Posted on 01/06/2009 3:31:20 AM PST by gusopol3
Romero said he went to the store to look for a supplement in July, the time of year he typically starts weight training again. He went to the shelf where his usual supplement was stocked and noticed a new product, 6-OXO Extreme, next to it. Because the familiar supplement required him to take eight large pills a day, he was intrigued by the other product. The Major League Baseball Players' Association has told players that supplements purchased in U.S. retail stores should be safe and within the guidelines of baseball's drug-testing program. The union acknowledged giving that advice in a letter it sent out to players and their advisers in November. That letter, which arrived too late to help Romero, informed players that three over-the-counter supplements were found to create positive tests under baseball's drug program.
In July, Romero showed the new supplement to Phillies strength coach Dong Lien, who recommended that Romero get a second opinion before using it. Romero then showed it to his personal nutritionist, "the guy I've been working with since I've been in major-league baseball," Romero said.
That nutritionist checked the product's label and saw nothing on MLB's banned list. Romero began taking the supplement at that point.
Meanwhile, according to the arbitrator's report, Lien sent a sample of the supplement to MLB for testing. The tests showed the supplement contained a substance that could result in a positive drug test. A copy of those results was sent to commissioner Bud Selig's office in July.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
Based on the article, I feel for Romero.
It does sound like he was caught in a mess not of his own making and the arbitration was unduly harsh.
Meanwhile, back in the lab, new ways are being devised to hide steroids...
Somehow, I don’t think the rules were made for this situation...but then, they never are. Yet folks like Romero get slammed with them.
just like the government, pass the laws to burden the law-abiding and let the crooks get away with murder
They’re trying to rain on my walk down Broad Street.
hey, maybe that’s it , the Phillies did beat Selig’s team in the playoffs
I only wish he were as scrupulous about playing the race/ ethnic victimization card as he is about checking labels. How many typical whites can afford to pay a $1.25 million fine fir sitting out 2 months of work in this racially biased, unfair to Puerto Ricans society?
Yeah, this whole “bought it at a GNC” has become cover for these guys. One incident of a tainted package from a year ago, and now every guy who gets caught using a new steroid with a new masking agent says he “bought it at GNC” and it was supposedly approved by the league. What a joke. Take your suspension, Romero, and be happy they don’t ask you to pay back the money you earned in previous years when you were juicing and didn’t get caught.
really? how many have turned themselves in as Romero did?
he turned himself in and submitted the substance for review.
YEP, Really.
it looks like the area wasn’t quite as murky as Romero made it out to be— he should have stuck to the approved list. The poll is running 95% in his favor, but ultimately , i voted for the suspension, though I doubt he’s as dirty as a couple of other Freepers say.
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