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^^^^^^^^^^^ This is a good synopsis of the book. However, if you really want to get the feel of how the athlete's lives were changed due to the steriods you need to read it.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 19, 2006 -> 12:28 PM) Ya well he's going to be starting this year and he's going to be one of our better starters(he'll be our 2nd or 3rd best starter next season) and he allows us to cut 8-10 mill in payroll. Like I said, he's way too valuable at this point. McCarthy will not be our 2nd or 3rd best starter next year. The purpose of leaving him in the bullpen this year, whether or not you agree with it is a different discussion, was to have him learn at the major league level without having him play an integral role. With the way the bullpen turned out the team needed to put him in important situation with mixed results. He still has a learning curve in the majors and I think he will be a good pitcher but not as son as next year.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 12, 2006 -> 07:45 PM) Normally, anabolic steroids are given to some patients to treat certain conditions. I've been put on them before for an asthma attack if I recall correctly (was like 3rd grade). The doses that athletes take in order to increase muscle mass are generally 10 to 100 times the doses prescribed by doctors for actual treatment. Athletes will also often combine multiple steroids, or will combine steroids and something like HGH (as Bonds did), because the different chemicals may affect the body in different ways. Generally, anything taken outside the supervision of a doctor would be described as abuse by the law, so even small amounts would qualify if not done with a doctor's approval, and with athletes, we're talking about orders of magnitude larger doses. These steriods were not not anabolic steriods. They were steriods for decreasing inflammation of the bronchial tubes such as prednisone. When steriods are taken for muscle gain, a single steriods isn't used. They "stack" them in various combinations for differnet pruposes. They can stack them for bulk such as an O-lineman will use or speed for a wide reciever. Actually the biggest users of steriods are the people trying to increase speed. The track athletes and backs in the NFL are prime exmaples. This is why the IOC has come down so hard on the track athletes because of it's rampant use. The whole Balco issue really started out investigating track athletes such as Marion Jones. I've got a really good book for anyone interested in steriods. I believe it's called Faust's Gold or Fools Gold. I've been looking for it since this topic came up. It's the investigation into the East German women's swim team of the 60's and 70's. When the wall cam down the secret Satsi files became public and this researchers got the records of the steriods these "physicians" were feeding these girls. It's sickening what they did to them and how their lifves have turned out. I'll post it when I find it. I found the book I was referring to. It's called: Faust's Gold: Inside the German Doping Machiene by Steven Ungerleider. It's a good read if you want to be informed about steriods.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 12, 2006 -> 07:57 PM) If it was McCarthy straight up, and there was enough money included in the deal, I'd consider it. But on the other hand, consider this. How good will the $200 million team be when their stockpile of young pitching finally appears? Think about facing this rotation next year: Matsuzaka, Wang, Philip Hughes, Brandon McCarthy, Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina, and maybe something resembling the unholy offspring of Jaret Wright and Carl Pavano. Suddenly their starting pitching goes from expensive, old, and broken, to young, fireballing, healthy, cheap, and deep. They've already shown they have enough money to overcome any deficiencies on their offense, but the one place they haven't been able to do it is on their pitching staff, because the older pitchers who get paid the big bucks have a habit of breaking down after a lot of innings. If suddenly the Yankees got themselves a boatload of young pitching at the start of that rotation, which they're already on the verge of doing with Wang, Matsuzaka, and Hughes, then, well think about how the Tigers would have done this year if they had the Yankee offense. Remember, even if we were to get ARod from the Yankees, we still have to beat the Yankees somewhere along the line. Yes, we can help ourselves here, but we shouldn't do it while simultaneously giving the Yankees the one thing they need to be even better: young quality starting pitching. Good angle. I hadn't thought about it that why. Giving them any starting pitching could be dangerous. Of course if we don't the LAA will. Either way if they trade him, they will be a better team because pitching wins championships.

QUOTE(T R U @ Oct 12, 2006 -> 11:55 AM) ^ from Wikipedia Like I have been saying already, you use them properly and dont abuse them and you arent gonna die. You can believe a reference from Wikipedia if you wish, however I'll stick to the medical literature and what I've seen in pro sports. Taking a high enough dosage of anabolic steriods will cause internal organ damage and lead to a shorter life span. There are no true double-blind randomised trials on humans anywhere in any literature stating conclusively what they will do to you. It would unethical for anyone to subject a client to this type of testing. I don't know why you are buying into the "steroids are ok" spiel but I'll bet it wasn't from someone who has taken them for an extended period of time. There are always a few who last awhile and others say "if they can do it so can I." But as I said earlier it's like the smokers who make to 80 y/o and say I did it and I'm fine. talk to the other thousands who didn't make it.

QUOTE(Cuck the Fubs @ Oct 11, 2006 -> 08:11 PM) ^That's if you abuse steriods and do other stuff while taking them. Canseco said in his book he never did anything else like alcohol or weed or any other drugs. He also said that he didn't abuse them. Spoken like a man who is addicted to them. Most normal people don't go tearing up bars and getting sued for it. See recent behavoir of Canseco twins. Also look at all of the trouble Jose had with the law because of domestic violence and aggressive behavior. It's got nothing to do with taking other things. Alcohol and pot do not destroy the body like anabolic steroids. Look in the medical literature don't believe a guy who wrote a book because he was pissed at baseball. It's all there. Anabolic steriods will destroy the body. It's like the smoker who says "I'm 90 years old and I've smoked all my life" as he is using bottled oxygen and a walker. It may not destroy everyone at the same rate but it will get you.

QUOTE(Steff @ Oct 11, 2006 -> 05:37 PM) Wow. Is your wife ok? I imagine seeing that left her pretty shook up. She's fine thanks for asking. She was down the block walking to her hotel. She heard the noise of the plane and watched it hit. She was pretty shook up as she had many co-workers die on 9/11. She quickly realized it was a small plane and said that there was a very quick response by EMS and law enforcement. She said it was a surreal experience and is still a little shaken.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Oct 11, 2006 -> 03:36 PM) Magic is a simple explanation. If you are a millionaire, HIV is no longer a death sentence. They have drugs that will combat the disease and allow you to live a relatively healthy normal life. Where as Arnold used steriods and has so far suffered few if any side effects. You see everyone point to WWE people as examples of steriods killing them off, but you rarely see them delve into the fact that many of these wrestlers had other addictions besides steriods which played major roles in their death. The result is, fathom's "when they start dropping dead at 40-50" is nothing more than unsubstantiated myths. Just like the first Ultimate Warrior died, just like every other unproven myth. I doubt that Bonds dies any earlier than most of the other players of his age group. What then? This is simply not true. Arnold may not die as early as some but the steriod abuse will catch up to him. The retired NFL players are the prime example. One of my favorite teams the Steelers were the first known abusers. Look at the results. There have all sorts of stories of them going nuts (Holmes and his turnpike shooting spree. mike webster and the driving spree), needing organ transplants (steve courson) attempted suicides (tunch Ilkin). Streiods abuse as with any other abuse will kill you. People with money can "buy" time in many cases with experimental thing that most people cannot afford, but don't let that fool you, the steroids will either kill your liver (ben johnson), enlarge your heart (steve courson) or give you a brain tumor (lyle alzado). It will get you in one way or another.

for the family. My wife is in NY and watched it happen. She said the plane definitely looked like it was having problems prior to the hit.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Oct 4, 2006 -> 06:55 PM) The Angels spent a lot of cash bringing Cabrera to Anaheim. If they thought Figgins could play short, they would have spent that money on something else. I know Uribe is usually frustrating to watch hit. But he was 8th or 9th in RBI by a SS in MLB this year, and only 2 or 3 SS hit more homers. I would take my chances with him defensively over most. The last 2 plays he made in the WS last year were incredible. Omar Vizquel couldn't have thrown Palmiero out, his arm isn't strong enough. For my money, unless the Sox were to bring in Tejada or ARod to play SS, or TB insisted on Uribe as a part of a package for Crawford, and the Sox were going to sign Gonzalez, the Sox are much better off leaving Uribe at SS. Experimenting with someone as a SS is only going to make your pitching staff worse. We saw this season, White Sox pitchers need all the help they can get. They also have a hard time pitching over defensive miscues. Amen. The voice of reason.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 3, 2006 -> 07:03 AM) 5 years $50 million is a good place to start. Confucious say "beware of power hitting 3B with back problem when offering long term deal." The stress on a good defensive player's back is tremendous. A long term may be unwise if he doesn't have surgery. The disc could go at anytime then you have a 3-6 month rehab.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Oct 3, 2006 -> 08:27 AM) But then again, how many teams have a "Liriano" type in their system? How many GMs would trade a Liriano, Bonser and Nathan for a catcher. Who you release in a year.

QUOTE(That funky motion @ Oct 2, 2006 -> 07:55 PM) Did'nt Pods have some kind of surgery last year in the off season? Yes, he had his testicles removed (marriage)

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Sep 30, 2006 -> 11:11 AM) Oh boo friggin who. I'm quite sick of hearing about the WBC as an excuse for Freddy. He pitched 7 1/3rd innings over two outings. We're not talking about a guy who threw two complete games in the WBC.WTF, Joaquin Arias? Why the hell do you guys talk about him like he's Brandon Wood? His OBP was under .300 this year IN THE PCL!!!!!! His career minor league OPS is barely over .700. I'd rather hand the starting job over to Pedro Lopez than trade for Arias... It's not a matter of how many innings he pitched there. It's the decreased time off, coupled with beginning the workouts earlier and the stress on the arm. There are only two things which cause a decrease in velocity: being worn down or injury. Both of these change the mechanics of throwing. Since he didn't miss a start I don't think it's injury. Now say what you want about not believing in the pitchers being tired but with the decreased velocity you tell me what the answer is. You may not have the professional baseball experience but lat me tell you they do get tired after a long season and the amount of innings and stress does effect the pitchers that next season. You'll see from my posts early in the season you could tell these guys especially MB and FG were worn down.

I don't believe Soriano will play the outfield for a new team. He will sign where they promise him he can hit more HRs than any other 2B.

From reading the comments in the paper the last few days, it seems we have two guys at 30 and near 30 who have finally realized they are not kids anymore and realize they need to work out appropriately. Hopefully they've learned their respective lessons and will come back strong next year.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 25, 2006 -> 05:15 PM) Its a shame the Sox set the attendance record the year they had a 3rd place team. I wonder how season ticket renewals will go. The waiting list was a good idea, but another year like this one and I think tumbleweeds will be spotted at USCF at least for the April and September games. This is Chicago White Sox. It's the "we aren't coming until you show us something". It doesn't surprise me that after winning last year people finally come to the games. I would think that it's common to have better attendance after you win. Also, the attendenace was artificially inflated by the people who had to buy season tickets in order to get the playoff tickets last year. Remember it's how many tickets are sold not how many are at the ballpark.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Sep 23, 2006 -> 08:38 PM) Chances of Michael Young and Carl Crawford being on different teams next year, not very good. I think the chance of them being on different teams is near 100% I'm not sure if it's Texas and Tampa but they won't be on the same team. You have to have some humor after a season like this.

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ Sep 23, 2006 -> 05:21 PM) let's see, we've had Sandy Alomar, Jim Thome, Robbie Alomar, Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton and others. Surely there is some really old former Indian who needs cash and would be willing to play left field for us next year. If we're going to get somebody from Arizona, how about .... CHRIS YOUNG??????????? Strikes out too much

QUOTE(shipps @ Sep 17, 2006 -> 09:50 AM) exactly.And they were talking about how the trackstars all of sudden developed narcolepsy,hence needed stimulants to stay awake during a race. The amount that they normally precribe for this problem is far below the banned level. In order for the drug to help a person without the problem is really high. like the female swimmer a couple of years ago who said she tested positive for high levels of testestorone because of her birth control pills. The birth control pillls do contain testosterone but she would need to take 300 pills a day to reach the banned levels. Remember there are a lot of banned substances but it is the level of the substance which is banned. Caffiene is a banned substance for Olympic sports. But the level which is banned equates to 100 cups of coffee a day. Even the olympic sports give waivers. This is basically for saying that be aware they may be some in the system but the level should be far below the banned levels. QUOTE(Cuck the Fubs @ Sep 21, 2006 -> 11:17 AM) Ritalin is a useless drug. I was forced to take it for many years b/c of what I think was a bullcrap daignosis of ADHD it's not useless. It's actually very effective. But it's like the other poster said, it's the most overprescribed drug because the MD uses it as a basket drug instead of getting the correct diagnosis. Even it didn't help you, you were probably just a problem child which didn't need the medical attention.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Sep 21, 2006 -> 11:19 AM) We need some time to rest our guys. We will make another run at it in 07 ^^^^^^^

QUOTE(ILoveThisGame @ Sep 21, 2006 -> 09:40 AM) After the game yesterday on Detroit's Sports report, Konerko stated that throughout his career in Chicago he has never seen this team so banged up. Also stated that this team is really tired right now. Finished his comments by stating that it's not an excuse, but a shorter offseason does take a hit on you. I have been hearing about this for the last 3 weeks. Why would you go on about this when you know the opposing team is listening to your comments? This team over the entire second half has grounded into more double plays and taken less walks than anyone in baseball. They have swung at so many pitches out of the strikezone. Over and over pitchers keep jamming us in and we keep grounding out. Earlier in the season we would take a pitch, wait for the one down the middle and not miss it. They do look tired, but isn't that why they get paid the big bucks. No "greenies" this year.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 20, 2006 -> 11:03 AM) Garcia did not have a crappy first half he had a crappy April, June, July and horrid August. Perhaps I just don't understand why a pitcher would suck for 5/6 of the season then when the season is all but over decide to add a new pitch, something that is appearantly helping him pitch with better success. Why the hell did he wait 5 and a half months to add a new pitch? I don't understand why he's getting so much credit for this when he should have been experimenting with new pitches earlier in the season when he was pitching like s*** and the games actually meant something. Appearantly Freddy Garcia is smarter than I give him credit for, he's managed to pitch like s*** for more than half the season then turn it on when it means nothing, saving his job next year. If he pitches like this in June and pitched now like he did in June the guy would have a one way ticket out of town. My bet is once he realized how tired his arm was from all of the innings he knew the velocity wasn't returning, he decided to change and learn a new pitch. He did not learn to control that pitch overnight. Pitchers just don't do that . He's been working on it on the side and waited until he felt comfortable with it. What bearing does this have on next year . My vote is to trade which ever one brings the most in return. If it's fairly equal Vazquez goes.

You can see that Thomas still cannot run. He has only 9 doubles in over 400 ABs. He is hitting a ton of homers because he needs to. I'm hoping to see him go to the HOF just not with stats from the upcoming weekend.

QUOTE(shoota @ Sep 13, 2006 -> 09:25 PM) With Minnesota playing tomorrow, and the Sox having the day off, I'm excited to see the .5 game differences disappear. I like whole numbers. The OCD is coming through