I miss many of the fine folks here. Might be nice to watch the Angels rise back to first place with ’em.

*Your absence has not gone unnoticed.

He is not, for example, coming back into HH to proclaim how he was wrong and how KRod is doing great with the Mets and Fuentes is struggling with the Halos, so maybe closers such as Frankie do not grow on trees after all.

Manny does not believe in Charmin.

I was simply pointing out that logically speaking, it must be true that he has tested clean. Doesn’t mean he was clean; it means he tested clean. And that was Manny’s statement (history of clean tests).

Searched “holliday is a tight ass” and didn’t come up with anything.

Looking at the interviews he does give, I get the feeling that he still would appear taciturn even with confident command of the english language. I recall an ESPN magazine article where the interviewer described how Vlad tends to wince when recorders are placed under him or his words are written down. He’s the kind of star that functions in front of 40,000 people but doesn’t have the charisma to be charming in front of reporters and cameras. That’s where Torii comes in.

Vlad has endeared himself to many Angels fans becuase…

1. He grew up in extreme poverty and became a very prominent player in the Major Leagues. People like the human story.
2. The fact that he is softspoken and let’s his bat speak for him. He’s not a loud-mouth and never gets into trouble off the field.
3. He has been quoted many times saying how much he loves the Angels and that it is his hope that not matter what happens he can end his career as an Angel.
4. Vlad has appeal to emerging baseball fans. People who are casually interested in baseball. These are the people that MLB is hoping to pull in further.

I know it’s sappy, but there a lot of people who like that stuff.

and yeah and he trashes the shit out of the Angels. If I saw him at the stadium I’d spill my beer on him.

I was outraged at all the “juiced baseball” nonsense.
I was outraged by the Players’ Association and Donald Fehr.
I was outrage by Bud Selig.
I was outraged by the obvious response of Barry Bonds’ need to feed his ego and join the
abuse.
I was still outraged by Bud Selig.
I was outraged enough to communicate back and forth with Mark Fainaru-Wada as I charted the statistical anomoly of Bonds’ career arc in comparison to his ’roid use.
I was outraged by the whole Congressional hearings.
I was still outraged by Bud Selig.
I was outraged by the Mitchell Report.
I was still outraged by Bud Selig.
I was outraged by ARod.
I was still outraged by Bud Selig.

So, by the time I get to Manny, I have earned my outrage stripes. The culpability IS rampant. Players, union, coaches, trainers, owners, league officials, the media. And I understand how you can feel that all fans should be outraged too. I have always been outraged by Bonds apologists. Yeah. I get it.

But the lesson here is that Manny was most likely using substances deemed by MLB as illegal for some time, and readily dodged whatever mechanism MLB has in place to discover such use. He did not get caught for primary use. He got caught for masking the after-effects. And MLB is trying to be very strict right now. Manny is losing 7.7million bucks. Serious shyte. And they STILL cannot get it right.

I have to think that they are not using community college students to establish the protocols and manage/conduct the testing. I have to think that they are top-shelf clinicians following international scientific standard methods. And STILL it does not work. So, are we holding MLB/owners/coaches/trainers/media/fans to a standard that is not possible? Perhaps.

I turn then to the players and the players union. The union is what it is. I am not going to defend those people in this for a split second. But the players, they are something else to consider. The system in place as it promotes an uneven playing field. Those players capable of dodging the system have an artificial advantage over any/all others. This can cost players money and, for those competing at the edge, entire careers. That sux. If the science of testing cannot defend those players from science the PEDs, it’s really not appropriate for MLB to be mandating that science be the rule of law. It ensures that there will be a class of players at a disadvantage. At this point (and I am open to other logical interpretations), the implication is that the only to enable the non PED using player with the chance to compete and the chance to work is to allow those players to choose to use PEDs too.

(Greenies are a red herring? A proven parallel of performance enhancing drug use from at least the sixties and seventies and at least up to 2006? A red herring? Really?)

My understanding is that even now, Manny didn’t exactly test “positive” for anything. What his tests revealed was an elevated level of testosterone, which suggests (but does not prove) use of some kind of PED. MLB investigated the matter further, which revealed that Ramirez was using the prescription medicine referred to as “HCG.”

Now, as for why he was using HCG, there are both innocent and sinister explanations; I don’t know if we’ll ever really know the truth.

How do you know Vlad hasn’t tested positive?

Aren’t there about 104 positive tests out there, when ARod’s results got leaked?

I just think it’s preposterous to assume anyone is clean.

 I can see your idea of the conversation now:

Vlad’s trainer: listen, I can give you an illegal steroid, that is undetectable, that will allow
quicker healing, it’ll add 10 homeruns a season, make you $40 million more, and you
will become unstoppable at the plate.

Vlad: no thanks, I have too much integrity for the game and for the players that have played before me.

Tee-hee!

I didn’t realize it was a non sequitur.