A bit defensive aren't we Roch? Maybe if you would have written your blog a bit clearer, you wouldn't be lashing out and accusing the respondents of not posting intelligently. And who is to say that was the only time the Gibber used illegal performance enhancing drugs.

That was lashing out? Really? Seemed more like a clarification, though I didn't think one was necessary. I'm basically making the same points. Just hoping they're recognized more easily the second time.

And the only time I'm questioning intelligence is when someone suggests I have an agenda because I'm friends with Gibbons or need a quote. That's all. Disagree all you want. If I was defensive, I probably wouldn't have posted the comments in the first place. But that was a bold assumption that also happened to be wrong. I've ripped plenty of guys without worrying about quotes. And it's not like Jay and I have dinner together and meet up at the gym. Honest. We don't.

I just do not understand why so many Orioles have been linked to these types of things. I wonder if there is another problem the Orioles have that can't be measured in wins and losses.

I think everyone needs to just chill out. If any of you have been to a baseball game or spent money on baseball in the past 2 years (ANY baseball game, Orioles or another team), you really have no grounds to be all high and mighty and criticize these athletes. You are just perpetuating the problem. We have known for 2 years at least that a lot of players used HgH or steroids. If you're so disenchanted with the sport, then why do you watch? Why do you spend time? Why do you spend the money? IF you as a fan really wanted to change things, then don't spend another penny on the sport. But, most of us are apathetic about it anymore. We just want to be entertained. So, we watch. We spend. Myself included. If some dude wants to roid up and destroy his future, to make a bit more $$ now, then so be it. I'd like to see any one of us (yes, including me) turn down that opportunity if we were ever in these athlete's shoes. If you can take something, albeit illegal, and have the chance to be better and make more money, then I would bet 9 out of 10 of us would. Everyone who keeps posting these comments acts all righteous all the time. And, we as fans, know the 'real' great players (Ripken, Aaron, Mantle, Ruth, etc), so if these athletes nowadays break any records, we will always know who the real "great" players are. So lay off Roch. He was just posting an opinion.

The problem is when someone says "I take full resposibility" and then in the very next sentence mention taking doctors advice, well....

Is Tom D like your cousin or something? I notice you mention him and respond personally to many of his posts. Are he and ghost of earl really the same person?

Also, Gibbons didn't mention steroids. Is that because he hasn't been caught with his hand in the cookie jar on that one? It's all so predictable. Fess up to the one they caught you on...

The idea that it is honorable to admit to something you have been caught doing strikes me as really lowering the bar on what honor is.

Yawn...another oriole/ex-oriole in a 'roid controversy.

Roch wake me when we trade Miggy.

Btw...I saw a commerical for a gizmo that you plug into your cigar lighter to jump start a car. You might want to put it on your Christmas list.

Roch,
I will not speak for the others but will say that I too was a little taken back by yesterdays blog.
I believe what we saw yesterday was 10 years of frustration coming out as fans. After what we fans have been through we expect everyone on the team to act like Brian Roberts. The O's have made every bad decision as a team and management that you possibly could (I hope) and we are tired of it.
I want the entire team traded to be able to start over, new team, new identity.
Palmeiro was an icon in my mind. I placed him up there with the Robinsons and Ripkens. He broke my heart, not because of what he did, a TIMELY apology would have worked for me, but he drug it out and covered it with lies. Gibbons also lied but the told the truth later. Lesser of two evils.
I no longer will make excuses for this team, I am done with that!

Roch

Not that I am defending Gibbons, but isn't HGH used legally in the real world? Didn't baseball ban the substance recently? like 2005?

If it is not banned by MLB, and it IS used for recovery in the "real world" then what is the big stink?

I think the Mitchell report is going to be a long long list. Unfortunately, the witch hunt started about 5 years too late....

I don't know Roch... you look pretty well built, tell us your bench press exploits... you're probably on the stuff, too! Sorry, I'm just kidding. Thanks for the blog - we all appreciate it, and you most certainly have the right to say what you think. Sometimes you suffer that double standard, too, where the occasional poster suggests you don't because you're in the pocket of Angelos and the players. Keep up your good work!

By the way, while I am uncomfortable with Gibbons quotes through the years regarding PEDs I can sort of see where perhaps he didn't outright lie if you look into all the technicalities. The spirit is certainly deseptive, though, and he's lost my support. He's in a class with Giambi in my book.

Let me get this straight---Gibbons took a legal substance with a doctors perscription and advice in an attempt to recover from surgery. His only crime was the ability to pay for a product that was not covered by his insurance company at the time. Also being overlooked is the fact that he did recover successfully from the surgery. At the time little was known about hGh and it was not covered by insurance companies----today its use is covered by many companies, just as steroids are now frequently prescribed for surgical recoveries. These medications should be allowable when used validly-----the man broke NO LAW.

How many of these folks would be bashing Gibbons if he hit 45 HRs, batted .300 and drove in 100 last year?
I don't blame Gibbons. He did what he had to do to get that FAT contract--and it worked for him. Plus many others were doing it.
Would we rather he appeal the suspension, and avoid the subject, like Guillen is currently doing?

Roch,

Do you know or is there any chance that the Orioles have a contractual clause allowing them to break Jay's contract because he used HGH? Just a thought, the Yankees came close to using a morals clause against Giambi, and it sure would be nice to not have to pay $6mil/year to a part time player.

Well the fact that a LOT of former and now current O's are being tied to steroids, isn't this proof that they don't tarnish the game? Look at their record over the last few years! Or knowing them, they just don't know how to use steroids right and its not helping them. But non the less, I loved Jay, he was my favorite player and still is. I'll proudly be wearing his jersey this season and rooting for him. Hell, he'll probably notice since I'll be one of a few hundred at the games when we trade our big names away.

Roch,
At any point in your dealings with Gibbons prior to the statement admitting guilt, did you ask him if he had ever taken HGH? If so, what was his repsonse? If you never asked him that question, why not?

I ask this question in response to you "being to close to the players" No matter how you answer my question, there are only three results:

1. You asked the question and he lied about his use straight to your face.
2. You asked the question and he told you the truth which was not subsequently reported.
3. You never asked the question.

Don't get me wrong, I am not accusing you of anything. I am just looking for the truth instead of believing everything I read.

I enjoy your blog, but I respectfully disagree with you on this one.

Gibbons, like everyone else, declined to comment.
As for Maese's column, I was focusing more on the Raffy comparison. He wasn't. That's another way they're different.

Each player who is named in the forthcoming Mitchell report is going to have to deal with the issue in form or another. Let's see if any of those to-be-named players is as 'open' offering an apology or explaination as Gibbons. For a moment, put yourself in their place and think about how you would deal with the situation.

roch I understood you the first and second time. what your saying is 100% correct. he did wrong yes but he took it like a man as opposed to what raffy did. he owned up to his mistakes instead of making more. I woulda said the same exact thing roch. great job

As sports fans, we should interpret a no comment as an admission of guilt until there is evidence to prove otherwise, and for all of you who will post that you are innocent until proven guilty, last time I checked this is not a court of law.

This is my last post regarding Gibbons. As far as names coming out in the next couple of weeks, I uhhhhh, you know, will take it day by day, you know, uhhhh, deal with it week in, week out.....uhhhh, you know.

As far as Roch's opinion on Gibbons, NO COMMENT!

Gibbons cheated. Throw the bum out!

Roch, it's my assumption that you and your opinions are taking the brunt of the "winter meetings frustration". There are a lot of touchy people that are wound up tight by the lack of activity to this point in the offseason and they're just bursting at the seams to let it out.

I'm pretty sure that if we had pulled off a big trade for Bedard or Tejada yesterday this whole deal with Gibbons would be small potatoes, since it isn't really news that shocked anyone...

I have absolutely zero sympathy for Jay Gibbons. He lied on numerous occassions in the past about using steroids. I mean he's the Orioles player rep. It doesn't matter when he lied about it. He's also inconsequential. Horrible hitter. Even worse fielder. With his talent, it is shameful he is in the big leagues. Without steroids, he wouldn't have come close to making the majors. Another reason I have no sympathy for him is that he is a MILLIONAIRE. HE HAS 1,000,000 DOLLARS.

Roch, according to Dan Connolly's Sun article from last month (which I have emailed to you in case you missed it), the doctor who signed his prescriptions was an alcoholic in New York who made $125,000 by signing scrips for hGH and steroids and faxing them to a Florida pharmacy that filled them EVEN THOUGH SHE NEVER EXAMINED THE PATIENTS. For Gibbons to now say that he was just taking a doctor's advice is his way of dissembling, and it is no better than Raffy claiming he didn't know what he was taking. There is no distinction. Even though he has asked for forgiveness and hopes we can all move on, he still hasn't told the truth. But honestly, I'm sure there are plenty of guys who did this stuff we will never know about. What irks me with Gibbons is the $5.7 million he will make in 2008 and the $6.2 million he will make in 2009. If he really wants to be forgiven so we can all "move on," he will retire and try to earn a spot on some team without the help of banned substances.

Leave Roch be. The last time I looked, this was his blog.

Thanks for the information Roch. I agree with Tracey - we are just frustrated that nothing is happening. We have the 2nd best pitcher available, and the best remaining bat available, and nothing has happened yet.

We are just frustrated.

GO O'S

"C" for crap - as in "the Ravens are...."

Roch

Excellent blog. To be honest this is the kind of dialog MLB needs to have to address this issue. I'm very disappointed in Jay as I am with any player that chooses to use performance enhancing pharma products.

That said, I ultimately hold Bud Selig responsible for not immediately addressing the issue of performance enhancers years ago.... Bud is charged with the stewardship of what was America's game.... he has failed abysmally. The game will never ever be the same.

Roch,

You should not need to defend your opinion to people who have no understanding of the english language. I went back and reread the first Gibbons post and sorry but nowhere in the entire piece could I find you condoning Gibbons use of these substance.

Like you I also give Jay a lot of credit for being a man about getting caught, taking full responsibility for his actions and apologizing to us the fans. NAME ME ONE SINGLE OTHER PLAYER WHO DID IT THIS WAY. Least he didn't say he was given some tainted b-12 by a fellow teammate thereby dragging the Orioles even further down.

I also find it very refreshing reading your blog to see that there are that many saints living in the Maryland area. LOL. I think its funny that all these saints are probably the first ones to list a $1,000 deduction on thier taxes as charitable. Yeah right!!!!

TOMD. Don't pay any nevermind to these airheads. I find the info that you give here very factual and well thought out.

I don't advocate giving Jay a parade or an award, just a little credit for taking it like a man. What he did was wrong, plain and simple and he will pay for it ultimately.

ROCK ON ROCH!!!!

Roch's right, this is as close to a responsible admission as we're likely to get, and it's a FAR CRY from what some of these other nuts have done. I'm talking about YOU Raffy!

By all accounts, Jay Gibbons is a good guy and is trying to do the right thing thing (albeit not until he was caught), but the O's need to cut him loose. With this team trying to go in a new direction, the last thing it needs is to have another storm cloud hanging over it

Cleary Gibby's production has decreased faster than the size of his biceps. And he's one of the last remaining links to an era we O's fans would just as soon forget.

It's to the point now where I'm fondly remembering the '88 Woes (where have you gone Pete Stanicek? A city turns its bleary eyes to you).

I say eat his contract like it's a slab of steroid-fed Texas brisket and send him on his way. It's not like the club will be able to spend the money on free agents.

Don't be too frustrated by the Orioles inactivity. Since the Orioles are probably going to do trades where they receive more players (prospects) than they trade, it makes sense to me that you would want to wait until after the Rule 5 draft to do the trade in order not to lose anyone you just received, or any other valuable pieces in your organization.

Gibbons is an ok guy who is just trying to keep up with the Jones' here. He's not a villian here. Neither is Roch for having a heart.

Now, back to the business of sub .500 baseball....what is up with these Tejada to Houston rumors?

Again, I'm with you, Roch. What a funny culture we live in. No forgiveness for Jay Gibbons; blind acceptance of corporate, governmental, and other shenanigans.

I think Gibbons would be taking less flak if he batted .280, hit 25 HRs, and the O's were winning.

The steroids and PEDs mess continues to hang over this franchise, and to compound the problem, Gibbons claimed he wasn't involved. Fans are tired of it. He's a prime example of the aging, at best mediocre, veteran this franchise has pinned their hopes on for far too many years. Now we learn that the drugs may have contributed to his procuring the contract. At the same time, we hear players openly questioning their association with the franchise. We've watched a player do commercials rooting for another team. We've heard a player bash the city and otherwise make a fool of himself. The fans have been told the team will change and that it all hinges on Peter Angelos' willingness to do something he's never done before. Namely, hand control to someone to make some tough decisions.

The O's have a fan base that doesn't have much positive to hang on to. It doesn't take much to set them off. Gibbons is the latest in a depressing line of negative news. No surprise he's getting bashed.

ROB K - Excellent post!!!!

I have the same hope for my kids, especially my youngest, who loves everything baseball. But only one of them has any conscious memory of an Oriole team with a winning record.

BREAKING NEWS
Jay Gibbons of the Baltimore Orioles was suspended 15 games for using hGH. The Baltimore Orioles are appealing the suspension. They are contesting it should be 50 games.

I'd like to give credit to all the guys out there who don't beat their wives.

Over the years, Gibbons stated his body came from natural, hard work. Turns out that was a lie. He said he used only for injury, why should I believe him? How can I believe one part of his story when the rest is untrue? If he went to a legit doctor and had a legit script, why buy online [multiple times over the years] from a dubious internet supplier? He could have filled it at any pharmacy, hundreds have these things prescribed legally. They just aren't multi- million dollar players who know they are not supposed to be using while playing.

HGH is a very useful substance and to be honest, if a guy is rehabbing for a year and is prescribed hGH by a real doctor, no problem -- as long as they test negative throughout the season.

I know it's hard when you know the person and have to deal with this mess publicly. However, if a guy is getting older and his performance begin to tank, then he must accept the fact that being a starter may not be in the cards and settle for the bench. I say this because I take into consideration all the guys that lost positions, were benched, dumped or retired, and may have had fleeting thoughts about cheating but resisted and lost their spots on the roster. These are the guys I admire. Do your best and fail is certainly better than cheating and being rewarded a hefty contract based on artificial "inflation".

"OK guy". "Good Guy" "Broke no Law''. I saw Jay Gibbons when he played for Hagerstown in the Toronto chain and he was huge then. My problem with him and others who have conned the Orioles into huge contracts is that they have misrepresented their abilities by augmenting them with one form of chemical enhancement or another. Does it help them hit a fastball? No. Can it turn a fly out into a double or homerun. Absolutely. Give every Major Leaguer a metal bat and let's see what happens. Personally, what these guys do with their bodies is their business but because they influence others to try and "catch up''
or put others at a disadvantage on what should be a level playing field this stuff has to be stopped.

Roch

Why are you so adamant in bringing up Palmeiro?

Who cares is Raffy handled it worse than Gibbons?

The problem is your initial comment on Gibbons was to give him "credit".

Maybe if you would've first written a piece about him lying and how he's another player who's disappointed fans you wouldn't be getting so much flack.

But the fact that the first thing you wrote is that he somehow deserves "credit" because he handled this thing better than Palmeiro is laughable.

And everyone whining that Roch is taking too much heat.

Where are people saying Roch condoned what Gibbons did? I know he didn't.

But he certainly didn't take him to task for it.

He found a roundabout way to find silver lining in a story where there isn't one.

Roch,

Is it possible that, WHILE YOU WERE ON VACATION, you wrote an entry about a breaking story that most Orioles fans would consider significant; and perhaps, in your haste to get it out WHILE YOU WERE ON VACATION, did not reread it in order to get an indication as to how some fans might perceive it?

How could anyone with an IQ larger than a pickle be surprised about the news that Gibbons was using enhancement drugs? I am hoping that, with the issue now out in the open and the pressure off, Jay will get healthy and play to his abilities.

I agree that he should be given credit for not focusing the blame on anyone else; however, considering the contract he received because he falsely inflated his skills, he OWES our fans his very best everyday he is a member of this team. That means making himself available to the fans, and no whining if his playing time or position is not what he wants. If he does that, he has a chance of earning back some of the goodwill he just lost.

Roch, you are entitled to your opinion. In fact, it is part of why most of us read this blog. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t always agree with it but I would like to think I’m objective enough to give you the benefit of the doubt. Considering some of the “I just had the afternoon special at the lobotomy clinic and now I’m going to submit a post” opinions I’ve seen here, yours is almost always based on FACTS or LOGIC.

As for those of you that are upset that we haven’t done anything on the trade front: CHILL OUT! There are more teams that want what we have now than last Friday, and the players we should want are still available. If Andy MacPhail is being patient in order to get the best deal, then BUY THAT MAN A BEER!

Yes , good comment by the earlier poster. The O's are appealing for a longer suspension.

Roch, I love your blogs and wanted to make sure that you won't stop giving your honest opinion about issues just because of all the self-righteous pricks who wanna bash everyone that ever makes a mistake. Gibby needs someone to point out to people that mistakes happen every day--dare I say in most everyone's life--and that we all need to be forgiven for our mistakes. I do'n't consider it "sticking up" for Gibby. I consider it being an adult. Grow up people!

Mike P - right on. To paraphrase Chris Rock:

" 'I take care of my kids.' You're SUPPOSED to take care of your kids! What do you want, a cookie?"

I, for one, would in fact like a cookie. And a new shortstop.

Rob posted "After what we fans have been through we expect everyone on the team to act like Brian Roberts."

And the Orioles are trying to trade the most honorable, hardworking, down to earth, community driven O's player since Cal Ripken? The rest of the team needs to take a page from Robert's book and be grown men. Sure Roberts is frustrated... He has not been on an Oriole (major or minor league) winning team! And he has no right to vent his frustration? At least he does it in a mild manner.

If we had 3 more Robert's on this dismantled team maybe just maybe this Orioles team would not be linked to all this crap

Roch,

Here's what I wrote last night:

"Oh, come on, Roch. I understand that you know him well and probably like him on a personal level, but sheesh. "I took a Doctor's advice???" C'mon, that's BS, and anyone with any sense knows it. He took it to enhance his capabilities, and according to the reports, one of the drugs he took was to compensate for anabolic steroid use, so he was taking them too.

He gave a half hearted, half true admission. I'm not giving him any medals for it."

Now, I apologize if you thought I was questioning your integrity. I wasn't. What I was suggesting, is that it's only natural for you to get friendly with the players due to you working around them daily, and that since Gibbons released a statement, you'd be more inclined than others to cut him some slack. If that's off base, then again, I'm sorry, but as you said, everyone has an opinion.

I still think his "admission" was half hearted at best, and I'm sorry, I'm not giving him any medals for it.

Gibbons Was on Sterioids, He took them as a minor leaguer to get himself through the system. When we first got him via rule 5 trash, he had arms that would have put popeye to shame, and those arms stroked 15 homers in 73 at bats that year. Now what does he have to show for it? The same as the rest of em' he's half the size he used to be, his tendons are so f****d up he cant stay heatlthy, and now were seeing why he had to juice in the first place HE SUCKS! As far as the hgh goes, I bet he was advised by a doctor to take it, because he was probably honest with the doctor about his past steroid use, and hgh is now the only realistic way for him to recover from injury in a normal amount of time.

Roch,

You're the man. Your blogs get me through the monotony that is a 9 hour work day - and that is a gutwrenching 162 game season.

Gibbons shouldn't have lied, but everyone in that situation would have. Gibbons shouldn't have used HGH, but as a former college baseball player who knew he wasn't gonna get drafted and knew that some guys were outperforming me because they WERE using HGH - I can understand. Its frustrating. His career was rapidly declining, he has a hot wife he wanted to impress, he has a big career he wanted to live up to, his best friend was becoming a big star in Baltimore, and, bottom line, other guys were doing it and performing well and not getting caught.

You know far more about the Orioles than anyone else, your opinion should not be ripped on YOUR blog.

Listen, fact of the matter is that he lied to everyone for a while. Not that we expect him to come clean when the issues begin. I stood up for Gibbons when my friends said we should dump him. The steroids obviously have not helped his stats, cause frankly he has sucked. Just a few weeks ago comments were made by many people saying we should try to offload his contract but there would be no takers. Well now is your opportunity to unload him, because all this is going to do is be bad press during the baseball year. Not like we will spend any money on anyone worth playing anyway with the orioles, they will just save that money and play someone from the minors that they think is the next best thing when they aren't and make every excuse for why they are doing what they are doing. Go Orioles? Not this year again, or next, or next, or next. I hope my great grandkids get to see an Orioles team that contends for a championship cause its been 25 years since the last one. The Cubs will win a couple breaking their curse before we do. Good Job O's management.

After reading your explanation I think you are correct. And on that note I have some other people we should give credit to.

OJ Simpson for keeping poor needy trial attorneys off the unemployment line.

Bill Clinton for merely selling pardons and not one way passes into heaven via dispensations like the Popes did.

Emperor Hirohito for merely bombing Pearl Harbor and not San Francisco

bin Laden for making a statement about the poor quality of airline food.

As for your assertion that Gibbons merely did what we would have done . . . You have just labeled all of us cheaters as NONE of us could have done what he did until AFTER we cheated.

As for your whiny assertion that you are entitled to your opinion and to state it as you choose . . . of course you are and we are entitled to pillory you for it. Just like the DIxie Chicks can say what they want but they come off whiny when they dont want to deal with the consequences, you have to be a big boy and deal with the the backlash. You are just one more whiny American who screams about their rights when they forget that rights have corresponding responsibilities and they come with consequences. Welcome to the real world.

Frankly this post by you is a bigger steaming turd than the last one. May I suggest you quit while you are behind on this subject?

Last I checked Grimsley fingered Tejada and Roberts too. Guess they used their own credit cards. BTW, saw Bigbie in a AAA game this year. Fibbons isn't the only incredibly shrinking man.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I have a degree of sympathy for a lot of these guys who have used performance enhancing drugs, and have had to live with the cloud of it looming over them for what has likely been years.... always wondering, "Is THIS the day that the sh*t hits the fan?". Palmeiro was the perfect example.... having to smile for the cameras and 'celebrate' his 3,000th hit, knowing full well that a suspension was imminent.

As Roch said, Jay did what most people would've done under the circumstances (myself included).... waited it out to see where things ended up. NONE of these guys were going to jeopardize losing their multi-million dollar salaries (not to mention subjecting themselves to potential legal issues) by coming forward on their own.

I personally think the whole steroid thing has been blown WAY out of proportion, and I think the media is far more concerned with it than the average fan.

wow, how does one mailbox hold so much cr*p?

Rob-why do you assume that our responses to Roch's silly post was caused by the past ten years instead of his silly post?

BiggSeth- steroids are used leagally in the general world too for legit purposes. So do you advocate their unrestricted use?

Lefty- So he broke no laws and he isnt being tried in court for breaking a law. What is your point?

Fed Hill Bill- For your answer go look at how many people trash Barry Bonds despite his athletic performance.

Boomer- put yourself in OJ's shoes. WOuldnt you spend all your money to avoid jail or worse? So do you give OJ credit? Dont ask me to put myself in a cheaters shoes. You cant say *poof* you are magically a cheater. now what do you do. My answer is I am not a cheater so I dont have to deal with the dilemna that cheating left him in.

Keith Parsons- first I assume that Roch's employers own the blog, not Roch. Second, dont tell us to leave Roch alone. If he is a big enough to have and publicly state his opinion, he is big enough to defend them which he has done and to take the heat. No one is cursing him or threatening him. We are using the same right to free speech that Roch is using. Even without putting our picture on the blog.

Greg- This is a sports blog. I am sure if you read other more political blogs you would not say something so baseless. There are tons of complaints much more vicious than anything here about corporate and governmental malfeasance.

Gibbons' statement was one of the most responsible I've heard from any athlete caught using performance enhancing drugs. He admits it, takes responsibility, apologizes to the team, organization, and fans. Doesn't make him a saint, and he'll now be a suspect the rest of his career, but he could have handled this much worse than he did. If he's an Oriole next year, I'll be hoping he does well, and stays clean.

Roch,

Thanks for letting everyone have their say, even those who are trashing you for your comments on Jay Gibbons. I'm glad he 'fessed up (as much as he did, anyway) but I think that he, along with a number of others, needs to go, just to change the atmosphere in the clubhouse. While I don't expect the O's to be a bunch of choirboys, I do expect them to be professionals and have respect for the game and for the team, and to have some integrity as well.

As for those who say you are too close to the players and have lost your objectivity, that's total BS.

Keep up the great work and keep on bloggin'.

Roch -- While Gibbons may be paying a “heavy price” for his hGH usage, the Orioles are paying a far heavier price......to the tune of a 4-yr, $21.1 million extension signed AFTER the 2005 hGH usage. And don't get me started on Gibbons clogging up a roster spot!!

Roch, your evil twin must have commandeered your blog on this issue, cuz I can't believe what I'm reading. First of all, he didn't really "fess up": he provided the most benign story to explain any person's use of hGH, which may not actually be the true reason HE used it.

Sure, he didn't deny using it(or "knowingly" using it, as others have said), but I think it's pretty obvious that "admitting" use once you've been busted is the better P.R. approach than steadfastly denying it a la Palmeiro (not to be cynical about it).

Plus, when you've had a spotty career with diminishing results, a little "humility", or a reasonable facsimile of it, is called for.

But where were Gibbons' admissions regarding the shipments of testosterone and the other stuff anabolic steroid users take to increase testosterone production in the body (because the anabolics trick the body into not producing enough natural testosterone - the stuff normally prescribed to pregnant women)?

The testosterone and that other stuff were not presribed; they were not taken at the advice of a doctor. They also are illegal. So are prescriptions that are written without examining the patient (unless its a refill).

Gibbons broke a bunch of laws! He also broke baseball rules in at least 2005 (and he was obviously taking anabolics much earlier than that).

So, to anyone holding the mistaken belief that Gibbons fully disclosed anything, please, come off of it. He gave a minimal disclosure and only minimally accepted responsibility.

I really think the Orioles should step up to the blate, grow a pair, and cut Gibbons and his fraudulent contract. Just flat out refuse to pay it. Just like with Sidney. At the beginning of the ten year wait for the grievance hearing, the O's can invest a tenth of the potential amount owed to Gibbons. By the time of the hearing, it will have grown enough to pay the whole contract off.

If PA wasn't the boss I'd consider working for you Orioles.

U is for underperformance enhancing drugs.

You're dead on, Roch. Mike Steele wants honesty when discussing Gibbons, but the honest truth is that Balto. fans would look past all of this is Gibbons had hit .330, rather than the .230 that he posted last season. Nobody's defending Gibbons' use of performance-enhancing drugs -- including Gibbons -- but it's amazing how many current players, caught red-handed, would still deny any wrongdoing. If you want honesty, you'd better be honest, as well.

"In the meantime, he did was most of us would have done." You are assuming most of us would take hGH in the first place.

Needle Drugs!! Yes Needle Drugs! These are not taken by mistake! HgH is an injected hormone. It must be kept cold and it must be injected carefully. I have seen the trouble family members have had when they need to start insulin treatment. Giving yourself an injection is no easy task. Doctors provide serious, supervised training for new insulin patients. Jay Gibbons got no supervised training - he got a bunch of vials of cheater juice in the mail and shot right up. He obviously had prior experience giving himself injections or else he took the "Shooting Up 101" Remote learning course from University of Pheonix. Your Baltimore Orioles - clueless in the left field but an All Star talent around the syringe box.

Why in the world should I give Jay Gibbons any credit. He did something wrong and had he not been caught he would have never said anything about it.That apology he gave sounded like it came straight from a lawyer. I've heard Gibbons speak about many things and he never sounds that precise.

It doesn't matter under what advice he was taking the HGH, it doesn't matter what he "intended" to use it for. He was the one who put it into his body knowing it was a banned substance in baseball. It doesn't surprise me at all that Gibbons would do this, or does everyone forget what he said about Ephedra when his friend Steve Bechler passed away?

When asked if he would still use Ephedra despite what happened to his friend Gibbons said that he would still use it.

So no, I don't give Gibbons any credit. The Orioles should be looking into voiding his contract for conduct detrimental to the team. If they can do it against Ponson for drinking which isn't banned, then why not for something that actually gets you kicked off your team for 15 days?

Roch,

I completely agree with your opinion regarding Jay Gibbons.

Chris