The Curious Case of Raul Ibanez: Steroid Speculation Perhaps Unfair, but Great Start in 2009 Raising Eyebrows

You spent a long time talking about the ballpark and only gave a brief mention of the improvement in the lineup. I’m a Mariner’s fan and can tell you firsthand that Ibanez never had any protection in Seattle. Ichiro leads off and then what? That’s been the story for years. Ibanez gave us some pop hitting 3rd or 4th for a number of years but he had to create that all on his own. He usually had Beltre hitting behind him. Now he is sandwiched between Howard and Rollins. And earlier in the season he hit behind Rollins so there were probably guys on base at a higher rate than in Seattle. Not sure that you can find these numbers but I bet you’d find that Ibanez had a lot of one run homers in Seattle but now he’s getting them with runners on base.

Great article.

Phillies Latino Connection

Prior to pitching for the Red Sox, JC Romero had a 4.60 lifetime ERA. Just prior to being released by the Sox he was pitching well and his ERA was 3.15, did they suspect something? He was then signed by the Phillies and compiled an ERA of 2.17 with them. He was rewarded for this with a 50-game suspension by Major League Baseball for using performance enhancing drugs.

Raul Ibanez has gone from a good player with a lifetime BA of .287 and 20 HRs per 500 ABs to a player hitting .330 with 19 HRs in only 219 ABs. He is a leading all NL outfielders in his quest to make his first all-star team at the ripe old age of 37.

Pedro Feliz, a lifetime .254 hitter is currently Batting 52 points higher at .306.

Carlos Ruiz, a lifetime .247 hitter who batted .219 last season, is currently hitting 90 points higher this season.

@JRod, one might assume that I am implying more, but it may be that all it is, to quote you, is “interesting statistics. The fact that you and I consider them to be interesting is reason enough to post them.

It is made all the more interesting, in my opinion, that Romero, having shown such great improvement upon joining Manny’s Red Sox, was released despite his effectiveness. That he continued his new found effectiveness with the Phillies and was subsequently suspended for 50 games. And that this was followed by Ibanez, Feliz and Ruiz having such great and unexpected starts to their 2009 season.

Note: Feliz had a mediocre season last year so your “improved lineup” theory does not work for him nor does it work for Ruiz who is a product of the Phillies farm system.

Everything I stated is undeniable fact. These improved performances may be little more than a synergistic effect of three latin players bonding and, in the comfort of their native language, discussing baseball in all its nuances. It will be interesting to see if their performance continues through the entire season.

@TripNines, I’m a lifer Philly fan. In case you don’t remember, Feliz just so happened to need surgery on his back this off season. I can almost guarantee you that as the season wears on and his back starts to hurt again he’ll fade.

As for Ruiz, you probably didn’t watch the world series. Carlos tore $#!t up at a .375 clip. The only guy who hit better was Werth. This is a carryover and if you’ve followed his career he’s hitting the ball the same way he did in the postseason. If you look at his hitting charts you’ll see that he’s spraying the ball all over more and has less pop outs which means he’s just driving the ball more.

JC is a head case. His post suspension numbers will tell us everything.

Just wanted to clear that up since Chooch should get way more love.

phillyphaninchi

JRod,

I appreciate your well-thought out analysis. As a lifelong Phillies phan (and blogger), I am having a hard time not letting my passionate, undying loyalty for the Phils cloud whatever objectivity I might have in this case. In all honesty, my gut reaction is to get really mad at YOU for posting this speculation – and it’s pure speculation at this point. That, however, would be intellectually dishonest of me, giving the era in which we live.

However, you write multiple times in the comments section that you were simply responding to the speculation that is already “out there.” Well, I gotta tell ya, your article was the first I’ve heard of it. Doesn’t mean people weren’t thinking about it or perhaps talking about it over beers at a bar somewhere, but I have heard not one iota of speculation in the blogosphere or media until you brought it up. In my opinion, I don’t really think that a comment in a message board from a rival fantasy team owner qualifies in any way as “speculation.” My interpretation of that guy’s comment leads me to believe he may actually have been joking. Perhaps if, say, comments like that were all over the message boards for weeks and weeks, then it would be a different story. But one guy – against whom you’re competing – ribbing you a little bit for making what turned out to be an incredible fantasy selection? Sorry. Doesn’t really pass the “speculation” test to me. So I would find it helpful if you could cite or even link to some places either online or elsewhere that have been addressing this (non-)issue before your article.

Thank you in advance for that, and for your exhaustive research (seriously, it was very interesting and informative).

“JRod”,

I want to try to keep this as professional as possible. But this article is poor journalism. Let me explain why.

1) Awful Title. Okay, that might be nitpicking but from one journalist to another, it’s way too wordy and doesn’t flow. It gets your point across that the speculation may be unfair, but that’s not necessarily the place to make that point.

2) Very irresponsible. You say in your comments that the more you think about it, the lineup likely is the major effect, and that you wanted to research more and write more, but you didn’t have time this morning. If that’s the case, you cannot publish your article. We, as journalists, can cause a major effect on a large number of people–which is one of the most beautiful things about being a journalist. But at the same time, it is quite dangerous and we must be sure to be responsible and hold ourselves to a high moral standard. As you see, your article has caused a major uproar because it soils the name of a great man.

3) Subpar objectivity. While you do good research on the parks, you seem to shrug off the difference in the parks. Okay, CBP isn’t what you thought it was, but at the same time, Safeco is in the bottom 5 (or close) almost every year, where as CBP is in the top half each season. That, my friend, is a significant difference. Again, the lineups were mentioned. This is the first good lineup Ibanez has every played in. Not in Seattle, nor in Kansas City has he ever been able to see the kind of pitches he does in Philly. Surely, that will change as he’s destroyed opposing pitchers thus far. And using poor pitchers in big parks should only further the evidence that Ibanez isn’t using PEDs, right?

4) Your conclusion. You concluded that nothing could be accurately concluded from this evidence. So, to be frank, what the hell was the point of the article? To start speculation? To say “he could be, but we don’t have a damn clue”? Alex Sanchez. Jorge Piedra. Elizer Alfonso. That’s all I have to say.

You’re probably sitting there, wondering why the hell this article has caused such a ruckus. I bet it’s not even your most controversial piece you’ve ever written. But let me tell you something, many times it’s the pieces we least expect that have the greatest effect.

Hopefully, you’ll keep this in mind from now on and write more responsible articles and think about each article before you publish it.

Honestly, I don’t think that the numbers put up by Ibanez are that surprising. A poster on a message board I frequent posted,

“He went from Seattle to Philly which are opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of pitching versus hitting. And the Phils have had a disproportionate amount of games versus the Nationals. 6 of his 20 homers came at the expense of the Nationals.

So, Raul has had two homers at yanks, two at cincy, 4 at washington, 2 vs washington, one at colorado.

So to me, it speaks to not looking at what actually happened. He has 8 at home (hitters park) 12 away. Only problemis 5 of those away dingers came at extreme hitters parks, and 4 came at the expense of the nats. So given hsi skill set and where he has played thus far, it seems reasonable to think the league switch is what helped him.”

I really think that the league change and hitters park he now plays in is the only explanation for his numbers. Raul is an upstanding player, one of the most humble players I’ve ever been around and/or followed, and I find it extremely hard to believe PED’s had anything to do with it, let alone the fact that he has passed every test thrown his way.

Congrats on your 15 minutes moron!

Why wouldnt we speculate that he did PEDs. I sure as hell did, he needs to blame his fellow players instead of a blogger.

Im tired of the TEST MY BLOOD defence…HGH cant be tested for….soooo

your an idiot…. I hope he sues you for slander. Sometimes guys just have a good year you moron. maybe someone should poke around your world to see what you do.. You are whats wrong with sports. You and the morons that listen to you.

Dude, Really?

You are entitled to your opinion, that’s fine. But honestly, you epitomize all thats wrong with blogging sports. Now I challange you to take accountability. Man up, you are being called out by the man you questioned in the first place. He deserves a public apology by you.

The man has been a class act in character since his career started. He has a couple of good months and you throw him under the steroid bus? And then back it up with weak statistics. Whats wrong with you?

The worst is you make this accusation and then take the stance of “Im not saying its true, but it could be.” If your gonna call him out at least take a hard stance. Your obviously not a journalist, but as a baseball fan and someone who claims to love the game you have serioulsy dissapointed me.

Ugghh! Really dude? Now Raul has to field these questions for the rest of the year. Its already on ESPN.com. And over what? Field dimensions and something you spent an hour researching because you self admittedly had to go to work.

Take into account lineups, pitching, hard work, swing, heck, short porches aren’t the only reason some parks give up alot of long balls. Look at new Yankee stadium. They’re blaming it on the weather among other things.

SO DISSAPOINTED, I hope you got what you wanted when you started this blog, recognition. Be careful what you wish for.

Have fun in court! I hope you lose everything you own. Out there running your mouth like you know something. What a horrible article, guess its why you don’t have a real career and never will.

How about you find a REAL journalism job instead of hiding behind an anonymous sports blog? There are other ways of getting attention than trying to ruin someone else’s career. Grow up.

@rich,

It would be more likely Ibanez would sue for libel and not slander. Slander is verbal defamation, whereas libel is written defamation.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=slander
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/libel

@steve, sorry bud. HGH can be detected through blood tests, but not urine. Right now urine tests are allowed through the CBA, but not blood tests. That’s why he said he’d take any test. For instance, the IOC has always req’d blood tests, and when HGH became detectable in the early 2000s, they were nabbing athletes left and right.

YO JEROD IM FROM PHILADELPHIA AND YOU ARE A COMPLETE ASSHOLE TO LET THIS BLOW UP LIKE THIS AND YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR ASS CAUSE PHILLIES FANS ARE FUCKING NUTS AND WILL FUCK YOU UP IF THEY SEE YOU… I DARE YOUR LITTLE NERD BITCH ASS TO COME TO CITIZENS BANK PARK YOU FAGGOT… PLAYERS ARE TESTED OUT THE ASS EVEN MANNY GOT SUSPENDED SO DONT EVEN BRING THIS SHIT UP BITCH PEOPLE ARE PISSED AND ARE GONNA KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR YOU

Way to get railed on ESPN. Please shut up you waste of space.

As someone who understood the point your post made – that in the modern era of baseball, without foolproof PED testing, it is impossible to determine if career years, especially for older players, are the result of on-field factors or off the field ‘aid’ – I applaud you for systematically analyzing the various possibilities that have contributed to Ibanez’s outstanding start. Your post contains a deeper statistical breakdown of Ibanez’s start than 95% of the articles that I read from ‘traditional’ journalists.

Perhaps we are too cynical about athletes’ accomplishments, but the sport and its fans have been burned too many times in the past by lying players to not turn a dubious eye towards unprecedented results. This is the world that players created when they decided to make steroids a part of the game. It’s unfair to the players that never used, but it is petty of them to blame fans for questioning their credibility.

On a somewhat unrelated note:
Fantasy owners around the country have no doubt made the “David Ortiz needs to get back on the juice” joke this year. Why has this not caused a public outcry, as well?

@GT, Shut up, you fag.

@Anon, haha yea he did ken rosenthal ripped you a new butthole n im not even a big fan of ken but he put you in your place

@Jason, you nailed every flaw in this article. spot on. JRod continues to say he was trying to defend any allegations but the title of the article already says the opposite. The headline should lead into the article, not mislead. The whole article is nothing but a collection of empty sentences, frankly.

Sorry: your rationalization for the article, if sincere, is just plain wrong-headed. You remind me of the sleazy politician who campaigns by saying, “I’m certainly not going to be one of those who campaigns on innuendos that my opponent is a drunk, cheats on his wife and is a secret agent of a foreign power! I will not stoop to such accusations!” Those un-named people who “speculate” in print that a player of unimpugned character must have broken the rules and the law because of one HALF a season that is unusually good (or bad: see David Ortiz)are engaging in blatantly unfair character assassination based on nothing that even vaguely justifies the consequences to the individual of such an accusation. This is “Big Lie” methodology, and you contribute to it by engaging in a detailed “defense” of a player who needs no defense. “Everybody’s guilty until proven innocent” is an insideous concept cooked up by steroid cynics who want to excuse Bonds, Clemens et. al. on the ethically atrocious grounds that “everybody did it,” even though everybody DIDN’T. Quite simply, everybody in a profession will not share the same values, respect for their profession, integrity, level of greed, honesty and willingness to cheat. This is unfair to Ibanez, you say, but fair to baseball. Huh? Then criticize baseball, but leave Ibanez alone until there are at least some puffs of smoke beyond half a great season. The guy moved from a bad team to a good one, from a pitcher’s park to a hitter’s park, from a strong league to a weak one, and he’s still got half a season to go! That’s NOTHING. You might as well write a “defense” of why Frank Robinson’s Triple Crown in 1966, or Carl Yastrzemski’s Triple in 1967, were “probably” not based on steroid use. Of course they weren’t—any accusations that they were would be idiotic, vicious and unfair, and giving the semars the benefit of a serious “rebuttal” just dignifies them and gives them substance. That’s what you did to Raul Ibanez, and you owe him an apology.

Congrats on getting linked on ESPN, which caught my eye.

Raul never got this angry at the speculation that he was hiding an injury from the Mariners blogosphere. That’s more likely to be the reason for his increased performance rather than PEDs.

Look at his defense, specifically. I’m sorry, but you don’t go from a guy who flails after easy fly balls, watching several drop, to a guy with a solid UZR. Not even with steroids.

Oh well. I thank him for the two draft picks he netted the Mariners with his Type A production at the plate.

“If Raul Ibanez, or any other player who is speculated about for putting up great numbers, is upset at the speculation, the majority of their anger and venom in my opinion should be directed towards their past and present peers who used steroids and PEDs” -JRods response, as posted on ESPN.com

So you think that, in order to not bring such negative publicity upon themselves, legitimately good players should “underpreform?” They should put up good, not great numbers so this type of heinous slander doesn’t happen to them? Maybe juicers should “vary their play,” in order to fly under the radar and continue to use PEDs?

You’ve opened a whole can of worms and more, JRod. With the city of Philadelphia and ESPN on you, I wish you luck in your future journalistic endeavors. Your credibility has forever been altered.

First I want to say that I appreciate you bringing up the subject. This is a hot subject in the baseball world. Ken R. acts like your the only one that can see what is going on. Everyone watching has the same feelings or at lest that little thought. Keep up the good work and look forward to reading in the future.

Thank you for writing your opinion. I agreed with some points and disagreed with others. Frankly, I find it hypocritical of those who are giving their opinion in the comment boxes. When I read a blog I read it for little nuggets of information from an opinion that is not mine. I encourage you to continue writing.
What I want to see is the same people come back to this post and write you an apology 3-5 years from now when the evidence comes out that he indeed use. Sorry, but I can’t ever look at any baseball players with good numbers and not think of the possibility of using PED. You can blame all the others who already got caught for setting the stage for distrust among the fans. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; fool me thrice? People will continue glorify and defend imperfect human beings. Imperfect human beings will let you down every time, especially when there is financial gain to be had.
Lastly, the people who keep defending “journalism” are just old and need to move on. I group journalist in the same group as baseball players. Journalists have their little sector of PED equivalent in the political sector. How dare you accuse this man of bad journalism when the most profitable sector of journalism is the overly bias political writers who treat their readers like sheep by spoon feeding them so called facts based on self serving “credible anonymous sources.” Please spare me, real journalist are as much speculators as a blogger. The great thing about reading a blog is that I can choose to accept or decline the author’s opinions without feeling robbed by having to pay 75 cents for paper that I will eventually have to throw away like the trash that it is.
This is my opinion! Remember that.

fucking bitch

I think you do a ncie job of pointing out where your article fell short (the hitters surrounding Ibanez), but to be honest, it’s a blog post and not a piece for the New York Times. Yes, all articles and posts should be as well-researched as possible before being published, but the negative feedback you’ve been receiving is really uncalled for. You’re stating what many people have been thinking and trying to debunk it. In the greater context of the Steroid Era, is this really so out of line?

@John, you dont need a spine… they are tested there is no fucking questioning anymore if he was on PEDs he would have been suspended easy as that what is there to question…. youre a fuckin joke john

Last year when the Phillies signed Pedro Feliz they SPECULATED that he would hit 30-40 home runs based on the 25 he averaged in San Fran. Quite honestly, given Raul’s last three years in Seattle combined with all the other variables I’m shocked your that suprised.

And Im shocked you play in such a pathetic Fantasy baseball league. Thats the real story here. You boys in the midwest have nothing to do but talk bad sports, hold bad drafts and assault farm animals.

I cant believe they put you on ESPN. Im also starting a blog. Who can I say is on steroids? That Michael Phelps had a pretty good year, he’s juicing. Johan santana hit a double last night, hes on roids, and Texiera must be on roids as well, he’s killing the ball. It has nothing to do with batting in front of Arod (who ironically is on roids). Thanks for ruining my day JFRAUD

Hang in there Jerod.

YOO JFRAUD Y DONT YOU WRITE BACK YOU LITTLE BITCH IM SURE YOURE GETTING ALL OF THESE ON YOUR SWEET IPHONE OR TWITTER OR WHATEVER YOU FUCKING GEEK

COME ON DEFEND YOURSELF BITCH FUCKING MIDWEST ANIMAL FUCKER PIECE OF SHIT

So… using your logic, anyone who has a breakout year “raises eyebrows” about the possibility of steroids?!?!? Give me a break! That is SO unfair to anyone who improves himself in the off season.

I posted this on the MSNBC website earlier:

The problem is, has and continues to be the REAL media outlets that choose to air this stuff because it is sensational. Shame on ESPN, MSNBC, CNN-SI or any other (legitimate media) outlet who quotes bloggers. They are not required to be answerable to anyone and pretty much say whatever they want. Then an outlet grabs it and says “This was posted on loserkidinhisbasement.com…” as if it is coming from a legitimate person just because there is a dot com in the title. Cripes, any loser can pay $3.95 a month for a website.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with having a board where a bunch of guys shoot the crap about sports, but jeez… don’t try to call this ridiculous, unfounded, unresearched, unprofessional banter journalism.

Interesting article. My intent here is to prove that you are a credible, responsible journalist.

Point 1-You write for a blog, not a valid newspaper. One could speculate that you don’t have talent, but…

My intent here is to prove you are a credible, responsible journalist.

Point 2-You do provide limited research that works in your blog. They say that 99% of all stats are made up. One (even you) admit you could have looked up more research but wanted to get the article out. I could speculate that you didn’t do your research, but…

My intent here is to prove you are a credible, responsible journalist.

Point 3-You work on the internet on a routine basis with your blog. You follow baseball. You must know the POWER of the internet. Clearly, one could assume that you are at the very least IRRESPONSIBLE, but I don’t want to go there. Remember…

My intent here is to prove you are a credible, responsible journalist.

Based on my findings, it’s fair to say you are not credible, not responsible, and not a journalist.

Sorry, but that wasn’t my intent.

I caught the OTL segment this afternoon BEFORE reading this article. Now, I’m wondering if Ken Rosenthal didn’t do the same thing. He repeatedly tried to transform the conversation into an attack on your journalistic integrity, which seemed bizarre at the time and now seems flat out wrong. I think your article offered up just about every other less sinister explanation out there for Ibanez’s jump in production, and your comments about Ibanez playing in an improved lineup actually went a long way to exonerating a man that I had personally already convicted as the next in a long line of MLB PED abusers. I think Ken needs to climb down from his pedestal in order to put this article, the modern blog, and the role of the mainstream media into proper perspective.

Excellent article!

I saw your interview this afternoon on ESPNs’ Outside the Lines, which is where I first learned of your website, and the specifics of this story.

It is unfair and irresponsible journalism on the part of John Gonzalez by not providing the full article, and instead only picking and choosing what he wanted to use to get a “story.” You addressed many topics in this piece, and it is sad that he chose to pick what he wanted to see and report.

Finally, Ken Rosenthall needs to get over himself. I could feel the anger building inside me as I watched him attack you repeatedly. You should have told Mr. Rosenthall that not everyone in the business can get a tan, put on their pretty suit, and spit out information for one broadcast a week on FOX. Sometimes you need to be a bit more provocative to get a story, and that is exactly what you did.

Cheers to you for going on the record to defend yourself, and believeing in your story!

Jared’s words were twisted. Read the original blog (above) and all he says is that there’s going to be speculation. He doesn’t actually say that he is using PED but points to the ballpark as the reason for the improvement.

Jerod
I think you’re taking heat from sports reporters not because of the way you presented your case but more because they don’t like the idea that because of the internet anyone can become a journalist now. They feel threatened and are afraid to say the truth because they fear they will be shut out of interviews with famous sports athletes.The same way that Conseco was ostrasized but no one has proven him to be wrong yet, have they?

Thanks for writing this, Jeff. Whether Ibanez is in fact on steroids or HGH, the fact of the matter is that THAT conversation exists among fans. We are having these kinds of debates about players who suddenly start drastically outperforming their career indicators. The speculation is all the more intense when it’s an aged veteran that does so, and such speculation IS warranted after MLB opted not to have any drug testing procedures up until a few years ago and after so many prominent players have since been exposed as cheats.

Your column is an accurate reflection of what the fans are talking about and therefore gives voice to them. People like Ken Rosenthal and John Gonzalez are out of touch and imperiously think that the only thing that counts is what journalists think, not fans. Thanks for recognizing otherwise and keep up the good work.

Just wanted to say to Jerod, in hopes that he’s still (or eventually will) read all these comments, that you might be interested to hear this meta-story is a topic of conversation outside of the sports world and sports fans. That shouldn’t be too surprising because (at least from my perspective) really this is not about steroids or Ibanez, but about “the media” in all it’s forms. I am an academic researcher in technology and telecommunications fields, and some colleagues and I have been discussing all day about how this phenomenon happened, the chain of events, and people’s different interpretations of it all.

I’m not a big believer in the power of comment fields to make or sustain a compelling argument, but I’ll try.

I, unlike many of the comments here and in other news media, don’t see your article as being irresponsible. Speaking solely for myself, I take from your article that the tone was initially, largely, and in the end *in defense* of Ibanez’ numbers, and the amount of research you did in an attempt to disprove your friend’s argument attests to the amount of personal, and possibly professional, responsibility you took in writing your article. An irresponsible act would have been an off-the-cuff “yeah what he said” response chiming in on your friend’s open-ended accusations. However, it is this very act of responsibility that makes the accusations of irresponsibility so compelling, because, by presenting the research, your article cannot be dismissed as mere unreasoned ranting or the like. It becomes more authoritative and more likely to draw criticism. If there is an area where you demonstrated irresponsibility it is in not (as yet) updating the post to take into account subsequent contributions others have added in terms of the NL vs AL’s talent pools, better pitching in the AL, a deeper analysis of the effect different hitters in the lineup have played on Ibanez’ numbers, etc. Many people will talk about Ortiz, Ibanez and others in personal conversations and on in various formats online.

What I see as really missing here is an understanding of media channels. As McLuhan said, “the medium is the message,” and the arguments that this post is “irresponsible journalism” are very problematic. For us media studies folks, the issue here is not whether something you wrote is/was irresponsible, but what the definition of “journalism” is. Blogs, like newspapers, magazines, TV shows, and personal conversations come in all shapes and sizes, so it’s not productive to say “all blogs are this” or “all newspapers are that.” Readers need to (and most people usually do) consider multiple pieces of evidence about not only the content of what they’re reading, but also the medium/channel and ascribe, among other things, legitimacy to the claims made therein. Your post is NOT a newspaper article, or a magazine editorial. You are NOT a professional journalist nor acting on behalf of an official news organization. I don’t say that to belittle you or your work, but rather to highlight the fallacy others make when they try to hold you or your work to the prescriptions and standards of those other media channels and professions.

To me and others in the media studies world, to say this post is “irresponsible journalism” (or to even say you are a “journalist” for that matter) shows a misconception of blogs as a medium and bloggers as a personal and/or professional activity. This misconception is understandable though because of the broad range of authoritativeness with which different blogs assume or are presumed to have. It makes knowing what expectations and standards to have for a blog or blogger difficult, and certainly not uniform. As an example, I could log into my Blogger account right now and post that I think a player is on steroids, but that is very different from Buster Olney writing it on his ESPN.com blog, and few people would accuse me of journalistic irresponsibility. The problem is for people like you who lie somewhere in between. Is it a reasonable expectation that you accurately gauge how much reach you have or how much authority with which people take your work? If you’re Buster Olney or me, I think it is, and you can criticize us when we irresponsibly fail to meet that expectation. (I.E. How foolish would it be if Buster said, “but I never thought anybody would read that” or I said, “why won’t people take my allegations seriously?!”)

I just wanted to chime in that amid all the angry comments here and contrary to Ken’s remarks on OTL, there are a bunch of people who not only defend your post against claims of irresponsibility, but see this as an issue less about you, Ibanez or steroids and more about the vague, shifting expectations we as readers have for blogs and bloggers, and the roles they take in our contemporary media landscape. I sincerely hope you, and possible other commentators here, can move this discussion beyond an interminable debate about this particular instance which is not likely to resonate for much longer on the national scale it has reached, and onto a broader discussion of media and blogs as media channels. That might have some utility for the next time something somebody says on a blog causes the next great debate about “responsibility” and “journalism.” Will Leitch would agree.

I thought you did a good job of defending yourself on OTL. I also think the article, in and of itself, was well thought out and written. In this era of steroids, nobody is above suspicion. NOBODY. I admired Raul’s hustle and attitude in Seattle for a long time, and I can tell you that he was the best player on awful teams for many years. Now that he has protection, and plays on a good team, it’s not a surprise that he is doing well…except for the fact that he is 37 YEARS OLD!!!

The story was interesting and the question needed to be brought up. I don’t think Raul is on PEDs, but nothing would surprise me anymore.

I’ll hazzard a hunch and say his numbers won’t sustain their rate the whole season, that they will eventually balance out. MLB pitching is horrible on average and Raul is in a good situation in Philly.

BTW I am a former sports writer who understand a thing or two about libel and slander as a journalism grad, and if you asked me if this story passed a litmus test for either of those to claims to be proven, I would say NO.

You have a valid opinion based on reasonable research, and a past history of players in that age range losing productivity, yet you show multiple ways in which he could indeed be playing ‘clean.’ you might have ‘bent’ the rules a bit with your wording, but you left it for the readers to decide based on your ‘evidence.’

Frankly, because of baseball’s inability to clean up the sport when it should have 10 years ago, this is where we are today. Good job, Bud Selig and the MLB player’s union! You happily traded greed for integrity.

Good story. The fact that Ibanez claims he is clean means nothing. Anyone remember a fella named Palmero wagging his finger at Congress and LYING about PEDs. How about Manny? Sammy? et al? Just wait until Pujols gets caught. If he’s not on PEDs, then I don’t know who would be. He looks like McGuire’s twin at the plate when he was at his peak. Something does not seem right. Will I face libel and slander for expressing that opinion? Last time I checked, we had the freedom to debate issues and have ‘opinions’ in this great country.

Nobody is above suspicion in MLB. Someone should test whether Selig has been on dope that past decade!

This man did a great deal of research into trying to communicate effectively and accurately. In no way should the author be criticized. As for you, Raul Ibanez, I say this…I too was/am suspicious of PED pertaining to you and the statistics you have been putting up this year. However, it was good to see the way that you reacted to the article. It shows that you are even willing to let them test your poopy to prove that you don’t use PED’s. That is commendable. May this matter rest in peace. Raul you the man if you aren’t using PED’s. You have been one of the more consistent players in baseball over the past 10 years and have gotten minimal recognition for being as good as you have been. I could say a lot more but I’ll end on this…Tell anyone you see using steroids or PED’s that they aren’t really professional talent (they are cheating and taking away opportunities from players like myself). Clean up your act MLB. If you had sooner then maybe this wouldn’t all be happening today.

Sincerely,

Steven Baldassari

I just saw your spot on ESPN talking about your article. Then I came online and read it to get the whole picture because I felt there may have been some resentment from the main stream media because you were getting so much press as a blogger. Although I agree on the fact that the speculation of steroids is there for fans who watch and see Raul doing so well as an aging player, it is a completely different thing to build a case that basically ‘implies’ PED use for a player that has never tested postiive. Not only that, but you admitting that you didn’t have the time to fully research ALL aspects of the article is pretty ridiculous. Any baseball fan who knows his stuff will tell you a player batting in a line-up where he’s getting help to see better pitches will go a LONG way. For you to dismiss such statistics and points on your “opinion” is irresponsible, esepcially when it’s unproven.

As a responsible writer with my own site, I believe your article to be not only inaccurate, but unfair and irresponsible. As a subscriber to both AP and Getty Images for the use of their photographs, I wonder if you have the rights to the photos you use on your site. If you want to be in a position to write such things, you must be prepared to take the criticism that comes with it and must also be prepared to pay up financially for the right to use other people works and photographs.

Forget Ibanez. Considering his ubiquitous angry posts, I think we should start seriously considering whether Frank may be on steroids.

So… when’s Ibanez gonna get tested?

moe.

Ibanez is a great player and ripping it up, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the allegations of PEDs were true.

Either way, congrats on all the attention your blog has received from this ridiculous story.

Im an idiot and didnt post the link

http://community.comcast.net/comcastportal/blog/article?message.uid=3829899

@you suck, very intelligent I must say

@Raul, You are running YOUR mouth like YOU know something. Go read the comics if Jerod’s article was too much for you. I don’t think that this is Jerod’s career. He is just a blogger with an opinion. Do you even realize that???? What a stupid thing for you to say that you “hope he loses everything he owns”. Wow I have to say you sound like an idiot!!!!!!!!!

@Mike, YOU REALLY THINK THIS IS WHAT THE ARTICLE WAS ALL ABOUT?????? YOU ARE THE MORON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@Sean, THANK THE LORD JEROD IS NOT FROM PHILLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. YOU’RE not from Philly, not YOUR not from Philly.

What stands out, when you look at Ibanez stats is his numbers with men on base. Ibanez historical numbers with men on base (2006-2008) are almost the same as his current numbers.

Ooops, you missed it.

Here are the historical numbers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/splits?playerId=3504

Add that to the size of the park, and the improved lineup, and well, you wonder just how good Ibanez would have been if he had better players around him in Seattle.

It’s really unfortunate that many people are jumping to conclusions about your ethics without even having read your post (looking at you Ken Rosenthal). Great job on OTL today, it’s unfortunate that journalists continue to feel threatened by bloggers and feel the need to tag team up against them. If Mr. Rosenthal took the time to read what you had written and not based his opinion solely on what was excerpted in the Inquirer maybe he would’ve realized you were not accusing Ibanez of anything and in fact making the case against him using PED’s.

@jc, Public figures, like Mr. Ibanez, are held to much higher standards as to what constitutes libel/defamation of character. The only way that this article is libel is if Jerod wrote the article intending to harm Ibanez’s character, and I think we can see from Jerod’s responses to the many comments here and his appearance on OTL that he never intended to harm Ibanez in any way. Raul can go ahead and sue him all he wants, but he’s not going to win.

@TheOtherJRod, “The only way that this article is libel is if Jerod wrote the article intending to harm Ibanez’s character”

wow, is reading comprehension really that foreign of a concept for you morons? Saying that Raul’s performance this season is an aberration, and attributable to ped’s is not going to harm his character?!

@Josh,

you go boy…!!!!

Hi Jerod,

I just saw the espn interview you did. I think those two guys are the ones out of touch with the times… Keep up the good work, and don’t let these media bozos bring you down. They’re just jealous they didn’t come up with the story.

Speculation is speculation and everyone is entitled to it, written or not. What the hell, are they gonna come after me if I write smack about Ibanez in my myspace or facebook? They seem not to realize we live in America and one of our greatest priviliges is the right to free speech. So disregard these people who obviously just want all the glory for themselves.

You were the most honest person in that interview on espn and you just gained yourself a new fan.

Take care,
Tino from Puerto Rico

why pick on Raul, he is probably as clean as can be. Pick on the players union, they wouldn’t let him test individually no matter what!

This is great! Very well written… and I can’t believe the media attention that this has brought.

He even replied himself, crazy!

Anyone want to debate this at Sports2Debate.com?!? :)

@Jordan, No, he’s definitely not. You’re just backing up someone who’s using a shitty named article to gain recognition at something that’s not true. You’re just backing up the no-talent ass clown like your life depends on it. You sure do sound like a MO-RON

@Jordan, Yet another good comeback. Keep them coming. Loved seeing Rosenthal put that idiot in his place

@Pete, Have you read Juiced? Or maybe I should give you something more respectable (oops even though Canseco was proven to be right multiple times – and by the way, I was one of his bashers at first). Like… Game of Shadows?

I’ve read both books. In Game of Shadows, Barry Bonds’ name is included along with steroids… in the same sentence. More than once. I can assure you.

Implications? Are you f*cking kidding me? You’re telling me Jerod writing this article is going to imply some global catastrophe revolving around a baseball player? Your implications are the biggest load of B.S. I’ve ever read (and just so MY implications don’t confuse you, B.S. here does NOT mean “Bachelor of Science”). Jerod is just writing a blog. He’s not the commissioner and he won’t suspend Ibanez. I’m betting you if Selig read this even he would laugh privately (while lambasting Jerod, of course, because he should side with the player and because he’s such a hypocrite). If all that was said about Barry had any implication, it was that he was the most hated player of our time. That was IT. And don’t give me no BS about him facing federal charges now, that was an investigation into BALCO which evolved into individual investigations into each of the star athletes. And the detective in charge of Bond’s investigation is full of himself and his sudden stardom because of his position in the investigation.

Open your eyes buddy. You talk like an old man. Pretty soon you’ll be irrelevant if you keep this up.

@Jordan, you’re one to talk

@unclemoe, I’m sure he has been. Some people hit their stride at different times. Plus CBP is a hitter’s park.

Look up Jimmy Morris idiots

@jc, So you call somebody a moron and THAT’S not defamation? No… that’s an insult. So let me insult you, you filty piece of foreskin. Stop posting moronic posts and just STFU or I will sue your ass for being retarded.

Jerod

Ibanez and others are entirely justified in criticizing your blogging on steroid rumors.

You keep protesting that you were only providing an argument to counter such rumors. But that’s not how your original piece comes across.

His performance raises eyebrows? Whose eyebrows? Are you speaking to those eyebrows? Are the eyebrows unreasonable?

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Just not their own facts.

I’ve heard that some people don’t think men actually landed on the moon, instead whispering that it was staged; and that some people still deny the Holocaust occurred, even the President of a country who thinks it was only a scheme peddled to justify the creation of a new country 60 some years ago.

Are these raised unibrows onto something about moon-landings and the Holocaust, despite not only their completely faulty “facts,” but also the overwhelming cascade of legitimate evidence to the contrary clearly debunking their rants? Why would you even want to give these nuts the time of day?

If you, or the eyebrows, have some facts about Ibanez and PEDs then please share them.

But you, or they, don’t. And he hasn’t failed a test — which, if he had, we would’ve heard about weeks ago when Manny was suspended, or at least by now.

So you’re really only perpetuating these unfounded rumors whispered by paranoid ranters.

The stats you provided in your original post suggest that he’s legit, but whatever argument you claim you’re trying to make is diluted by the eyebrow raising headline and your implication that nobody would really be astonished to learn that any player had used — and by that you mean Ibanez.

If you were genuinely trying to rebut the PED-usage rumors your headline would have read “Wackos Dead Wrong About Ibanez and PEDs and Here’s Why.”

It’s like Fox News, and you’re on the TV saying you’re very “concerned” about all of these rumors about the surprisingly strong performance of that new Philly. You didn’t say he did anything wrong, but the rumors have been dutifully passed along.

This is a serious matter for any ballplayer, especially today.

We live in a cynical and gullible age, laced with veins of graceless bile and slothful reason. You and others who communicate have a duty to tread carefully as we all slog through this epoch.

You are either being disingenuous in your follow-up responses regarding your original intent, or you were sadly and grievously sloppy.

No matter which, you should be ashamed. And you should apologize, again and without equivocation, to Mr. Ibanez.

Excellent job, Jarod. Thorough and impartial.

First of all, I saw the Outside the Lines video today. Rosenthal was such a prick. So arrogant.

I disagree with them that we all (non-media) have a responsibility with what we write. It’s our opinion and it’s called Freedom of Speech. Social media is not the same thing as ‘the media’.

@ED, That was intelligent commentary. And it’s also one of the things that’s happening here. An interesting read, thank you!

Rosenthal took your sad retarded ass behind the fucking woodshed and exposed you as just another dumb fuck with a computer.

Selig should hire this guy, Rosenthal.

http://sports.espn.go.com/stations/player?id=4223788

In other news, Ken Rosenthal is named as succesor to Fidel Castro in Cuba…

@Danielle, His name isn’t Jeff, his name is JRod. I doubt you even read his article, if you didn’t even read his name.

@Tino, lol you actually read Canseco’s book? Haha, you truly are a moron.

@Tino, excellent point, and thanks for bringing these two articles into the discussion… my favorite quote from that second article comes from a reader’s email to the ESPN author:
“I am a fan of your work, but was troubled by your latest piece. I find it irresponsible that you wrote such an in-depth piece on David Ortiz and failed to even mention the possibility of PEDs. While everyone is innocent until proven guilty, it is foolish for us to continue to turn a blind eye to how MLB was run over the past 15 years.”

So it’s irresponsible for a columnist to NOT INCLUDE speculation about a player’s use of PEDs there. Here, it’s irresponsible for a columnist to INCLUDE speculation about a player’s use of PEDs. Wow.

thanks chief

To phillyphaninchi,

Prior to this season, Carlos Ruiz has been little more than a mediocre catcher. An article by Paul Hagen, late last season, compared him to Chris Coste and Coste stats showed him to be marginally better.

Offensively his .217 BA last season speaks for itself. As for the world series, I watched. Two seeing eye dribblers accounted for .175 of that .375 BA. Also his biggest hit was a misplayed 40′ “swinging bunt”

I also watched the entire post season in which Ruiz committed two errors, was charged with two passed balls (should have been 3 or 4) and allowed five wild pitches, one of which was on a swinging 3rd strike that allowed the Dodgers to mount a 3-run comeback.

In the post season Carlos tore nothing up! His BA was a modest .267 with the two infield dribblers and a more Ruiz-like .222 if you discount them

Raul Ibanez is souding a lot like Roger Clemens. Why is he getting so Pissed off over some Blog? If he’s clean he has nothing to worry about right?

Character is the key…Raul Ibanez has more character than you will ever know….something this little dinky website lacks Greatly!

It is easy to throw accusations at somebody…I think they should throw a lawsuit…im sure they will

JRod,

I have noticed a few things, and I’m sure someone else MUST agree with me, including you:

One: You tried your absolute hardest to provide reasons beyond the numbers that Ibanez DIDN’T use steroids. You literally went through every measure, every stat in every way to provide evidence that this was bound to happen to some extent. You went as far as to say that you SAW a monster season from Ibanez coming anyways, via your fantasy interest in him.

Two: Because you created such a coherent, sophisticated analysis of Raul Ibanez’s performance, people got upset at your post. That is, if Ken Rosenthal and John Gonzalez saw a very poor blogger posting an entry like this,

“Z0MG RAUL IBANEZ HITS HRs d00d HE MUST USE PEDs!!!!!! WUT A CH33TER;”

It would be totally disregarded. But the fact is that according to what Rosenthal and Gonzalez were upset about-the mere fact that you brought up speculation-the two would actually be more upset at this blogger. But they don’t mind to bring up these types of bloggers. Why? Because they are neither articulate nor attractive writers.

Three: Why should they care? What Ken Rosenthal and John Gonzalez tried to do is strip your FREEDOM OF SPEECH. You should post MORE things like this. Who cares if Raul Ibanez gets upset? Take it as a compliment. All he can do is take all the tests put in place and disprove speculation. It’s impossible that you and your buddy were the only two people in America who speculated. We live in a country where you CAN STATE YOUR SPECULATION!!! Even if you wanted to, you could say that he probably did steroids!!!!!!!

Thank you for your wonderful post, and I appreciate the time you took to lay out all the possibilities regarding surge in numbers.

Pathetic!! The guy is off to a hot start with really good, but not other worldly numbers and you have to drop the “S” bomb? No proof, no aligations, no mention in a book, just you and your “statistic analysis”. If you really were intending to prove he wasn’t on, then you might want to look into your analysis skills, because he has had hot streaks like this before. You claim to be a baseball fan and want Ibanez to do well. Then why did you write the post and make unfounded accusations? Yea, you didn’t necessarily say he is on steroids, but you might as well have. Baseball is hurting enough without hacks like you spitting this venom.

@Rob M, “To even speculate crap like this is undermines all the hard work of someone who has always been deemed a professional hitter (at least since he was 30).”

Raul can thank those before him that paved this path of lies and lack of trust. Those are the ones that undermine all of his “hard work.”

JRod,

I want to post another comment in support of your article. Was it perfect? Probably not. But was it (a) on a subject that deserves to be discussed (and, yes, in print); (b) soberly written; and (c) well-researched? Yes. Certainly you could have made more of the differences in line-ups and the change in leagues, but to me that does not make the entire article a bad one. And your tone was very professional throughout, so I see nothing wrong there.

As for the first point, about whether the subject needs to be discussed or not, I strongly believe it does. I should say that I, myself, am a big Phillies fan, and everything I’ve read about Ibanez so far makes me think he’s a good and stand-up guy with a strong work ethic. However, his numbers this year do invite some questioning. I do think that they’re probably justified, but I can’t fault anyone for wondering. The argument that if you don’t have proof you shouldn’t speculate doesn’t hold water. If that were the case, then the only articles ever written would be equivalent to court reports. And the police would never arrest anyone unless they had a guilty verdict from the court already. But no: if there’s enough evidence to suggest wrong-doing, there should be a discussion. If there’s no discussion, then we’re doing ourselves a different disservice, as we did in the late ’90s and early ’00s when McGwire, Sosa and Bonds were obliterating the record books, but we simply stood by and ate it up. And the mainstream journalists were among the parties at fault then (more on the likes of Ken Rosenthal below).

Here’s the problem I see: the evidence of wrong-doing is mainly that of MLB in general, rather than Raul’s in particular. And it’s MLB that has thrown some of its better performers under the bus, not the folks who simply call a spade a spade. As far as I can see, the only spade you called out in your article is MLB. It is a FACT that many prominent (and some less prominent) major leaguers have used PEDs over the last couple of decades, so if anything it’s this fact, not your blog post, to which players like Ibanez should take exception, because it is this fact that creates this discussion and taints their own seasons or careers.

Regarding your article, perhaps if you had stated more clearly that your thesis is that the steroid culture has created a cloud over players’ performances, and then used Ibanez as a case study, this may have helped appease some folks who now think you’re merely going after Ibanez unfairly (which, in truth, you are not doing– you are neither going after him, nor are you treating him unfairly). But either way, what bothers me the most is the mainstream media’s reaction to your post– at least as far as the Inquirer’s John Gonzalez and ESPN’s Ken Rosenthal are concerned– as it is a little hypocritical and self-righteous. There have been some not-so-well written and poorly researched articles that lead to idiotic conclusions on ESPN, too, but Ken Rosenthal still assumed the holier-than-thou attitude of “you’re not a pro like us, and shame on you for not knowing the proper journalistic etiquette”. And the fact that he actually laughed at you and shook his head during the espn.com interview is certainly no example of professionalism on his part, even as he was lambasting you for “not” being professional yourself.

So, I think you were right to write about a thorny issue; I think, and hope, Ibanez is clean; if, indeed, he is clean, I feel sorry for the guy because his numbers this year do invite speculation and disbelief, which is unfair to him– and he is not alone in this, but merely the most recent example of (probably) good guys who have to defend themselves against things they’re (probably) not guilty of; but I do not think this speculation and disbelief was your doing, nor do I think that the better response is to hide our heads in the sand.

Best,

Demetri

@Matt, Touche’ Matt… well played

@Frank, How would you like him to respond to all your intellectual arguments? Um, I’m calling the police, or maybe you’re a crazy psycho and need help.

@Scott @ WFNY, you know rapist from the midwest? You should tell the police and then get some new friends.

Re: “Jon Heyman Is A Hypocrite When It Comes To PED Speculation | Rays Index said”:

Great point. Ken Rosenthal and John Gonzalez’ stance on an espn.com interview with JRod (the author of the “offending” blog) that the blogger does not understand the power of the written word and is being irresponsible to speculate in writing about Ibanez is clearly debunked by the countless instances during which mainstream journalists have speculated about Sosa, McGwire, Boone and others, as you say.

I saw the interview on outside the lines… just wanted to drop by and get the full story. Your respect for the subject, and the time you put into forming your opinion are commendable.

In my opinion, somebody in the “real media” couldn’t come up with a good story on his own… so he generated a little rage by pointing to you and crying foul. Your general point about the unfortunate suspicion that hangs over the game of baseball is totally correct, and you should be applauded for how you framed it.

Context is everything, and the two guys who attempted to tag team you on national television just didn’t get it.

Keep up the good work.

@Zach,

Zach, thanks for the level-headed response to my post. Wrong, but at least it was polite.

Wild, unfounded rumors don’t prove anything, and they certainly don’t permit someone trying to be perceived as a credible baseball analyst — since I assume Jerod has long ago climbed out of his Mother’s basement — to perpetuate them as anything other than unsubstantiated nonsense.

It is flat out wrong to tarnish an otherwise unblemished reputation with fools’ speculations. Okay for barstool blather, I suppose, but that’s it.

You said: “Though he doesn’t think that Ibanez is using, he decided to look into it so he could debunk it, but once he began researching the topic he realized that it isn’t completely unwarranted to at least be suspicious considering how well Ibanez has been hitting this year compared to previous years.”

But, Zach, that’s exactly what Jerod, in his follow-up comments, said he didn’t do. He whined he was misunderstood, claiming he never actually expressed suspicions about Ibanez. But Jerod did.

You also said: “If Ibanez really is clean, then he go out and prove his doubters wrong. That’s the quickest way to end any speculation – prove everyone wrong.”

C’mon. Guilty until proven innocent? That’s the standard you want to start applying. For everyone? Really?

So let’s test Ibanez’ former teammate, Ichiro, since he just had a 27 game hitting streak. Aren’t you and others raising eyebrows?

I would suggest that the same Spring Training testing that nailed Manny would have snagged Ibanez by now, wouldn’t you think? So why does he have to prove anything to you.

Adrian Gonzalez has more home runs, should we get him to start studying for a test?

It is, in fact, because there have been players busted lately — or as good as busted like Bonds and McGwire — that we all bear a clear responsibility to be careful and, more importantly, have the goods to back up our claims.

Since we’re, many of us, cynical about performances these days such wild speculation and brow-raising does more actual damage to the innocent player.

Really, even Jose Canseco would blush if he was trying to peddle this rubbish about Ibanez.

@ED, Exactly my point. You can’t have it both ways. And people seem to miss that. Ken Rosenthal is stuck with late 90′s thinking, he admits he was wrong in not noticing the growing problem but yet he doesn’t want anyone to write about it. He has lost my respect and I’m sure the respect of alot of other people with his attitude, because it was precisely that attitude that got us to this point.

I can solve this debate real fast – Pat Burrell, the guy who Ibanez is replacing. Burrell’s production has dropped significantly after leaving the Phils. This season, Burrell has 1 HR. Last season, prior to May 11 (Burrell’s last game), he had 11 HRs with the Phils.

It’s not the juice.

@Go F yourself, very intelligent response. Please come back and visit real soon. Love having you!!!!!

Your speculative insinuations in the ‘article’ are calculated to sensationalize, much like the gossip trash a tabloid rag spews out. It’s neither fact nor test based – so it must be taken in the same shady and scurrilous motivated light that the ‘article’ was written – and dumped in the bin labelled, ‘brainless musings’. For that is the true measure of its worth. I don’t have to defend Raul – his stellar and untainted career and character does that far more eloquently than words can ever hope to. What you have done is akin to tossing a lighted match and then proclaim innocence (in your TV interview) in ever starting the fire that attempted to sully a man who has never had so much as a whiff of steroid-related scandal about him.

So, I did some quick checking and I think to be fair you should pose the same article about some of the past players with similar anomalies. Like: Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Pete Rose, Rogers Hornsby, Stan Musial, and Hank Aaron, to name a few. All of whom had one or two year spikes of over .045 in their batting averages compared to their career averages, some as high as .070. This is statistics man, you can make anything look what ever way you want as long as you back it up with numbers. If you really want to know the scientific reason for Raul’s explosion, you would have to compare a pitch by pitch breakdown of Raul’s past to his present, ie: type of pitch, speed of pitch, ambient temperature, bat speed (this one is key), pitcher’s throwing hand, weather, and so on. The variables are long, but to say it is fair to pose the question pf PED use without scientifically comparing all the variables is simply a lazy man’s way of making the numbers he looked at, say what he is saying. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in your boat on wanting to believe Raul isn’t on PED’s. But, don’t say you did your research either. Sorry for the run-on, one last thing. I take it, from your slant, that MLB is not doing their job in testing? Because if they were, we should be able to believe that all non-suspended or active players are clean and not pose an, “Is he, or isn’t he?”
PS. I like your passion, but don’t ruin our heroes before they ruin themselves.

@Jordan,
JRod is more than a fan, he is a fan with a media outlet. Do you know what would happen if word got out that even in this “economic downturn” people making next-to-nothing compared to professional athletes are the one’s who keep it all alive. They essentially are hiring millionaires to entertain them.

@Jordan, I agree 100% with Mike…this was a true 15-minutes-of-glory stunt. I hope he enjoys it now, before the lawsuit comes his way!

Great web site, hittrackeronline.com
I took a quick visit here and what i saw, is that Ibañez is averaging 410 foot every HR he has hit this season. I wonder what the average distance of his dingers was before he arrived at Phily.
I know this cannot be taken as THE factor, but it should be an important one to take into consideration.
And by the way, only 1 of his 8 homers in Citizens Bank Park has gone a distance BELOW 380 ft, so i don’t think the park’s dimensiones should be any factor in his numbers’ increase.

A bunch of us just sent Ibanez some money so that he can sue your ass. I don’t care if he doesn’t need it, I just to happy to send it. Let’s see how many of your sorry ass pathetic supporters send you money to defend yourself. Bloggers are people that cannot get jobs in the mainstream media.

@Frank Pacheco, I think that YOU are clueless in Philly. Did you read the article frank???????

@Don Knight, did you read the article Don?? I think the Philly Inquirer lit the match. Get a life would you please and MOVE ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How anyone could write an article exploring the cause(s) of Raul Ibanez’ increased offensive production this season without mentioning the fact that he moved from the AL to the NL in the offseason is amazing. The amount of precedence, in recent years, for players (pitchers and hitters) enjoying increased production going from the AL to NL and players struggling when going from the NL to AL is vast. Are you an NL fan who, immaturely, refuses to acknowledge this fact or are you just completely clueless?

just wondering if rosenthal and gonzo apologized to you after they actualy read your article and not just the title. cuz it seamed like they didnt read it when they were on OTL with you.

@Tino, Funny that it took a courageous blogger in his mom’s basement to expose Rosenthal and the rest of the sports media as the hypocritical asses that they are. They deserve their share of blame for having consciously turned a blind eye to rampant PED abuse in MLB. Stay strong Jerod. And for the record I am from Philly, am a huge Phillies fan and a fan of Raul (assuming he is clean). So there is a little brotherly love out there for you . . .

@Libel, you are grossly mischaracterizing what @JRod wrote, and repeating your hyperbolic allegations doesn’t increase their credibility. Simmer down and try reading for comprehension instead of skimming.

@Frank, take your meds. Please.

@Mike, so Ibanez shouldn’t be mad at JRod? So I could do the following:

Example 1: I was on a flight where I thought there was too much turbulence, and I didn’t think the pilot was in his correct frame of mind. I blog that the pilot was drunk. This gets back to the pilot and he gets mad, but hey, don’t get mad at me, blame all the pilots before you that were caught piloting drunk or tried to. And even though you’re just speculating about it, the pilot will probably get investigated by the FAA.

Example 2: I’m at church on Sunday and I think the priest is getting way too chummy with the kids. I blog that the priest has a curious eye for children. This gets back to the priest and he gets mad, but hey, don’t get mad at me, blame all the priests before you that were inappropriate with kids. And even though you’re just speculating about it, the pilot will probably get investigated by the Feds.

Now do you get why it’s dangerous to blog about stuff like this without proof? Just because Raul is a baseball player, making millions, doensn’t mean he shouldn’t get the same respect as other people.

@Al, Come on Al, I think EVERYONE KNOWS about his move. For some reason you needed to see it in the article?????? Be nice Al………..

@Sean McVeigh,

Rudent is not a proper word. Even if you meant to type rudest -it should be most rude. You perceive us as rude. Hmmmm…..so…..you expect the red carpet to be rolled out when arrive in our city ? Maybe we aren’t rude .Maybe we just don’t like pompous asses like yourself who choose to make such comments on a blog about us being rude.

@Jordan,
Rosenthal’s gonna fuck you up. Don’t mess with the Rose cause you’ll get the thorns. Watch your ankles buddy.

I did read your post, all of it (so Texrat you can keep your sympathetic comments in Texas).

Your analysis did not factor or do justice to:
True difference in parks (yes you did a drive by) but Kaufmann and Safeco ranked 11th and 14th in the AL last year in HR per Game. CBP ranked 3rd in the NL, so besides dimensions, wind,weather (Seattle is miserable) all impact ball flight.

Drive by of the lineup analysis. Ibanez has played on some of the worst teams in baseball. Hitting .294 and 103 RBIs in his first real season as a starter in KC is miraculous. Driving in runs in the best offense in the NL, not a mystery. Can you name anyone from those KC teams? Who could play? Much less hitting behind Ryan Howard. Adrian Beltre doesn’t really provide the same fear in pitchers.

Body shape – Ibanez is not a monster like Manny or Bonds. He looks the same as he did last year when he drove in 123. Bonds blew up from the time he was a 5 tool player for the Pirates to his mashing days in SFO.

So the problem with your blog, is you reached a conclusion without really doing any math. Trying to cover yourself by saying fans will wonder is weak. Wonder about it all you want, you cross the line when you publish. I wish you all the worst.
Scott

@Altagracia, I actually did not know that. I’m actually part Cuban on my fathers side (no BS) so if anything I’d defend him. I don’t think he’s on the juice but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was caught. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ivan Rodriguez was caught either.

I like Cuban baseball and it was a dissapointment they didn’t come here this last WBC. First time around they played exceptionally. Gourriel is a good player and Frederich Cepeda is a beast.

@Mickey415, Learn proper English Mickey. It is You’re an idiot, NOT your an idiot.
And who is the idiot other than you that you are talking about????

You are such a pathetic coward for several reasons.

For one you didn’t even post your real name. Instead you post “JROD” as if you were a real athlete who had a nickname.

You probably just wrote this story so more people would read your blog that no one usually reads.

After your blog got all the publicity, you decide to apologize because you realize the whole world now thinks your an idiot and if you ever see Raul in person he will probably kick your ass. You are probably like 5 foot 4 inches weighing less than 120 pounds. You’re probably the nerdy kid in high school who didn’t even play sports or have any friends. I’m guessing you actually do live in your mom’s basement.

If you want to say something about Raul, you should say it to his face. Oh wait, that would require you to leave Mommy’s basement.

Get a life and a real job loser.

@K, fuck you pussy we’re angry cuz of loser nerds like jfraud making accusations WHEN THE PLAYERS ARE TESTED. oh yea did you see the biceps on raul? theyre huge……… well not really but they still put that changeup outta Citi Field hahahaha fuck the mets and fuck you K

@Scott, sorry to rain on your little parade, but you’re not the only one with the privilege of commenting, Scotty.

I think many of you are overreacting to this blogger’s OPINION and unless and until I’m blocked from voicing my own opinion I’ll cheerfully charge you as such.

@jon, idiot jon. did you read the article???????? No one accused anyone of anything. Read the article before you respond and look like a moron.

@TheGuru, The pilot scenario stinks, The Priest example is right on, and you better tell someone that that Priest is getting too chummy. Hey man, this is the world we live in. Can’t trust Priests or ball players!!!!!!!!!

@To “JROD”, what is your name??? I think that JROD stated his name, and even went on live TV. He does not appear to be hiding to me. You on the other hand are the one that seems to be hiding.
what a hypocrite!!!!!!!!!!

@Jordan, Because Student X is not part of a group of students that got caught cheating on exams. If he was part of that ‘cheating’ group and then gets a near perfect score on his next exam, you don’t think Student X looks suspicious???????
Some Baseball players have proven to be on PEDS. Many have lied about it. It is normal to now suspect when a player suddently is doing better than he has ever done, that maybe………….maybe he is getting help somewhere.

@TheGuru,

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=dw-howard090306&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

what was your reaction to this article??? did this destroy Howard’s reputation?????? Were you as angry about this one?????
Give JROD a break would you please?????

@TheGuru,

http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/2009/06/raul-ibanez-great-start-comes-with-steroid-speculation/

did you go after this guy too???

@Pete Dumas, and your poin is what? You have the same outlet if you choose. All Bloggers have a voice……..just like you now have a voice.

As a big big Phillies fan, Rauuuuuul is the man. I agree that because of the past mistakes by players, the fans are sensitive to big numbers. But we cannot assume anything. We cannot say he is using stuff because he is putting up MVP numbers (on pace for 59-HR and 159-RBI). I know JRod wasn’t accusing Raul of using illegal substances but many have taken it that you are accusing him. Very good research by the way.

@Texrat: Additionally, Philadelphia sports fans are largely the most belligerent, nasty, moronic fans out there. Expecting them to read an article instead of simply reacting to it is an exercise in futility.

@Danielle, Do you know anything about baseball?? Because your comments don’t reflect it. NO ONE said Raul wasn’t a descent person. Goodness me. READ THE ARTICLE so you can post an intelligent comment.
Not sounding good now

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/news/story?id=4262888

Here are some numbers to justify Raul’s insurgence, as well.

@Frank, Chase Utley a mediocre second baseman until manuel took over… come on now that is a bit over the top. he would probably be good either way. Everyone is getting so pissed about this subject, so lets see ibanez take a test and the results be shown to the world. if he tests positive, j rod will need some serious apologies, and if he tests negative, then everyone has a right to yell whatever they want. Bottomline, no one knows, so lets bring the matter to an end with some open testing

Raul is having a career year. He is by far the best free agent signing by the Phillies in years. Keep uo the good work Raul! Go Phillies!!!!!

@Josh, Sorry Josh, but YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT either. Try reading the article, if you can read and comprehend at the same time.

@Dan, Just know more than you do. And you are absolutely wrong!!!!!!!!!!!

HGH is not currently tested for in MLB due to the CBA. Odds are, that is his PED.

@Jordan, WHATEVER…I DID read and comprehend the article, @$$HOLE! F— You!

look jrod you wrote a great article here, sure. But the thing is you have no right to say the kinds of crap that you did here. I know im really late on all this, but just because Raul Ibanez is having the best season of his career doesn’t mean that you can just put it out there that he is on steroids. I have been a Phillies fan all my life and I never heard of Raul Ibanez before this season, but the way he has been playing all year just convinces me that he is a solid player who may be aroud for another year or 2 only because he is 37. I know that you didn’t mean to create such speculation over this matter, but the thig is you probably knew that it was going to happen.

The other thing that really pisses me off about what you wrote is that you didn’t have any professional evidence to back it up. All of this was your own opinion that began with a fantasy team. All of the people who you listed on your fantasy team are like Raul Ibanez, but you didn’t pick any of them out in your blog.

Anyway it was an intiresting read and im glad i could share my opinion. Oh, and one last thing… After how strongly Raul Ibanez defended himself after you brought this topic up do you think that he is really on steroids? I mean, he is pretty much asking for a vouluntary test.

well anyway im glad i could share

You are obviously well aware that Geoff Baker was rather critical of your post on Raul Ibanez (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblo… Unfortunately, Baker doesn't practice what he preaches: "But in this case, Johjima's departure amounts to an early Christmas gift handed the Mariners. Johjima saw the writing on the wall and did what he felt was the honorable thing. Not that he left $16 million on the table. He'll be paid nicely by whatever Japanese team he plays for and let's not rule out the possibility of some under-the-table golden handshake by M's owner Hiroshi Yamauchi. I have no proof of one, but then again, is anyone going to provide a straight answer if we ask?"

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblo…

Nice attempt at trying to show hypocrisy on Baker’s part.

But this faulty comparison is a little too easy to point out.

Good results (Ibanez’s performance) inviting (Jerod’s) speculation leads to negative consequences (black-listed) VS Sad result (Johjima’s unexpected retirement) inviting negative speculation (not his free will, secret golden parachute) has little or no consequences (Baker’s comments won’t affect a no-longer-existing MLB career nor Johjima’s popularity back in Japan)

Speculation is not the point. The point is speculating carries responsibility: The greater the potential damage, the more the writer needs to thread carefully and be thorough.

So, in short, good people, we need to have foresight for the consequences of our words and actions.

Has your opinion changed a year and a half later?