"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

Your 100% Accurate Steroids Witch-Hunt Guide

After yesterday’s post I realized it was time to stop evading the steroids/P.E.D “witch-hunt” issue and address it head-on in a helpful way. What follows is a case-by-case look at the evidence and facts in the cases of prominent players who have been suspected or accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, and a careful evaluation of their guilt or innocence.

ROGER CLEMENS


Evidence: Named in the Mitchell Report and accused by former trainer Brian McNamee, currently under  federal indictment for lying to Congress about his P.E.D. use. Head the size of a zeppelin. None of that is definitive, however: we need to look deeper.

Roger Clemens’ win-loss record is 354–184. 3+5+4+1+8+4 = 25. As we should all know from our studies of numerology, 25 symbolizes the Law according to Saint Augustin and the Universal Word of God according to Abellio*. In addition, “According to visions of Ann-Catherine Emmerich, the duration of the trip of the Three Magi was 25 days,” and “Mahomet was 25 years old when he married a widow, named Khadidja.”

Furthermore, one of Roger Clemens’ attorneys is Rusty Hardin. Hardin earned his law degree at Southern Methodist University in 1975. 1+9+7+5 is 22 – that’s right, Roger Clemens’ old uniform number. There are 22 letters of the alphabet in the Pentateuch, and Jeroboam reigned for 22 years. Taking it one step farther, 2+2 is 4, and “number 4 people” tend to be “hard workers” and “dependable” with “a higher purpose in life.”

Verdict: Innocent.

(*Yeah, I don’t know either. Cursory research indicates that Abellio is either an ancient god worshipped in the Garonne Valley in Gallia Aquitania (now southwest France), or a British bus company. Either way I think that’s pretty conclusive.)

RAFAEL PALMIERO


Evidence: Palmiero was born on September 24th, 1964, making him a Libra. Libras are “desperate for the approval of others,” “crave new knowledge” and “set out to accomplish their chosen goals and will find ways to succeed one way or the other.” Ruh-roh. On top of that, Libra is the only inanimate sign of the zodiac.

Verdict: Guilty, and possibly inanimate.

PUDGE RODRIGUEZ


Evidence: He turned me into a newt!*

Verdict: Burn him!

(*I got better.)

MIKE PIAZZA


Evidence: Back acne, per veteran blogger Murray Chass. In Salem back in the day, midwives used to check suspected witches for “black marks” on the body which might indicate their guilt. So, what we really need to know here is, did this “bacne” consist of whiteheads or blackheads? I have emailed Mr. Chass and eagerly await his response. Until then, we can reach no certain conclusions. (Disclaimer: Chass is not currently a licensed midwife. As far as I know).

Verdict: TBA.

JEFF BAGWELL


Evidence: With Bagwell, we are lucky in that we can apply the immutable laws of tasseography, or tea-leaf reading, to his facial hair over the years. I can clearly see an icicle in many photos of Bagwell’s beard, signifying his being frozen out of the Hall of Fame. In addition I can make out an upside-down Christmas tree, symbolizing Bagwell’s pact with Satan, and wavy lines, which symbolize an uncertain path. According to tasseography experts, owls symbolize gossip, scandal, and aliens, while an ostrich represents travel and “not seeking a truth.” I don’t actually see an owl or an ostrich in Bagwell’s beard but I’m just saying.

Also, while I hate to use guilt by association as an incriminating factor, the following picture is too revealing to ignore:

Clearly, we have a pattern here.

Verdict: Sorry Jeff.

3 comments

1 Bobtaco   ~  Dec 31, 2010 5:09 pm

How the hell did Lance Berkman steal my cat? Seriously, he's laying right here on the couch in front of me, but that is a spitting image...

Is it me, or does Pudge look much better as a cat?

2 OldYanksFan   ~  Dec 31, 2010 5:26 pm

Actually I read somewhere that Raffy had another PED test shortly after the one he failed, and passed the 2nd test.

Starting in 1993, at 28 years old, Raffy posted the following HRs:
37, 23, 39, 39, 38, 43, 47, 39, 47, 43, 38 and then 23 in 2004.
Is there a pattern there? A major jump?
He has 2 down years of 23 HRs in the midst of a 12 year run where he otherwise hit between 37 and 47 HRs.

Camden Yarks in a good park for HRs, but Raffy hit 55% of his HRs at home, which isn't that unbalanced.

So was this guy doing PEDs for over a decade?
Might he really be clean?

3 williamnyy23   ~  Dec 31, 2010 5:42 pm

[2] It wouldn't surprise me if Palmeiro was the victim of circumstance. Palmeiro absolutely belongs in the Hall of Fame. At some point, someone in the MLB hierarchy will have to take the lead on revamping the electoral process because the BBWAA has forfeited its right.

Here's an article link mentioning the follow-up test: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/28/sports/28iht-base.html?_r=1

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