Okay so in case you haven't heard about Rick Ankiel, he's in some trouble. Headlines across this nation are condeming Ankiel for taking a supplement called HGH back in 2004. Here is the rundown on what the story is about.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Comeback kid Rick Ankiel of the St. Louis Cardinals received a year's supply of human growth hormone in 2004, the Daily News reported Friday.
The pitcher-turned-outfielder is the latest athlete to be linked to the Florida pharmacy at the center of an investigation by the Albany County (N.Y.) district attorney's office into the illegal Internet distribution of performance-enhancing drugs.
Major League Baseball doesn't test for HGH, and the sport didn't ban human growth hormone until 2005. But a player who possessed it or used it after it was banned can be suspended for 50 games.
Authorities have not accused Ankiel of any wrongdoing, the newspaper said. According to the Signature records the News cited, he stopped receiving HGH just before baseball banned it in 2005.
Okay, I get it. I get it that yes, he did, in fact, take HGH. I don't think even Ankiel himself would deny this. And yes, HGH is a banned substance in the MLB. I think the facts of this case are pretty much set in stone. By no means, am I condoning what Ankiel did. But I think this is a little bit different than Barry Bonds taking steriods or Sammy Sosa roiding up and/or corking his bat. (By the way, I really regret that I just mentioned Bonds' name, I am sorry you had to hear that.)
I don't think what Ankiel did was all that bad. Here is why.
Because earlier this morning, I heard Peter Gammons say this on Mike & Mike on ESPN:
"This is so far ago, in terms of, he wasn't even a position player or hitting at that point. He was trying to recover from two arm operations and trying to regain his baseball career and get healthy enough to pitch. I am not condoning it, but I think it is separate...a separate part of one attempted comeback and then an amazing story of what he's done. I still separate it...I'll give him the benefit of the doubt."
I agree with Gammons whole heartedly. It seems that there isn't anything else I would say, that he didn't say right there. I think it makes sense (as much as taking a banned substance can make sense) what Ankiel did. Not to mention, there are SO many others that have done it, and just haven't been caught quite yet. And some of them have been caught, obviously.
Columnists all over the country are roasting Ankiel today, saying that what he has accomplished since he was called up to the Cardinals is worth nothing and has been a complete fraud. I don't think that is true at all. I think, along with Gammons, that the HGH period and Rick Ankiel's awesome comeback story are two separate things.
I am no expert with HGH and baseball, but I don't think that you can take a bunch of HGH and automatically make a smooth transition from a pitcher to a slugger. I don't think the greatest part about Ankiel's comeback is how great of a hitter he has been. I think it's just great to see him playing baseball still at the MLB level. Period. Maybe that is just me though.
The crappy part of all of this Ankiel news is that I know that eventually sometime in the next two weeks, somewhere this will be made a race issue. I really hope that I am wrong. But race is always brought up when some athlete gets in trouble. Someone will inevitably bring up the "fact" that people have been killing Barry Bonds in the media for years and years and years only because he is a black man and now everyone wants to give Ankiel the pass because he is a white guy. That isn't what I am saying at all. I am not "trying to give" Ankiel a pass here. I think it's quite obvious that the two guys and their situations are different.
Barry Bonds has taken EVERYTHING under the sun and put it in his body. I am sure (and we know) that at least one of those substances was banned and illegal at the time he shot it into his veins. Ankiel, on the other hand, according to the AP report, took HGH when it wasn't banned by the MLB. And there are no reports that he took it after 2005, when it was banned. That is the difference that I see. And I think it's a pretty big difference.
But the sadness in all of this, is that we can't really trust anyone these days. My strategy is that I assume that they all are on something. That way, I am not let down when all these new names are brought out into the open.
That is my rant for the day. Read it and weep homies.
