Fernando Vina just fessed up

Funny, I had never even heard of HGH in 2003. Looks like they were keeping well ahead of the times

Looks like the "I was injured" card is the one that will be played from now on. Love to hear what the team doctors think of all this. Pretty amazing really. Non-medically trained baseball players know what drugs are better for them than trained doctors.

Wonder if ESPN will fire Vina. My guess is they won't admit to that but he will become unemployed nonetheless.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/v/vinafe01.shtml


This guys roller coaster ride looks like he was not physically capable of a full season "naturally"

Oldslugger, you shouldn't make assumptions and negative allegations about people based on so little information. I know Fernando and he is a class act. He's great with kids in the community and very approachable to parents with questions about baseball. Fernando says he was recovering from an injury and the pressure to come back made him do something that in my judgement(personal knowledge) is out of character for him. He said he's embarrassed...what more do you need, give the guy a break. Many people make mistakes and deserve a second chance.

It's the Holiday season so for a second let's give some of the accused the benefit of doubt and say that they are truthful that the reason for using HGH was to get healthy. I pose the devils advocate question that maybe some of the blame should be placed on the team ownership for wanting and expecting a return on their investment, and even go as far as passing some blame to the baseball fan for "bad-mouthing" players they feel are "sandbagging" an injury.

Those that "use" to gain an unfair advantage I have no time for, however, I'm beginning to wonder if the "pressure" to perform at a level these athletes are used to may be a big part of their undoing. After all, isn't the applause of the crowd, the feeling of competing with the best that pushed these athletes to where they got to. Does that condone their action...No, but it does show they are human.

quote:

Originally posted by DG:
Oldslugger, you shouldn't make assumptions and negative allegations about people based on so little information. I know Fernando and he is a class act. He's great with kids in the community and very approachable to parents with questions about baseball. Fernando says he was recovering from an injury and the pressure to come back made him do something that in my judgement(personal knowledge) is out of character for him. He said he's embarrassed...what more do you need, give the guy a break. Many people make mistakes and deserve a second chance.

I sat in a boat with one of Raffy Palmiero's college teammates that was also very successful at the MLB level. Before Raffy went to congress, he swore there was no way Raffy would ever be involved in any kind of drugs, let alone steroids. Afterwards, my friend was in total shock and disbelief.

The point is, that just because he's a stand up guy outside of cheating, doesn't mean he's either a great guy or a monster. None of us are all good or all bad.

Your rush to defense of Vina is the exact same reaction that you decry as wrong, just from the other side of the argument. Besides, everyone caught at anything is embarassed.

If a man tells you he is a liar, is he telling you the truth?

I think the idea that using HGH was wrong is a pretty recent thing. I'm not as hard over on the guys who used HGH, especially if they really did use it to try to heal specific injuries rather than to try to enhance performance.

In Vina's case there's still some question as to possible steroid use. We can't assume that Radomski was right on players we don't care about and assume he was wrong on the ones we are fans of.

Why can't everyone get on T.V. like Vina did and admit it. He spoke about the circumstances he was under and he wanted to get back on the field. He is embarassed and to me the trainers and the locker room guys seem to be more of a problem now. Doing favors like washing the car, food runs, and HGH suppliers.

quote:

He is embarassed and to me the trainers and the locker room guys seem to be more of a problem now. Doing favors like washing the car, food runs, and HGH suppliers.

baseballbum - I hear what you are saying but consider how foolish these players are making themselves sound. "I had a career threatning medical issue so I took the advice of the locker room go-for over the team doctor." Makes lots of sense

BTW - I saw an interview with a doctor on HBO. He said that growth hormone although it may potentially help regenerate damaged tissue, it may likely exacerbate the growth of unhealthy things like cancer or tumors. There is a valid reason it is not being prescribed by the medical community to treat injuries i.e., it may cause death. Until determined otherwise, athletes should refrain from prescribing their own medical treatments.

A reputable doc won't give it to a ballplayer, just because he wants it. According to the Mayo Clinic HGH:

Human growth hormone is also approved for:

Children with short stature
Children with kidney failure
Children with Prader-Willi syndrome
Children with Turner's syndrome
Muscle wasting associated with AIDS and HIV
Studies of adults with growth hormone deficiencies show that injections of human growth hormone can:

Increase bone density
Increase muscle mass
Decrease body fat
Bolster the heart's ability to contract
Improve mood and motivation
Increase exercise capacity

Taking human growth hormone can cause a number of side effects, including:

Swelling in your arms and legs
Arthritis-like symptoms
Carpal tunnel symptoms
Headaches
Bloating
Muscle pain
Diabetes
Abnormal growth of bones and internal organs
Hardening of the arteries
High blood pressure

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/growth-hormone/HA00030

quote:

baseballbum - I hear what you are saying but consider how foolish these players are making themselves sound. "I had a career threatning medical issue so I took the advice of the locker room go-for over the team doctor." Makes lots of sense Roll Eyes

Excellent point CD. I wonder if these guys didn't go through the team docs because they figured that HGH use would be discouraged/denied, or perhaps if prescribed, their use would be reported by the team doc to the organization and eventually MLB??

I remember years ago when my grandmother, the person that I trusted most in my life was taking care of me after I had an infected gum from a baby tooth that refused to come out. I was in terrible pain, nothing the doctor gave me helped and the dentist appt was a couple days away. Grandma stepped in and before I knew it I was pain free and the only thing missing besides my tooth was a little of grandpas hooch.

My point here is that sometimes people do things they know may not be right but feel that it's the best way to remedy a situation. Grandma knew this was not right but also did not want to see me suffer and wanted me back on my feet playing the way I always did and relied on other means to get there.

There is no relationship between HGH and Grandpas hooch but there is a feeling of helplessness that people get when things don't progress the way they think they should and "alternative" directions are taken. I think almost everyone on this board can look back on their lives and see a situation where they, a loved one, or a friend went "outside the box" to fix something and only later kicked themselves in the asss because of the direction they took may not have been the correct one. Again, I don't condone the use, but can maybe understand how things may have developed and how hard it is to admit to a mistake they made.

Besides, without stereotyping, athletes for the most part are not known for their intelligence and many have lived their lives in an aggressive mode

as rz1 puts on the body armor awaiting the incoming

LOCKING ON RZ1 COORDINATES ! 3...2....1

That looks like it might leave a bruise.