Dominicans, steroids and Miguel Tejada...

Berzin

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Nov 17, 2004
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In the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, there is an article on Miguel Tejada and how differently steroid use is seen in in the DR as it is in the states. Here is a quote-


"Dominicans have an easy explanation for their collective shrug whenever the subject of steroids arises. They argue that just as stealing bread is not a crime when a man is starving, taking performance-enhancing drugs is acceptable when a player is desperate to get off an island where the poverty rate hovers around 40%. "Whats' wrong[in the U.S.]", says Fernando Mateo, president of Hispanics Across America, a New York-based advocacy group that lobbies Major League Baseball on Latino issues, "isn't so wrong there"."

"For baseball, fighting steroid use in the Dominican Republic has been like throwing punches underwater. The island that produced nearly 12% of the major leaguers on last year's Opening Day rosters and more than 20% of the All-Star starters last July, also produced one-third of the positive tests in the major and minor leagues in 2007."

"Though the summer and winter leagues have tested for steroids since 2004, the country's labor laws prohibited teams from suspending players who tested positive; violators were instead referred to counseling. But after intense lobbying by Major League Baseball, the Dominican government reinterpreted its laws. Starting this summer, players who test positive will face the same escalating 50-game, 100-game and permanent suspensions doled out by MLB."


Even though Miguel Tejada says he has never used steroids, he is facing the same perjury charges as Barry Bonds, with proof residing in two checks he wrote to then-A's teammate Adam Piatt for $3,100 and $3,200 to purchase Deca-Durbalin and HGH in March 2003 from Kirk Radomski, the personal trainer and former New York Mets clubhouse attendant.


Questions-

So, is this laissez-faire attitude towards steroids really common among dominicans?

Do any of you think Miguel Tejada is lying?

Since Tejada was already in the majors and a wealthy man when he allegedly purchased these steroids, should the lackadaisical cultural attitude towards steroids be used as an excuse for such behavior?

Feel free to toss in any thoughts related to these topics.
 
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Chip

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I know for a fact that steriods are widely used among guys at the local gyms. In fact one guy even showed me a bottle he stores in his locker. He is also the same age and height as me, but whereas I weigh 170 with a benchpress around 285, he weighs 230with a benchpress around 400. He told me before he took steriods that he weighed a little bit more than I do. I know of at least 2 to 3 other guys at the same gym who use it.
 

El sabelot?

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"Dominicans have an easy explanation for their collective shrug whenever the subject of steroids arises. They argue that just as stealing bread is not a crime when a man is starving, taking performance-enhancing drugs is acceptable when a player is desperate to get off an island where the poverty rate hovers around 40%.

(Talk about romanticizing the situation...)

That's as absurd as saying that most Dominican ballplayers as free-swingers 'cause "you have to swing the bat in order to get off the island."

Oh, what nonsense!
 

Kyle

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Jun 2, 2006
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i need some dominican steroids to boost up my arm strength. i get tired after lifting 6 presidentes...:laugh:
seriously, i heard dominican drug stores have many substances that are banned in the US...
someone please clarify this.....
 

Chip

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i need some dominican steroids to boost up my arm strength. i get tired after lifting 6 presidentes...:laugh:
seriously, i heard dominican drug stores have many substances that are banned in the US...
someone please clarify this.....

I don't know about illegal substances, but I do know even thought there are laws here about having a prescrition for cetain items, aparrently it isn't widely respected.
 

Mr. Lu

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Here's the skinny, 'roids in the DR are easy to get and prescriptions aren't a requirement. In some cases neither is a doctors note or any type of official note. Go to the pharmacy and ask for whatever you want and if you can't get what you want there, just head over to the health food and supplement stores. I know of three or four places that can get you high quality stuff like Winstrol and all the "juice" to "stack" properly. Real steroid users know that you need to "stack" the stuff meaning taking more than one anabolic for an extended period of time and then cycling on and off etc.

At the end of the day the stuff is very common in the gyms etc, and there is a laissez faire attitude towards the stuff, but I add that there is also a lot of misinformation and a lack of information with regards to this. Most young guys don't seem to have a problem with a little "puya" as they call it here. The short terms effects are worth it for them.

Also there is a lack of misinformation on the government level, for example you can get ephedra products over the counter here and products like phen phen are also common here. There is also a thing called "alcachofa" which is a weight loss "miracle" and a variety of other products, though I don't feel like getting into it.

The prevailing attitude is that a bit of roids ain't bad...at least for the time being. I'm in the gym 5 days a week so I have a pretty good idea of what goes on. It's kind of sick actually. But still Dominican baseball players are good, not because of roids, but because poverty sucks and they see it as the most attainable way out of it.
 

Chip

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Speaking of side effects and taking steriods, the one guy I mentioned who uses the steriods said he hasn't had many side effects but that he doesn't take them all of the time. However, he said a another guy at the same gym who is on them who (btw, who must have gained like 50m pounds in muscle in 4 months) can't seem to get his wife pregnant. Then there is the one guy who is so muscle bound it looks gross. We could chock it up to ignorance, but what do all of the athletes on roids in the States and other parts of the world use as an excuse?
 

Mr. Lu

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We could chock it up to ignorance, but what do all of the athletes on roids in the States and other parts of the world use as an excuse?

Ignorance, Competitiveness, Money and self esteem issues...at the end of the day a million dollar contract is worth more than your health or legal issues in the future. Ever talk to a pro athlete about? The pressure for some is too much so they turn to the alternative.

In the end a lot of Dominican athletes are ignorant because of a few reasons. Firstly, the education level here is low so they don't get this in health ed and secondly, they trust their handlers and coaches blindly, basically believing anything they say. Finally, for some people they know the consequences, but at the prospect of a US$100,000 signing bonus and a better life for your family a few shot in the butt seem worth it to them...don't under estimate what poverty will make you do...
 

Chirimoya

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A few years ago our cleaner asked us to lend her RD$3,000 for 'vitamin injections' for her son who was hoping to be signed up.
 

Tordok

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The fact is that even without the penalties that MLB already has in place in the US and Venezuela (as well as Australia, Canada and pretty much whenever else there are ballplayers), the rate of positive steroid tests among signed pro baseball players in the DR has steadily gone DOWN from over 12% during the 1st year of testing to approximately 3% this last year. If it ever was any higher than that, it is anybody's guess.

Once the Dominican government gets the law revised (some tweaking needs to be done to change some articles from the nation's labor code to its health code) then the penalties will start to apply in the country just as everywhere else and further drops in steroids use among DR ballplayers should be expected.

Precisely this past weekend (Feb 15-17) MLB's had its major educational presentation on this issue for top DR prospects (as well as some sent by their teams from Venezuela and Panama). All MLB teams were represented. There they had a chance to get a comprehensive health risks talk by specialized physicians sent to the DR exclusively for this purpose and also they get to see dramatizations performed by local professional actors. Small group and individual Q&A sessions follow the presentations. Written materials distributed, etc.

The all weekend rookie career development program which covers issues related to cross-cultural adaptation and English language acquisition skills (by masters-level educators), financial protection (by MBA types), personal security matters (by US and Dominican law enforcement professionals), immigration/visa rules and related issues (by US consulate staff), drug prevention, and media relations (by well-recognized sport journalist), etc. Each presentation has audiovisual aides and are followed by serious discussions and clarifications. Their limited schooling is taken into account to help them grasp sometimes difficult topics.

In addition to this yearly special program for young men expected to make it to the US leagues during the year's season, MLB's Dominican office has a dedicated, full-time professional individual who visits each and every one of the "academies" several times a year with detailed prevention education presentations about Minor League and Major League drug policies regarding performance enhancing drugs.

All of this is again repeated ad infinitum by individual clubs both in the DR and the US. So, despite past neglect, I personally can attest to the fact that in the last 6 years things have changed rather dramatically and baseball has 'gotten its act together' to finally stop the so-called steroids era.

Unfortunately, some players will do whatever they will do, at their own risk.
Each of these guys is responsible for their careers; if they choose to use banned, risky substances, date hookers, give money to thugs, carry guns, antagonize the sports media off, fail to learn language skills, provide fraudulent documentations in their visa applications, befriend gangsters, or engage into any other kind of dangerous behavior; it is ultimately up to them to face the consequences. Being ignorant is no longer a legitimate excuse.

- Tordok
 
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Chip

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This sounds good, but what do you do in the case that steroids are of the untraceable type, like HGH? Heck, how many years did Marion Jones use them w/o ever getting caught? Does anybody think that the DR has the police infrastructure to investigate like they do in the US? I wouldn't be surprised to find if that in fact steriod use has not significantly dropped here in the DR, only that the perps are not getting caught because of the untaceable drugs they are doing. Nonetheless, I applaud the MLB and what they are trying to do, but remember this is almost an impossible task as referenced to the circus show going on in the league in the States.
 

Berzin

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Thanks for the great post, Tordok. It is true that HGH is untraceable as Chip says, but there are other ways to keep taking steroids without testing positive.

There is micro-dosing, where the amounts injected(over a longer period of time, mind you) are so small that it doesn't show up on any tests. And of course there are masking agents.

But usually the "handlers" of these players, these backroom svengalis who look after these players from a very young age and whose job it is to scour the country for future prospects, aren't very well versed in the art of scientific subterfuge. They aren't doctors, but they are usually the ones who supply these players with this stuff. How in the world would they know how to administer these drugs properly?

So hats off to MLB for at least attempting to clamp down on these practices all over Latin America, not just in the DR.
 

A'sFan

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Back off miggy press courts

Look not a single drug test failed . I take Miggys words as long as no failed test.

in 11 full season + a sept call up in 1997 for 27 games

This year 3 big things for him

1 From 1100 RBIs will be 5th all time in SS RBIs at 1,123

85 hits from 2000 highs are 177 179 199 3x200+ I think thats rather fast to 98-08

hes needs 280 be 3rd all time in Hrs a SS of 271 268 were as SS so 12 SS hrs away

RIPKEN / AROD 345 TIE AL ALL TIME
NL ALL TIME BANKS 279 OF 512 WERE HIT AT SS

hes stats dont look like on roids but are great
.286 LT avg
OBP 345
1915 Hits 3x200 199 179 177
1033runs 4x 100
375 doubles 9x 0 highs 40 42 50
271Hrs 8x 20 4 of 8 30+rs
1,099 RBIs 5x 100 1x98 1x84 1x81 and Max150 was highest for a SS in 55 yrs
under 500 walks under 1000k
only 1 100k season
MVP
5xAS for 3 teams that are small market
AS game MVP
2xSliver slugger
5th longest game streak
1100 doubles +in just 11 full season
no fail test leave a lone
 

Cleef

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Feb 24, 2002
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Y entonces?

Look not a single drug test failed . I take Miggys words as long as no failed test.

in 11 full season + a sept call up in 1997 for 27 games

This year 3 big things for him

1 From 1100 RBIs will be 5th all time in SS RBIs at 1,123

85 hits from 2000 highs are 177 179 199 3x200+ I think thats rather fast to 98-08

hes needs 280 be 3rd all time in Hrs a SS of 271 268 were as SS so 12 SS hrs away

RIPKEN / AROD 345 TIE AL ALL TIME
NL ALL TIME BANKS 279 OF 512 WERE HIT AT SS

hes stats dont look like on roids but are great
.286 LT avg
....
I guess you're right, he hasn't failed any drug test (that we know about - still a few names left on the list we don't know fully, however). Your defense is honorable, but for the love of God, your argument for Tejada is like defending Bernie Madoff because he tipped well.