Everyone is adding their two cents when it comes to this whole Raul Ibanez steroid speculation story, and some people seem to be forgetting their own words from a few years ago. One of those people is SI writer, Jon Heyman, who called unfounded PED speculation garbage, but apparently forgot about his own speculation of Sammy Sosa a few years back. Via Rays Index….
Did [Sosa] use steroids when he hit his 66 home runs in the summer of 1998? Is he getting some sort of outside help now that he’s back to being a power hitter for the Texas Rangers? Tough call.
Sure sounds like Heyman is speculating to us. And why is it a “tough call” for Heyman?
Then when Sosa was called upon to speak (before Congress), he struggled to find English words. I know Sosa’s English is better than it seemed that day. But maybe he was nervous. Can I know for sure?
If faking poor English is a sign of steroid use, then half the 2007 Mets roster was juicing. Let’s continue…
No one has ever had the goods on Sosa. No one has ever said he failed a test. Unlike Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield, he never bought from BALCO. I can assume the worst. But I’m not sure that’s fair.
No Jon, it is not fair. And according to your Twitter account, it is “garbage.” Now the big finish…
And unlike McGwire, Sosa has returned to play and thrive after baseball instituted steroid testing. The testing is imperfect, and Sosa is, too. Maybe he’s just as guilty as McGwire. But how am I going to know that for sure? Am I going to be able to count assumption and innuendo against Sosa? Am I going to assume the worst? Tough call.
That certainly does seem like a good bit of speculation there, but that’s really what Sports is about. Everything is speculation. Who you think will win the Championship, Who will win MVP, mock drafts and yes….Who used/uses steroids. To turn this into a Blogger vs. MSM is just silly, but that’s nothing new in the World of Sports. Ibanez has every right to defend himself, just as every Sports Fan has the right to speculate, and that’s exactly what he did.
As far as the media goes, just look at this clip from Outside the Lines, and please take note of the different debating techniques from the MSMers on the show. You have the Philly Inquirer’s John Gonzalez making a sound, thought out responses to the issue at hand. As well as, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal, wildly arguing and acting as an apologist for the players….
And all of that coming from a person who wrote the following on May 14th, 2009:
“At this moment, I would have a difficult time voting for any confirmed or suspected user without an assurance from the Hall that the player’s transgressions would be acknowledged.
If the players objected to such mentions, too bad. What would they do, boycott the Hall? Their mere inductions would reflect that they were the best of their tainted era. Many would argue that they do not deserve to be in Cooperstown at all.
I’m caught somewhere in between. And the clock is ticking on my time — and every voter’s time — to figure out what is right.”
We all are, Ken….but most of us try not to forget what we wrote an f’ing month ago!!! You say that we shouldn’t just come out and guess who’s using and who’s not, but that’s exactly what you did in that article. Who cares if it’s a current player, or someone trying to get into the HOF?
Jon Heyman Is A Hypocrite When It Comes To PED Speculation (Rays Index)
Hall of Fame: Some tough calls must be made (Fox Sports)
