December 18, 2007
Mitchell and Canseco
Brian Roberts admits to steroid use.
In a statement he issued to The (Baltimore) Sun, Roberts said that after the single injection he immediately realized that it was not what he "stood for" or anything he wanted to continue doing. He said he's sorry he did it and said he regrets making what he says was a "terrible decision."
The Mitchell report is turning out to be like Canseco's book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big
. So far, everything we've learned from players was basically correct. Some deny the use of a specific substance, but the players who came forward basically confirm what Mitchell's investigators found. It's becoming more and more credible as time goes on.
The charges against Roberts were the weakest in the report. Now that they proved true, it makes the other links look a lot stronger.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:30 AM
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Cheating
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Props to Roberts for owning up to it.
Surprising. The evidence against him was the weakest, and he even had Segui backing him up and saying what an honest guy he was. He had absolutely no reason to admit to it except honesty.
With many of the guys, I feel like their admissions are sort of like plea bargains - admitting to a lesser charge to save some face (Pettitte, this means you). Roberts could have denied the whole thing and everyone would have believed him 100%. I'm surprised by this and maybe even impressed.
Props to Roberts? This is an annoying trend by athletes saying "oh ok I did it, but only once, and then I realized... it was wrong!" Sounds like what I used to say to my parents when I was 12. Totally transparent. I'm not calling Roberts a liar, but this new excuse is really convenient.
You said that Segui's defense of Roberts shouldn't be taken at face value. You were right. (Though it's entirely possible Roberts didn't participate when Segui saw him.)
I would suggest that Roberts confession actually opposes what we learned in the Mitchell Report. The report claims that Roberts 'met' with Radomski during the 2003 season, yet Roberts confession suggests that he tried it out once before this time.
So, it appears as though at least one part of this story is incorrect. Whether it be that Roberts used more then a single time (which could explain the incredible increase we saw in his ISO) or that Radomski simply heard about Roberts possibly using a single time and ratting him out.
How many other partially correct stories do we think are in this report?
