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Tim McClelland, the Major League umpire famous from the George Brett pine tar incident, was the guest speaker at an Iowa baseball dinner last week and he had some interesting things to say about the steroids issue, in his sport. Here are some gems, from McClelland... "I'd like to see people kind of get over it. It was part of that era. In 2004, baseball instituted the ban on steroids. The previous 15 years, you just have to realize there were a lot of people taking steroids." "They used it to make themselves better. I can't fault a player for doing that." The Brett/pine tar incident was during a 1983 game with Brett's Royals visiting Yankee Stadium. While trailing in the 9th inning, Brett smacked a homer off closer Goose Gossage, and gave the Royals a lead. The Yankees knew of Brett's habits of adding too much pine tar (a legal substance used on bats for grip), too far up his bat. The Yanks chose a crucial time to point it out, and Tim McClelland rev...

This week, we've all been pounded (not in a Matt Stairs kind of way) with news about Alex Rodriguez and his positive test for performance enhancing drugs. Rodriguez came clean, in an interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons, admitting that he took steroids for at least 3 seasons while playing for Texas, and admitting that he lied in previous interviews when asked about it. The test results were to remain anonymous, thus MLB is unable to punish Rodriguez over the maliciously released news. Instead, Commission Bud Selig can only chastise Rodriguez, saying that he has shamed the game. Rodriguez's confession has also drawn concern from the management of the Yankees. General Manager Brian Cashman stated, "I'm not confident about anything, about anybody." And manager Joe Girardi expressed his desire to keep a closer eye on players that he has concerns about. Alex Rodriguez is a cheater. Much like a cheater in school or in a relationship. Is the cheater sorry when he/she ...

In what continues to be a string of bad luck (Utley surgery, Amaro Jr. over-spending on Ibanez, Elton Brand's shoulder injury) since Pat Gillick retired as Phillies GM, news is unveiled tonight that JC Romero has been suspended for the first 50 games of next season. It's all very confusing, especially since the Phillies, MLB and Romero all knew about this during the post season. But it seems Romero purchased a supplement from a GNC store in Cherry Hill, NJ on July 22nd, and was told by a nutrionist, the Phillies' conditioning coach Dong Lien and MLB that the supplement was acceptable to use. 3 months later, it turns out, the supplement was not allowed. Romero was initially informed of the positive results on September 23rd. ESPN reports that during October Romero was told, by the Players' Association, that the case would be dropped because the findings of his drug screening were positive due to pills purchased over the counter. That did not prove true, obviously. Romero...