Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
scott@scottlongonline.com
Via Billy-Ball, Mike Scioscia is quoted as saying, "If Juan Rincon comes back and pitches 11 days from now, are the effects of steroids going to deteriorate to where his talent is back to his God-given level? No. He'll have the benefit of whatever steroids he took. I guarantee you, in 10 days, Juan Rincon does not become a mere mortal. I think he'll still be throwing the ball pretty good with the enhanced chemicals."
I haven't fully thought this through, but how about using the detectable of the substance as the suspension period? If Rincon tested positive for something, he'll be re-tested every ten days until he comes up clear. It would only count as a single violation, assuming his levels continue to drop and that there's no stacked substance. For a second offense, you test every thirty days, etc.
This is actually an interesting idea. Winstrol, the drug that was caught the most in 2004, has a short half-life (around a week) compared to 2003's drug of choice, Deca, which can stay in the body up to 18 months. Getting busted for Deca would be one heck of a suspension.
Also, suspending someone for how long the drug is detectable in his system is a little arbitrary, no? That punishes stupidity more than drug use.
Rincon may not be the best example of this as the benefits of steroids for him, and many pitchers, were probably more for recovery than for getting bigger and stronger.
But take a guy like Giambi. A lot was made of how much weight he lost last year. Sure. But he's still a very big man. He's still a lot stronger than he was before he juiced. He's still a power hitter who walks, as opposed to being what he was, a contact hitter who could spray hits and walk.
The steroid leaves the system, but the muscles don't disappear, do they? You stop juicing, you obviously won't stay as big and strong as when you are juicing. But if you continue a rigorous work-out program, you don't lose all of the tremendous gains you made unnaturally.
To me, whether he's currently doing HGH or not, Jason Giambi is still benefitting from juicing. Some may argue that his diminished numbers say otherwise, but if were just a good stick, little power guy going through what he is now, he likely wouldn't still be around.
If you ascribe the bullpen implosion of this season to the two years of steroid testing, (an interesting idea, but one I'm not quite ready to run with yet), then you might have something to back this up with. How many guys have seen a 3-5 MPH drop in the last two seasons (not just this year from last)?
Especially with pitchers I'd think much of the benefit sought would be recovery and maintenance after beating on the arm rather than straight muscle building. Rincon's modest physique seems to indicate muscle mass was never a primary goal, and since his move to relieving he's been throwing harder and more often, so I'd guess that the enhanced recovery (energy and healing) would be what he was after. Thus I wouldn't expect much change in his appearance or ability until he got a chance to wear down over the next couple of weeks.
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