What's So Wrong With Cheating?

Baseball's 'nicest guy' joins select club

(NEWSER) - With two home runs last night against the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twin Jim Thome became the eighth ballplayer ever to hit 600 out of the park. Perhaps most remarkable about this feat is that he achieved it without steroids—unlike many of the other top sluggers of his era, writes Tom Verducci in Sports Illustrated . Indeed, “Gentleman Jim” has “so mastered humility that he has lasted all these years through the thorniest era in baseball history with nary a whiff of controversy or negativity.” More»

Controversial home run king won't find work, he finally admits

(NEWSER) - Barry Bonds will almost certainly never play again, his agent said today, finally admitting what had seemed a fait accompli. “If there was any chance he'd be back in a major-league uniform, it would have happened by now,” Jeff Borris tells the San Francisco Chronicle . “When 2008 came around, I couldn't get him a job. When 2009 came around, I couldn't get him a job. Now, 2010 ... I'd say it's nearly impossible. It's an unfortunate ending to a storied career.” More»

(NEWSER) - David Ortiz says he has never used steroids, despite his inclusion on baseball's infamous list of juicers from 2003, the Globe reports. “I used a lot of supplements and vitamins" back then, the Red Sox slugger said at a press conference today. He acknowledged being a "bit careless" in those days but stated definitively that never used or bought steroids. More»

His steroid stories prompted investigations of ignored problem

(NEWSER) - “Sometimes it takes a jerk to change the world,” and for baseball, Jose Canseco is that jerk, writes Jonathan Eig in the Washington Post. Canseco’s confessions and finger-pointing have helped expose widespread steroid use in the big leagues, and thus have “saved baseball.” His 2005 book highlighted a problem baseball officials “seemed determined to ignore”; today, steroid use looks to be fading. More»

(NEWSER) - Manny Ramirez ducked questions about drug use and praised the Lord hours before his scheduled return to the major leagues, MLB.com reports. "First, I want to say that God is good and good is God," Ramirez told reporters in San Diego tonight. Asked about the banned substance that earned him a 50-game suspension in May, Ramirez whiffed: "I don't want to get into" that, he said. "I've already said I'm sorry." More»