Jason Grimsley,HGH and canaries...

Jason was singing like a bird when he stopped short of wearing a wire for the Feds. The feds then said all bets were off and proceeded to trash his life,house and career. He is a cheater who was going to rat out other cheaters.

I have mixed feelings on this whole subject. My first knee-jerk reaction was that Grimsley was a step above bat-shit and deserved what he got. The Dbacks released him and said they weren't going to pay him. This of course will be challenged by the Players Union. Donny Fehr and the MLB players union is probably the strongest union in the U.S. if not the world. I mean, how else do you explain getting fired from your job AND getting a full years pay for it? Grimsley will get paid..its in their contracts, courtesy of Fehr and his negotiating skills.

The managing general partner for the Dbacks, Ken Kendrick saidthis about Grimsley: "I'm just not in favor of rewarding somebody for the bad acts that they've committed, and this guy's had a career of cheating," Kendrick said. "He's a representative of the culture of cheating, and it's just not something that we're going to support at all." Excuse me Ken, that is a noble position and one vastly different than the one held by most owners and managers several years ago. The MLB has turned the other cheek when it suited their agenda in the past. The Padres..my Padres no less, Kevin Towers has been quoted as basically admitting he and others knew of Ken Caminiti's steroid use during the Padres last great Championship run. Cammy also won the MVP that year. Leyritz was also on that Padre team. Cammy admitted his 'roid use shortly before he died from ...drug use.

Funny what a congressional inquiry and the Balco debacle will do to change an outlook. So, don't get all holy roller on me Kendrick. Your gonna pay the boy and you know it..so shut the fuck up and write the check. Don't act all butt hurt about a cheater on your team. Sportsline has a writeup here about the Dbacks posturing and bitching. Its the dirty little secret everyone ignores until someone slips up and it gets public. Spare me Kendrick and the Dbacks organization,your outrage and indignation. The Dbacks have had their share of 'roid users, I could name some names but I wont.

The primary drug being discussed because of Grimsley's outing is HGH-Human Growth Hormone. Its not the same as anabolic steroids technically. Jim Leyritz, fomerly of the Yank$,Mets, Padres and a second-rate player by most standards has come out to say he used HGH to recover from a surgury faster. Most of the players being popped in the minor leagues the last two years are pitchers who use these drugs for the same reason that Leyritz did, not to hit the ball better (article on Leyritz can be read here). Grimsley,a pitcher, has admitted using steroids up until the League started testing for them. He then switched to HGH for which a definative test doesn't really exist yet.

The other drug is speed..good ol speed. The players called them "greenies",which only makes me think of a specific type of discharge from my nasal passages. We called speed by different names,that wasn't one of them, when I was young and dumb and trying anything I could get my hands on. Speed use by players was most likely more widespread than steroids or HGH.

Are they going to go on a witch-hunt for the speed users? I hope not. We got enough drama in baseball right now with Barroid Bonds and Jason Grimsley. The rumors are flying about the "Five Names" blacked out on the affidavit that is posted on the SmokingGun site. Grimsley played with 7 different teams, the biggest was the Yank$. The Record,out of Bergen County NJ has an article up where they toss out some names they think it could be and why. I love speculation in politics..but not my baseball. I want evidence and facts, I don't want to believe any baseball player is dirty and cheating. I must say that doing a little speed on gameday, although dumb, is not something I give a shit about. HGH and steroids, that is another matter indeed. And I don't give a rats ass if its pitchers like Grimsley or power-hitters like Bonds, they are cheating and they need to be taken out of the game and run out of town on a rail. Grimsley was willing to sell his soul and sell-out his team mates to save his ass..up to a point. I find it odd he had principles when they asked him to wear a wire...he didn't prior to that moment.