Mark McGwire on Steroids: "I did it"

Mark McGwire finally came clean Monday, admitting he used steroids when he broke baseball's home run record in 1998.

McGwire says in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday that he used steroids on and off for nearly a decade and he apologizes for his actions.

"I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come," McGwire said. "It's time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected."

"I'm sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids," McGwire said. "I had good years when I didn't take any, and I had bad years when I didn't take any. I had good years when I took steroids, and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn't have done it and for that I'm truly sorry."

"After all this time, I want to come clean," he said. "I was not in a position to do that five years ago in my congressional testimony, but now I feel an obligation to discuss this and to answer questions about it. I'll do that, and then I just want to help my team."

"I remember trying steroids very briefly in the 1989/1990 offseason and then after I was injured in 1993, I used steroids again," McGwire said in his statement. "I used them on occasion throughout the '90s, including during the 1998 season."

"During the mid-'90s, I went on the DL seven times and missed 228 games over five years," McGwire said in the statement. "I experienced a lot of injuries, including a ribcage strain, a torn left heel muscle, a stress fracture of the left heel, and a torn right heel muscle. It was definitely a miserable bunch of years, and I told myself that steroids could help me recover faster. I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries, too."

Well, I'm sure the acts of steroid use comes as no surprise to any of you, but it sure is nice to hear the man finally come clean.

In another bit of "yeah, no kidding" news, another source is telling us, "Clay Aiken might be gay"....stay tuned.

The ARod Test: You Decide

OK boys and girls of all ages, it's time for a new game!

Look at the stats and figure out when ARod 'roided and when he was clean.

He said he was on the juice from 2001-2003--do you think he's being truthful?

First fan to correctly guess the true "ARod 'roid years" gets a prize (all answers must be verified by Katie Couric).

Career: Batting | Fielding
SEASON	TEAM	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
1994	Sea	17	54	4	11	0	0	0	2	3	20	3	0	.204	.241	.204	.445
1995	Sea	48	142	15	33	6	2	5	19	6	42	4	2	.232	.264	.408	.672
1996	Sea	146	601	141	215	54	1	36	123	59	104	15	4	.358	.414	.631	1.045
1997	Sea	141	587	100	176	40	3	23	84	41	99	29	6	.300	.350	.496	.846
1998	Sea	161	686	123	213	35	5	42	124	45	121	46	13	.310	.360	.560	.920
1999	Sea	129	502	110	143	25	0	42	111	56	109	21	7	.285	.357	.586	.943
2000	Sea	148	554	134	175	34	2	41	132	100	121	15	4	.316	.420	.606	1.026
2001	Tex	162	632	133	201	34	1	52	135	75	131	18	3	.318	.399	.622	1.021
2002	Tex	162	624	125	187	27	2	57	142	87	122	9	4	.300	.392	.623	1.015
2003	Tex	161	607	124	181	30	6	47	118	87	126	17	3	.298	.396	.600	.996
2004	NYY	155	601	112	172	24	2	36	106	80	131	28	4	.286	.375	.512	.887
2005	NYY	162	605	124	194	29	1	48	130	91	139	21	6	.321	.421	.610	1.031
2006	NYY	154	572	113	166	26	1	35	121	90	139	15	4	.290	.392	.523	.915
2007	NYY	158	583	143	183	31	0	54	156	95	120	24	4	.314	.422	.645	1.067
2008	NYY	138	510	104	154	33	0	35	103	65	117	18	3	.302	.392	.573	.965
Total	--	2042	7860	1605	2404	428	26	553	1606	980	1641	283	67	.306	.389	.578	.967

A-Roid: It's Positive

SI is reporting that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003.

Truthfully, does this come as a shock to anyone?

Newsday has the story as well. We'll be hearing a lot more on this story, but here is a link to Davidoff's piece.

In it he says:

Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two illegal performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, SI.com reported this morning.

Rodriguez, then with the Texas Rangers, won the American League Most Valuable award in the 2003 season. According to the SI.com report, which cited four sources, A-Rod tested positive for testosterone and an anabolic steroid known by the brand name Primobolan.

2003 marked the first year that major-league players were tested for illegal PEDs, but the test was conducted as a "survey," with no disicplinary measures installed. Because more than five percent of the players tested positive -- a total of 104 -- a disciplinary system went into effect in 2004. The test results were supposed to remain anonymous, but federal agents seized the test results in a raid on one of the laboratories storing the results, as part of the government's investigation into the BALCO case.

The SI.com report also states that A-Rod received an advance tip from Players Association COO Gene Orza in September 2004 that he would be tested.

The Golden Age....of the Strikeout?

Today is September 12, 2008--there are about 17 games left in the regular season.

It's been a very good season for a variety of reasons. Statistically, nothing really stands out--let me re-phrase that--there is one thing, and we'll get to it in a second.

There's been good slugging, but no one chasing 50+ home runs and 150 RBIs. Ryan Howard leads MLB with 43 HRs, and about a half dozen guys are in the mid-30s.

Good hitting? Sure, but no one is making a run at .400 or even .380. The top hitters for average are Chipper Jones and Albert Pujols, both at about .360, and the next highest guy is Matt Holliday at .329.

Pitching-wise it's been business as usual...there is one 20-game winner, Cliff Lee, and 2 or 3 other guys that might win 20.

So what is different about this year?

It's the strikeout.

Two players have a very good chance at striking out 200+ times on the year: Ryan Howard and Mark Reynolds. A third, Jack Cust, will get up to 190.

To put that in perspective, no one, in the entire history of major league baseball, has ever struck out 200 or more times in a season.

Ryan Howard is at 189 and will easily eclipse his record of 199 Ks, which was set just last year.

Mark Reynolds is at 183 and has already Kd 13 times this month.

Jack Cust is "only" at 174, but he's a sure bet to add at least 10-12 more Ks to his total.

In 2005 only 60 players had 100 or more Ks. In 2006, 74 players reached that figure. In 2007, that number rose to 89. If 2008 continues to form, we could see that number topped to over 90 players with 100 or more Ks.

Mets fans should actually take heart--the team has the fewest Ks in the National league and is 3rd in walks. When looking at the K leaders, you have to go all the way down to 41st to find a Met.

So to what do we attribute this continuing rise in Ks over the last few years? Better pitching? A wider strike zone? Technology? I will say: no, no and no. There seems to be another reason, though only a freakenomist would make the connection.

You have to ask--are steroids, or more specifically, a lack of steroids, part of this trend?

I think so. Bats and reflexes are slower, and those "big swings" are still there. The trend in increased Ks began in earnest when the testing and punishment for steroids came into play.

Homerun totals are down, strikeout numbers are up--the variables are the same, the game is the same, the strike zone is the same--in fact, nothing else has really changed at all these past few year--except steroid use.

Welcome to the new era of the "non chemical aided" free swinger....it's not a pretty sight.

Sortable Batting
RK	PLAYER	TEAM	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Ryan Howard	PHI	560	91	136	25	2	43	129	1	1	72	189	.243	.330	.525	.855
2	Mark Reynolds	ARI	487	84	118	25	3	27	92	10	1	56	183	.242	.321	.472	.794
3	Jack Cust	OAK	434	66	99	16	0	28	66	0	0	96	176	.228	.368	.459	.826
4	Dan Uggla	FLA	478	88	125	37	1	30	84	5	5	65	152	.262	.357	.531	.889
5	Chris Young	ARI	569	76	140	41	6	19	74	12	5	53	151	.246	.309	.439	.749
6	Carlos Pena	TAM	442	70	109	21	2	28	88	1	1	83	148	.247	.374	.493	.867
7	Adam Dunn	CIN/ARI	459	72	110	20	0	36	89	2	1	109	146	.240	.389	.519	.907
8	Matt Kemp	LAD	544	83	155	36	4	16	69	33	9	42	141	.285	.336	.454	.790
9	Jeremy Hermida	FLA	480	70	119	22	3	16	58	6	0	46	131	.248	.322	.406	.728
10	Jim Thome	CHW	448	82	111	26	0	31	84	1	0	80	130	.248	.364	.513	.878