They're all guilty. I'm throwing them all under the bus for betraying the trust of the fans.

raffy is the only player i believe is telling the truth. he never got real big like the other accused players. tejada tested positive and raffy says he got a b 12 shot from miggy

That stench you might all be getting a whiff of right about now is the putrid stain of Rat Palmeiro, who's crawling out of his own steroid-infested outhouse just in time for the "Hall of Fame" discussions to begin.

Time doesn't heal this wound......revisionism doesn't alter the fact this lying sack of cockroach manure is showing his haggard face just to pathetically attempt to curry public favor and forgiveness when he arrogantly provided NO excuses after the allegations came out initially.

Shut up, slither back in your hole protected by your Slomen Shield, and rot.

How's that? Succinct enough for you, Pete?

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Pete's reply: I really wish you wouldn't hold back, Chris.

Cheater, cheater, cheater. Liar, liar, liar. Hey Raffy, shut it!!

B-12 is a codeword for a roid shot. Players knew and joked about it. Trainers are not even allowed to even give B-12 and L shots LOL sticking to the Im not sure what they put in me routine is beyond crazy!

I hope 2 things happen now. That list comes out with the names of the users and somebody writes a book on Raffy. Both that new A-Rod book and the American Icon book on Roger Clemens talk about Raffy a bit and he seems beyond guilty.

I feel Palmeiro was a victim. This is a city that gave Ray Lewis a free pass despite the fact that he obstructed justice.

He didn’t even need the stuff that’s the sad thing. Probably could have been a hall of famer without it..

Canseco was right about Palmeiro, Pudge, and Juan Gonzalez. To quote Shakespeare, "to cheat is human, but to lie incessantly is incredibly squirrely," or something like that. Palmeiro joked about never working out and eating tons of donuts - check out his forearms during his first five year stint here, they were huge. He was much, much smaller 2nd trip through; likely he got desperate during his horrible April slump and rolled the dice. Who cares

Canseco says 75% of baseball players were on some form of substance. If you look at it like that we have to blame either the enablers that profited off of this or everybody..

Bud Selig created this whole issue. He started a witch hunt to dodge the bullet and has created an atmosphere that players cannot come forward and tell the truth. Because of this we get these ridicules interviews with Raffy and other players like Clemens and A-Rod.. It’s a $%^$#&^ joke!! Make Bud Selig accountable!

In my opinion anyone that played on the Oakland A’s ever or the Texas Rangers from 1998-2005 did roids.

I think it's a damned shame that a player who was as consistently productive and as unfailingly healthy throughout his career as Rafael Palmeiro was could not be given the benefit of the doubt when he offered a questionable yet very plausible theory as to how stazanozol might have entered his system..... an occurence which I believe shocked him just as much as it shocked everyone else.
I think it's a damned shame that he could not have played two or three more seasons, only adding to his already exclusively HOF-studded numbers and further paving the way for an eventual hero's welcome into Cooperstown.
This guy displayed none of the typical symptoms of a steroid abuser such as abnormal muscle development or expanding neck and facial structure,
He never suffered any of the nagging injuries that so riddled those careers. In fact, he never spent any time at all on the DL. Even when he suffered an in-grown toenail he played through it.
He never "ratted" on Miguel Tejada.
Tejada just happened to have been the source of the B-12 which was the only possible explanation Raffy could surmise for a test result that baffled him. I believe he told the truth and Tejada was simply a part of that truth.
If the expanded steroid truth shoe fit, then let Tejada wear it. But at the time Raffy was the one being pressed for answers...... not Miguel.
I have a real problem with the notion that injecting any substance into one's body can make one suddenly blessed with the kind of classic left-handed swing that Palmeiro had along with the ability to make square and powerful contact with the ball with the consistency that he did over his career.
Consistency that only Mays, Aaron, and Murray had displayed before him. I'm talking about 500+ home runs and 3000+ hits.
Raffy never joined the McGuire-Sosa-Bonds trio of gaudy 60+ homer totals.
Instead he joined the Mays-Aaron-Murray trio of 30-40 HR-per-year over the years while also consistently collecting base hits until they eventually totalled over 3000.
That's a real Hall-of-Famer.

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Pete's reply: You know I was a big fan of Raffy, but remember that he did admit getting a vial of injectable "B-12" from Tejada and injected into himself. Injectable B-12 is a controlled substance in this country, so he was, at very least, committing an illegal act. It's all very suspicious.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=1764

This link goes to his stats. Knowing what we know from the Canseco book and all the new ones on other players that mention Raffy you can almost spot his drug usage.

Raffy never had the body type of many steriod users nor did he spend a single day on the disabled list his entire career until his final season. You can't say that for guys like Pudge, Juan Gonzalez, McGwire, et al. Steriod users tend to have a lot of nagging injuries due to the side effects of their use. I said at the time that Pameiro was either telling the truth or was set up by MLB because they needed to show Congress that their new testing policy had some teeth and that reserve outfielders and relief pitchers weren't going to cut it.

Palmeiro was never the face of the game and he was expedable, unlike Sosa, McGwire, Clemens. Bonds and the like. MLB spent too much money building up those players to tear them down.

I believe Palmeiro is telling the truth, especially with what we now know about Tejeda. Palmeiro's testimony regarding his failed test was plausible then and it is now. He also took several more drug tests the remainder of that season and they all came back negative. If he is NOT on the 2003 list, I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

It's easy to believe they are all liars but until someone comes out with physical evidence linking them to steriod use (receipts, shipping orders, etc) then I think you have to look at each situation independently and look at ALL the evidence. If he's lying then the punishment fits the crime but if he's telling the truth, then we've all been too quick to judge and cast the first stone.

Bear,

I agree that you can’t be a great player with roids alone but later in his career when he went back to Texas that clubhouse was almost open with their steroid usage

First - he has to keep maintaining that it was some B-12 thing, otherwise he's admitted to perjuring himself before congress, a federal crime.

Second - that he was in the "late stage" of his career is precisely why he needed the steroids, see Roger Clemens.

I never thought I would see the day when Canseco was quoted like a trusted source.

I tend to believe Raffy's story. The dude definitely never had a "body by steroids."

In any event, a great player, and an under-rated one.

RP used some form of PED's just enough to add power to his already sweet swing.

Pete - Who cares . Chemicals have been used by athletes in all sports since day one . Despite testing , the pharmaceuticals and those who use , can always stay one step ahead of the game . Participants in sport all "being on the same playing field' ( level ) is a pipedream . As long as the goal is to be the best , this will continue to rage on .

y'all are trippin'. He had 10 straight years of 38+ Hr's. Murray never came close to that. Most in a season was 33 i think. Now all of a sudden Palmeiro is as great as Mays and Aaron. C'mon man its laughable.

An addendum to my prior comment - From past exposure to being around athletes usage "PED's" , they make the good ones even better but don't turn the also rans into stars . So my point is in Raffy's case , he would have been good regardless.

Greg,

How can you spot Palmeiro's usage in his stats? His stats are amazingly consistent. His only dip in power numbers was when he only played 111 games in 1994. Otherwise he hit between 37 and 47 HR's every year for over 10 years. That spread of 10 HR's is well within the standard deviation (11). Yes, there is a slight jump in home runs, but all players develop slightly more power as they age.

I believe Palmeiro, and I think MLB used his failed case to "show" their tougher testing policies. I love how ESPN and the like are coddling Manny Ramirez and giving him love, though he has failed a test just like Raffy. I think the whole steriod issue is being twisted by the media.

I believe Raffy. I think Miggy wanted to see if the stariod he was using would be detected so he found a guy willing to take a shot of B12 from him.

I believed Palmeiro from the very start and believe he was set up. If I could vote players into the Hall of Fame I would definently vote Raffy into the Hall Of Fame and vote Bonds, AROID, Manny, and a few others out of it. I'd still like to see Raffy play again.

If Raffy was taking steroids he get a lawyer and sue the company, it doesn't look like the drugs worked!

How about the Baltimore Sun publicly offering to pay for a polygraph test but they get choose who administers the test?

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Pete's reply: Trust me, Raffy isn't going to take a polygraph test.

I'm not here to talk about the past...

I was, and still am, a fan of Palmeiro. Unfotunately, it remains very hard for me to believe that a professional athelete at his level would not be aware of what he was injecting into his body. Sad to say, I think the reality is, he got too greedy about reaching hit number 3000, was in a slump anyway, and had already been tested earlier in the year. He needed an edge (or so he thought) and took a risk that has stained what would have otherwise been a great HOF career.

Victim. His physique since he came up with the Cubs didn't change much, unlike the physical transformations of players like Sammy "Sosa, Pudge, Miggy, and the rest of the Roid Gang. Those guys suddenly looked Body Builders in a baseball uniform - wasn't so with Raffy.

Raffy is evidence #1 of the injustice of a public trial. Where's the context? Why does Manny get an ESPN special but Raffy gets mocked? Why does Raffy not get the benefit of being correct in the inference that Tejada was juicing?

A good man fell in front of the bus and rather than giving him a hand the MLB and media establishment stepped on the accelerator and for what purpose?

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Pete's reply: I think you're a little out over your skis. Raffy quickly threw Tejada under the bus. That's why he couldn't stay in the O's clubhouse after that.

Its amazing the logic here. Because his body didn't change as much as others he was set up. Perhaps he didn't work out as much?? He sure did get fat. And he had forearms like Ken Caminiti. Why at age 35 was he a spokesman for Viagara?? Why is Canseco demonized as a whistleblower??? Baseball should hold an annual parade for Canseco.
Facts are facts. Tejada never tested postive, unless he's on the list of 103 yet to be released. The whole steroid era is fascinating in a sociological context; it sucks that is skews the record books though

I realize that Canseco mentioned Rafael earlier, as a user of Stazanozol and I realize that he played with that very guilty Texas Rangers team and I he also played with the very guilty 2005 Orioles team, but why does 75 % of me still want to say that he is innocent? Especially when I'm usually the first one to predict who the guilty parties were.

Who, doing anything legitimate, goes to work and has co-workers stick needles in their butt. Why would one not go to their doctor instead, and if you found out you needed B12, go down to the drug store for the Flintstones chewable variety.

I also think that he is a victim of the times. His numbers are consistent throughout his career. Like many young power hiters, he took a couple of years to reach 25 or more. Then he was very consistent for many years before slowing both in average and homers toward the end in his late thirties and early fortys. Kind of like all the great hitters. Why would he risk this at 40 years of age when it was probably hislast year anyway. I believe that he was one of the cleanest and most honest players ever to play. Just because he happened to play with the rats at Texas and some at Baltimore does not make him guilty. I believe Tejeda is the reason he tested wrong, or it was a tainted test. A set-up is also possible because he was so adamant in his denial of ever using at the Congressional hearings.His body doesn't look like a user. He never had spiked numbers, and most of all, he is credible in his denials.

Tejeda lied about his age and his PED use. Didn't his B-12 source come from the Dominican? We are supposed to believe he used clean B-12 because he provided a good sample to MLB (which I'm sure he kept around in case he got accused). If I have to choose between believing Raffy and believing Tejeda, I will believe Raffy. He is a victim.

Here is what Raffy needed.
http://www.flintstonesvitamins.com/complete/index.html
Instead of just popping into the drug store and picking some up, Raffy decides to go into a clubhouse washroom to get poked in the *ss with a hypodermic. To anyone to whom that makes the least bit of sense, I have a bridge you might be interested in buying.

Not guilty of all charges.

Mike,

Aldrich Ames passed 3 different polygraph tests during his time at the CIA. I wouldn't put too much weight on a passed or failed polygraph if I were you.

I still can’t believe how Raffy went from being one of the most celebrated Orioles of my youth to becoming a toxic player. Looking at the stats you can make a clear case on guys like Brady Anderson also were on this stuff. I really think after the Mitchell Report that’s why it took so long to resign Brian Roberts because the team was trying to make a statement by having young players not connected to PEDs.

Many of today’s good players are linked the the roid ridden Texas Rangers and Scott Boras (Boras also represented drug companies as a lawyer and possibly saw the potential dollar amount with doper baseball clients).. I know it’s just a matter of time before mark teixeira is linked with the likes of Raffy, Sosa, Canseco Arod etc.

Victim, of course. Where was MLB when all of this was happening? To ignore Raffy's career numbers is shameful.
The problem is that sportswriters become judge and jury. Their word and their judgments become the law. it's not fair. It places reputations and entire careers in jeopardy.

Baseball needs to take the selection for the Hall of Fame out of the hands of the sportswriters.

Raffy should be in. So should Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa, et.al.

Victim, of course. Where was MLB when all of this was happening? To ignore Raffy's career numbers is shameful.
The problem is that sportswriters become judge and jury. Their word and their judgments become the law. it's not fair. It places reputations and entire careers in jeopardy.

Baseball needs to take the selection for the Hall of Fame out of the hands of the sportswriters.

Raffy should be in. So should Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa, et.al.

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Pete's reply: I'm not sure about your logic. Baseball should take the Hall of Fame out of the sportswriters hands, because of what? Because baseball did such a good job handling the steroid situation? Are you kidding me? I know I'm biased on this subject, but the BBWAA has done a fabulous job with the Hall of Fame elections, and the proof is in the Veterans Committee, which was formed to correct oversights, and seldom puts anybody in unless a former superstar (Ted Williams) goes on a crusade for an old friend.

I think that it's time for Miguel Tejada to step up, like a honest man, and absolve Rafael Palmero from any (knowing) wrong doing in the steroids matter. Tejada ruined an outstanding career that Raffy worked very hard to attain and the least Tejada can do is clear Palmero's name for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame where he (Palmero) truly deserves to be.

I will never forget the running TV coverage - and a special - showing Raffi and taking his children park-to-park as he approached 3000 hits. At the Yard there was the huge public celebration and Warehouse 3000 hit display. And then there was a huge on-field celebration when he got the hit - replete with Raffi children.

ALL of this happened AFTER Raffi knew he had been tagged as a steroid user.

Raffi needs to affirmatively prove he DID NOT given this history. The test and his MLB stats are a prima facie case for guilty as charged. And the obvious answer is that as a career winds down, yes, 'roids and HGH may be an attractive solution...right Rocket?

Let's see. He came up as a first baseman with the Cubbies. They didn't think he would hit for enough power for the position and traded him to Texas, where he hit for average but little power until along came Canseco and his magic bag of power potions and sprinkled them over Raffies head and viola, the magical mystery tour slugger arises, woof and a puff of smoke. Yeah, he hit 40 a year. And Sammy Sosa hit 60 a year. Hall of Famer? He couldn't carry Mantle's jock strap. 500 home run hitter. What's that make Frank Robinson. The bunch of them are phonies. If you want a laugh, check a pre and a post photo of Barry Bonds. Do they look like the same person? How about same species? Now do the same with similar aged photo of Mays, or Williams, or Musial. I don't want to think of these bums or the commissioner who tried to paper over it any more.

I still think Ripken was using roids too, to be honest...

Have Raffy do that show with the guy that played the Hulks nemisis in the last Hulk movie - the Abomination. You know, the show called "LIE TO ME"! HE will tell you if Raffy is lying for sure!!!!

It is getting to the point where we need to say, "so what". If baseball is ever going to move on, that is what we need to do. So records got broken, everyone will always know that Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron did it in different era's. There was a steriod era in baseball, so what! There has been a steriod era in football forever and no one cares. Do you ever hear people saying Shawn Merriman or Rodney Harrison will not get into the football HOF because they used steriods?

There is absolutely no evidence that Ripken used steroids. No massive change in body type; no sudden spike in power numbers; no late-career surges where he should have declined given his age. It's hateful to say anything otherwise.

As for Raffy, he is the only one of the accused players that I actually believe. There was absolutely no reason for him to be on stanolozol (spelling?), a steroid that was so easy to test for and confirm in someone's system, a PED that had been around for years. If you take a minute to really think about the situation, it makes NO SENSE. There were other non-detectable steroids, and of course HgH, available to anyone who needed a boost.

Release the list of 104 players who tested positive in 2003, and release it now.

Maybe Palmeiro was on it and it ends the debate, maybe he wasn't and the debate goes on.

But the list seems to have leaked to so many people, it's ridiculous -- time to just let it go public rather then pretend it is still deserving of some kind of shroud of secrecy. They're not national security secrets, after all -- they're information about *OUR* national pastime. The game belongs to us, not to the lawyers.

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Pete's reply: I agree they ought to release the list, but it won't happen. No one can do it, officially, because it was supposed to be confidential.

Geez of course Raffy did not take PEDs. His trainer injected him with a codeword B12 for something to make him better. He’s clean on that as the courts see it.. Its just a great simple defense. I like Raffy and I don’t care if he did these drugs. I blame MLB and an out of control organization called the Texas Rangers. Even today the Rangers just received 15 million in bailout money from MLB and Victor Conte of Balco is still making supplements for the Rangers players like Marlon Byrd. The sport is not clean still and these things are gonna keep popping up until Bud Selig stops looking like Barney Fife and does something.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/al/rangers/2009-06-26-byrd-conte_N.htm
article on Byrd and Conte

I hate even putting Cal in the same sentence with PEDs but everybody is guilty now the way the situation has been handled.

Pete,

Yes, BUT, the finger wave is gone, he's considerably grayer and wiser as he attempted to ride on the coat tails of Mannymania and insinuate he was in the same position. The point I really enjoy is when these OLD guys say, why would I do it, what do I have left to prove. I find that comical its called that last BIG PAYDAY!

These guys need to all just GO AWAY! They don't get it, we think more of Andy Pettit for admitting it than we do for all the bums who wag their fingers and deny! Just GO AWAY!

When you think about it part of the Orioles current rebuilding plan was to jettison the PEDers. At one point we had Miggy, Sosa and Raffy. Also when the Mitchell Report was released I think we had the 2nd highest amount of players involved the Yanks being #1.

Happy Fourth of July, Pete.

I still hold out hope that the positive test was a fluke and that he did not use PEDs.

I would like to point out that he has as much gray in his beard as I do and I never took steroids.

The difference between the new guys popping positive like A-Rod, Manny etc is that they had the advantage of seeing what happened to the guys that denied the accusations. These current players told the truth or at least some form of admittance and people still like them. Raffy and others were led by the players union to not cooperate and deny and it burned them.

It's easy to say now, but I thought from the start that Palmeiro very likely could have been telling the truth all the time. Then when it came out that Tejada had indeed been using PEDs, it made me a believer in Palmeiro's testimony. It would be a shame to keep a deserving player out of the Hall of Fame over something that wasn't his fault. I say we need better proof of his guilt to keep him out. In the meantime, look again at his physique. He wasn't bulging like some of the well-known users.

The Mitchell Report is highly questionable. I believe the findings but you have to think the thing is bias. Senator Mitchell had clear connections to the Boston Red Sox and not 1 current player was on it when he zeroed in on the AL East rivals lol

Unrelated question: Do guys have to actually leave Baltimore BEFORE becoming effective pitchers? Greg Olsen is pitching a superb game in Boston. Another great O's decision. Is this about Kravitz?

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Pete's reply: I assume you mean Garrett Olson, who has been pitching well the past few weeks, but let's not get carried away. He still has a career ERA of 6.40.

Oldetoys,

His name is Garrett Olson. The O's must have saw something wrong to trade him for Pie.

I don't beleive Raffy. However, Tejada has never been properly criticised. The press, yourself included, didn't do nearly enough to emphasize what a terrible overall job he did in B-more over his four years. Lets not forget, this is the guy the O's attempted to buld aound and he failed the O's not the other way around. He cost the O's five years.

Lets recount the situation:

1. He did have 2 good offensive years
2. He was below average defensively and was too selfish to switch positions.
3. He played a major role, if not a leading role, in a steriods invested club house.
4. He's a criminal
5. He lied to the O's about his age.
6. He cost the O's an entire off season (I think 05) becuase he was again being selfish and publically airing his complaints.
7. He was a club house cancer.

AM pulled of one of the two best trades (Bedard being the other one), in a genaration of O's histroy by getting rid of this clown.

I normally never believe any of these jokers, but for some reason I think Raffy is on the up and up. He just doesn't strike me as being dumb enough to use the stuff. He never hit the ball way out on his homers, they were mainly line drives just over the fence.

I believe Palmiero willingly and knowingly took steroids, and I find it sad that they were in the game and tainted some cherished records.

But I don't get on a moral high-horse about it. I'm sure that players saw others getting away with using them, and, competitive as they are, thought it was unfair that others would get an advantage that they wouldn't. I am convinced that's what happened with Bonds: he saw Sosa and McGwire, 2 guys that weren't in his class, accumulating stats and fame ahead of him, and so he said, "Look what I can do with this stuff in me." And he showed us. It's sad but I don't go crazy hating the players for it, really.

still can't believe that multi-million dollar players can't get clean needles and syringes.

our dogs and cats get better medical care than that!

Aw, come on....
Everyone KNOWS who Ripken's best friend was: BRADY ANDERSON.
Everyone KNOWS that Anderson was a juicer. Therefore, his best friend, Cal must have been also. Isn't it only logical that one undisputable fact leads to another?
And for the benefit of those who have forgotten the whole story...... it was not through a friendly locker-room injection from Tejada that Raffy took the B-12..... Raffy took the vial home and his wife injected it there. If you're going to persist in smearing someone's story, then at least get his story straight.
Finally, a note to PETER:
B-12 is a VITAMIN. Everybody knows why people take vitamins. B-12 is especially known for it's supplementing the immune system and helping to fight off flu viruses and the like. It's true that in injectible form it is a controlled substance, but I think for you to have tried to hold Raffy in a bad light by comparing that to an illegal steroid injection kinda places YOUR nose a bit past the finish line ahead of your horse.
I don't know too many people who have NEVER accepted an antibiotic or two from a friend when feeling a sore throat coming on..... or perhaps an Ambien to help them get to sleep.... or maybe Anaproxen for back pain. Come on, Peter. Do these people deserve to have their worlds turned upside-down for such "criminal" activity?

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Pete's reply: For the record, handing around prescription drugs is illegal for a reason, and can be very dangerous, but I didn't place injecting B12 on a par with steroids. I said that at best, he injected B12 which he accepted from a teammate whose medical training was a little sketchy. It's pretty damned fishy. I stand by that, but I'm not getting preachy about it. If Raffy wanted a vitamin shot, there's a whole medical staff stationed down the hall from the Orioles clubhouse, but he took a syringe that Miguel Tejada smuggled in from the Dominican Republic. Hmmmm.

Pete, Did Raffy deliberately juice? Who knows? I'd like to think not, to think that he's been truthful all these years, but it wouldn't come as a total shock to find out that he did.

Palmeiro had some truly great seasons as an Oriole, seasons that rank up there with the best of any player in franchise history. It would be a shame if he didn't get them fairly.

Based on the last paragraph of the ESPN article you linked above, he's one player who didn't need to enhance his performance. He wasn't merely a good or even good college player at Mississippi State, he was a great one, truly deserving the honor he just received in being named to the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

We're talking about a three-time first team All American, who in 1984 was the SEC Triple Crown winner, hitting .415, 29 hr and 94 rbi. To understand just how impressive those numbers are, we need to remember that back then a college team played no more than 50 games a season.

So, Raffy hit better than a homer every other game and knocked in nearly two runs a game. I doubt too many college players have had a better year,

Bottom line: Palmeiro had such great natural gifts (much like Matt Wieters)that he had no need for any PED. Let's hope he realized that and kept himself clean.

Speaking of clean, the biggest question mark for me concerning Raffy is the Canseco expose. Although Canseco may not have had the cleanest motives in his tell-all book, much of what he claimed there has panned out.

Does that, however, include Palmeiro? This could be one of those questions for which we never have a clear answer.

Victim. Was never heavily muscled, injured (except for knee issues towards the end of his career in TX), and his production was remarkably consistent throughout his career. Palmeiro was also a consistent line-drive hitter at the beginning of his career whose power developed with experience. Remember that how effortless his swing appeared? He exhibited none of the traditional hallmarks of the PED users.

Did all that steroid use in the Texas Rangers clubhouse occur when George Bush owned the club?

If so, it'd be one more example of his "hands-off, mind-off" leadership style. Of course, he has his reputed own drug past to bury!

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Pete's reply: Yes, lots of owners go downstairs and stake out the bathroom stalls in the clubhouse. Get serious. If you want to make a political statement, that's okay with me, but at least have some idea what you're talking about.

It is obvious to me that Rafael Palmeiro has never used any performance enhancing substances and should be given the benefit of doubt regarding his supposed testing positive for a banned substance during the 2005 season. Never during his career has he exhibited any truly anomalous increase in production as those who have tested positive did. He consistently produced hits, homeruns and RBI. His physique never susbstantially changed during his entire major league career and he has been a wonderful ambassador for the game of baseball and a more than adequate role model for young baseball fans. I am proud of the fact that he played for seven seasons with my beloved Baltimore Orioles and believe that he should be inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. He is one of just a small handfull of players to have accumulated over 3,000 career hits and over 500 career homeruns along with the likes of Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and our own Eddie Murray and that is a rare and impressive accomplishment.

Robinson,

Steroid use went down when Bush owned the Rangers but the thing is many people were using PEDs at that time not just ballplayers. You could score roids or information on scoring roids from small gyms around the country and even order the stuff online to your house. The steroids were not enforced like other illegal narcotics but now it is. Not sure how much of that came from Bush being embarrassed his former team was connected to drugs or just the current state of baseball but all around America is tougher on the stuff now.

The funny thing is if Bush knew about the players using roids when he owned the team lol

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Pete's reply: Remember, it was Bush in his State of the Union speech who pressed pro sports to get a handle on steroids, so I guess he wasn't trying to hide from it.

In adition to andy pettitte’s drug usage his dying father scored HGH from a small Texas gym and Andy used them. He basically got a free pass on telling the public because of the sensitive nature.

Pete,

If you had to make an educated guess who is leaking these names from the list of players that popped? Also will the source of the leak be known and made public at some point?

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Pete's reply: Who would have access to the confidential lists? Justice department officials. Attorneys representing players who were connected to the various federal investigations. Lots of people. That why this stuff almost always comes out.

Oh Bush knew the about roids. He might even have done some with his buddy Sammy before he traded him hahah

Well after thinking about it, it was a problem of the era, steroids and the reason that people did them, because others were and no one wanted to give up on having an edge. I just wish people would just step up and tell the truth about it, it hurts their reputation, to deny when there is proof, or at least a high percentage of proof. The part that bothers me the most is the rat.

Guilty, guilty, guilty.

What is the point of talking about whether his body changed, or dissecting his lifetime stats? He tested positive. That is all that matters.

I was a big a fan of Palmeiro as anyone, but he cheated and deserves the punishment- which includes being excluded from Hall of Fame consideration.

Players are responsible for whatever they put in their bodies, and this was well established by 2005. That any player would attempt to excuse a positive test by claiming ignorance and blaming a teammate, or a doctor, is ridiculous (and actually pretty childish, if you think about it).

GUILTY

This is so f’n stupid. It wasn’t just baseball players during this time in America people of all professions were doing these drugs cops, strippers, rappers, UPS workers, any job that required strength. These drugs were readily available for anybody that wanted them. Of course people take advantage of something like this when its not regulated.

Andrew, So you're saying it's impossible for Raffy to have received it unwittingly? How can you be so sure; were you there in the locker room?

And, while we're at it, if you're consistent with your logic, then Brian Roberts shouldn't even be on the Orioles now, because he admitted to using a PED.

He tested positive. The best defense is a good offense. I'd like to believe that he was clean - I was really surprised when I learned he had tested positive. If MLB had a drug testing policy with penalties like they do now, they may have been able to save some of these guys from themselves and maintain a bit more of the integrity of the game.

Roberts used the fan friendly andy pettitte defense that he was hurt and used it one time to get better or something to that extent. Nobody ever does roids 1 time hahaha I don’t believe him. Even in the curious case of andy pettitte it turned out he did it more than he initially claimed.

Without a doubt I think Raffi deserves the shot to get his reputation back. He's the only one who sat there in front of congress and denied usage (unlike Big Mac's "let's forget the past and talk about the future" nonsense).

I also find it comical that most of the people here ready to lynch Raffi still go out and cheer for Brian Roberts. Not only did he cheat, but lied about it as well!

On December 17, 2007, Brian Roberts released a statement in which he admits to using steroids on a single occasion.

“In 2003, when I took one shot of steroids,” he said. “I immediately realized that this was not what I stood for or anything that I wanted to continue doing. I never used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing drugs prior to or since that single incident. “I can honestly say before God, myself, my family and all of my fans, that steroids or any performance-enhancing drugs have never had any effect on what I have worked so hard to accomplish in the game of baseball.”

ROFL

as a skinny 18 year old tenager I jond a local well known gym,part of a still existing chain.Within a matter of weeks,I was approached numeroud times about using stroids,or at least making them available.It was as common as V8 juice.I declined then and would now.I think Palmerio's shock and surprise and the subsequent revelations concerning aTejada make his story not only plausible but believable.And to the user that said to get get Flinstone's,that's just plan laughable,you would have to take a whole bottle to get the potency of one shot,much like a cortisone shot as opposed to a cortisone gel that you rub on your back.

as a skinny 18 year old tenager I jond a local well known gym,part of a still existing chain.Within a matter of weeks,I was approached numeroud times about using stroids,or at least making them available.It was as common as V8 juice.I declined then and would now.I think Palmerio's shock and surprise and the subsequent revelations concerning aTejada make his story not only plausible but believable.And to the user that said to get get Flinstone's,that's just plan laughable,you would have to take a whole bottle to get the potency of one shot,much like a cortisone shot as opposed to a cortisone gel that you rub on your back.

I believed him before Congress. I believed him when the positive test came out. I believed him when he pointed the finger at Tejada and I believe him now.

As has been stated 1) he never had the bulk of a steroids user (see Bonds, Canseco, McGwire, Sosa, Clemens, Bell, A-Roids, Giambi, Anderson and Gibbons); 2) he never had the demeanor of a steriods user (see Clemens, Bell); 3) he never had the injuries of a steriods user (see all the above) and he never had the statistical 'jolt' of a user (see all of the above again and add Tejada for his 1st year here).

At the time he mentioned Tejada, nobody in Baltimore knew that Tejada was juicing but later events showed he was...and since all these other guys are probably STILL juicing, let's give Raffy the benefit of the doubt that, if he WAS a user, he was at least as bright as these other guys and would have known how to get past the test like the rest of them did.

On top of that, I believe Tejada was jealous of sharing the limelight and that season he had Palmeiro going for 3000 hits and Sosa for 600 HR's...since Sosa was already juicing, the only one he could undermine was Palmeiro.

The whole idea of Palmeiro using his entire career is beyond ludicrous and the fact that he passed the follow-up test tells he he was just set-up enough.

Now Pete, you said you are certain Raffy wouldn't take a lie-detector test...do you know something 'off the record' that makes you feel that way?

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Pete's reply: No, but don't you think he would have suggested it if he wanted to take one?

I believed him before Congress. I believed him when the positive test came out. I believed him when he pointed the finger at Tejada and I believe him now.

As has been stated 1) he never had the bulk of a steroids user (see Bonds, Canseco, McGwire, Sosa, Clemens, Bell, A-Roids, Giambi, Anderson and Gibbons); 2) he never had the demeanor of a steriods user (see Clemens, Bell); 3) he never had the injuries of a steriods user (see all the above) and he never had the statistical 'jolt' of a user (see all of the above again and add Tejada for his 1st year here).

At the time he mentioned Tejada, nobody in Baltimore knew that Tejada was juicing but later events showed he was...and since all these other guys are probably STILL juicing, let's give Raffy the benefit of the doubt that, if he WAS a user, he was at least as bright as these other guys and would have known how to get past the test like the rest of them did.

On top of that, I believe Tejada was jealous of sharing the limelight and that season he had Palmeiro going for 3000 hits and Sosa for 600 HR's...since Sosa was already juicing, the only one he could undermine was Palmeiro.

The whole idea of Palmeiro using his entire career is beyond ludicrous and the fact that he passed the follow-up test tells he he was just set-up enough.

Now Pete, you said you are certain Raffy wouldn't take a lie-detector test...do you know something 'off the record' that makes you feel that way?

And let's just mention that there are plenty of 'cheaters' in the Hall of Fame...in fact, baseball is a game of cheating...stealing signs, loading up a pitch, corking bats...

Does Gaylord Perry deserve to be in there? Yes, he was clssified as 'crafty' not a cheater but I doubt seriously he'd had ever made it without his 'out' pitch...how about Jim Bunning, oh excuse me, SENATOR Jim Bunning?

I'm not justifying steroid usage, but hey, cheating is cheating when you get right down to it.

Ed,

You are kidding yourself man. It sounds you are very conflicted and I loved Raffy when he was here in Bmore as much as the next fan but how can sit here and make the “bulk” argument. Raffy also played on the Texas Rangers with multiple known roid users and trainers that were banned from MLB that were still being used in the clubhouse. I just wish he would have came clean to begin with. Sounds like many players were on the stuff and fans would have supported him if he told the truth.

Rangers might have embraced PEDs earlier maybe because the proximity to Mexico and how easy it was to smuggle drugs but the Orioles are just as bad a steroids team don’t single out the Rangers. Orioles appeared heavily on the Mitchell Report and traded for players everyone suspected.

YEAR W L RS RA
2009 36 45 377 438
2008 68 93 782 869
2007 69 93 756 868
2006 70 92 768 899
2005 74 88 729 800

Look at the records since they have started distancing themselves from roid tainted players with the exception on Brian Roberts. They don’t know how to win without them! This team had a history with drugs like most the other teams in MLB.

I am all for Brian Roberts doing roids. Look at the bright side if he does some he might play better and if he gets busted when he comes back next season he will be hungry again to play well like the last time he got busted.

Martin-

So they dump the "steroid players" and start scoring more runs per year proving that they can't win without steroid players? I'm confused...

Hans,

True the team scored more runs in 2008 but the losses are getting worse and worse without tainted players

Wayne

I'm not conflicted at all. I believe the man.

The test can prove he had them in his system if its accurate, but it doesn't prove intent.

You are using a 'guilt by association' deal linking him to users from the Rangers.That's simply not a fair assessment.

I need to see more than what you stated to believe he knowingly and willingly took a banned substance.

If his name is on the 2003 list, I'm quite certain that Congress would have used it to make their case against him for perjury...they didn't.

Try looking at it from a different viewpoint...how would you have react if you test positive for drugs and really have no idea how they got there?

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Pete's reply: Everyone's going to believe what they want. I don't know if Palmeiro would be convicted if this was a criminal case, but Canseco said he used Stanozolol years before this test and Raffy tested positive for that. That could be a coincidence, though Jose hasn't been caught in a lot of lies, but I'm more troubled by the idea that Raffy would accept a syringe from a teammate when he could have simply asked the Orioles medical staff for a B12 shot and would have gotten one.

I would like to see Raffy vs. Miggy in a live televised caged match, sponsored by Viagra. Maybe then the truth will come out!

Miggy made the All Star team hahaha

I'd like to believe that Raffy is innocent, because I liked him as a player. And maybe he is. Regardless, it's interesting that he was skewered because of his positive test, and it will almost certainly cost him the HOF -- and the same likely goes for Sosa and maybe McGwire; yet other players, notably A-Rod, seem to have had it all bounce off.