Ko0K on 14/12/2007 at 07:35
So, a lot of who's who in baseball got named in this report, and I'm thinking that they didn't pay the dealer enough to buy his silence. By the way, it's interesting that Garciaparra is not mentioned (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Report_%28baseball%29) here, although I heard his name mentioned multiple times on NPR. Clemens denies it, but he's the biggest name on the list. I feel bad for the guy, but the situation doesn't look good for him at the moment. This might be a good opportunity to discuss modest salaries, if you ask me.
aguywhoplaysthief on 14/12/2007 at 08:13
I'm not sure which is worse - talking about the most boring game in America, or talking about the scandals involving the most boring game in America.
theBlackman on 14/12/2007 at 09:46
Quote Posted by aguywhoplaysthief
I'm not sure which is worse - talking about the most boring game in America, or talking about the scandals involving the most boring game in America.
People who think it is worth talking about.
Brian T on 14/12/2007 at 10:11
Quote Posted by aguywhoplaysthief
I'm not sure which is worse - talking about the most boring game in America, or talking about the scandals involving the most boring game in America.
Oh you'd love good old English cricket then! It's really quite top notch. It's a tad like this "baseball" game, but more English and sedate and everyone has time for a cucumber sandwich. Hurrah!
Starrfall on 14/12/2007 at 14:33
Aguy doesn't like baseball cause there's too many immigrants in it. Playing their loud music, contributing to the miserable congestion on the Bay Area highways.
It's fun to see who's on it and who was dumb enough to write personal checks and have their stuff sent to the ballpark, but I find myself not actually caring much about the fact that they're on it, if that makes sense. It's probably because use was so common that none of it was really surprising, even the big names.
One thing to keep in mind is that of the named players, a lot of the evidence against them is fairly shaky (not everyone wrote personal checks). The other thing is that there's absolutely no reason to think the people named in the report are the only users, especially since not that many were actually named.
I don't think you'll see lowered salaries out of this. "We're not going to pay you as much cause you're not taking roids anymore" wouldn't look to good.
The next thing is to find a functional test for HGH.
DinkyDogg on 14/12/2007 at 14:53
Why is HGH illegal anyway, outside of baseball? I'm 5'7" and 140 lbs and I wouldn't mind shooting up a few inches. Someone with medical knowledge have an answer? (Subjeff, I mean you)
Starrfall on 14/12/2007 at 14:57
I don't think it's illegal outside of baseball. Go to your doctor and ask him about it.
hopper on 14/12/2007 at 15:07
I think aguy doesn't like baseball because it's the most boring game in America. A guy can't be all wrong, all the time.
Jason Moyer on 14/12/2007 at 16:21
Quote Posted by aguywhoplaysthief
I'm not sure which is worse - talking about the most boring game in America, or talking about the scandals involving the most boring game in America.
Baseball is the only sport in America worth a shit. And the steroid scandal and the media/public's reaction to it is about as stupid as one would expect.
Quote Posted by DinkyDogg
Why is HGH illegal anyway, outside of baseball? I'm 5'7" and 140 lbs and I wouldn't mind shooting up a few inches. Someone with medical knowledge have an answer? (Subjeff, I mean you)
HGH doesn't build body mass, it repairs damaged tissue. That's why everyone using it is either old, recovering from an injury, or a pitcher.
Quote Posted by Starrfall
One thing to keep in mind is that of the named players, a lot of the evidence against them is fairly shaky (not everyone wrote personal checks). The other thing is that there's absolutely no reason to think the people named in the report are the only users, especially since not that many were actually named.
Almost everyone named in the report basically came from one source (the New York dealer). The report itself mentions that while it was important to release the investigative results, the list really doesn't mean much given the vast number of players who have been using it.
Something that amazes me is that Mitchell didn't interview more of the guys who have admitted to it, like Tom House (you know, the fellow who just happened to catch meth-using Hank Aaron's 715th HR). It's baffling to me that performance enhancers (including speed, which for some reason wasn't looked into - probably because the usage rate was near 100% for 50 years) have been abused in baseball since the 60's and there's basically no record of anything before the early 90's.
DinkyDogg on 14/12/2007 at 16:23
Quote Posted by Starrfall
I don't think it's illegal outside of baseball. Go to your doctor and ask him about it.
Looks like you're right, from what I could gather from Wikipedia. The prohibiting factor is cost, not legality. Says Wikipedia:
Quote:
* Growth hormone is one of the most expensive treatments in all of medicine. The cost of adult GH replacement for deficiency (or for “aging”) is about US$2000 per year. The cost of treatment for a non-deficient child (e.g., with Turner syndrome or idiopathic short stature) is about US$25,000 per year. A typical treatment course of 5 years yielding about 2 inches (5 cm) of extra adult height would cost approximately US$125,000. The highest cost, for treatment from infancy to age 70 of severe, congenital GH deficiency, could exceed US$300,000.
The high cost has been a subject of criticism of the pharmaceutical companies. A high cost was originally justified by the new technology and unusually extensive clinical trials. Orphan drug status in the United States (which blocks competing products for several years) was granted to the first two recombinant products (Genentech's Protropin and Lilly's Humatrope) introduced in the mid-1980s. Continuing production costs have been much lower than the drug price. When orphan drug status expired in the early 1990s it was hoped that introduction of additional brands into the market would result in a lower price. Instead, the 5 major companies offering synthetic GH have competed on other grounds than price. While the dollar price has not been increased to keep up with inflation over 2 decades, it hasn't been reduced as net manufacturing costs have fallen. Despite a similar manufacturing process, pricing of synthetic GH for use in cattle (see Bovine somatotropin) is inexpensive compared to the human product.
For that much money, 5'7" is plenty tall.
