Marley23:
Hmm…my understanding is that as much of a rat as Canseco has been to his (former) buddies, his dirt has pretty much been on the money. I guess I have to view I-Rod with significant suspicion. Ah, well, at least my post also named Piazza.
Steroids are a problem in cycling and all of them (okay, most) are smaller than Ichiro. I’m not saying he’s on anything, but judging by size (and appearance in general) is pretty much pointless.
I don’t think anyone will be left untainted. I’m not even comfortable enough to go out on a limb to name a person who I don’t think is on steroids. Frank Thomas comes to mind because he has spoken out against PEDs in an in an almost accepting fashion and seems to have a normal career arc. If it comes to pass that he was someone who tested positive in 2003 (or whenever it was), I wouldn’t be shocked.
Even though Maddux wasn’t a power pitcher and was reasonably healthy (as I understand things, certain injuries can be indicators - joints and such) with no late career surge, I’m still not willing to put myself out there on his behalf.
You read my mind, I came in to pick all three, although we disagree on Jeter’s smugness.
I <3 Junior
It has been as far as I know, but I’m reluctant to trust him due to his many years of consistent douchebaggery.
It is not just steroids. There is HGH and I am sure there are other chemicals we do not even know about. There are labs all over the world working on newer and better performance enhancing drugs.
Balco was hard at work developing better drugs and ways to mask the ones we knew about when they got busted. They had developed a drug system with several drugs and training methodology involved. I am sure they are not the only lab doing that. We can never be sure a player is clean again.
I don’t want to be completely cynical, but I think we’ve learned that we can’t be sure ANYBODY’s clean.
Look, I have absolutely no reason to be suspicious of Greg Maddux. He’s never done anything to raise eyebrows. I’m quite prepared to believe he’s clean as a whistle.
But I don’t know that. Nobody does.
It’s not all about six packs and bulging biceps, after all. Remember, when testing was first implemented, a lot of the players busted were pitchers, and not even particularly good pitchers. A mediocre middle innings reliever might use steroids just to help his arm recover, so he wouldn’t ever have to tell the manager, “Sorry Skip, I’m too tired to pitch today.”
No, Greg Maddux never magically started throwing heat… but how do I know he didn’t start taking steroids late in his career, to PROLONG his career?
Nobody can just look at a player and say, “He doesn’t have a Mr. Universe physique, he MUST be clean.”
I’d say Tony Gwynn is likely to be clean.
Earlier today I was looking for something unrelated, and came across this revealing poll from 2003.
2003 Sports Illustrated Players Survey
More interesting bits related to this topic:
I think those answers would be greatly changed today (and worry about some of the answers even then - Babe Ruth got votes for greatest LIVING player?)
and finally
When the steroids issue hit big, the first thing I thought of was that Jimmy Morris (the Devil Rays 39 year old rookie pitcher who’s story was the basis for the movie The Rookie) had to have been a candidate for being a juicer.
How sad is it that steroids have robbed us of the ability to believe a good story? I would not be shocked to find ANY player in the Majors in the late 80s-2004 associated with PEDs.
Right, we used to limit our suspicions (well, certainties usually, let’s be honest) to the big muscle guys. Then we came to understand the part about quicker recoveries, and that every player could benefit from it regardless of body type or position played.
I agree we have to assume everyone did it, or everyone but a few fools perhaps. We can’t be sure of anyone’s claim to have been clean, and that’s a shame because it’s unprovable.
Now, if only we could get as interested in athletes’ use of amphetamines … or maybe we should be less interested in steroids?
I don’t know; sportswriters seem to fall for it over and over again. Everybody’s more cynical except the people who are paid to be. 
35 years old, but Dennis Quaid certainly looked older in the movie.
This will become clear when some of the so-called “clean” players become eligible for the Hall. I suspect 5-20% of all voters will refuse to vote for anyone from this era
just because of guilt-by-association. It won’t take too many such voters to keep all but the “no-brainer” choices out of the Hall.