The writers at rotoinfo put out a list of 103 names who they believe are on the list of 104 players who failed the anonymous steroid test back in 2004. They claim to have a reliable source, however given the lack of news exposure of this story, most people believe that the list is a fake. For instance, one name is mentioned twice and one of the main suppliers, Jason Grimsley, is somehow absent from the list. We will need further proof before all these players burned at the stake.
For me, seeing this list has solidified my opinion that it would be better for the game if the entire list was released to the public once and for all. There would no longer be any questions regarding which players are clean and which ones chemically added 30 feet to their fly balls. Simply putting out one name at a time every few months does nothing for the game and perpetuates a problem that has supposedly been solved the drug testing program.
The most interesting thing from this list are the 2 most juiced up teams. The Cubs and the Red Sox. Players from the cubs team on the list includes DLee, Burnitz, Alou, Sosa, Patterson, Zambrano, Prior, Wood, Clement, Alfonseca, Juan Cruz, A-Ram. So basically our entire starting rotaion was on the juice, allegedly. Shockingly the biggest redneck Michael Barrett is no on the list. Also, DLee doesnt seem like he needs the roids. Prior and Patterson seem too stupid to improve their games. And Juan Cruz weighed 90 pounds back then. I tend to agree with the rest of the blogosphere and have my doubts about the validity of the rotoinfo report.
Looking at the 2004 Cubs stats, they did have 4-30 homer players, in addition to Patterson's 24, Barrett's 16, and Todd Walkers 15. That is quite outside the norm. The pitching wasnt shabby either with a 3.8 ERA and the best K rate in the league. And all that couldnt prevent Latroy Hawkins from blowing 2 games to the Mets and keeping us out of the playoffs.
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