekly, and it's not uncommon for publications like that to be marked as being an edition for a future date. For example, you sometimes get March magazines in February.

MLB has an office of investigations with ex-detectives and FBI agents to investigate PEDs. There is a toll free hotline for club personnel to provide anonymous tips to investigators about players' PED usage. This came out of a Mitchell Report recommendation.

The source would not confirm if the Schafer investigation was an offshoot of the hotline, but the source did say the line was available to anybody in baseball with access to its private code, including players, managers and front-office personnel. Tipsters can also report rules violations through a secure Web site.

The hotline goes directly to the Department of Investigation, said the source.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/baseball-anonymous-hotline-nab-steroid-cheats-article-1.278822#ixzz2JNlQt6aV

Does this system presuppose that a player can be "caught" through investigative means rather than drug testing? Without knowing the protocols for the actions from such tips, it's hard to say.

Probably, although it should be noted that New Times is a weekly, and it's not uncommon for publications like that to be marked as being an edition for a future date.

Ah got it. I've never come into contact with the paper, I thought it was a day to day.

Oh great. We get to talk about this until openeing day.

@59 - USA Today's story on Galvis said Galvis tested

positive for a metabolite of Clostebol, the commissioner's office announced. Clostebol is a synthetic steroid popular among some Brazilian athletes.

#58 Actually most were, but not all. While Martin and Aikens' suspensions were rolled back, Vida Blue's full season suspension for 1984 was upheld (somewhat moot in that he was in prison for the start of the year) and MLB also won the rights to on demand testing for the remainder of their careers for somewhere around 40 players -- basically everybody in the Curtis Strong affair and the other guys busted in the same time frame. (though almost nobody remembers this, the list of players included Dusty Baker)

MLB's record in drug arbitration hearings was not very good, but it wasn't quite zero.

A follow-up from the New Times on how the story was verified. Contains pictures taken of Bosch's notebooks.

I will high-five #57.

Detailed notebooks

Since the article also makes clear that the clinic owner is a welsher, a con man, and not a very honest guy, I don't consider the evidence all that compelling.

Oh, how I long for simpler times when drug conspiracies centered around people of obvious and undeniable virtue.

and his stats hardly show all this increased power

ISO disagrees: .049 -> .050 -> .056 -> .078 -> .114 -> .137 (Majors)

He was reported to have put on muscle before 2012, FWIW.

I did lay out a caveat: "Maybe it's natural, maybe not. "
You are not laying out a caveat. I don't see how you can be so sure.

fwiw

@GioGonzalez47 I've never used performance enhancing drugs of any kind and I never will, I've never met or spoken w/Bosch

Something tells me we've seen A-Rod on the ballfield for the last time.

Could be. Although he seemed pretty determined to come back strong after the end of last season. If these allegations hold up reasonably well, he can kiss the HOF goodbye. "Albatross" is right.

Oh, how I long for simpler times when drug conspiracies centered around people of obvious and undeniable virtue.

Such as, for example, the good folks of Downton Abbey?

According to myth, Barry Bonds was created in six years...watch out! Here comes Biogenesis! We'll do it in six minutes!

@74 - CONNNNNNNNNNNN... te!

74. Dale Sams Posted: January 29, 2013 at 01:17 PM (#4357435)
According to myth, Barry Bonds was created in six years...watch out! Here comes Biogenesis! We'll do it in six minutes!

75. ColonelTom Posted: January 29, 2013 at 01:23 PM (#4357436)
@74 - CONNNNNNNNNNNN... te!

This may have been one of the best sequences in BBTF history.

I know it's a bit of a stretch, but (assuming the MNT article's allegations re ARod are legit), what are the chances that he gracefully retires early and accepts some sort of a reduced buy-out on the $114MM he's owed for the next 5 seasons. I am not sure his inner centaur would allow such a thing.

For what very little it's worth, Gio's average FB velocity (from FG):

2008: 89.7
2009: 91.6
2010: 92.2
2011: 92.8
2012: 93.3

@76 - follow with Picard saying "Earl Grey, hot."

"Albat-rod"

UPDATE: In a statement issued through his representatives, Gonzalez said: "I've never used performance-enhancing drugs of any kind, and I never will. I've never met or spoken with Tony Bosch or used any substances provided by him. Anything said to the contrary is a lie."

It is unclear at this point how involved the Nationals' starter was with the clinic. Gonzalez was unable to be immediately reached for comment and the Miami New Times' report doesn't address him with nearly as much detail as it does players like Rodriguez and Cabrera, though noting his name appeared five times in what was believed to be the owner's ledger

Gio from Deadspin today

restates what Howie said already, sorry, Howie

"A-Void"

I had the same thought that this might be it for A-Rod. Depends on the accuracy of the reports and the hip, of course.

What a collapse at the end if true, though.

Too many Hispanic names on the list. They need to find the clinic for the non-Hispanic white players ASAP!

Too many Hispanic names on the list.

Lots of Hispanics in Miami? Shocking!

If the Yankees manage to worm out of A-Rod's contract I will be very unhappy. Stupidity should be punished, dammit.

What a collapse at the end if true, though.

From "Best non-steroid hope to break Bonds record" to "Manny Ramirez has a better chance now of getting into the HOF"

Miami Hurricanes in Major League Baseball!

That's a weird list. Did A-Rod and Cruz just not trip a test like Melky and Colon? Are they taking better stuff, which doesn't show up on tests yet? Not taking anything at all? (I sure hope its that last one, espcailly for poor Alex. It's bad enough to be cheating--again--but really bad to be cheating and still not performing that well.)

Has MLB started testing for HGH yet?

Pretty sure Conte has spokena about how one should be able to take testosterone and be very difficult to catch because it leaves the system so quickly.

Albatross Rodriguez--completely unsurprising. He is a pretty compelling argument for having some provisions to allow teams to void not signing idiotically long-term contracts.

FTFY.

(also alluded to in [86])

Pretty sure Conte has spokena about how one should be able to take testosterone and be very difficult to catch because it leaves the system so quickly.

How does it work if it leaves the system fast? Do you have to take it every day?

According to myth, Barry Bonds was created in six years...watch out! Here comes Biogenesis! We'll do it in six minutes!

Primey.

How does it work if it leaves the system fast? Do you have to take it every day?

My understanding is that you'd take a short-acting Testosterone after a game or after workouts to help you bounce back quicker than normal.

#89/91 Tyler Hamilton went into specifics on how the team beat testing (and cycling has out of competition testing) (quoting from a BBC article on his book)

"Tip one: Wear a watch. Tip Two: Keep your cellphone handy. Tip three: Know your glowtime, how long you'll test positive after you take the substance. What you'll notice is that none of these things is particularly difficult to do."

(Keep the cellphone handy because the team trained in the same place. Anybody associated with the team who saw a tester -- and they knew them all -- would call.

"If you were careful and paid attention, you could dope and be 99% certain that you would not get caught."

On one occasion Hamilton heard a knock on the door when he was glowing, and simply hid inside the house in silence until the tester gave up and went away.

And #91 a lot of PEDs aren't directly testable because they're stuff your body produces. So you look for the chemical traces of (say) a synthetic nandrolone. And that (in the currently popular PEDs) is designed to leave the system quickly.

And no, you don't have to take the PED daily. Or even all that frequently. That's the key to beating the testing.

Source: A-Rod could face PED suspension

There is precedent for Rodriguez to be suspended without a positive test for a banned substance. Outfielders Jay Gibbons and Jose Guillen were suspended in 2007 for non-analytical positives. Neither tested positive for a banned drug but were found to have purchased human growth hormone and steroids. Current Houston Astros outfielder Jordan Schaefer received a similar suspension as a minor leaguer in 2008.

Jeff Passan: Yanks won't be able to void contract

Anyone want to apply Benford's Law to the numbers appearing in the notebook?

http://www.radiolab.org/2009/nov/30/from-benford-to-erdos/

Anyone want to apply Benford's Law to the numbers appearing in the notebook?

Until I clicked the link, I thought you were implicating former Yankees reliever Todd Erdos for doing PEDs.

If you have a cellphone why do you need to wear a watch? I've just made them more efficient!

Marchman on Twitter: "Anon. guy who says he was ripped off by dope pusher provides what he says are the pushers' implausibly detailed notes to reporter. Nothing squirrelly about that!" In a response to a reader's question, he added, "Of course it could well be legit, but there's a lot that raises my eyebrows here."

What's implausible about a doctor writing down dosing regimens?

A lot of the documents referred to in the New Times article are billing records. Not hard to believe at all -- the guy's supplying the drugs and wants to get paid for them. The motivation for leaking these records to the paper is also clear -- the guy skated on his bills and left his partners high and dry.

Manny's suspension was reduced to 50 games after he sat out the year.

Anyone want to apply Benford's Law to the numbers appearing in the notebook?

Hmmm ... I'm not sure how well Benford's law would apply to prices. The same phenomenon that underlies Benford's law (that numbers you make up in your head will not be distributed the way numbers usually are) is similar to the process of assigning prices, probably especially in small businesses and shady businesses and cash businesses. There are a lot of $500 and $1000 per week quoted in the article but he's not gonna price a week's supply at $476.67. You might get farther verifying that two people receiving the same stuff were being charged the same.

Given their history, I'm guessing the Bosches will be having lots of conversations with the IRS but will get the standard wrist slap for the PED distribution.