Jim Seip of the York Daily Record has done some fine work this offseason. He has an article here about the Atlantic League’s drug testing program.
Joe Klein, the league’s executive director, comes across as rather naive in the piece.
“The truth is, very few of our players can afford (performance-enhancing drugs),” Klein said. “I just read about the latest case. … It cost $1,600 a treatment. Holy smokes!”
Actually, the truth is many Atlantic Leaguers are not poverty-stricken. Many are former big leaguers who once earned six-figure salaries or received six-figure bonuses as high draft picks.
The notion that performance-enhancing drugs are not a problem in this league — where players are desperately fighting for another chance — is dubious. PEDs are an issue throughout professional sports.
This is, after all, the same league that employed the Canseco brothers, John Rocker and Juan Gonzalez — all of whom have been linked to steroids or human growth hormone in the past.
My thoughts…. “Let them play, Let them play, Let them play!” Quote from the 1977 Bad News Bears movie.
Baseball and steroid talk is voodoo for this sport. Only the NFL can be so suave and get away with cute little comeback stories. Bad things happen when baseball and steroid chatter begin to be amalgamated.
Personally I love watching the ball get launched out of the park. It’s also fun watching peoples heads get twice the size their original size.
My thought has always been that this level of baseball is exactly where you’d see stuff like this take place. In five years of covering the league, I’ve never had first-hand knowledge of anything taking place or ever seen anything take place, but there’s a certain level of desperation with some of the guys here that could certainly lend credence to any conspiracy theories anyone may have…