Wednesday, August 03, 2005

No accident

I'm sure a lot of you out there do not care at all about the Rafael Palmeiro steroids story. Those of you who do care probably already know most of what what is written here. That being said, I can't resist a little follow-up on Monday's post.

When MLB first announced that Palmeiro had tested postitive for steroids, Palmeiro said, "Today I am telling the truth again that I did not do this intentionally or knowingly." The basic implication was that Raffy had accidentally ingested something naughty as part of some otherwise harmless dietary supplement. On Monday, the Banshee called "B.S." on Raffy's innocent explanation.

Today, the New York Times reported that the substance that was found in Palmeiro's test was stanozolol. I'm certainly not a doctor or a steroids expert, but I have listened to a lot of people in the know talk about this substance over the course of the day. This is a powerful steroid. This is not something you accidentally ingest. ESPN analyst and former pitcher Jeff Brantley put it most succinctly when he said, "This isn't the kind of thing that you accidentally find in your cereal."