Deadspin
Everyone's guessing about who the blacked-out names in the Jason Grimsley report are, and it has been a fun parlor game so far. But we all knew eventually the names would get out. And we've been digging around ... and some sources have given us some names.
How reliable are these names? We feel pretty confident in them, but we can't go 100 percent, since the information is secondhand. We'll say this: If Bud Selig issuing a press release naming the names is a 10, and picking a player at random out of the Baseball Encyclopedia is a 1, we're at an 8.
So. Let's do it then. Remember: Betting lines are for entertainment purposes only.
First: The person who told Grimsley about the positive test in 2003. That's former Royals general manager Allard Baird.
As many people have guessed, one of the "former players" who were sold out by Grimsley: Sammy Sosa. Our source(s) couldn't confirm if the other was Rafael Palmeiro.
Nothing new or exciting about that name. Then it starts to get interesting. We've heard amphetamine rumors of Miguel Tejada, but we can't confirm that. What we can confirm? The doozy.
Grimsley says that a former employee of [redacted] and personal fitness trainer to several Major League Baseball players once referred him to an amphetamine source. Later, this source — not the trainer — provided him with "amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone." This trainer? His name is Chris Mihlfeld, a Kansas City-based "strength and conditioning guru." (And former Strength And Conditioning Coordinator for the Royals.)
Does Mihlfeld's name sound familiar? If it doesn't, he — and we assure you, this gives us no pleasure to write this — has been Albert Pujols' personal trainer since before Pujols was drafted by the Cardinals in the 13th round of the 1999 draft. We have no confirmation that Pujols' name is in the affidavit ... but Mihlfeld's is. If you read the document, it doesn't say the trainer/Mihlfeld supplied all the HGH and what-not; it just says the trainer was the referrer.
Yeah. Sigh. We just report what we're told, folks. Ever hope your source is wrong? This is one of those times.
(UPDATE: OK, we've taken our head out of the microwave long enough to update you a bit. Here's a "diary" Grimsley wrote about his quick recovery from Tommy John surgery. (At MLB.com!) He thanks Mihlfeld for helping him with his recovery.
We repeat: We are not claiming that Pujols has taken HGH. We are simply pointing out that Milhfeld is reportedly mentioned in the affidavit, and that he has connections to be Grimsley and Pujols. Now, if you'll excuse us, we're going to go back to our silent screams of pain.)
Comments
As a lawyer, I can tell you that under the duress of federal questioning, there's no way Mihlfeld doesn't admit that Pujols is really 35.
uhoh
Oh man....
it's a little early to start hanging your head. i for one will still hold out hope that pujols is clean (of hgh...i don't really mind amphetemine use...in fact, i'm on amphetemine's right now!). is it possible that Pat Robertson is your source???
BOMBSHELL. Absolute Bombshell. Pujols has always been big and strong b/c he's always been juicing?? Barry's got his trainer that gave out steroids, and I guess Pujols has his. Correlation doesn't equal causation, but still. Props to Deadspin for pushing the bias aside and reporting a tough story.
Does this mean we'll get live cut-ins to Pujols' at bats now?
Wow.
Whoa.
You can pretty plainly see that one of the players names starts with a J, but that could mean either of the Giambis.
i dub thee "black thursday."
Deep breaths, Will. Deep breaths.
Mihlfield was featured in SI a few weeks ago. In other news, Chris Sabo didn't use 'roids and deserves to be in the hall of fame, as does Barry Larkin!
Damn it. I was really hoping his name was not mentioned.
ruh roh...
Poor Will. First he has to endure a John Rocker strikeout, and now this. Does his horror ever end?
That would make this little bit from a recent Sporting News article quite interesting...
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As a lawyer, I can tell you that Pujols' age won't be an issue in this investigation. Whether or not he received amphetamines, unfortunately, might be. Then again, this is all hearsay for now.
You knew as soon as SI started pimping his ass that it would only be a matter of time...Call up the dogs, the hunt for Baseball's Best Clean Player is back on...
Can we just go ahead and assume 95% of todays MLB has taken something at one point or another? In all honesty, I would rather see amphetamines taken out of the game. Face it, there's no way a normal human can hit the ball like players have the last 10 years. It takes an extra boost, and now the truth is coming out.
Strange how closely tied the Kansas City Royals are to this. Leave it to the Royals to still be horrible, even with steroids. This is why I have given up on the Royals.
If Pujols is using HGH, I am no longer a Cardinal fan.
SWEET SWEET VINDICATION!
Will, My condolences. This sucks. Man, that black sox scandal was nothing compared to this.
Pujols is the major's best power hitter since the Bonds-McGwire-Sosa trinity of the late '90s-early '00s. Like you weren't thinking it.
If nothing else, at least Pujols looks good rockin' the '80s powder blue Cards throwback jersey.
[annoyed grunt]
It's not worth it, Will! Step down off the ledge. Think about Shari. Your family. The Deadspin community. You have too much to live for. [I decided to go with that route. Second place was an extended "Top Gun" scene after Goose's death/the Pujols revelation, and Viper/Nick Denton gives the "Keep sending him up" line while everyone else talks about how Maverick/Will has lost his edge.]
Really too bad. I don't think any baseball fans want to see Pujols taken down.
MMP - It seems that the hunt isn't for Baseball's Best Clean Player - Baseball's Only Clean Player might be more like it. If Pujols is on HGH, I am never attending a major league baseball game again. Seriously. You guys can hold me to it. If this is as bad as it looks like it might be, I'm turning my back on baseball. At least I don't have bacne.
Too bad, but it really shouldn't be surprising. Nothing should, at this point. Let's face it, LaRussa has coached a lot of juicers.
If this thing is as huge as it sounds like its going to be, baseball might be fighting the NHL for time on OLN in a couple years.
lol. HI-larious. absolutely, 100% freaking classic. i knew there was a reason why albert was so positive about bonds (after all he is the only person other than me that is a Bonds apologist) ...it's hard to sleep at night being a hypocrite. he had to look himself in the mirrow everyday and that prob helped just a little bit.
Heyzeus, spoken like a true lawyer. Thanks for getting the joke.
an we just go ahead and assume 95% of todays MLB has taken something at one point or another? In all honesty, I would rather see amphetamines taken out of the game. Face it, there's no way a normal human can hit the ball like players have the last 10 years. It takes an extra boost, and now the truth is coming out. ______________ PITCHERS. PITCHERS. PITCHERS. PITCHERS. PITCHERS. It ain't just about hitters anymore. wake up man!
Sammy Sosa has been SLURRED again! Now, as for Pujols, I believe unquestionably he is a juicer. As a lawyer, it will cost you $500 upfront for my opinion. But don't worry, Cardinals fans, Brett Favre took vicodin, and his rep is fine.
Say it ain't so, Joe!
it's a little early to start hanging your head. i for one will still hold out hope that pujols is clean (of hgh...i don't really mind amphetemine use...in fact, i'm on amphetemine's right now!). is it possible that Pat Robertson is your source??? __________ Pooholes trainer is the guy supplying everyone with HGH, roids, phetmines...and you are saying that poo holes shouldn't be held under the same suspicion as Bonds. this is getting awefully twilight zone if you ask me. parallel situations are a brewing. give me a break you guys. Bonds and Anderson - SHOCK OUTRAGE GUILTY Pujols and Mihlfeld - Pujols was trying to help Mihlfeld stop doing all these bad things and get him on the right track I'm sure. GIVE ME A BREAK.
You might want to clarify the language a little there. The way it is written it comes across that Mihlfeld (if it is him) did the actual supplying to Grimsley. According to the redacted document, Mihlfeld didn't supply Grimsley with anything other than the name of a source for speed. Grimsley then made the contact, and presumably Grimsley also asked that third, unnamed, individual if he/she could supply him with steroids and HGH. The wording is very precise in the redacted document: the trainer referred Grimsley to an amphetamine source. I'm sure if the trainer had referred him to a steroid or HGH source, the document would say that. So deep breaths, walk away from the ledge, and be patient.
This is really a bad, sad day. I hope you're wrong.
I don't want this to be true, but I need to point out two things: 1) In the recent nickname-for-Pujols thread, I submitted Albert "Masking Agent" Pujols. Sorry 'bout that. 2) When people talk about Bonds, they always seem to bring out the purity and goodness of Pujols. Why? What the hell do we know about him? Why is it assumed he's such a clean, perfect example...just because he's good and seems like a nice guy? Have we learned nothing from the Sammy Sosa allegations?
Two thoughts- A) I'm a CUB fan, and I think Pujols is innocent. B)I must be in the minority here, but, I don't CARE who juices and who doesn't. I know there are legal implications with suspensions and all, but I just wish the MLB would say "Screw it" and let 'em all juice. The argument is always turned into a "what about the children?!" debate. Let 'em all use steriods, GHB, PCP, LSD... I don't care. Let 'em use aluminum bats, and have the pitcher stand behind the same kind of screen they use in batting practice. If they are all allowed to cheat, then the witch hunt ends. At this stage, no matter who the player is, if they've done ANYTHING in baseball in the past 15-20 years, they seem to have somehow been suggested as being on the juice. Ripken? Maddux? Screw it. Let 'em all cheat so it can go back to being a game instead of a guessing game. The "children" will have to fend for themselves and hope that they have decent parenting. (As they should in other issues that have nothing to do with children, like legalization of alcohol & tobaccao, pornography, etc....)
Shit man, just...shit.
Frank Thomas was the greatest hitter during the Juice-Age. Look at the numbers he put up while everybody else was on the Juice. He needs to be put in the HOF. Oh, he wasn't on the list, was he?
Might as well starting printing those playoff tickets in Cincinnati now.
As an Astros fan, I'm not exactly crying over this. However, Cardinal fans, let's take a step back and not panic, since shit like this has turned out to not be true in the past. I truly feel your pain on this, the kind of pain I experienced when I first read this: http://asher.baseballevolution.com/bagwellconspiracy.html<... To summarize - basically all steroids in baseball can be traced to...Jeff Bagwell. Now, some of this has been proven to be wrong since this was published, but my person shit hit the fan the day I read this, you can can be sure. Courage.
Did anyone else hear that thud? Bud Selig just jumped from his NYC office building.
Ha ha Cardinals fans.
Also, MLB should go with my idea and just start injecting the guys wqithy random shit before each game. Some get steroids, some heroin, some pure grain alcohol. And one unlucky son of a bitch each season gets a syringe full of air.
killa sam, as bad as this seems, the black sox scandal was way worse because it called into question whether the players were even trying to win. HGH/steroids has more to do with the fact that *everyone* is trying to win, maybe a little too hard. seriously, how bad does this get for MLB? they can't suspend/ban everyone can they? i'm guessing the tests get stricter and that's about all that comes of this. i'm a lifelong sucker--i mean fan, i'll keep watching.
"Consequently, a frustrated Albert Pujols -- after spending a year at Kansas City's Maple Woods Community College, where he met strength and conditioning guru Chris Mihlfeld and started the process of building an Adonis-like upper body-- waited 13 rounds before getting the call from the Cardinals." Taken from the link related to Pujols. Reading the article, you are struck by how many times the author talks about how "sculpted" and "ripped" Pujols is, ultimately glossing him as "Adonis-like." Oh, the halcyon days of 2001 - no way in hell any writer talks about any baseball player using such terms now.
i LOVE how tsetse fly is already operating under the assumption that pujols is guilty by association after months of his tirades about some people doing the same to bonds. AND HE CALLS PUJOLS THE HYPOCRITE!
Zarqawi is dead. Pujols is guilty. And England prevails!
keep fighting that good fight
Don't worry guys, it's not about using steroids or tainting the game of baseball or even being a hypocrite... it's about helping kids. http://www.pujolsfamilyfoundation.org/ "Some things are bigger than the game" --Albert Pujols
A lot of people are going to wish they just pushed this issue under the table...reallll soon.
I feel sort of vindicated. While Pujols has always been big, I have claimed in the past that he has added quite a bit of muscle through the years. Please, just do a comparison of what he looked like when he first entered the league to what he looks like now. Sure, it's not Giambi, but it certainly does raise suspicions. There are no more sacred cows, and frankly I don't mind. Having them smacks of media favoritism.
"One thing for the conspiracy theorists, though. Allard Baird, one other name revealed in this 'article' was fired on May 31st. A few days later, Pujols goes on the DL with an injury on a play that seemed awfully innocuous. Exactly a week after Baird's firing, this report is public. Not that firing an awful GM a week before the draft is hardly an inexplicable occurrence, either, but like I said, this is for those that like to connect dots that aren't really there."
"He was really kind of a pear-shaped kid, heavy from the waist down, and that scared some scouts off," Meyer remembered. "And, like with a lot of Latin players, there were always the inevitable questions about his age." There were other concerns about his defensive ability and where Pujols would fit on a Major League team. Consequently, a frustrated Albert Pujols -- after spending a year at Kansas City's Maple Woods Community College, where he met strength and conditioning guru Chris Mihlfeld and started the process of building an Adonis-like upper body-- waited 13 rounds before getting the call from the Cardinals.
I see said the blind man pissing in the wind...it all comes back to me now.
http://www.810whb.com/scripts/archives/getstory.asp?articl...
Unless Frank was juicing from his freshman year at Auburn, he's always been just huge (I believe he was a tight end on the football team as well?), and was one guy who would make snide, thinly veiled references to himself getting screwed because other guys were getting some sort of advantage. No way he's on the list. And his extra weight these days isn't muscle, it's all fat. A shame about all his injuries, he'd be well over 500 HRs by now without them. One of the best first 7 or 8 seasons by a player ever, a line drive hitter to all fields that was big enough that they just happened to go over the fence, more laserbeams than moonshots. How much would it suck to be taken down by Jason Freaking Grimsley? I mean, if Bonds or Raffy or someone ratted you out, at least they mattered to the game. Who the hell was going to remember Grimsley until this happened?