Posted on 12/02/2004 1:48:14 AM PST by Cableguy
New York Yankees star Jason Giambi told a federal grand jury that he had injected himself with human growth hormone during the 2003 baseball season and had started using steroids at least two years earlier, The Chronicle has learned.
Giambi has publicly denied using performance-enhancing drugs, but his Dec. 11, 2003, testimony in the BALCO steroids case contradicts those statements, according to a transcript of the grand jury proceedings reviewed by The Chronicle.
The onetime Oakland A's first baseman and 2000 American League Most Valuable Player testified that in 2003, when he hit 41 home runs for the Yankees, he had used several different steroids obtained from Greg Anderson, weight trainer for San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds.
In his testimony, Giambi described how he had used syringes to inject human growth hormone into his stomach and testosterone into his buttocks. Giambi also said he had taken "undetectable" steroids known as "the clear" and "the cream" -- one a liquid administered by placing a few drops under the tongue, the other a testosterone-based balm rubbed onto the body.
The 33-year-old Yankee said Anderson had provided him with all of the drugs except for human growth hormone, which he said he had obtained at a Las Vegas gym. Anderson also provided him syringes, Giambi said.
Agent Arn Tellem, who accompanied Giambi and his younger brother, Jeremy, to the grand jury, did not return calls seeking comment. Other efforts to reach the Giambis were unsuccessful.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Does anybody know more about HGH? I've heard that it is a 'safe' performance enhancer. It also reverses some of the effects of aging (such as grey hair, body fat...etc.)
No it is not a performance enchancer or anti-aging genie, don't believe infomercial type claims.. Its most effective use is in kids with inadequate HGH and it helps them reach thir "potential" growth as if they had no hormonal defiency; it does not make these kids grow outside their expected growth curve.
I agree with you WRT the NFL. That game is crazy. There is no way anybody could play that game for any length of time without extensive pharmacological support. It is just too punishing for the body to endure.
But WRT to MLB, many players seem to have long, successful careers without relying on steroids. It seems an owner could institute a zero tolerance policy for his own team, and incorporate it into his own contracts, and test accordingly. On balance, steroid use hurts the team. Any short term gain is more than balanced out by the long term inconsistent performance and injuries. Even from a results oriented, W/L point of view, steroids are bad for the team.
Steroids also make the game less fun to watch. I, as a fan, am offended by juiced up athletes. I don't want to watch them play, and will not pay for it. I can go out to my garage and cobble together a machine capable of hitting a baseball 500 feet. I am interested in what a man can do.
Over the past 10 years, the AL has averaged 5.04 runs per game per team. That's identical to the AL scoring average from 1920 through 1942. And they didn't have a DH then.
I'm not surprised you'd try to forget the biggest choke in sports history, but we won't ever let you, my friend.
Let's hope the Yankees had an "out" clause in his contract for using drugs.
As I already mentioned, I remember it all too well. But the comment I was responding to came from so far out in left field that I was wondering if it had any connection to this thread (which it of course didn't). Turns out it was just a gratuitous blast. ......like a Yankee fan writing (for no apparent reason and totally out of context). ....."Scoreboard: Yankees - 26 WS titles, Red Sox - 6."
That being said, I wish Jason were thrown out of baseball. He's a disgrace.
Yours is one of the few posts on this subject that comes from somebody who seems to understand what is really going on. Thanks.
The Giambino was roided up? I'm stuned. Stuned and apaled.
And I'd just as soon not know where they got that testosterone "cream" he was using, if you know what I mean and I think you do.
There have been some cryptic comments from Yankees management this offseason about Giambi. I hope that means they're going to try to void his contract, or work out some kind of settlement with him to end his tenure with the Yankees.
Actually, I'm probably one of the few Sox fans you'll ever meet who'll give the Yanks their due (ducking from other Sox fans). They've been the better team all these years---except for '03 and '04. I hope you guys do get the Big Unit, because we'll play 19 times in '05, and there'll probably be plenty of BU vs. Schil Bowls if you guys can woo him.
You mean Manny Ortiz don't you?
Questionable career surge of Big Papi? That has to do with at bats, my friend. One of Grady Little's biggest mistakes was giving Giambi at bats that should've gone to Ortiz. Giambi---even on roids---sucked. And Kapler? Wah. A bit player, at best---Trot Nixon's understudy.
The Red Sox had exactly one homegrown player this year. And this dynasty of Yankees success had plenty of free agent hitters and pitchers who did well. The homegrown thing isn't the problem with the Yankees; the lack of leadership by Torre, and the so-called "core" is, as well as some bad and/or unlucky trades and free agent signings. Torre should have been fired, IMHO, for letting the team fall apart in the ALCS, and for managing so timidly.
Dark days are coming, the farm system is bereft... and now they're gonna trade away the ONE young pitcher with an upside (Javier Vazquez) for a 41-year-old Unit! The mind boggles...
I'm against that trade, because I think signing Pedro and having him on to mentor Javy as well as pitch is a better move.
Please, please, please sign Pedro. I'd love to see the sturm und drang when $teinbrenner tries to get him to cut his hair, show up on time, stay for entire games, not duck out early during the All-Star break, invite Mahow-Mahow into the clubhouse, etc. PLEASE take Prima Donna Petey off our hands.
Word is that (Yankee GM) Cashman preferred signing Vasquez and Brown to signing only Schilling, and if that's true he should've been fired immediately. Truth be told, I'd rather have Schilling than Vazquez, Brown, AND A-Rod. ......especially now that I know Curt's a conservative ;)
Sox fans should count their blessings their bid for A-Rod fell through.
ABSOLUTELY, especially because Hanley Ramirez, a 5-tool shortstop, is about a year or two away from the bigs. I'm thinking the Sox could put Pokey at short until Ramirez is ready to take over full-time.
I can't believe Vasquez turned out to be such a dud, and I was amazed that the Diamondbacks would have considered him (and Halsey? and Gordon?) in a trade for TBU.
Look at Ortiz's career numbers. It's not just at-bats. He's had more homers in his last two years in Boston than he did his entire career! And his hitting was so poorly regarded by Theo that it was only when Jeremy Giambi got hurt that Ortiz started playing fulltime with the Red Sox.
Yeah, those 325 lb linemen in the NFL, that can dunk and run a 4.6 40, are products of exceptional genes too.
Yup. Just like Ronnie Coleman.
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