2007 ALCS Blogpost: Paul Byrd Took HGH Edition

The newspaper's report said that Byrd's purchase was from the Florida anti-aging clinic that was the focus of law enforcement for illegally distributing performance-enhancing drugs, according to business records.

The Chronicle reported that the purchases were made via credit card from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center between August 2002 and January 2005. In that time frame, Byrd pitched for the Kansas City Royals, the Atlanta Braves and the Angels.

Based on the paper's review, Byrd had some shipments sent to his home in Alpharetta, Ga.; $1,050 worth of syringes and HGH to the Braves' spring training facility in Kissimmee, Fla.; and a $2,000 order to the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York when the Braves were in town to play the Mets.

Citing an anonymous law enforcement source, the Chronicle said two of the prescriptions Byrd used to buy the growth hormone were written by a Florida dentist. The dentist's license was suspended in 2003 for fraud and incompetence. Byrd was slowed by an elbow injury in 2003, and records show he made six purchases of HGH.

Two of Byrd's prescriptions for growth hormones were not written by a physician, according to a law enforcement source. Instead, the prescriptions were written by a Florida dentist, said the source, who asked not to be quoted by name because he was not authorized to comment. The dentist's license was suspended in 2003 for fraud and incompetence, state records show.

As for your concern about how you react if key Astros are found to be steroid-connected...well, that is something which bothers me too. However, suppose it turns out that 50% or more of baseball players were using PEDs (like Caminiti and Canseco claimed)?  How do we react then?  I'm not saying that will happen, but the more stuff that comes out, the more I wonder if what Caminiti said was true.

Don't want to make too much of this, but did anyone else see it that way.

Westbrook, on the other hand, has gathered strength, though, gotta say, Ortiz is all out of whack, been for the last few games, really.

Byrd said a "doctor" prescribed the HGH - we already know he never met these doctors - this ain't ED or baldness  condition he's using as an excuse. Where's his regular doctor in all this.  I bet if he had hypertension or diabetes his family doctor would be involved. I do accept Byrd's statement he did not know one of the doctors was a dentist. Heck - he had no way of knowing any of the people in Florida were licensed doctors or not, much less their specialty. As I tell my class sometimes, "I'm not a doctor, but sometimes I say I am in singles bars."

Three- Was Byrd conveniently "Cured" just as baseball banned HGH? Does this pituary problem solve itself?  I doubt it.

Four _ To challenge (weakly) rastronomical, surely baseball has an exemption for medically necessary drugs.  - surely  (and I didn't call you Shirley!)

Fifth  - Two phrases - "Marietta, Georgia" and "Florida Anti-Aging Clinic" - Sounds like Byrd got in the pipeline.

Now - it may be he did so quite innocently and has been a dupe in all this.

For me though, until his family doctor comes forward and says he knew about the treatment and encouraged Byrd to keep it up (or MLB says it was aware of Byrd's actions and condition (heck- I'll accept any of the teams he played for to vouch for him)), I remain skeptical.

SO much for the thoroughness of the Mitchell Report to be released later this year.

(The article in large part pointed out George Mitchell may have leaked the information on Paul Byrd because George Mitchell is on the Board of Directors of the Boston Red Sox. Watch to see if Mitchell implicates many Red Sox stars says the article)