Is this the infamous list of the failed steroid tests from 2003?

[broadway joe]

Didn't see this posted anywhere else, and maybe it shouldn't be, but The Big Lead has an item about a completely unconfirmed list of the 103 players who tested positive for steroids back in 2003. This list is floating around cyberspace -- TBL is the second place I've seen it in the last 24 hours. Apparently it first appeared a few days ago on a fantasy baseball site with no indication of where it came from. I won't post the names, but here's the link for those who want to see them.

http://rotoinfo.com/read_article.php?articleId=318

 

[Oz]

Deadspin has all but shot down the list as garbage.

http://deadspin.com/5304675/why-the-new-alleged-steroids-list-is-a-crock

Jason Grimsley, who's confirmed as one of the 104, doesn't appear on that list. And Jeromy Burnitz's name initially appeared twice, so now that list contains only 103 names.

Deadspin contacted RotoInfo, which stands by this list, "give or take a few." Solid reporting there.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Man, talk about running fast and loose. I hope the BLOGS! attorneys OKed running a "completely unconfirmed" list that might have innocent players on it.

 

[JackReacher]

That's one helluva list. Too bad it prolly isn't accurate.

On the less than 1 percent chance it is accurate.....wow.

Fun to look at the list and imagine the fallout, though.

 

[Sea Bass]

I know it's unconfirmed, but the only thing that surprised me about that list is that Galarraga and Santiago were still in the bigs in 2003. And maybe that Pujols isn't on it.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Man, talk about running fast and loose. I hope the BLOGS! attorneys OKed running a "completely unconfirmed" list that might have innocent players on it.

I don't think it would be a winnable law suit, from what I know about libel law. They are public figures, so the standard would be actual malice, or did the blog know the list is false, or did the blog print it with reckless disregard as to its truth. Proving that they knew it is false would be impossible, and given how many baseball players have been implicated and fessed up to PED use, it would difficult to argue reckelss disgregard for the truth. The question that proves that is, "Would anyone be surprised if that list WAS confirmed?"

 

[The Big Ragu]

I know it's unconfirmed, but the only thing that surprised me about that list is that Galarraga and Santiago were still in the bigs in 2003. And maybe that Pujols isn't on it.

Assuming the list is accurate, and that is a big if, you have to take into account that this was a test the players knew was coming. There had to be a lot of players who were using who were actually smart enough to stop before the test. If Pujols was a user, he could have been one of them.

 

[broadway joe]

One thing that argues against the validity of the list is that the players have generally been grouped by team. If someone made it up, you can definitely envision him going to the rosters of each team and picking out a few likely suspects.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Man, talk about running fast and loose. I hope the BLOGS! attorneys OKed running a "completely unconfirmed" list that might have innocent players on it.

I don't think it would be a winnable law suit, from what I know about libel law. They are public figures, so the standard would be actual malice, or did the blog know the list is false, or did the blog print it with reckless disregard as to its truth. Proving that they knew it is false would be impossible, and given how many baseball players have been implicated and fessed up to PED use, it would difficult to argue reckelss disgregard for the truth. The question that proves that is, "Would anyone be surprised if that list WAS confirmed?"

Might not be winnable, but I'd wager a couple of those players (if clean) have deep enough pockets to put the hurt on a blogger.

And, if nothing else, a clean player could destroy what tiny shred of credibility any blogger might have. Assuming, of course, the blogger has any at all.

 

[Ralph Waldo Henderson]

This list is supposed to be in the hands of a few lawyers connected to the BALCO case, as well as major league baseball and the player's union. You know, powerful, smart people.

And the first place that gets the full list is rotoinfo.com?

Sure.

 

[Kid Presentable]

Say it ain't so, Brent Abernathy!!!!

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Tommy Craggs at Deadspin calls "Bull****!" on RotoInfo.

http://deadspin.com/5304675/why-the-new-alleged-steroids-list-is-a-crock

 

[outofplace]

I know it's unconfirmed, but the only thing that surprised me about that list is that Galarraga and Santiago were still in the bigs in 2003. And maybe that Pujols isn't on it.

Assuming the list is accurate, and that is a big if, you have to take into account that this was a test the players knew was coming. There had to be a lot of players who were using who were actually smart enough to stop before the test. If Pujols was a user, he could have been one of them.

I have heard people argue that the entire list should be published. You hit on one of the many reasons it should not. It wouldn't settle anything. The players not on the list would still be unders suspicion because pretty much everybody is unders suspicion now.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

If it were published on TMZ I would believe it.

 

[da man]

I know it's unconfirmed, but the only thing that surprised me about that list is that Galarraga and Santiago were still in the bigs in 2003. And maybe that Pujols isn't on it.

Assuming the list is accurate, and that is a big if, you have to take into account that this was a test the players knew was coming. There had to be a lot of players who were using who were actually smart enough to stop before the test. If Pujols was a user, he could have been one of them.

Or he could have been using something they weren't testing for -- HGH, EPO or an as yet undetectable designer steroid.

Not testing positive is no longer proof someone is clean.

 

[JakeandElwood]

"Give or take a few" sounds like reckless disregard for the truth to me.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Marcus Giles isn't on there. That's a pretty good indication it's not authentic.

This smacks of the fake Mitchell Report list that went floating around in the days before the actual report came out ... the one that had Pujols and several other big names on it. Then when we got the actual report, there weren't many revelations other than Clemens and Pettitte ... a lot of Paul Lo Ducas and Darren Holmeses.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

It's getting play all over now, and the liars who posted it to start with will have hell to pay in the end:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1896618/2003_steroid_list_potentially_leaked.html?cat=14

 

[da man]

Ain't the Internet great?

 

[Oz]

Tommy Craggs at Deadspin calls "Bull****!" on RotoInfo.

http://deadspin.com/5304675/why-the-new-alleged-steroids-list-is-a-crock

Hey, you DB'd me!