A couple of days ago, some blogger named JRod who writes for a website called Midwest Sports Fans penned an article titled “The Curious Case of Raul Ibañez: Steroid Speculation Perhaps Unfair, but Great Start in 2009 Raising Eyebrows.” I’ll spare you the link, if you really feel the need to read it (I wouldn’t recommend it), I’m sure there are ways you can go about doing so. Basically, this JRod fella got an e-mail from his fantasy baseball friend who accused RAAAAUUUUUUULLL! of being the juice, so he decided to do some half-assed research to test this theory. It’s a clinic in lazy blogging, something I thought *I* perfected, but the point of my laziness has always been to get a cheap laugh out of the reading audience, NOT to baselessly accuse one of the hottest hitters in baseball of taking steroids.
Yesterday, the Inquirer’s John Gonzalez took JRod to school on this matter.
Then last night, after crushing his 20th homer of the year off of Johan Santana, Ibañez — rightfully so — took exception to this blogger’s claim:
“You can have my urine, my hair, my blood, my stool [Ed. Note: also known as "poop"] – anything you can test,” Ibanez said. “I’ll give you back every dime I’ve ever made” if the test is positive.
You hear that, JRod? Raul Ibañez just offered up his bodily fluids to prove your dumbass article wrong.
But he wasn’t done there:
“I’ll put that up against the jobs of anyone who writes this stuff,” he said. “Make them accountable. There should be more credibility than some 42-year-old blogger typing in his mother’s basement. It demeans everything you’ve done with one stroke of the pen.”
Oh snap, son! Raul just played the mother’s basement card on your lazy ass. BUUURRRNN!
“It’s unfair because this story should be about how hard work, determination, and desire trumps chemicals and shortcuts,” he said. “That should be the message: desire, character, work ethic. But some guy who doesn’t know me – one idiot – says something like this. They should be held accountable. It’s cowardly.”
You must be awfully proud of yourself, JRod. At the time, it probably seemed like a good idea to accuse a guy of taking steroids after receiving an e-mail from your fantasy league buddy. Now, thanks to some handy work by John Gonzalez, you must face the WRATH of Ibañez. And trust me pal, it ain’t nothing nice.
I think the lesson here is: sometimes, you’re better off keeping your dumb opinions to yourself. If you are writing a post which questions the fact whether or not someone is taking steroids, and the best you can do is compare ballpark dimensions, park factors, and quote an e-mail from your moronic friend — I think it’s best left unpublished.
Ughck. Sometimes, I fucking hate bloggers.
I’m clean, angry Ibañez says | Inquirer
26 Comments on “Blogger accuses Ibañez of taking steriods; gets called out on it”
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General
June 10th, 2009 at 9:37 am
It’s lazy and irresponsible bloggers like JRod that give blogging a bad name. Kudos to Gonzo and Ibanez for standing up for what is right.
June 10th, 2009 at 9:43 am
While I’m glad Gonzo allowed RAAAAAAUUUUUUUL to respond, I’m pissed that he validated and gave voice to that little fuck named Jerod in his column the day before.
June 10th, 2009 at 9:58 am
ibanez should take the tilde off his name and smack j-rod around with it for awhile.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Awesome.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Ibanez is regarded as one of the more classy guys in the league. I do not think he would risk his name by taking PEDs.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Isn’t it kind of lazy to accuse a guy of taking steroids because he fits a pattern, based on no more evidence than the pattern? It’s worth noting that Raul has had some of his best years since testing started. Some guys have unusual career paths.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:54 am
I don’t necessarily see an issue with posing the question and looking at the evidence. And the blog post actually isn’t as accusational as some have claimed (go read it yourselves). But yes, he’s OUR guy and we have to defend him, right? Keep in mind that Gonzo is one of the bigger hacks at the Inky and loves to stir the pot to get pageviews.
Honestly, Ibanez isn’t the one on the roster that I’m worried about being outed for having done steroids…
June 10th, 2009 at 10:55 am
argive:
i belive that’s called “steroid profiling”. it’s unconstitutional.
June 10th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Oh and one other thing — this whole issue is really the fault of Major League Baseball and the MLBPA for not making testing process transparent. Fans and the media should not have to speculate or rumor-monger on whether a player is dirty or not. Here’s an excellent blog post that covers this: http://baseballmusings.com/?p=35466
June 10th, 2009 at 11:23 am
I like this site because they make fun of Wheels.
June 10th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Sounds like Ibanez has some roid rage there.
I kid, I kid.
June 10th, 2009 at 11:25 am
I think Gonzo is just as guilty and inane as JRod. Is it really that slow of a news day with regards to the Phillies so that you have to give this chump a platform? Gonzo’s post certainly helped fan the flames. I miss Todd Zolecki already!
June 10th, 2009 at 11:35 am
“Steroid Profiling” is exactly what they should be doing. I’m sure some computer/stat geek out there could formulate a program that identifies when a player’s statistics deviate a certain percentage from his career norms. Include park factors, pitching matchups, age, etc… Then test anyone who raises a red flag.
June 10th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
OR, Gaze, just test everyone.
btw, young JRod (along with Gonzo & Ken Rosensquirrel) will be on ESPN’s Outside The Lines today @ 3:00 to discuss this very subject. Expect lots of talking with absolutely nothing to be resolved.
June 10th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
This whole thing is beginning to reek of attention whoring.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Testing everyone is an option, but costly and time consuming.
Regardless, Gonzo now has back to back shitty articles with the bait he took yesterday and this crap today: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/columnists/20090610_Gonzo___Philly_s_top_draft_flops.html
That list is so skewed I don’t know where to start. The draft of Adam Eaton wasn’t as big of a problem as the free agent signing of Eaton. Freddie Mitchel talked his way out of the NFL but still had a handful of big plays. Shawn Bradley is easily the biggest stiff of the bunch. He scored more points in Space Jam then he did in his NBA career.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
JRod is going to be on Outside the Lines? Are you kidding me? Some random person sets up a website and writes an unsubstantiated opinion that Ibanez might be doing steroids. I have no problem with someone expressing his ideas, but his website is exactly where that type of unsubstantiated opinion from an unknown author should have stayed. I thought Gonzo did a disservice by giving JRod free advertising in the Inquirer. Now ESPN is putting him on? Hey, I believe Ibanez might be using a corked bat. Can I be on ESPN tomorrow?
June 10th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
So this guy writes a piece because his fantasy buddy thinks that Raul is on the juice, and HE gets to go on television? Come on!
While I don’t know that I would go as far as to say that JRod accused Ibanez (”heavily suggested that it was certainly a possibility that he may or may not have engaged in a certain something” might be a better way of putting it), I do understand where he is coming from as a “journalist”. Bud Selig made his bed, and now the rest of the MLB has to sleep in it, which means everyone is now under suspicion. It’s unfortunate, especially for the guys like Ibanez, who have never given anyone a reason to doubt them.
Having said that, JRod needs to provide more evidence than “the numbers” if he wants to suggest that Ibanez, or anyone else, might be using PED’s. Number don’t prove anything, especially numbers on June 10 (which he also eludes to) And to be fair, he did do a fair amount of research into opposing pitchers, stadium size, etc so I can’t crucify the guy too much.
My biggest beef with this is how Gonzo handled it. In his article, he said “Then JRod dismissed all the evidence of opportunism…”, when in fact, JRod did give credence to the fact that he is playing for the reigning champs and in a lineup that is conducive to hitting. Or that maybe Raul is just on a torrid streak, or that his off-season training regimen has left him “…is in the best shape he’s ever been in.” JRod did acknowledge that there could be other factors besides PEDs – but Gonzo chose to ignore that, it seems.
Was JRod in the wrong? I don’t think he was. Although he had nothing besides Raul’s statistics to back up his theory, it wasn’t a one-sided attack. It appeared that he actually tried to dispel the use of PEDs through some research. But then again, I think he is better off not doing an article like this, especially when there is no proof beyond what he has done on the field. That is what reeks of sensationalism and lacks of credibility. It’s like when the Manny story broke – every third post on the message boards were “It’s only a matter of time before Pujols is outed…” or “Johan better be prepare a statement…” These kind of statements and articles, no matter how much evidence you have to refute them, are only doing more harm than good.
Maybe this is the journalist in me getting all worked up because two people (JRod and Gonzo) dropped the ball on the issue, or maybe it’s because I’m a homer.
But then again, maybe I’m just jealous because I don’t get to be on ESPN.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Fucking kudos to you Meech for not linking that clown. He just wants attention.
June 10th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Raul is carrying my fantasy team
June 10th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
There ain’t nothin’ cheap about getting cheap laughs, Meech! You’re a tremendous slouch. And tell that asshole to stay away from your home run ball next time!
June 10th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Maybe Raul’s body fluids is exactly what the blogger wants.. who knows, he may have some odd collection…
June 10th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Ken Rosethal just ripped this guy to shreds on ESPN for irresponsibility.
June 10th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
What a freakin’ douche. Here is some additional research for that blogger who was too LAZY to be responsible. Raul is a martial artist in his spare time, studying Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. While this has nothing to do with baseball, it speaks to his overall degree of fitness, and the fact that he is involved in another sport that focuses on coordination and natural strength. But maybe JRod doesn’t think that coordination has anything to do with hitting a baseball. Moron.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Gonzo needs to be sent back to the Muppet Show for his blatant attempt at tabloid journalism. Who cares what a po-dunk blogger from a website that no one has ever heard of thinks? It only became news because that muck-raking loser Gonzo made it news. He knew exactly what he was doing. If a reputable source, or at least a well-known source (i.e. a source that we have actually heard of before) had made the accusation, then it was news worthy, but to give credence to some unknown blogger is completely ridiculous. What’s next? Digging up some made up trade rumor posted by some kid on a message board and reporting it as an actual rumor? I think that Gonzo works for the wrong Inquirer. He should be working for the one that starts with an E. Fucking clown!
June 11th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Seriously, Mark? Are you kidding me? Ken Rosenthal ripped him to shreds? If anything, he ripped Rosenthal to shreds! Rosenthal didn’t even understand what Jerod was saying! He looked like a little kid having a temper tantrum! The blogger never even said that he thought Raul is using steroids! Quite the opposite, actually; he does not think that Raul takes steroids! The entire point of his article was that, in this day and age, thanks to douchebags like Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa, there’s no way of knowing who’s is on steroids and who isn’t, with MLB’s awful testing system, and that you kind of have to be at least a little suspicious when someone is on a tear. He set out to disprove that Raul is doing them, and concluded that for someone hitting about 25 HR in 5 seasons in Seattle, an ultimate pitcher’s park, it’s not impossible for him to hit 35-40 in Philly, an ultimate hitter’s park!