Fresh Loaf

In the current issue of Sports Illustrated, there’s a very unsettling look into the investigation of an online steroid-distribution network that has implicated several pro athletes, including Evander Holyfield and John Rocker.

In Holyfield’s case, a patient named “Evan Fields” received steroids from a clinic in Columbus. On the patient file was a sticky note with a phone number. When the magazine called the number, Holyfield answered the phone.

Holyfield, one of the all-time great heavyweights, has emphatically denied using HGH (the undetectable human growth hormone that has become the steroid du jour of professional athletes), and says he has launched his own investigation. He says he suspects he knows who ordered it and will make a public statement as soon as he’s sure.

But SI reports there may be a cause-and-effect relationship between Holyfield’s well-known heart problems in the early ’90s and steroids:

“Dr. Margaret Goodman, chairman of the medical advisory board of Nevada Athletic Commission, says that as early as 1994, when Holyfield fought Michael Moorer and suffered heart problems, the medical arm of the Commission questioned Holyfield about possible HGH use. ‘There were questions [because] the abnormalities Evander had with his heart were findings that could have been consistent with growth hormone use. The problem was there was no test and Evander denied any use of growth hormone.’”

Rocker was typically Rocker.

First, his publicist announced that the former Braves relief ace had taken prescribed steroids in an attempt to overcome shoulder problems. Then Rocker himself said no, but that he had taken over-the-counter supplements which had similar qualities to HGH.

As I wrote for a post on www.umpbump.com a couple of days ago, I was reminded of a story that Leo Mazzone told me a few years back when we were collaborating on his autobiography: Leo Mazzone’s Tales From The Mound.

According to Leo, Rocker was so muscular that if he pitched more than one inning they’d have to take him down to the hallway leading to the dugout, lay him on the floor on his belly and stretch his back. Otherwise, he’d be too cramped up to pitch. He says Rocker became “high maintenance physically” because Rocker was so muscular from lifting weights. And I remember walking past Rocker’s locker one afternoon and seeing an over-sized poster of Goldberg, the former WCW heavyweight champ, hanging there.

Of course, Rocker’s outbursts were also noteworthy, not that it would have been ‘roid rage or anything.

Sometimes one plus one plus one equals three; sometimes not. But with both Holyfield and Rocker, it’s impossible to know at this point. But I do expect this latest HGH scandal to go beyond the scope of BALCO.

Ultimately, with the apparent abject failure of the George Mitchell investigation ordered by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, it won’t be surprising if Congress gets involved and subpoenas ballplayers.

All this on top of the pending Barry Bonds spectacle. How does baseball expect to emerge from this season with anything other than a huge black eye? The breaking of baseball’s all-time home run record is supposed to be cause for celebration, not holding one’s nose.

There are those who advocate letting athletes use steroids. Others, like me, are purists. But it sure looks like the genie is out of the bottle.

What do you think? Clean sports up, or let them do what they will?

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Tags: Evander-Holyfield, John-Rocker.