Lilly and Ozzie

[17 Seconds]

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1433227,lilly-ozzie-steroids-021609.article

 

Not sure I agree with what either of these guys are saying.

[biittner77]

Lilly is making the same argument that the union has been making from the beginning. What do you do about false positives? How reliable are the tests? What happens if someone tests positive for something they bought over the counter/ didn't know was banned?

 

Resolve these issues and the union won't have a leg to stand on. 50 games suspension is basically on par with what the NFL does translating roughly to 1/3 of a season. That's even more significant for minor leaguers.

[Ski]

Ted Lilly is our player rep? He always seemed like a player who never talked, just pitched.

[Abe Frohman]

To be honest, I completely agree with Ozzie here.

[CubinNY]

Ted Lilly is our player rep? He always seemed like a player who never talked, just pitched.

And kill people who cross him.

[videographer]

In the article there is a question of corruption in MLB,

"Lilly is right, though, when he suggests the possibility of corrupt tests. Why would Major League Baseball target any particular players? I can't answer that. Guillen told me a couple years ago that he suspected something fishy in the high percentage of positive steroid tests coming from Hispanic players. I couldn't find a motive for that, either.testing, "

 

Everything that I have read about steroids in baseball suggests performance enhancing drugs (PED) are easier and cheaper to buy in Mexico and Latin America, even Flintstone vitamins. It seems that most of the minor leaguers caught are Hispanic. I think it is a culture of lack of education (what is legal/illegal), availability of PED and desire to escape poverty that drives Hispanic players to try PED more than any perceived notion of corruption by MLB to "get" Hispanic players.

 

Claerly it is greed that drives PED on the major league level. I can hear the drug dealer's marketing pitch, "Make more money with . . .(fill in the blank)" The vainity of athletes often override any ethical code of compettion. The fallout of A-Rod and company at this late stage is directly related to MLB officals not handling PED very well since Jose Canseco and his identical twin brother Ozzie stood side by side in the late 1980s. The Cansecos may have been the most successful "before and after" picture campaign to promote a product.

 

Unfortunetly, many years ago, I started to question all athletic performances that could be tainted by PED, i.e., any Olypmic sport, cycling, baseball, etc. It has dulled my desire to follow sports and sharpened my cynicism for any professional organized athletic competition.