Can I get a witness to testify. Open your eyes, electrify. -Beastie Boys
Public Service Announcement: Hot off the presses: Mets farm hand, Yusaku Iriki, just suspended for steroid use. The thing is, Mr. Iriki, is a pitcher, not a Herculean home run hitter. The first major-leaguer ever suspended for testing positive for steroids? Tampa Bay’s Alex Sanchez. Pitcher. Now, when I think of steroids, images of Bonds and McGuire fill my head. Hulking behemoths. But don’t think pitchers are immune.
In fact, early last April, when all this brouhaha started, 38 minor leaguers were suspended, of them, 17 were pitchers. Later in May, 11 more farmers got caught, 7 pitchers. Up in the Big Show last year, 12 players nabbed. 6 pitchers. So while we’re all focused on Sosa and Raphy, pitchers go below the radar. Rocket? Unit? Who knows? All we do know is that steroids not only bulk dudes up, they also accelerate recovery after games and workouts. That’s huge. Baseball people had this to say:
Tom House, ex Sox reliever: It’s not about getting big as a pitcher, it’s about recovery.”
Tomas Santiago: “You hear they help performance and add miles (per hour) to your fastball, and also for pitchers, because the season is so long and we depend on our arms, I’ve heard people do it to maintain performance through the season without fading at the end.”
Big Barry Planet Zito: “I think for pitchers, recovery is bigger than strength. It’s a pretty big thing to have a pitcher who doesn’t get hurt, who’s available.”
Tom House bringing it all home: “A pitcher who recovers more efficiently over the course of the year will have more left in the tank at the end of the season.”
And there you have it. It makes sense.
Padres General Manager, Kevin Towers: “I think a lot of pitchers were trying to be quiet, lie dormant and complain about small parks and big power hitters, when they were just as involved (in using steroids).”
How else do we explain these guys coming back from Tommy John surgery, and adding 6-7 mph on their fastball. Hmmmm? Or, how are all these over the hill pitchers still making an impact? It could be genetics, a fine training regimen, clean living. It could be steroids.
Tom House has admitted to being on the juice in his day: “We were doing steroids they wouldn’t give to horses. ”
He and a bunch of other guys used uppers, human growth hormone and “whatever steroid” they could find. If they were doing it then, you gotta think they’re doing it now. Especially, since the science of it is so refined now.
Another great quote from Tom: “We didn’t get beat, we got out-milligrammed, and when you found out what they were taking, you started taking them.”
That has to be the mentality, even today. With all that money involved, wouldn’t you try to get an edge? I don’t necessarily blame the players. Whatever the market will bear, right? Well, the market bore a lot. It now has to answer for it. The casualties remain to be seen. By the way, House is the answer to this trivia question: Who caught Hank Aaron’s record breaking home run? He was in the Braves bullpen for 715.
Peace out homies. Six two and Even!
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Who can name Tom House’s most famous accomplishment in his major league career?