The definition of an idiot.
No argument with that. The only question is, why? What made him think he could get away with it?
MLBTV brought up a good point. They speculated that the language barrier may have been an issue. Its certainly possible that he could have misheard, or not fully understood exactly how big the consequences were. I’m not suggesting whether that’s what happened, but it’s possible.
Aren’t most/all professional athletes doping to some degree? I’m not a sports guy and don’t know the rules for how/when they get tested, and how they would normally circumvent detection if they are. But of course I remember the scandals surrounding Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong, and remember getting the feeling that they were singled out a bit due to their exceptional achievements.
I did know a guy who played football in high school and got offered a college football scholarship. He would tell a vivid story about how they introduced him around to the team, coaches, etc. and then told him about “the guy” he would have to contact to get “his stuff” with very strong insinuations that if he was going to play it would be expected of him to take steroids. He ended up turning down the whole thing because he wasn’t comfortable with that.
On what basis would one assume that? Even when MLB first ran steroid tests without consequence, that were supposed to be anonymous, just to see the extent of the problem, I think the hit rate was like ten percent.
Barry Bonds was never “singled out” and he never failed a drug test; his reputation is based on his… er, unusual changes of physique.
I’m not sure how it works in other sports but the risk to reward balance in major league baseball is significantly tilted towards risk now.
RickJay:
And a thorough journalistic investigation into BALCO. Not evidence that would be admissable in court or in MLB disciplinary hearings, but way more than merely looking at the guy’s physique.
Well, that was part of what was unusual about it. It was, shall we say, externally assisted.
What kills me about this almost as much as the sheer idiocy of it are the people coming out of the woodwork to pretend it’s not idiocy. If your entire multi-million-dollar career is guaranteed (in writing!) to go down the toilet the next time you’re caught doing drugs, then maybe, you know, don’t do drugs. My favorite has to be the “doesn’t speak English” defense, as if don’t do drugs or you’ll get kicked out of baseball doesn’t translate into Spanish or nobody ever bothered to tell him.
Josh Gordon would thank Mejia for taking up the mantle of Most Stupidest Man In Sportsdom, but he’s too stoned to remember how to turn on his phone.
Baseball’s rules and conditions of employment are extremely well translated in Spanish. That’s a ludicrous excuse.
Well in his defense it is pretty hard to find someone in baseball who speaks Spanish.
OTOH, if his only success was due to these drugs, then his entire multi-million-dollar is guaranteed to go down the toilet if he doesn’t do drugs. And if he does, then at least he has some chance of not getting caught. If he gets lit up on the mound, there’s nowhere to hide.
So the question boils down to how effective these drugs really are. I don’t know. But a lot of people seem to think they make a huge difference. Absent more facts, I don’t know if you can call that “idiocy”.
Yep. Or, Mejia believes that his entire success is due to those drugs and without it he’s barely adequate… it may not be the case, but if he firmly believes that to be true, then I can somewhat understand (though not approve, of course) what may have been going through his mind.
My guess is he took a calculated risk. I don’t know anything about Mejia, but he may have been a guy on the cusp of not making the Mets’ roster and wanted to quickly get over a minor injury or soreness or just get that extra boost.
I personally know a former MLB player who did exactly that in effort to just stay on the roster. He got popped, got the 50 game suspension and that essentially ended his career. He said he knew the risk but felt the odds of not getting busted were greater than staying in MLB without taking the drugs.
Mejia was the Mets’ in 2014. Granted, he missed most of last season with an elbow injury, but I don’t think he was “on the cusp.” Not this early, anyway. I would imagine that NY would have waited to see what he looked like in spring training before seriously considering keeping him off of the roster. Especially at only $3mil.