Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
I chuckled a bit when the wife brought these Feline āGreeniesā treats home for our cat. Whatever gets our cat through her day, I guess.
My first thought? Pete Rose.
I ran this by a younger baseball fan (by younger, I mean someone born after the Ford Administration). He gave me a blank stare. Perhaps the more āseasonedā baseball fans out there remember the significance of āgreeniesā in baseball.
Oh yeah, drugs arenāt funny.
This animated short about Dock Ellisā no-hitter while he was on LSD definitely has its elements of humor. But creator James Blagden from No Mas, a NY-based repository of sport and cultural art, did his homework, too. Doc Ellis and The LSD No-No was fueled by research done by Blagden.
He scoured interviews done with Dock Ellis a year before he passed away last year. In those interviews, Ellis pretty much a moment-by-moment account of his infamous no-hitter. Apparently, Blagden used much of this info in this animated short.
Oh, Dave Cash is quite the funny in the video, in my opinion.
Thereās an interesting piece over at The Biz of Baseball on a report put out by the MLBPA and MLB. The report contains among other things, the number of players who were granted Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) from baseballās drug policy due to their particular conditions. All told, 115 players were exempted in one way or another from MLBās drug policy. Of those 115, an overwhelming 108 were being treated for Attention Deficit Disorder.
Hereās the breakdown:
During their mandatory testing in 2009, MLB found 11 instances of Adderall, a stimulant, which is an approved substance used in the treatment of ADD.
MLB players being treated for ADD is nothing new. A few years back, relief pitcher Scott Eyre was very open about his ADD and treatment for it. Apparently, he was bouncing all over the place before getting help. Once treated, he could focus and started to pitch better. Rumor has it, his bench-mates could tolerate him better, too.
Two things Iām taking away from thisā¦ One, I never knew the extent of those baseball players who have ADD (or, letās face it, claim to have ADD). Out of the relatively small number of players that play in the majors, 108 is a pretty high number.
Two, it seems Adderall is the drug of choice to treat ADD among players. I know for a fact there is a variety of drugs out there that treat ADD and they donāt all work the same. It just seems odd that among the 3000+ drug tests that the MLB administered that another drug wasnāt found.
Finally, in case you are wondering (I was):
Hypogonadism is when the sex glands produce little or no hormones. In men, these glands (gonads) are the testes; in women, they are the ovaries.
I knowā¦ too much information..
Tim Lincecumās timing was bit off last week.
Last Friday, the former Cy Young award winner was caught with pot when he was stopped after driving 74 mph in a 60 mph zone. Police found a pipe and 3.3 grams of marijuana.
Lincecum was ācited and releasedā and will receive a fine for the misdemeanor.
Rumor has it that the Giants wonāt be taking action against him. But secretly, theyāre probably taking some satisfaction that Lincecumās arbitration hearing will be coming up soon. No doubt, this will come up during the hearings and perhaps have a little impact.
Lay off the doobie, Tim. Itāll cost you.