Rick Ankiel & HGH

[Krankor 0]

I just saw this come across ESPN and thought it was big enough news to get its own thread.

 

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel, who punctuated a storybook comeback from pitching travails by homering twice with 7 RBIs Thursday, joined the list of athletes linked to a Florida-based steroids investigation.

 

The New York Daily News reported Friday that Ankiel received a 12-month supply of human growth hormone in 2004 from a Florida pharmacy that was part of a national illegal prescription drug-distribution operation, citing records its reporters saw. That Orlando outfit, Signature Pharmacy, has been implicated in a steroids investigation run by Albany County (N.Y.) District Attorney P. David Soares, which has resulted in 22 indictments and several Florida clinic raids.

 

Ankiel's prescriptions were signed by Florida physician William Gogan, who provided them through a Palm Beach Gardens clinic called "The Health and Rejuvenation Center," or "THARC."

 

Ankiel has not been accused by authorities of wrongdoing, and stopped receiving HGH just before Major League Baseball officially banned it in 2005, The News reported.

 

MLB does not test for HGH, but a player who is known to have used it or even possessed it from the time it was banned can face a 50-game suspension.

 

Ankiel's agent, Scott Boras, would not comment.

 

Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty said: "This is the first I've heard of this. If it's true, obviously it would be very tragic, along with everything else we've had happen to us this year."

 

MLB officials also declined comment, saying they would "look into" the allegations, but weren't sure whether any action could be taken.

 

Also linked to the scandal, in various reports, are baseball's Gary Matthews Jr., Jose Canseco, John Rocker, Jerry Hairston Jr. and David Bell, former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, Pittsburgh Steelers doctor Richard Rydze, 1996 Olympic wrestling gold medalist Kurt Angle and bodybuilder Victor Martinez.

 

On Thursday, Ankiel homered twice and had a career-high seven RBIs, leading the Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 16-4 in a rain-shortened game.

 

Brought up Aug. 9 in his first major league appearance since he pitched for the Cardinals in 2004, Ankiel is batting .358 with nine homers and 29 RBIs in 23 games. He also homered twice against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 11.

 

The hard-throwing lefty won 11 games and struck out 194 in 175 innings as a 20-year-old rookie pitcher in 2000 and was a surprise pick to start the Cardinals' postseason opener that season against Atlanta. But he became the first major-league pitcher to throw five wild pitches in one inning since 1890.

 

Ankiel threw nine wild pitches in four innings during the 2000 playoffs and was never really the same after that. He showed some promise at the plate in 2000, batting .250 with two home runs.

 

I can't say I'm very surprised. His entire comeback seemed too good to be true.

 

Discuss.

[Guest Soriano's Torn Quad]

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Well, damn. It's going to seem so tainted when he wins the World Series MVP.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

You did read that he stopped receiving it before it got banned? So the feel-good story of 2007 when he's been off it for a good 3 years should still apply.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Well, you can't pin his performance last night on HGH -- he was batting against the Pirates.

[In Credible 0]

I don't see where the story is, he used it before it was banned, and stopped shortly before it was. End of issue.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Because people bitch about Bonds and Sheffield juicing in the past when they're arguably not doing so anymore. It would be hypocritical to let this blow over if people are going to make issue of what those guys did.

[Boon 0]

People bitch about Bonds and Giambi for getting caught doing stuff we can test for. At this point, nobody has a god damn clue what to do about HGH. I spent the morning listening to Bill Romanowski talking about HGH. He came off like a god damn Harvard scholar.

[The Man in Blak 0]

I think the take at Viva El Birdos is dead on: Ankiel needs to directly respond to these accusations as soon as possible.

 

If he freely admits that he took HGH by prescription to recover from injury during his pitching days and that his usage stopped before the substance was banned by baseball in 2005, then he may have a chance at getting the benefit of the doubt; Ankiel has always had remarkable power potential, even as a pitcher, and cycling off of HGH in 2004 wouldn't likely have any impact on his current performance today.

 

However, if he waffles or if the Cardinals step in (as they seemingly always have with Ankiel) and shield him from the media...well, then he's going to get fucked. And the fans will have every right to be suspicious of his current performance.

[cabbageboy 0]

I read a bit more into this and it seems a bit silly to try and say that since Ankiel was using HGH in 2004 that it wrecks whatever he's done this year. In 2004 Ankiel was recovering from Tommy John surgery and throwing wild pitches in the minor leagues, then ended up in a Puerto Rican league for a while after that.

 

If there's evidence that comes out showing that he was using HGH or steroids in the past year while becoming a slugger in AAA and with the Cardinals, then yeah that looks pretty bad.

[Mik 0]

This story makes me angry actually.

 

It just another reason for the idiots who wear tin foil hats and think everyone is dirty to grumble despite the fact that he used this 3 years ago when he was still a recovering minor league pitcher.

 

But people are going to somehow claim that this is helping him hit HRs in 2007? Makes me so angry.

[Krankor 0]

Here's the issue.

 

Yes he stopped recieving it before the ban, but did he stop using it before the ban?

 

That's what Ankiel and the Cardinals need to make public immediately. HGH was banned in 2005. Ankiel recieved a year supply in 2004 of the drugs. He would have finished using that supply at some point in 2005. Depending on what the exact dates are Ankiel could be fuck.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

Because people bitch about Bonds and Sheffield juicing in the past when they're arguably not doing so anymore. It would be hypocritical to let this blow over if people are going to make issue of what those guys did.

 

The thing I'm finding hypocritical is fans of other teams who hate the Yankees/Cardinals/Giants/Cubs/Whomever start ripping those players (Giambi, McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, Sheffield, ect) with such anger and vitriol that it makes me wonder how they'd react if it was found out that one of their team's big players (example, the Mets and Mike Piazza or Howard Johnson) was revealed to be a user. Would they "look the other way" the way they accuse fans of the Yankees do to Jason Giambi (and Gary Sheffield when he was in town) and Roger Clemens (hey if non-Met/Dodger fans accuse Piazza with no proof, I'm accusing Clemens with no real proof)

 

To me you should bitch about the entire sport as a whole rather than picking and choosing just because Player A and Team A are among your most hated rivals or something.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

...and Roger Clemens (hey if non-Met/Dodger fans accuse Piazza with no proof, I'm accusing Clemens with no real proof)

 

Roger Clemens was named in the Jason Grimsley case.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

...and Roger Clemens (hey if non-Met/Dodger fans accuse Piazza with no proof, I'm accusing Clemens with no real proof)

 

Roger Clemens was named in the Jason Grimsley case.

 

Wasn't he and Pettitte mistakenly listed or something?

 

Actually Pettitte is even better example than Clemens since Yankee fans and media have always had a man-crush on that guy and thats probably why the whole Grimsley case got "swept under the rug" or here in NYC anyway

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

The way I see it, there's no proof he is still taking HGH. All we know is he took it in 2004 and has since stopped. I know we live in a society where we can't entirely trust athletes or what they tell us, but until something comes out that says Ankiel is still taking HGH or was at some point after the ban, there's nothing we can or should do. It'd be almost akin to being pissed at Josh Hamilton for having used drugs in the past, on the off chance he's still using it.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

The way I see it, there's no proof he is still taking HGH. All we know is he took it in 2004 and has since stopped. I know we live in a society where we can't entirely trust athletes or what they tell us, but until something comes out that says Ankiel is still taking HGH or was at some point after the ban, there's nothing we can or should do. It'd be almost akin to being pissed at Josh Hamilton for having used drugs in the past, on the off chance he's still using it.

 

Good point, my first post in this thread was based on someone on another forum going off the deep end saying that the Cards should all be banned and put into the WWF (he meant the WWE of course) because if this. Naturally this poster is a Mets fan/Cardinal hater.

[Guest Soriano's Torn Quad]

The thing I'm finding hypocritical is fans of other teams who hate the Yankees/Cardinals/Giants/Cubs/Whomever start ripping those players (Giambi, McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, Sheffield, ect) with such anger and vitriol that it makes me wonder how they'd react if it was found out that one of their team's big players (example, the Mets and Mike Piazza or Howard Johnson) was revealed to be a user. Would they "look the other way" the way they accuse fans of the Yankees do to Jason Giambi (and Gary Sheffield when he was in town) and Roger Clemens (hey if non-Met/Dodger fans accuse Piazza with no proof, I'm accusing Clemens with no real proof)

 

Speaking on behalf of a lot of Cubs fans, the general feeling with Sammy is that we were deceived, not just by his surely steroid-influenced performance, but by his character as well, and no matter how many homers he hit, he's been removed from the pantheon of Cub greats in the minds of many, even though his career achievements would otherwise put him among Banks, Santo, Sandberg, et al. You may notice that not only is #21 not retired, not only is it not out of circulation, but it's already been given to Jason Marquis. I think that sums up how the organization feels about Sammy, and the fans agree, so kudos to them for doing the right thing and washing their hands of him.

 

EDIT: Today's development:

=

[Krankor 0]

Yahoo.com is reporting that Ankiel recieved the shipments from January 2004 to December of 2004, and Glaus recieved shipments between September 2003 and May 2004.

 

Glaus went on the DL in late July 2003 with a shoulder injury and missed a ton of games in 2004 because of the same injury.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I do find it suspect that this information "happens" to surface in the middle of a tremendous comeback for Ankiel.

[Cartman 0]

What do ALL these Athletes/Wrestlers have in common during their usage time? Injuries. Screw it. I'm all in favor of these guys doing whatever they need to do to recover faster and get back out on the field/ring quicker.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

Also linked to the scandal, in various reports, are baseball's Gary Matthews Jr., Jose Canseco, John Rocker, Jerry Hairston Jr. and David Bell, former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, Pittsburgh Steelers doctor Richard Rydze, 1996 Olympic wrestling gold medalist Kurt Angle and bodybuilder Victor Martinez.

 

Just noticed this. Gee, you think with all the steroid talk in the aftermath of the Chris Benoit double murder and suicide that they would have updated Angle's resume to say "former WWE wrestler Kurt Angle."

 

Here it actually kind of implicates that Angle took it back in 1996!

[CanadianChris 0]

Put Jay Gibbons down on the list for receiving both steroids and HGH:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3012372

 

Gibbons was also named in the Jason Grimsley bust.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Put Jay Gibbons down on the list for receiving both steroids and HGH:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3012372

 

Gibbons was also named in the Jason Grimsley bust.

 

The time period he's been taking them correlates to his injury riddled seasons..

[Boxer 0]

The thing I'm finding hypocritical is fans of other teams who hate the Yankees/Cardinals/Giants/Cubs/Whomever start ripping those players (Giambi, McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, Sheffield, ect) with such anger and vitriol that it makes me wonder how they'd react if it was found out that one of their team's big players (example, the Mets and Mike Piazza or Howard Johnson) was revealed to be a user. Would they "look the other way" the way they accuse fans of the Yankees do to Jason Giambi (and Gary Sheffield when he was in town) and Roger Clemens (hey if non-Met/Dodger fans accuse Piazza with no proof, I'm accusing Clemens with no real proof)

 

Speaking on behalf of a lot of Cubs fans, the general feeling with Sammy is that we were deceived, not just by his surely steroid-influenced performance, but by his character as well, and no matter how many homers he hit, he's been removed from the pantheon of Cub greats in the minds of many, even though his career achievements would otherwise put him among Banks, Santo, Sandberg, et al. You may notice that not only is #21 not retired, not only is it not out of circulation, but it's already been given to Jason Marquis. I think that sums up how the organization feels about Sammy, and the fans agree, so kudos to them for doing the right thing and washing their hands of him.

 

EDIT: Today's development:

=

 

I just read a story in my local paper on Sosa and how with his career winding down he is accepting the fact that he no longer plays everyday. Just being a humble vet. I am actually surprised Sosa has that image now in Chicago. Imagine if "Bartman" never interferred and Sosa got the Cubs to the World Series and won the thing? Would we have a LEGEND in Chicago then?

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

The thing I'm finding hypocritical is fans of other teams who hate the Yankees/Cardinals/Giants/Cubs/Whomever start ripping those players (Giambi, McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, Sheffield, ect) with such anger and vitriol that it makes me wonder how they'd react if it was found out that one of their team's big players (example, the Mets and Mike Piazza or Howard Johnson) was revealed to be a user. Would they "look the other way" the way they accuse fans of the Yankees do to Jason Giambi (and Gary Sheffield when he was in town) and Roger Clemens (hey if non-Met/Dodger fans accuse Piazza with no proof, I'm accusing Clemens with no real proof)

 

Speaking on behalf of a lot of Cubs fans, the general feeling with Sammy is that we were deceived, not just by his surely steroid-influenced performance, but by his character as well, and no matter how many homers he hit, he's been removed from the pantheon of Cub greats in the minds of many, even though his career achievements would otherwise put him among Banks, Santo, Sandberg, et al. You may notice that not only is #21 not retired, not only is it not out of circulation, but it's already been given to Jason Marquis. I think that sums up how the organization feels about Sammy, and the fans agree, so kudos to them for doing the right thing and washing their hands of him.

 

EDIT: Today's development:

=

 

I just read a story in my local paper on Sosa and how with his career winding down he is accepting the fact that he no longer plays everyday. Just being a humble vet. I am actually surprised Sosa has that image now in Chicago. Imagine if "Bartman" never interferred and Sosa got the Cubs to the World Series and won the thing? Would we have a LEGEND in Chicago then?

 

Good What If. I wouldn't be surprised though if the focus wasn't on Wood/Prior rather than Sosa in terms of who was the hero of the season. Those guys were just so damn nasty that year, that IIRC kind of overshadowed the decent offense the Cubs had that year. Plus I think chinks in Sosa's armor were showing by that point. Even though no one blames him for that loss.

 

Interestingly he had his best postseason series ever in that NLCS. .308 batting, .455 OBP, and .577 slugging. Along with his only 2 postseason HRs and 6 RBI