Today in unsurprising news…
The Yankees and White Sox are under way after a 64-minute rain delay. A rain delay. Go figure.
In other news that cannot possibly qualify as surprising, two more stars in the game have been exposed, having shown up positive for performance-enhancing drugs on the 2003 list, the one with 104 names. The one that was supposed to be confidential. Manny and Big Papi join A-Rod. Nearly six months later.
The leaky faucet that is baseball’s steroids past continues to drip.
The most telling part of today was the reaction – weary, subdued reaction – from Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira in the clubhouse. Damon said the news surprised him – really, how could it have? – but couldn’t have said anything else about his former teammates. Damon later joked that perhaps he will turn out to be the biggest idiot of them all for never noticing, never suspecting.
Damon and Teixeira – and on the other side of the field, Ozzie Guillen – said the list of the 104 should be made public in a once-and-for-all attempt to deal with and then move past the hovering dark cloud. That the guilty were once promised confidentiality no longer seems to sway the weary. They’ve had it.
Those who compromised the confidentiality – and, make no mistake, they are a different brand of guilty — ultimately may win.
“I guess,” Damon said, shrugging, “you really can’t trust what anybody says nowadays.”
And maybe you simply can’t trust an entire era even though a bewildered Jeter again felt compelled to offer this reminder: “Everybody wasn’t doing it.” Upon today’s news, try to convince anyone that steroid use wasn’t pervasive in the 2003 Red Sox clubhouse.
“That’s probably what is being said,” Damon said, “and that’s what makes guys like me upset.”
Teixeira suggested that kids look to himself, Matt Holliday and Chase Utley as players who’ve put up numbers since 2003 and “have done it the right way.”
Or how about young players like Evan Longoria, Adam Jones, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and the Upton brothers, who weren’t even in the game back then?
Or how about the ones – perhaps not as numerous as we’d hope – who came out of the steroid era clean, who are able to look themselves squarely in the mirror?
After talking to the media, Jeter went to the batting cage to stow his bat in the Yankees dugout. As he did, a few kids wanted autographs, which he signed. An older gentleman at the edge of the dugout simply asked to shake his hand. “I admire,” he told Jeter, “the way you’ve always played the game.”
Jeter shook his hand. And said thanks.
The Kimberly Jones Blog 
Well you’re right no surprises here. While some Yankee fans might like it that the two main offensive cogs in the Sox championship machines are implicated here, I don’t. I’m sick of steriods. Almost an entire generation of kids have been robbed of potential baseball heroes because pitchers and hitters alike have cheated. I do think they should just release the whole list now to get this over with.
I blame the players more than the teams. While all deserve blame, I put more blame on the players and their union. Even the clean players like Jeter never spoke out publically or to their union even though they ALL had to know this was rampant.
Chris
very upsetting to see pettitte pitch so well of late and not getting the wins. awesome hit by swish to get him a no decision tonight.
as for the steroids…
RELEASE ALL OF THE NAMES AND BE DONE WITH IT!
slowly but surely, all of these names are going to be leaked to the media anyway, so just release all of them so we know once and for all who’s numbers are tainted and who’s numbers are legit. until then everyone is going to always wonder.
I believe we should trade Alex for Halladay !! Alex stinks , he killed us tonight and is swinging like he did 3 yrs ago!! He needs to move down the lineup , wow so what we have the best record since he came back , he hurts us , he always has . He is to worried about who he is dating ……. He is always on the defense when he is hitting , not that threat anymore . We need a pitch like Washburn , and get rid of Alex.
Whats with Alex ??????????
I loved the story about the older gentlemen stopping by to say a quiet “thanks” for Jeter’s efforts which result from his good character. Wish we had more “Jeters” in baseball, but I’m going to appreciate this one for a long, long time.
Thanks for passing that along, Kim. You do a great job at YES. And no, you’ll never catch Pete in terms of numbers, but who cares? You have your own flair to add and it’s thoroughly enjoyable. Besides, it’s not always about the volume we produce in this life, right?
I agree all of these name need to be released. MLB should do it themselves in the off season, but would the Union let them? We need to move past steroids for good.
I’m not making an excuse for any of the players, but did they really know what they were putting in their bodies? Is it a case of irresponsibility, lack of regulation or both? I’ve always viewed Ortiz as a stand up guy, its kind of hard to believe he would lie right to everyone’s faces about not taking anything.
I hope this is the last of the superstar names to come out. A-rod, Ortiz, Manny are sad enough and its hard imagine any names bigger than that.
The names should be thrown on the table so we can get back to playing baseball without the dramma. Its sad kids look up to baseball players but way way to many have done steroids. Well I am so glad Jeter hasn’t taken any. He is a great rolemodel. He has an amazing foundation for kids . He is great with the kids, and he just plays the game right. Wish everyone was like jeter but there human. So there going to make wrong dessions. And that will be one of them. So lets get all those names out in the open.
Well yeah….I’m glad other names are being let out. Why should A-Rod be the only one exposed and thought of as a cheater?? I believe ALL of the names should come out….just like Ozzie Guillen said. Let’s deal with it and move ahead.
It’s been the players union blocking all the attempts by MLB to clean up the game. ALL of them….the MLB execs and the players union execs, as well as MOST of the players….KNEW this was a serious problem. And it took government intervention and investigation to bring the issue to light.
Starting with Bonds and Giambi, it’s been coming down like a house of cards. Personally, I’m sick to death of hearing about it. I think there were players on every team doing it….WAY more than any of us suspect. This is just the tip of the iceburg.
Manny and Ortiz don’t surprise me one bit. I swear they took an extra dose whenever the Yankees came to town. And no Johnny Damon….you aren’t the biggest idiot of them all. The ones who have KNOWN they are on the 2003 list and have been holding their breath that Alex would be the only one thrown under the bus are the biggest idiots. Now let them all apologize for what they did…let the public eye THEIR tainted accomplishments and view them in a dim light for awhile. They deserve it….just as A-Rod did.
Personally….if I were on that list, I would just come out and tell the public…”Yeah…I tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in the 2003 season and I am on that list too.” Because eventually all the names will come out…and the ones holding the secret will be the ones who look the worst. You screwed up….own up and let’s move ON!!
Hi Kim!!!
WOW, another name pops up for PED! It’s come to the point that you know every 4 weeks or so, a name is put
out their from the TOP SECRET LIST!?! Just who is and
what is his agenda, thats filtering out these players names?
Put ALL the names out, stop playing around. It’s not fair
to the clean players, and who they might be is anyones
guess. Why doesn’t the players Rep, tell the union to
publish the list and be done with it?
Kim, please, please, please tell Al Leiter that the word is not fustrated it is frustrated. In a 5 minute time span tonight he said fustrated 3 times. He was recruited by Stanford? Is there a Stanford Middle School in Toms River.
What most people don’t know is that the 2003 Testing list was not leaked by MLB or the Union. During the Balco investigation, Federal investigators learned of the 2003 testing. They went to MLB for the list but were told it was destroyed because the results were confidential. However, the investigators found out that the company which had done the tests, still had a record of the results, so the Fed seized the list. The MLBPA and the Feds are in litigation over the list. It is the Feds who are leaking the names, not baseball officials. And I suspect, without out any evidence I have to say, that somebody on the Fed investigation team is making a buck out of this. Players were promised anonymity and MLB kept their word, however, the Feds made no such promise and you can be sure all the names will eventually come out But the question is, who is leaking them and to whom and for how much?
Kinda late to the party here, but Kim, I really like they way you wrote about this. Weary is the perfect word to describe how I feel about the situation. By the end of your piece, I just had tears in my eyes.
The game goes on, and so you root for your favorite team, including those who took liberties and disrespected their God-given talents. But you root just a little harder for the guys like Jeter.
Kim Jones Do You Have The Nerve To Ask The YANKEES If They Are Scared of The Boston Bean Bags?
Cause If They Don’t Win 1 Game Against Them They Can Kiss The Playoffs Goodbye.
Please Kim Tell Them That It Is Time Too Forget The Past And Lets Knock This Ugly Monkey Off Our Shoulders. Then And Only Then Do They Have A Chance At The World Series.