NewsWhore
06-17-2009, 04:10 PM
Baseball has been dealt yet another blow, and this time from one its most beloved figures. A report in the New York Times reveals that Sammy Sosa tested positive for performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in 2003.
The news was verified by lawyers with knowledge of the drug testing results from that year, but who will remain anonymous because they are not allowed to speak on those results. These results substantiate rumors that have surrounded Sosa, his career, his homerun race in 1998 and would be another strike against a sport still reeling from the aftermath of what has been dubbed "the Steroid Era."
Sosa's inclusion in the ring of liars and cheats is more damning considering that only two weeks ago he gave an interview to ESPN Deportes in which he said he would retire and calmly wait for induction into the baseball Hall of Fame.
His chances at the Hall are now heavily damaged, if one considers the less than stellar support fellow Steroid Era player and suspected drug user Mark McGwire received when he was up for Hall induction.
Sosa, who is sixth on Major League Baseball's career homerun list and last played in 2007, had long been suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs, but until now had never been publicly linked to a positive test.
The revelation that Sosa in fact did take PEDs could prove a legal nightmare for "Slammin Sammy,' considering that he testified, under oath, to Congress that he had "never taken illegal performance enhancing drugs."
According to Schmidt, the 2003 test that ensnared Sosa was the first such test conducted by Major League Baseball. Under guidelines agreed upon with the players union, the test results were to remain anonymous but would lead to testing with penalties the next year if more than five percent of the results were positive. However, many of the names on the list have been leaked, including that of Alex Rodriguez.
What's most troubling, if the revelations are confirmed is that in the years following his career Sosa knowingly lied and deceived the public about his career and his use of drugs. "To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything," said Sosa during his Congressional hearing.
Quoted by Fox Sports, fellow baseball icon Pedro Martinez said, "This news would make me feel terrible if it is proven that Sammy tested positive. This is a problem for all of baseball, not just Dominican baseball. But in reality, this is a problem of education that has to be attacked." Sosa is now one of many MLBers caught up in the scandal and is an additional stain on the Dominican legacy of the sport. Fellow players Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Tejada and Manny Ramirez have all been linked to PEDs.
www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/sports/baseball/17doping.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/sports/baseball/17doping.html)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)
The news was verified by lawyers with knowledge of the drug testing results from that year, but who will remain anonymous because they are not allowed to speak on those results. These results substantiate rumors that have surrounded Sosa, his career, his homerun race in 1998 and would be another strike against a sport still reeling from the aftermath of what has been dubbed "the Steroid Era."
Sosa's inclusion in the ring of liars and cheats is more damning considering that only two weeks ago he gave an interview to ESPN Deportes in which he said he would retire and calmly wait for induction into the baseball Hall of Fame.
His chances at the Hall are now heavily damaged, if one considers the less than stellar support fellow Steroid Era player and suspected drug user Mark McGwire received when he was up for Hall induction.
Sosa, who is sixth on Major League Baseball's career homerun list and last played in 2007, had long been suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs, but until now had never been publicly linked to a positive test.
The revelation that Sosa in fact did take PEDs could prove a legal nightmare for "Slammin Sammy,' considering that he testified, under oath, to Congress that he had "never taken illegal performance enhancing drugs."
According to Schmidt, the 2003 test that ensnared Sosa was the first such test conducted by Major League Baseball. Under guidelines agreed upon with the players union, the test results were to remain anonymous but would lead to testing with penalties the next year if more than five percent of the results were positive. However, many of the names on the list have been leaked, including that of Alex Rodriguez.
What's most troubling, if the revelations are confirmed is that in the years following his career Sosa knowingly lied and deceived the public about his career and his use of drugs. "To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything," said Sosa during his Congressional hearing.
Quoted by Fox Sports, fellow baseball icon Pedro Martinez said, "This news would make me feel terrible if it is proven that Sammy tested positive. This is a problem for all of baseball, not just Dominican baseball. But in reality, this is a problem of education that has to be attacked." Sosa is now one of many MLBers caught up in the scandal and is an additional stain on the Dominican legacy of the sport. Fellow players Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Tejada and Manny Ramirez have all been linked to PEDs.
www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/sports/baseball/17doping.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/sports/baseball/17doping.html)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)