Frank Thomas

On this date in 2010, Frank Thomas retires.

"It was a secret society. I had no idea. I think I was the one guy that when they were having a conversation, they would stop quickly when I walked in the room." - on teammates who allegedly used steroids

Alex Rodriguez

On this date in 2009, Alex Rodriguez publicly admits to using steroids from 2001 to 2003 while with the Rangers.

"It was a loosey-goosey era."

Barry Bonds

On this date in 1993, Barry Bonds wins the NL MVP Award for the third time in four years.

"What players take doesn't matter. It's nobody else's business. The doctors should spend their time looking for a cure for cancer."

Mike Schmidt

On this date in 1987, Mike Schmidt hits his 500th career home run.

"Let me go out on a limb and say that if I had played during that era, I would have taken steroids. We all have these things we deal with in life, and I'm surely not going to sit here and say to you guys, 'I wouldn't have done that.'" - to Bob Costas, July 2005

Alex Rodriguez

On this date in 2009, Alex Rodriguez publicly admits to using steroids from 2001 to 2003 while with the Rangers.

"It was a loosey-goosey era."

Mark McGwire

On this date in 1998, Mark McGwire hits his 69th and 70th home runs setting the single season home run record.

"I wish I had never played in the steroid era".

Gary Sheffield

On this date in 1997, Gary Sheffield's fifth inning home run off Pedro Martinez of the Expos breaks the major league record for home runs for a season. The previous records was 4458 set in 1987.

Not at all ironic that a "steroid guy" did it.

Nope not ironic at all.

"Tell me how rubbing something on me will make me feel any different."

Stop the presses!

Pete Caldera of Northjersey.com reports these comments from Darryl Strawberry regarding steroids in baseball:

"I'm not a player that's going to say anything bad about a guy because I had my faults too. We had greenies in our days. These guys had steroids."

"I never used them. I wish they had them when I was around. I would've used them."

Newsflash!

DARRYL STRAWBERRY WOULD HAVE USED EVEN MORE DRUGS IF HE ONLY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY!

I guess it is slow news day in Jersey today.

This is kind of like asking Mo Vaughn if he would have added the Tamago Double Mac to his training diet if this was available to him when he was playing.

"Let's play two" wants to counsel Sammy Sosa

Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune says that Ernie Banks would like to assist Sammy Sosa in coming forward to address allegations that he used steroids.

"I would say just do what Mark McGwire did," Banks said. "Come clean with it. Explain it to them....Just say. 'This is what happened.' It is hard to do, to admit this. Just admit it and live with it and understand it. I am sure a lot of people will forgive him."

He goes on to add that he would be willing to fly down to the Dominican Republic to meet with Sosa and have this conversation.

Hey Ernie! I know you mean well but to my knowledge, Sammy Sosa does not have any type of protection like Mark McGwire has with Tony LaRussa so I don't think there is much chance of him getting back into major league baseball in any capacity so he would not likely admit steroid use for this reason. He also knows that any steroid admission will not help his Hall of Fame chances (see Mark McGwire) so there is no incentive there for him to "come clean".

Right now, Sammy is a guy who is busy bleaching his skin and living the life of a man with a different skin pigmentation than he was born with. That has got be exciting. That said, he is not doing any steroid admissions for you or anybody else for that matter.

Save the plane trip.

Oh and Ernie? Sammy doesn't speak English.

Remember?

It's not that hard to figure out

Joe Torre told the Los Angeles Times that Manny Ramirez "wasn't himself" when he returned from his 50 game drug suspension last season.

"To me, he was very uncomfortable, trying to recapture what he had. In the clubhouse, he was the same guy. We want that balanced hitter and relaxed guy," Torre said.

Um, helloooo, Joe?!

There was one key ingredient gone from Manny after his drug suspension.

He might never be "himself" again with this blasted random drug testing thing.

No sense twisting yourself into knots "trying to figure out" this great mystery.

Come on there, Joe!

People aren't stupid. Just say nothing or that you hope he picks it up this year.

Canseco says he is having a breakdown

Jose Canseco* abruptly cancelled his appearance last night on CNN's Larry King Live.

"We received word from Jose Canseco, the former baseball star, saying. "I am having a breakdown. I can't emotionally do it. I am emotionally drained. I am tired of defending myself," King said at the top of the show.

Of course, Canseco was scheduled to talk about Mark McGwire's recent steroid "confession".

First McGwire breaks down and now Canseco?

Man, these steroid guys and their emotions.

You know, I can see Dr. Drew Pinsky setting up a side business specializing in treating these steroid guys. I do think there is a demand for it.

You think I'm joking?!

*Sometimes the artwork on those Diamond Kings was "right on" but sometimes.....

You can't get stuff past 90 year old Bob Feller. Don't even try.

Bob Feller* on the Mark McGwire situation per Jim Ingraham of the Willoughby (Ohio) News-Herald:

"I think he's still lying. He said he didn't take steroids to hit more home runs. He said he took them because he was injured. I want to know what doctor told him to do that? I know it's no doctor I would ever go to. He took steroids for one reason, and that was to hit more home runs."

"If he had just come out and said, 'I took steroids because I wanted to hit more home runs,' I'd buy that, and I'd accept his apology. "But to say that taking steroids had nothing to do with wanting to hit more home runs, that's just a (let's go with "darned", CC) lie."

I know that he is an old coot and all and he says outrageous things from time to time but maybe old coots are needed at times like this.

Props to the reporter who thought to call him.

*Everybody knows Bob Feller signs like crazy. Above is a rare unsigned card of Bob Feller. It never crossed Bob's path for some reason.

Bronson, why so dumb?

A few days ago, Bronson Arroyo of the Cincinnati Reds said the following:

"I have a lot of guys in the locker room who think I'm out of my mind because I'm taking a lot of things not on the (MLB-approved) list. I take 10 to 12 different things a day, and on the days I pitch, there's four more things. There's a caffeine drink I take from a company that Curt Shilling introduced me to in '05. I take some Korean ginseng and a few other proteins out there that are not certified. But I haven't failed any tests, so I figured I'm good."

He also talked about taking androstenedione and amphetemines before they were banned by MLB in 2004 and 2006 respectively.

Computer Boy saw this on ESPN and said, "How dumb! What do you think MLB will do?"

I told him I thought they would bring him in a for a little talk and immediately test him.

Sure enough per Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY, Major League Baseball plans to schedule a meeting with Arroyo to discuss his supplement use. "We just want to chat with him." MLB vice president Rich Levin said.

Real smart, Bronson!

Arroyo has kind of a reputation as a stoner and I do not know how long cannabis, mushrooms or psychedelic drugs stay in your system but I think that there is a decent chance that any testing of Arroyo likely will be positive for some of those things in addition to whatever is in these exotic supplements that he admits to taking.

Frankly it should not make a difference as any recreational drugs are no doubt "performance-detracting" (maybe Dock Ellis would disagree) rather than "performance-enhancing" but many people might not be able to make that distinction and will be up in arms.

Real smart, Bronson!

Apropos of nothing really but I am not digging on that girly hairstyle.* That stringy Rachel Ray/Mary Tyler Moore thing is just not doing it for me. He needs a stylist or just a good old-fashioned barber.

*I know he has the "rock star" thing going on but it is my understanding that he typically plays in coffee houses before like 50 people so I would not quit my day job or alter my appearance for that.

Memo to David Ortiz

You should really refrain from this kind of stuff when there are steroid allegations surrounding you.

It just doesn't look good.

I know you probably could have broken that bat before all of the drugs but still....