Who ratted out A-Rod?

Sports Illustrated broke the story about Alex Rodriguez's alleged performance enhancing drug use in 2003. Since then fans, opinion pages, and even President Obama have weighed in on it. Say what you will about that, it was Rodriguez's secret until someone ratted him out. Sports Illustrated cited "sources."

SI said that the tests took place in 2003 of 1,198 players to satisfy an agreement between MLB and the union to help determine whether to impose mandatory random drug testing. According to SI the tests were supposed to be anonymous, however the players were asked to sign their names next to a number corresponding to their urine samples. Then in 2004 the Feds raided the lab and seized the test results.

So who leaked Mr. Rodriguez's results to the press? Allen Barra of the Wall Street Journal says this:

No one can be sure why A-Rod's was the only name mentioned, but as baseball's most highly paid and publicized player, and the only player to be publicly linked with Madonna, outing him would have generated the most publicity.

As to who did it and why, there's a very short list of candidates, says [former head of players union] Mr. Miller. "MLB, the union and the federal investigators all have the information, and if the first two had anything to gain by revealing a name on the list, I can't imagine what that would be."

So Mr. Miller is pinning it on the Feds and makes a good point in questioning what the MLB or the union would have to gain.

Mr. Allen Barra's article was titled For A-Rod, Placebos Might've Worked Better and he goes on to say that the particular drugs A-Rod was supposed to have used apparently didn't really help in the years he was supposed to have used them, adding:

Mr. Rodriguez has admitted using Primobolan and testosterone from 2001 to 2003; no penalty was attached to the use of such substances before the Basic Agreement between the players and Major League Baseball went into effect in 2004. Primobolan is not a prescription drug, and legal penalties for its use range from minimal to nonexistent; testosterone is a legal prescription drug.

He says they were legal, or if illegal, the penalties were minimal at the time, and they probably didn't affect his ability to hit a ball. So maybe that's why someone outed him. They had an ax to grind, he wouldn't go to jail, so that was the only way they could hurt him.

Anyway, it seems that nothing is secret anymore, even military secrets get reported now as breaking news. As for A-Rod, next time he's asked to take an anonymous test he should sign with a pseudonym and use a wizzinator to cover all bases, so to speak.

Comments

[Jeff]

George, good post on a good topic.

For myself, I cannot give the baseball league or the union a bye on this one. While the organizations - officially and on the surface - had nothing to gain from the disclosure, there may be individuals within each organzation who saw a chance to gain some personal satisfaction from said disclosure. Their motive? I have no idea ... but there are all kinds out there, from the upright noble to the downright nasty.

I have not read the WSJ article ... does it mention the staff of the lab that conducted the tests?

WHEREVER the leak originated, if an individual is found to have violated the organization's stance on the testing procedures, I hope said organization would take appropriate measures to discipline said individual.

Also, I would add one more suggestion to those you offered Mr. Rodriguez. Sir, with the natural strengths and talents you bring to the game, don't bother with performance-enhancing drugs to begin with. Knowing the fish bowl in which celebrities of all kinds are forced to live, err on the side of caution, and avoid something that may-be-may-not-be-at-this-time-or-at-a-later-time illegal, or even questionable.

[Geo]

Good point, Jeff. For all we know the information may have gone to the highest bidder.