Beautifully done, Batgirl. Thanks.

Thank you Batgirl, and I hope Boo Berry gets a chance to read it. It pretty much sums up my feelings on the whole subject. The news really disappointed me, because no matter what something was fishy. Either he didn't know what was going in or he cheated on purpose. I'm not sure that either of those scenarios comfort me. Let's ride this out for ten days and then make sure Boo is NOT on drugs and bring him back!

Gardy - copy this and give it to Juan tommorrow, or read it to him as if it was your idea! Better yet, sing it to him! Then go out and get us a "W".

I'm reminded how personally attached we can become to a team (we "Got to Know 'Em"). It just makes the disappointment greater. Best wishes to Boo.

Amen. That's all I can say.

Thanks Batgirl. That was very well said. Sums up everything.

Thank you Batgirl.

Thank you for stating so eloquently what most of us are feeling through this.

And thank you for being the only site that still works tonight. I can't seem to access twinsgeek, DTFC, any of the blogspot sites, or the MLB site.

thanks, Batgirl.

I think a good piece of literary genius in this letter was the maternal dissappointment that eminated from the greeting. "Dear Juan", not "Dear Boo", or "Dearest Mr. Berry", but Dear Juan. In it's own way, that somes up the way many of us feel today. We won't look at Mr. Rincon the same way, not until we've heard conclusive evidence that he is totally innocent. We're mostly afraid that Juan has ruined our trust. At least I am.

Wow, just wow. I am amazed and disappointed at the reactions. No athlete is EVER going to juice, then come out and admit it unless they're put in a grand jury/jail time type of situation, and maybe not even then. There's no excuse, Juan does his time, takes his "scarlet S", and then gets his chance to make good by performing and doing so with clean tests from here on out.

Honestly, I have no idea if Rincon juiced or not - but I do know that any testing program that doesn't put the onus on the player to monitor what they take in is bound for failure. It's too easy to take something otherwise, then go get some benadryl and say "hey, I made an honest mistake". You want baseball clean? The only way is to make the "crime" having the stuff in your body. In which case, the punishment fits perfectly.

What a wonderful post, Batgirl. It really does sum up my feelings. I hadn't really thought about just how bound up I am in this team until today, when I realized that I was truly hurt that something like this could (apparently) happen.

I was taking a final exam this afternoon, and it did take me a while to get my concentration up to where it needed to be. All I could think for some time was "Say it ain't so, Juan." Now I just hope it's nothing too serious.

BG -
Nice job.

It's kind of like you are planning to get married and your bride disappears - you fear the worst. Turns out she ran off to Vegas. He wants to forgive and still get married.

As passionate fans our initial reaction is to fear the worst. We feel we were let down as fans. How dare one of our heroes do soemthing to let us down. It hurts.

We also deny . . . we want to believe it is some mistake. We want it to be a bad dream. We want to support our hero.

Hopefully over the next couple of days the real story will come out. We can sort this out. Will it be the worst case (blatant cheating) or just an honest mistake (I didn't know what was in those blue marshmallows). Hopefully we can get beyond this ugly incident. Hopefully we can forgive Boo and get him back in the bullpen. (Will we start to wonder what they keep in the pink Barbie backpack.)

Boo is supposed to talk tomorrow. I am anxious to hear what he has to say.

I'm way against the 50 game suspension unless the safeguards are better. One positive could result in a 50 game suspension? What if you were using something allowable but it was contaminated? This happens with creatine sometimes...if baseball is moving towards WADA type standards, it could be bad times for some good guys.

Steroids are bad.

Isn't this so weird, as a sox fan i'm feeling sorry for you guys. Out of all the teams i'd think that would have a player caught on steriods the twins are near the bottom of the list and you're the first team to lose an important player to suspension the rest of the guys caught were bad players on worse teams. Now i know you guys usually hate the so called Bitch Sox but you know, at least i as a sox fan appreciate what the twins are doing far more than those damn red sox, yankees and cubs who spend all the money, get all the press and so far are doing little of the winning.
AL Central Pride

I haven't been this distressed about a player since I had to consign my Kirby Puckett bobble-head to adulterer’s purgatory - also known as the bottom shelf of my bookcase next to the Randy Moss bobble-head. I am hoping like hell that Juan will provide a credible explanation that will remove this taint from him and the team. It will be too devastating if it turns out that he is a cheater.

I know you despise the White Sox, but the one thing you should credit them and Frank Thomas especially for is being very vocal advocates for steroid testing the past few seasons. The year before they started testing for roids they did anonomous tests, where if more than X% tested positive, they would instate testing. Over half the Sox roster, led by Frank, was going to refuse the test causing an automatic postive result, thus raising the percentage of positive results. The players union eventually made them back down and take they took the tests, but I don't remember any other teams being so vocal in support of steroid testing.
PS Frank Thomas did used to bitch alot, ok, a ton, but the past couple seasons he's pretty much cut that crap out. I look forward to our match ups bunched together at the end of the season. Hopefully we'll be dogging it out with eachother when it counts down the stretch, and may the better team win.

You hit it right Batgirl - a player "should know the rules and should know what's in every pill and potion he puts in his mouth". And yes, the punishment fits the crime even if that crime is only stupidity, ignorance, cultural or a combination thereof. Like Clemsghostwriter said “any testing program that doesn't put the onus on the player to monitor what they take in is bound for failure”.

I hate to see Juan in trouble because I really like him. I really like most of the players and I would hate to see any players (even the ones I don’t like) suffer the severe health consequences that are linked to these banned substances. This isn’t a rule made solely to limit performance enhancement, this is a rule to prevent players from doing permanent and irreversible damage to their bodies. Yes, I want the Twins to win but not at the expense of the long term health of our players.

If there is no immediate penalty for using these substances, the long term risk simply will not deter enough players from taking the chance. For that reason the punishment MUST be swift and it must be harsh. The 10 day penalty is nothing. The 50 day proposed penalty is a good one – and it mirror’s the NFL policy where a player misses out on roughly 25% of the regular season. If the penalty is stiff, the players are far less apt to be tempted and far more likely to think twice about ingesting or rubbing on something they aren’t 100% confident is not bad for them.

I haven’t spent much time talking to Juan but I have met him a couple of times since my daughter knows him. He IS a great guy. If this can happen to him (either knowingly or accidentally) it can happen to any player. All the more reason to stand by the policy so other “Juans” don’t run into the same short term problem and, more importantly, don’t cause themselves long term health problems.

I mentioned yesterday that players should have a trainer or Doc look at EVERYTHING they use that might be suspect and was told it was impossible. Nonsense. Every team should have a banned substance expert on staff to help players avoid accidental use. Freez says even that won’t work and the only way to truly know what they are consuming is to send everything to a lab. So? What’s wrong with that? Every team has access to such a lab…we all do. What’s so hard about running a $100 test on every suspect product a guy uses? That’s a simple solution. You can test a lot of stuff for the $25,000 that this suspension is going to cost Juan.

Heck, throw in another $100,000 onto the stadium cost and they can build their own onsite lab.

The responsibility simply must rest on the players or this problem will never be fixed.

Mistake, accident, stupidity, betrayal, cheating…call it what you want, get over it and lets all move on. Let’s use this as a chance to education the boys so we don’t see more of it. And then let’s forgive (but not completely forget and welcome Juan back in 9 days.

I’m not disillusioned, my love of the game has not diminished, my faith in humanity has not been lost (not that there was much left to lose) – I still love baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Juan Rincon and I can’t wait to see him trot out to the mound to sit some bitches down. Chin up Juan…hurry back.

SDave

Way to go BG. Once again your mastery of the english language brings me to tears. We will get through this and still be able to carry our heads high.

About the validity of testing...

I'm an officer in the Navy, and I've learned how our drug testing system works. The testing labs gear everything around assuming that their positives are always false. Each sample is tested nine different independant times, and if even one of them is a negative, then the entire sample is considered a negative.

If someone pops positive, they don't get an appeal barring massive screw-ups at the lab, and that is very unlikely. These tests are built around innocent until innocence cannot be maintained against the evidence. I am willing to bet that MLB's drug testing is as thorough and steadfast to ensuring the right result as the military's.

Juan Rincon is guilty of taking enhancers. Knowingly? He should fess up, face his punishment, and work to make things better. Unknowingly? He should stick to his innocence of intent, but also should face his punishment, and work to make things better, not to mention be more careful in what he allows into his body. While we'd all like to suspect foul play, someone else injected him with HGH to make him pop positive or something, odds are either he knowingly took enhancers, or semi-knowingly allowed them to enter his body.

If you are playing for million dollar contracts where you are representing the positive sporting spirit of our nation (and really at this point in baseball the world) you cannot, CANNOT be careful enough in making sure you keep true to that code of sportsmanship. Juan Rincon, guilty or not of doping, is guilty of betraying the trust baseball placed in him as an ambassader of the sport. He betrayed the Twins, hurting one of their greatest assets, their close connection with their fans.

He is given a second chance with few repricussions. He'd best make the most of it.

btw Batgirl, you probably knew this and just mis-typed, and someone else pointed it out, but it's a 50/100 GAME suspension, not day. Day would be pretty easy in comparison...

-Pander
White Sox fan

My ex-boyfriend drunk-dialed me at 1:30 AM last night. I was mighty annoyed with him until he brought up the whole Boo scandal. Then we commiserated. It's nice to have someone close who knows what this feels like.

I think this passage shows just how little the players DO know about what is and isn't allowed these days...

[``I think they need to tell people what the suspension is for,'' Boston slugger David Ortiz said, ``because people see a name on the screen and think he must be doing the same things as Canseco when he really took some ephedra instead of andro. Those aren't the same thing.''

Under baseball's new plan, ephedra is listed as a drug of abuse, which draws a different kind of penalty than the one Rincon got. ]

Obviously there's still a lot to learn here, so I'm still not ready to assume anything... I'm not calling him a cheater and I'm not calling him an idiot. WE JUST DON'T KNOW.

I add my complete agreement to this letter.

Moral high ground and everything, I wanna be able trust my boys to do the right thing. I want them to be good examples. And that includes admitting when they screw up, or fighting for themselves when they're innocently accused. Or, if he fights for himself, discovers he was ignorant of something, admits it, and takes the punishment on the principle, that's good behavior. Just tell the truth.

The Twins are our boyfriends. We do not want to be lied to.

BatGirl-
Will you (or someone here) please let those of us who live outside of WCCO range know what is said when Boo makes his statement?

This morning when I was getting ready for work and listening to the radio, I kept waiting for them to say that it was all some crazy mistake. Right now I feel like I'm 5 and my big sister just told me Santa doesn't exist.

No matter what happens, I will still cheer for Boo, but I'm afraid I'll never look at him quite the same.

Take a look at the list of names of suspended players. There is a definite latino predominance. Before we go to 3 strikes and you're out, we maybe need to figure out why. Translation problems? or maybe they are quitting the juice manana.

We all love Rincon, both for his cereal-like personality and his ghost-like pitching. Unfortunately, we have to realize that being a Twin does not automatically make you immune from moral imperfection. Steroids is cheating. When Marty Cordova played for the Twins he was as big a juicer as Canseco. Am I saying Rincon is guilty until proven innocent? No. He was innocent until he was proven guilty. Now, having been proven guilty, we can trust that he was an idiot and didn't know he took a banned substance or we can hate him like we rightfully hate Rivas. Afterall, cheating is not very cereal-like, is it?

We can argue until kingdom come about what there's "no excuse" for not knowing, but the fact is that some people still don't know, or even make it their business to know. They assume they know because they've heard things from those around them. For some people, sad to say, that is enough (just listen to some of the political opinions around you for evidence of that!). Every day young girls come up pregnant and can't figure out how, because all their friends told them you can't get pregnant your first time. Reasonably intelligent adults all over the world have unprotected sex and are mystified when they're found HIV+ positive, because they're not gay. Hard to believe, yes. But true.

You can't assume someone did or didn't know something just because you yourself would have made a particular effort to know it. Not everyone is you. People cheat on their taxes every year knowing full well what the consequences might be. Others cheat unknowingly, not realizing this or that deduction is not allowed. Some would say those people are both equally guilty, because person no. 2 had no excuse for knowing because it's all in the manual. I would say it's not nearly that simple.

Are they both guilty? Yes. Are they equally guilty? No. Do we know at this point which one Juan Rincon is? No. Will we ever? Maybe not. Should we assume nothing until we know? Yes. Is there still every possibility that he DID look into whatever he was taking/drinking, and was either misinformed or lied to? You betcha sweet booty there is.

So can we just cool our jets for a while, and wait until we know just what it is we should be pissed about? Not everything is as black and white as it first appears... let's just color him grey for now.

Exactly. Well said, BG.

From today's Strib:

"For years, Twins players have chuckled at assertions that someone on their team -- known for pitching, defense and lack of power hitting -- could be using performance-enhancing drugs. One of them, outfielder Torii Hunter, was floored by the news.

'I feel bad because I know [Rincon],' Hunter said, 'but I don't know what is going on and I have to get the details. ... We have to get steroids out of the game. I can't believe that it may be one of my teammates, but we'll see.'"

That's pretty much how I've been feeling, too. My Pollyanna side wants to believe that it's all some kind of terrible mix up, perhaps a Spanish/English translation problem.

And even if he has been using something intentionally, clearly Mr. Rincon was not doing it in an attempt to break somebody's record or end up in any history books. Not that it excuses this kind of behavior, but I have to believe that the man was only trying to keep his job in a very comptetitive industry.

What makes me the most sad is that I've suddenly started doubting everybody. I keep running the Twins 40-man roster through my head, wondering who might be next. Call me naive, but that's not something I thought I'd be doing any time soon.

Thanks, Batgirl. You balanced the sympathy with the disappointment that all of us felt.

I still have a special place in my heart for Juan and always will regardless of guilt or innocence.

We're behind you, Juan, whether you
1) used something you knew you shouldn't have, possibly injured your body, and are having real problems for which you need understanding
2) used an over-the-counter product that you might not have realized was classified as giving an unfair advantage
3) worst of all, got a false positive...because you've been ruled guilty by the judge and jury of the media (especially its most corpulent members, this morning)
In any case, you're a human being first and a baseball player second, and the BG communtiy consists of people who want you to be safe and healthy more than we want you to throw strikeouts.

Careful there, KC Kid. I'm guessing that was sarcasm, but short fuses and short leashes have been in large supply around here lately.
[From Jeb: so short that his post was deleted before you even commented on it, Skorch!]

Oops, it's gone now. See what I mean?

Did you guys see this?

[ Angels manager Mike Scioscia -- whose team played against Rincon when the right-hander helped preserve Minnesota's 4-2 victory over Los Angeles on Saturday -- said he isn't satisfied with the reliever's punishment.

``He's still going to have the benefits,'' Scioscia said Monday night in Seattle. ``In 10 days, I guarantee you Juan Rincon doesn't become a mere mortal.'' ]

Never thought it was possible, but this idiot just reached an entirely new level of a**holeness.

I saw that too, Laurie, and it really bothered me. I had always thought Scioscia was a good guy, but he lost my respect with that comment. Who is he to judge? For all he knows, there might be a juicer or two on his team. Besides that, he can't stop Colon from eating everything in sight! Good thing Kitty Tumbleweed took care of that problem.

Very well said Batgirl and Jeb.

Still love ya Boo. . .

I kind of feel like a parent who just found weed in my kid's jeans pocket. You still love them with all your heart, but you're terribly disappointed in them.

As if before yesterday he was sitting there thinking "Saints alive!! What can we do to stop this guy? He's not even human! What chance do mere mortals stand against this powerhouse of a pitcher? There MUST be some explanation!"

Talk about exaggerating. Careful, Mike... you never know when one of your little "Angels" might be next.

"Saints alive!! What can we do to stop this guy? He's not even human! What chance do mere mortals stand against this powerhouse of a pitcher? There MUST be some explanation!"

Funny, that's what I always figured opposing managers thought about Johan.

Hey y'all. Rincon was suspended because he tested positive for a banned substance. But which substance? Because of Bonds the Giambi duo, we immediately assume steroids when we hear the term "banned substances". Could have been epehedra, could have been something else on the "banned" list.

Let's hear which "substance" for which he tested positive before we start slingin' the "juice" comments.

Good point, Drew, but as I wrote last night, there may be privacy rules in place (medical confidentiality) that prohibit disclosure of what the substance was. I don't think we're going to find out, and frankly, I'm not sure that it's appropriate that we should. JMO.

Appreciate the perspective from the poster who wrote about military drug testing, which is different from employment-related drug testing, and I'm sure MLB's processes have little in common with either.

And Sciosa? *ss-hat.

Drew, as I posted earlier, ephedra is not among the substances on the list for this particular penalty. But you're not alone. David Ortiz also didn't know this differentiation (see my post at 8:22). There's new lists now. Ephedra is now "drug abuse."

in one of the articles I read this morning in either SPPP or STrib, "a source close to" Juan Rincon confirmed it was steriods.

I sincerely hope that it was not intentional. please, Juan, don't turn out to be a bad guy. please.

here... have a stick of bubblegum.

In defense of Scioscia, you have to understand his frustration - it might be irrational or unfair, but it's totally understandable. What would you think if K-Rod came in in the 9th to strike out Morneau, Torii, and Jacque (not that this could ever happen), and then tested positive for performance-enhancers a few days later? You'd think the worst. You'd be angry and want that game back. That's the whole reason that performance-enhancers are so insidious, because they taint the game and you don't know if you got beat fair and square.

I believe this is the article from the PiPress that Kafumbly was referring to. The more I read about this whole mess, the sicker I feel about it.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/baseball/11547783.htm

Hugo, it was the "mere mortal" part that offended me, as if he had suspected all along that something must be making Juan Rincon the unstoppable, superhuman force that he was. As if! As if he honestly thought Juan Rincon was "not mortal." As if he ever gave Juan Rincon more than a passing thought before yesterday!!

It's just high-falutin' crap, and he'll be the first one to defend one of his players should it ever come to that. It was a stupid, unnecessarily disproportionate and melodramatic comment.

Dear Mr. Scioscia, the press here reported that the suspension is as a result of a drug test done in Spring Training, at least a month ago - perhaps even more. Take your losses like an adult and without excuses.

Yours in baseball,
Spike

I hope this is the last time Batgirl has to send a "Dear Juan" letter to one of the Twins. As a fan I like having the moral high ground and we have clearly lost it.

Laurie--

Sciosa challenges Gardenhire to a hot dog eating race, most consumed in 100 seconds.

It's Ready! Set! Go! But Gardenihire starts early, eating two hot dogs before the gun, and beats Sciosa 7-5.

When the judges review the tape, they find that Gardy has cheated, and penalize him one hot dog. Has the penalty imposed render Gardy a mere mortal, or does Sciosa have a beef?

If Rincon used perfomance enhancing drugs, do their benefits persist for longer than 10 games? Sciosa seems to think so.

Flit: I'd say Gardy was a "mere mortal" both before and after the consumption of two extra hot dogs. And Sciosia is still a drama queen.

Then again, expecting a Met fan such as myself to have anything good to say about Mike F'ing Scioscia is a bit of a tall order to begin with... ;-)

I don't know what to believe about Rincon. However, I do know one thing, if this were the real world and he had been a young Venezuelan man caught with what he thought was a pound of sugar, but it turned out to be something else, well there would be no "I just thought it was a bag of sugar. That's what the person I was holding it for told me." He would be in prison for many years as a drug dealer. I believe that a situation like this is covered by the legal concept of willful blindness. I'm not a lawyer so I'm sure someone can correct me. I also, know that the law won't be exactly the same everywhere.
My second point is about the length of the suspensions. I think that ten games is the perfect length for a first positive test. At least for this year and maybe next year. The reason for this is we don't want to see guys who made honest mistakes in the offseason to have their careers destroyed, or see their teams destroyed in the first year of this policy when not everyone, as evidenced by Ortiz, knows the exactly what is and isn't legal in baseball. Next year I think they should institute a 25 game suspension for the first test and 1 season for a second positive test. This should be followed by a lifetime ban for a third positive.

One more thing. I was thinking that maybe baseball should treat this a little how drugs are treated by the criminal system in this country. Create a two or three classes of illegal substances. But the difference between the two is not effectiveness of the substance, or it's dangers to the user, but it's ability to be accidentally consumed. Steroids, would be completely banned and punished severly, but something like ephedra, if that were to be included on the primary banned substance list would have the lesser penalty. This would allow everyone who has taken and been caught using cheating substances to be punished, but it would make it less damaging to someone who has accidentally ingested something that is allowed for the rest of society. I propose that instead of being banned for life after the third positive like say for steroids they be given a one or two more opportunities to stay completely clean.
I'm sure everyone has eaten something they didn't mean to even vegetarians and vegans who have to avoid things like gelcaps and so forth.

If Rincon has cheated, and continues to enjoy the benefits of cheating beyond a 10 game suspension, then Sciosa would say that Rincon is still cheating. I'd agree.

MLB and the union have a lot of knots to work out before a permanent policy replaces the current, ad hoc regime.

Oh and on a happier note to everyone out there, except for Yankeefan. The Boss seems to be panicking. Check out this link http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2052024
(Sorry, I'm blanking on my html right now.)
Meet the new Boss same as the old Boss.

If murder can carry different penalties for different circumstances, so can lesser crimes. If Rincon had someone inject something into his bloodstream, he can hardly deny that he knew what he was getting into (although plenty of otherwise intelligent people have been fooled into thinking pure amphetamines were "B-vitamin shots"). But if he drank a shake or took a supplement that he didn't realize contained a now-banned ingredient, that should carry a different penalty entirely.

I'm not completely sure, but I think the only substances that are being announced to the public and garnering suspensions are illegal steroids. It would be helpful to know what type of substance this was, how it was ingested, and where he got it. Going public with a player's name but not disclosing the circumstances only leads to, well... THIS.

interesting article on steriod use by pitchers in the 1960s & 70s:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2052364

I liked this line: "We didn't get beat, we got out-milligrammed," he said. "And when you found out what they were taking, you started taking them."

Leaving Rincon's name out of it then...

Sciosa is saying that NO player should be allowed to return form a suspension while still enjoying the benefits of performance enhancing drugs. Again, I agree.

If the league and the union are serious about crafting an effective policy to get drugs out of the game -- something every fan here insists should be done -- then Sciosa's point will have to be addressed.

While using the data in my last post, assume from plus morf equals form.

Solve for x.

Dearest Bat-Girl,

You may not know this, but Rincon is Spanish for "nook." As in, "Yo escondo mis drogas en el rincon."

Translationally yours,

-Shoeless Joe

Has anyone else given any thought to the type of reaction Juan is going to get when he returns? I haven't been to enough Twins games to know how our fans will react. I would hope that they will realize that he made a mistake, is human, and embrace him again.
I wish I could say the same for fans at other ballparks, but I know this won't be the case. They'll try to use this whole thing to get inside his head, and it's quite possible that they'll be successful. I hope Juan spends his little break developing a very thick skin, because he's going to need it from now on. I know I wouldn't be able to be very effective with fans heckling me for a mistake I made, but maybe that's the difference between me and a Major League Ballplayer.

And hopefully it will be addressed with a minimal amount of colorfully melodramatic and exaggerated descriptions of a player's abilities... or at least with the use of appropriately proportionate descriptions thereof. That dramatic turn of phrase may have applied to Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens, but it was inappropriate in this case.

Assume Rincon=one of many. And that only a fraction of them will get caught. So poor Mike is facing quite a few "immortal superhumans" daily, and likely harboring a few. Just like every other manager in the game. You really want to end this? Test every single player, for everything, every single week. Until that happens, the entire policy is extremely flawed.

BG: Wonderful letter to Juan. I agree that Gardie should read this to him AND perhaps engage you to serve as his assistant coaach in charge of expression. Your sincerity and true love of the game and the Twins makes whatever you have to say, even if critical, go down like medicine with a little drop of honey. But, no question, we Twins lovers have suffered a blow to our claim of playing the game on a higher moral ground

Roy Hobbs.

Isn't, say, Pamela Anderson lucky that she doesn't face hostility and ostracization for furthering HER career with artificial enhancements? How funny it would be if acting were held to the same standard as sports. I'm sure many an actress has faced "unfair" competition for a role because her rival had a better nose, lips or bosom that wasn't exactly natural.

Just sayin', is all.

I don't think Sciosa has much of a point right now... if the test was done in Spring Training, as someone said, and the positive result came from something that was lingering since fall or winter league or whatever, then wouldn't that be out of Juan's system now, if he didn't touch anything since then?

if that's the case, then he's not "superhuman" right now. until we know, Sciosa should just shut up. it's not like he shot up on Friday, as far as we know.

I'm reminded of a SNL skit which depicts superheroes, during their off hours, attending a party.

Garrett Morris shows up at the party and introduces himself to the others as "Antman," able to shrink to the size of an ant while still retaining human strength. Belushi, as the Hulk, says mock terrified, "Amazing! Retain human strength! Don't get him mad!"

Rincon may or may not only be Antman, but even Antman is something other than mere mortal.

"Has anyone else given any thought to the type of reaction Juan is going to get when he returns"

I shall clap and cheer loudly - like always -
yes -Boo is still my boyfriend - and yes I still have our picture on myd esk from Twins Fest =)

Thank you for the letter Batgirl

And Mr.Sciosa - wasn't there a small controversy about K-Rod's eligibility the year they won the World Series - anyway- yes - bitter -bitter man to that I say BLAH

much love
Wonder Woman

Yes. Yes he is. Juan Rincon is beyond mortal. He possesses super-strength and super powers that no mere baseball player could possess. He has muscles that you can't possibly achieve in a weight room. He has achieved feats heretofore unknown in the sport. He is definitely no mere mortal. He's actually a cyborg.

Come on. It was an overly dramatic statement and you know it. He was trying to get attention and demonstrate his lofty morals, and he went overboard. Kind of like men who say "I'll shoot any motherf'er who so much as LOOKS at my woman!" Would they REALLY? A couple of them might, but most of them are just exaggerating for attention and dramatic effect. Like Mike Scioscia did. Only he chose the wrong (by a lot) player. Save the hyperbole for Barry Bonds, Mike. You make yourself sound like an sore loser and an idiot when you make those statements about a player hardly anyone has ever noticed before.

God, who cares what he says, anyway?! What, am I nuts???

Who says we have to lose the moral high ground? This may end up being a test of our class as fans.

Even if you assume the worst - that Boo stuck a needle in his buttcheek to pump up his muscles - then he made a very human mistake whilst attempting to gain workplace advantage. I think there's enough anecdotal evidence out there that Juan Rincon is a decent and honest human being, and I'm not ready to feel betrayed or angry yet. Good policies against victimless crimes allow for second chances, so that the criminals have the opportunity to redeem and re-prove themselves.

Unless he's found to be a repeat offender, I forgive and support him as much as any stranger who watches him ply his trade can - in my case, that'll manifest itself in clapping loudly at the teevee (like an idiot).

If he is caught again and shown to be a routine abuser, then he's a tragic figure. The long-term physical damage the stuff does far outweighs any suspension or amount of public shame - your opinion and my opinion won't matter one iota when he breaks down later, just because he traded in long-term use of certain bodily functions for a few years of throwing a ball real fast and getting paid well for it.

Click me for the saddest recontexted picture ever.

Beautifully written, BatGirl. You took the words right out of my mouth.

If this is all true, and he has been juicing, I think it will literally break my heart.

I did a bit o'research, and it turns out that throughout Rincon's minor league career, he consistently posted K/9s in the 7s. That actually declined to mid-6s in the year prior and year of his brief big-league callup. It then suddenly skyrockets to the mid-11s for his first 2 full big-league seasons (including 2005).So after a fairly consistent K/9 in the 7s pretty much throughout his career, he suddenly doubles it? If it were HRs and a guy hitting 20 in the minors suddenly started hitting 35-40, what would we think? Why is it any different with pitchers? Yes, I'd expect some improvement as he's hitting his prime age-wise (26), but a 50-100% increase? Seems suspicious.

He may be a nice man, but there's plenty of anecdotal evidence to go along with the positive test to indicate that he's had some "assistance" in his performance. To me, that classifies him with Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, and any other cheater. That he's a nice guy (as is supposedly McGwire) doesn't excuse it.

As I said - Juan, please learn from it and come back and prove yourself by showing performance along with clean tests. You'll get the chance from the fans, as I'm sure even the most egregious cheater (Bonds) will in SF.

Just wanted to point out a few misperceptions:

1) While HGH is on the banned substances list, there is no test to detect this. The effect of HGH is to increase the level of naturally-occurring hormones in the bloodstream. As yet, science has not found a way to determine if increased levels are due to HGH or other natural causes.

2) Known steroids and steroid precursors can be tested for. However, due to the lucrative business of performance-enhancing drugs, new drugs are being developed that cannot be detected by current testing. Until a drug is known, a test cannot be developed.

3) Former major-league pitcher and pitching coach Tom House revealed in an interview that he and other pitchers took steroids, HGH and other P-E drugs as early as the 60's and 70's.

I mention all this not to condone the use of performance enhancers, but to point out what a losing battle it appears to be. Our idols of the past are not as untainted as we would like to think. The likely lesson that some other players will learn from Boo's suspension will not be, "Don't take steroids," but instead "Don't get caught."

Laurie--

[Ed. by Jeb: Welcome to your first day of posting, Flitcraft. To bad you had to join us under such sad circumstances. You're more than welcome here, and I hope that you'll stick around after the topic that brought you here as passed by.] : "Yes. Yes he is. Juan Rincon is beyond mortal. He possesses super-strength and super powers that no mere baseball player could possess." That seems to me to miss the point.

According to the league, Rincon tested positive for a banned substance. You seem to be saying that Scioscia should STFU about Rincon because, even if he cheated, Rincon still can't lift a house. But house lifting isn't the mark of cheating. Cheating is the mark of cheating.

For the time being, I'm solidly in Scioscia's camp.

Clemsghostwriter: did your "bit o'research" take into account that Juan came up as a starter? Using your logic, Dennis Eckersley started juicing in 1987 when he moved to the bullpen. Look at that *unnatural* jump in K/IP! Rip his Cooperstown plaque down!

Geez.

Clem,

When Rincon first came up, he didn't have an offspeed breaking pitch good enough to be used against major league hitters. He was throwing mainly his fastball, a cut fastball and a hard slider. The addition of a usable changeup to his repetoire in 2004 (courtesy of a lot of work with pitching coach Rick Anderson on that very pitch in 2003 and in the winter leagues) greatly increased his ability to keep hitters off-balance, and therefore his ability to get them out swinging.

I never heard anyone question his improvement until yesterday. And until we know more about the allegations against him and have heard his explanation, the hard work he put into developing his pitch selection is as good an explanation today as it was last week.

addendum:

Also, 2004 was the first year he was used almost exclusively in short relief. Shorter outings allowed him to basically burn up a game's worth of energy in an inning or two. When you throw harder, you get more strikeouts but you can't go as long. The freedom to let it all rip in combination with an expanded pitch selection was a heck of a boost to a guy who already had great "stuff".

Yes, he was primarily a starter in the minors. However, he did have some relief stints, which mostly mirrored his starting performances. His first year with the Twins was exclusively as a reliever, and in 85.2IP, he had 63Ks. The following year, in 82IP, he had 106Ks.

So as a starter with 1 year being split between starting and relieving in the minors, he was at about 7.5K/9. In his first big league year, exclusively as a reliever, he was at 6.6K/9. In yr2 - 11.6 K/9. That doesn't seem like a "normal" progression to me. (By comparison, Eck was in the mid-6s as a starter, then in the mid-8s as a reliever.)

By itself, it means nothing. In conjuncation with a failed test, it looks like a pattern. You can speculate all you want, but IMO it behooves us as fans better to recognize it, deal with it, and give Juan the opportunity to prove himself better for the experience than to rationalize it based almost entirely on speculation.

Infield:

There are a ton of legimtimate reasons for improved performance. But it being "as good an explanation as it was yesterday" belies the fact that yesterday there was no reason to believe he was doing anything "wrong". Today, there is every reason to believe that - from the positive test to the "source close to Rincon" admitting it was a positive for steroids.

As I said - it can be rationalized a million different ways, but when you combine a positive test with a coincidental jump in performance - well that just looks, smells, and sounds like a duck. While I may root for him personally to overcome this and come back strong because he's a nice guy and a Twin, objectively I have to view it alongside McGwire, Bonds, etc. Sure, Barry may actually have not known what he was putting in his body, but it doesn't pass the smell test.

Clem,

Here's a novel idea: maybe you could wait for Rincon to tell his side of the story and for his grievance to be processed before you try him and find him guilty?

Oh, no, wait, that would involve patience and respect and a willingness to believe that maybe a positive result for an *unknown* substance in one lab test doesn't give us the whole story. Guess that won't work for you.

Clem, there may be a job in this for you: build a computer model that seeks out and identifies upticks in key statistical categories, then sell it to MLB so they can better implement a targeted substance-control policy. You can call it "The Smell Test," if you'd like. Do you know C++?

I saw Boo pitch at New Britain (the year he won 14 games), and he had a fastball that made fans go "whoa" when he hit top speed. He also looked about the same as he does now, stature-wise. That's my file on the guy, and I'm on his side.

Look - if there's a testing error, I'll come out and admit I was 100% wrong. But I can almost guarantee you that Rincon's going to come out and say something like "I took what I thought was a legal supplement and didn't pay attention to what it contained". Much like Gary Sheffield and Barry Bonds said - I didn't believe them either. These are highly conditioned athletes, they know their bodies - that's their livelihood. It's like Sammy Sosa saying he didn't realize he was swinging a corked bat.

I'm not even that amazed or upset at Rincon. he did what he did and what I'd guess a lot of others are doing. But he got caught. Fine - do the time and move on. I'm much more amazed at how what would be absolute scorn and disdain for a guy were he on another team in this situation turns around to rationalization. Some of that is normal since you invest yourself in guys you root for. But the degree of speculation going on to find an excuse for this is IMO ludicrous. I'd think we'd be much more forthright and consistent.

To me, the bottom line is that it was in his body, so it's his responsibility. That there was a coincidental improvement in performance makes it that much more suspect. You'll never know the absolute truth, but the evidence certainly points in only 1 direction.

I would like to apologize for the snarky tone of my last comment. I'm a bit upset, but that's no excuse. I could and should have phrased my criticism more politely. Mea culpa.

I don't want to make this a pi$$ing match. I'll leave it that I'm surprised at the response here. The facts are 1)he had it in his system, and 2)around the same time period that that was identified, he significantly improved his performance.

To me, that seems suspicious. It may not to others, and that's your right. In any case, I don't think he should be thrown under the bus, he deserves his chance to come back and prove himself still to be a good player and a clean one.

Clem,

You may be right about what Rincon will say in half an hour. Or you may be wrong. Couldn't you at least wait until he's *actually said* what he's going to say before you decide that he's culpable? It just seems a bit foolish to base an opinion on the contents of a speech that hasn't been delivered. (Kind of like going ahead and stoning an adulterer on Tuesday because you think the pastor's going to preach about how it's prescribed by the Bible on Sunday. Won't you feel dumb if he talks about charity instead?)

Dear Batlings,

This is an emotional issue and I ask everyone to take a step back and take a deep breath, and possibly to hold hands.

Love,
BG

I am upset at the loss of production to the team. If this is true, then let him serve his time and hope he learns better. However if I remember correctly, steroid use is an actual crime. There might be repercussions beyond baseball and thus will have to leave it up to the courts.

Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but let's hope Jesse Crain can step up.

Also, does anyone know if the statement would be televised or where/how?

I can't find it. CCO doesn't seem to have it. Anyone got it?

i am hoping one of the posters here can give a relay to some of us non locals

Checked WCCO radio, WCCO TV, and KFAN. Nada.

On WCC0 it's a couple of idiots talking about stupid stuff that makes me wonder how these guys ever got jobs. AHHHHH! What is happening?

Indeed, twinsfanCA. Minnesotans, please remember the rest of us out here in the badlands (California and Maryland, respectively) and keep us up to date.

CarrieIC,

We'd keep you up to date if we could hear what Juanie was saying...

I got nothin'. WCCO, WCCOAM, KFAN, KARE11...nothin'. Rosen said last night that it'd be on WCCO channel 4....

I demand to know why it is not on the radio/tv. Like anything else on TV is more important.

*growl*

Important news! You can take Bugles brand corn chips, fill them with whipped cream, and pass them off to kids as tiny ice-cream cones. I can tell you there will be some disappointed kids in Hopkins come this next Halloween. *rubs hands and cackles gleefully*

Somehow, I doubt this is the statement that Boo was planning to share with us.

I just called the 'CCO newsroom, there will be a report by Rita Malone at 4:03.

I guess Don Shelby talking about not much of anything is more important than a live feed.

That is exactly why I don't listen to WCCO for anything else besides Twins games or Batgirl interviews. Maybe it will be at 4:00????

For those of us who live in Greater MN, will it be on the radio too?

how insanely lame

I tried listening to 'CCO in my car on my break, but there were two guys talking about the mating rituals of elves, if elves existed. um... yeah.

I have a feeling we'll have to wait until later news reports, when they will play sound bites. or perhaps a TV website will post the story after some afternoon newscast.

Thanks heraldguy.

Say-Rah! - I wish my ex-girlfriend was more like you.

To follow up, that was radio. Should be a few minutes.

ESPN News will apparently be carrying it live on TV soon.

Federal reserve? Who cares?

To clarify... not ESPN or ESPN2, but ESPN News, which I think may be available only on digital cable and satellite. They have on the screen continuously: "Ahead: Juan Rincon on his suspension."

They usually carry live news conferences that others don't. So if you have access to it, turn it on. Might be on satellite radio, too.

Marijuana is hazardous to kids? Who knew?

Not much htere, he just read from a prepared statement

He said it was "unknowingly," and read a statement that basically said he couldn't say anything. He also thanked the fans for their support.

The poor sweetie, trying to read words he didn't even understand. He had to ask for help.

I heard it on ESPN News. In a nutshell, he didn't really talk about what happened, only that he would never knowingly compromise his position with the Twins and how he doesn't want to hurt the organization. I had some trouble understanding because his English isn't really top notch -- I'm sure it will be written down soon.

That didn't say much new.

Well, that cleared up a lot.

He basically said he was appealing the suspension, and he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the team (as well as I could make out)

Terry Ryan said the organization is supporting him.

He will be with the team until Thursday, then will report to Ft Meyers.

Statement's here --

http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20050503&content_id=1036826&vkey=pr_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min

on Twins website (sorry if this has been posted already, but my browser won't refresh for some reason):

"I want to take this time to thank the Twins organization, the fans and the general public for all of the support they have offered me while dealing with this situation. Baseball is my life and I was devastated after becoming aware that I tested positive for a violation of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The details are confidential and I have asked the Player's Association to challenge the suspension.

"What I can share with you today is that I would never knowingly compromise my position within Major League Baseball or jeopardize my relationship with the Minnesota Twins organization or the relationships that I enjoy with my teammates.

"I will make no further comments, or answer any questions, until the process plays out in its entirety. However, I will add that I look forward to returning to the field to continue pitching to the best of my ability to help the Twins organization win its fourth consecutive division title."

Then let me be one of the first to say... go Jesse Crain!! Go Scott Baker!

I'm interested in the time frame, especially since the sample draw occurred in spring training -- didn't it?

Does anyone know how long the various types of performance-enhancing substances for which they CAN test stay in the body? That same info about illegal and legal recreational drugs and drugs of abuse is all over the place. Different times for different substances, different times for different fluids (blood vs. urine).

If there's residue in his body that is from administration that occurred PRIOR to implementation of the current policy, I say, Free Rincon! By that logic, I also have to say the same for McGuire, Bonds, Giambi, etc. Sucks to have to write that, but it's the only fair position to take.

Those who are ready to hang all these guys because they just "know" they're guilty ... well, I'd hate to see you on a jury.

He obv. didn't write it... he stumbled over "entirely." He looked like he hasn't slept in days.

They're talking about it on KFAN right now, if anyone wants to hear their take on it.

He obv. didn't write it... he stumbled over "entirely." He looked like he hasn't slept in days.

sorry if this has been posted, but my browser won't refresh for some reason... but from Twins website:

"I want to take this time to thank the Twins organization, the fans and the general public for all of the support they have offered me while dealing with this situation. Baseball is my life and I was devastated after becoming aware that I tested positive for a violation of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The details are confidential and I have asked the Player's Association to challenge the suspension.

"What I can share with you today is that I would never knowingly compromise my position within Major League Baseball or jeopardize my relationship with the Minnesota Twins organization or the relationships that I enjoy with my teammates.

"I will make no further comments, or answer any questions, until the process plays out in its entirety. However, I will add that I look forward to returning to the field to continue pitching to the best of my ability to help the Twins organization win its fourth consecutive division title."

*sigh* I was hoping for more of a detailed statement than that, but he's probably on a tight leash.

It wasn't particularly inspiring, but it wasn't terrible, either. It's exactly what a man in his position ought to say.

I guess I just hoped it would sound different coming from him than it did coming from the others.

So what happens if Juan's really clean and he wins the appeal?

The suspension is already in effect (right?). They can't give him or the Twins the 10 games back.

They're talking about it on KFAN right now, if anyone wants to hear their take on it.

So what happens if Juan's really clean and he wins the appeal?

The suspension is already in effect (right?). They can't give him or the Twins the 10 games back.

Wow, Juan has become quite articulate. Perhaps he has been also accidentally using brain enhancing drugs in preparation for a PR gig after his baseball career.

I know that this is how the real world works, but wouldn't this have been a more readily accepted response if he had actually SAID something and done so in his own words?

Heck, they could have just had that little Ashley Simpson tartlet lip sync that statement.

Poor Juan, he looks like he feels just awful about this. And Juan....we are ALL looking forward to your return to the field - keep your chin up.

geez... sorry for the double post!

Mike H-
If Juan wins the appeal, he will be reimbursed for the missed pay. Unfortunately, the Twins can't get those games back, so I guess the bullpen will just have to step up for the time being.

Skorch--

Let me just say that, although I am neither from Hopkins nor a costumed tyke, whipped cream filled Bugles sound mighty tasty to me.

And let me say also that my disappointment at not, in fact, receiving a tiny ice cream cone, though certainly acute, would likely be short lived.

But I, admittedly not a Hopkins-dwelling fancy-dressed youngster, must simultaneously congratulate you on your statement that Rincon was unlikely to comment on this or any other ruse a wily Halloween treat dispenser might employ. Spot on, and very well said.

Now everybody quit juicing and let's play ball dammit.

Says Rincon in his prepared statement
( http://tinyurl.com/afq6n ):

"I want to take this time to thank the Twins organization, the fans and the general public for all of the support they have offered me while dealing with this situation. Baseball is my life and I was devastated after becoming aware that I tested positive for a violation of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The details are confidential and I have asked the Player's Association to challenge the suspension.

"What I can share with you today is that I would never knowingly compromise my position within Major League Baseball or jeopardize my relationship with the Minnesota Twins organization or the relationships that I enjoy with my teammates.

"I will make no further comments, or answer any questions, until the process plays out in its entirety. However, I will add that I look forward to returning to the field to continue pitching to the best of my ability to help the Twins organization win its fourth consecutive division title."

D'oh--I'm the seventy-second person to post that. How come I couldn't see the others when I hit refresh?

Jeb, BG, delete the above at will.