Via Hardball Talk, Jeff Bagwell once again denies steroid use.
“I never used [steroids], and I’ll tell you exactly why: If I could hit between 30 and 40 home runs every year and drive in 120 runs, why did I need to do anything else? I was pretty happy with what I was doing, and that’s the God’s honest truth. All of a sudden guys were starting to hit 60 or 70 home runs and people were like, ‘Dude, if you took [PEDs], you could do it too.’ And I was like, ‘I’m good where I’m at. I just want to do what I can do.’
“I wasn’t trying to do anything crazy. I hit six homers in the minor leagues. Six home runs. I hit 15, 18 and 21 in Houston, and then I hit 39 in 1994 when I started working with Rudy Jaramillo and he helped me to understand my swing and I actually learned how to hit. And I was like, ‘I don’t need anything more. I’m good.’ When I walked on the field I thought I was the best player on the field, and I didn’t need anything more than that. It was never an ego thing with me, and I think at some point, it became ego to some people.
“I know a lot of people are saying, ‘His body got bigger.’ Well, if you’re eating 30 pounds of meat every single day and you’re working out and bench pressing, you’re going to get bigger. You can go to every single trainer and they’ll say, ‘He was the first here and last to leave, and that dude worked his ass off.'”
The whole interview is well worth the read.
There is, of course, a problem with denials in a political process like a Hall of Fame election. It rightly or wrongly associates the denier with the accusation. If it should come out at some point that Jeff did use something, even for a day, he’s going to look bad. Compare Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro. McGwire never denied using PEDs, but he didn’t confirm it either for a long time. He just took the no comment route. Palmeiro denied usage, then got caught. For that reason, I don’t think Palmeiro will ever get into the Hall, while McGwire has a chance. I’d rather see Bagwell say, “I don’t want to talk about it.” Denials, for some reason, have a way of making you look guilty.
I don’t know, man. I disagree.
If a person actually never used steroids – and they know this, why would they have any incentive to say anything other then the truth? There is nothing that can ever come out and bite them in the ass.
However, if you deny using steroids and you know that isn’t the case, then yes, you are setting yourself up for a horrible scenario down the road. In that case, saying “No comment” or “I don’t want to talk about it” is more beneficial.
The problem with denials is that the more you talk, the guiltier you sound. “I don’t need anything more. I’m good.” Really ?!?!? A baseball player saying that? That’s very hard to believe – which then makes the whole denial hard to believe.
I think the best answer is “No.” Period. End of discussion.
The linked story has an interesting quote from Palmeiro:
‘Palmeiro again insisted the anabolic steroid was in a B-12 vial given to him by Baltimore Orioles teammate Miguel Tejada.
‘”I was telling the truth then, and I am telling the truth now,” Palmeiro said. “I don’t know what else I can say. I have never taken steroids. For people who think I took steroids intentionally, I’m never going to convince them. But I hope the voters judge my career fairly and don’t look at one mistake.”‘
How is taking a B-12 shot a mistake? Did Palmeiro reveal more than he wanted to here? I also finding it interesting that he went to George W. Bush for moral and legal advice on coming clean about his dubious past. Not my first choice.
Unfortunately, denying once, denying over and over, and refusing to talk about all make one guilty. There is nothing he could possibly say or do that won’t garner criticism from some. It is a tough situation for him, and will probably be shut out for sometime due to the anti-PED holier-than-thous/must have 3000 or 500 to be a HOF crowd. So, does one have to somehow fail a baseball IQ test to become a voting member?
Bagwell looks guilty because he was good, and for no other reason, and it makes no difference whether he denies or refuses to talk about it. If a guy was big and strong and a good hitter, the assumption is he must have been using. It’s just not fair. I think all these guys should go to the hall. PEDs were defacto legal during the entire era–these guys should be judged against that era.