Suffering through a luckless and desultory baseball season, the Toronto Blue Jays finally caught a bit of a break Monday when Major League Baseball suspended 13 players, including New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriquez, for using performance-enhancing drugs.
Melky Cabrera, who was suspended for 50 games last year while a member of the San Francisco Giants, was not on the among those suspended Monday. It is unclear when Cabrera, who is currently on the disabled list, will return to the lineup.
Unlike the other players, who accepted their 50-game suspensions, Rodriquez is appealing 211 days he was given and can continue to play until his case is decided. He was in the Yankee starting lineup Monday night in Chicago and was booed lustily when he came to the plate for the first time. He promptly blooped a single to left field.
Investigation into the players was sparked in January when a Miami newspaper, the New Times, published documents obtained from a former associate at the Biogenesis Clinic of America anti-aging clinic in Florida that linked several players to the clinic.
For the 38-year-old Rodriquez, it more than likely started in earlier. There are many who believe the road to his downfall was partially paved by his relationship with Toronto physician Anthony Galea from whom he received treatment while recovering from hip surgery in 2009.
Over the past 20 years, athletes have considered Dr. Galea the go-to-guy for injuries because of the innovative techniques he used at his clinic in Etobicoke Ontario, near Toronto’s Pearson airport.
But Major League Baseball frowned upon his use of Human Growth Hormone and carried out a full investigation into Dr. Galea and how he was treating players.
In 2011, he was convicted of bringing mislabelled drugs into the United States for the purpose of treating professional athletes. As part of his plea agreement, he was required to co-operate with investigators and disclose the identities of his clients, who included golfer Tiger Woods, and his treatments.
Dr. Galea was sentenced to one year unsupervised and no accompanying jail time above time already served, one day.
Bruce Dowbiggin is one of Canada’s leading sports journalists. He says Monday’s suspensions raise more questions than answers about the use of performance enhancing drugs by professional athletes and the roles Human Growth Hormone and stem-cell advances can and should play in the future.
Terry Haig spoke by phone with Bruce Dowbiggin from his home in Calgary, Alberta.
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