11/05/24
May 05, 2005
"Give me a list!": said Juan Rincon, the newest MLB player to be suspended due to stricter drug policies. Rincon wants a list of banned substances posted in the club house so he and other players know what they can and cannot use. Apparently, there is a list of banned substances. It was given to players during spring training. Apparently, none of them thought enough of it to bring it north and post it in the clubhouse.
posted by jasonspaceman to baseball at 08:24 AM - 10 comments
I love the excuse that players with poor English skills don't know the substance abuse rules. Juan Rincon earned $330,000 last season. That seems like enough money for a player -- or his agent -- to afford someone who can tell him the rules in one or more languages.
posted by rcade at 09:04 AM on May 05, 2005
l could do that job. I'll charge 1/200th of the player's salary.
posted by 86 at 09:17 AM on May 05, 2005
Minneapolis Star Tribune writer Jim Souhan wrote an excellent article the other day regarding the Juan Rincon situation. The whole article is good, but here was the main point on Rincon: The little guys pay in drug war My best Twins sources -- people who have told me unflattering truths about their organization in the past -- said Tuesday that Rincon wept when talking to the coaching staff over the weekend, that he told his teammates he didn't do anything wrong, that they believe Rincon was victimized by the Venezuelan winter ball culture. Several told horror stories about winter baseball -- about trainers shooting sore-armed pitchers with vitamins and cortisone and whatever else is handy, sometimes neglecting to change needles. This is not to excuse Rincon. He must be held responsible for what he puts in his body.
posted by emoeby at 09:44 AM on May 05, 2005
No blame should be shifted from Rincon. He should have played it safe. It does look like something is going on down in Latin America/South America with all the players getting busted from those areas. No more treatments from Winter Ball witch doctors would be a good idea for those guys.
posted by chris2sy at 10:21 AM on May 05, 2005
Be a pretty good reason not to go play ball in Venezula any longer, huh?
posted by wfrazerjr at 10:27 AM on May 05, 2005
MLB ought to provide players with a list of banned products. The same product could be called a million different things and be sold over the counter. While I agree that the onus is on the players, I think it would be more clear to all if they provide a list of products that contain banned substances. It would be a long list and a hassle, but the union, agents, MLB, anyone should put in the time. The disproportionate number of Latin American players being suspended indicates a lack of education on the parts of players about what they can and cannot take. I don't think it is just winter ball, but also players taking vitamins that they think are okay. I am sure that players will soon learn to verify what they are taking. In my opinion, the suspensions so far seem to be getting those wrong vitamins players instead of the steroid abuser players.
posted by bperk at 10:48 AM on May 05, 2005
Yeah, they need to post the banned list. And they need to post a reminder not to take corked bats to the plate. And pitchers need post-it notes reminding them not to scuff or slobber all over the ball. And managers need reminders posted in their clubhouse to fill out official batting line-up prior to the 6th inning. Good god, these dicks will use any excuse.
posted by the red terror at 10:52 AM on May 05, 2005
bperk, from the article: Twins general manager Terry Ryan said the team has an employee assistance program with bilingual doctors on call.
posted by jasonspaceman at 11:35 AM on May 05, 2005
MLB ought to provide players with a list of banned products. The same product could be called a million different things and be sold over the counter. While I agree that the onus is on the players, I think it would be more clear to all if they provide a list of products that contain banned substances. It would be a long list and a hassle, but the union, agents, MLB, anyone should put in the time. It's probably not doable, hperk -- not unless you can really enforce standards against manufacturers, and that includes quality standards, not just labeling standards. There has been at least one case in the past (not in MLB, but in a sport regulated by the USOC) where an athlete was dinged for a substance found in a supplement he was taking, which was not even listed on the product label. So if the products don't even have accurate labels, I don't see how MLB could have a definitive list -- and that's not even considering the fact that products change all the time. "Get it approved by the team's trainer" is probably the way to go, and to be on the safe side, that would involve a pretty expensive lab test.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:04 PM on May 05, 2005
Give me a break. If you're thinking of taking a "supplement", bring it to the team's trainers first and have them approve it. Or better yet, check with your player's union, eh?