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Is the New York Times Implying Howard and Myers Were on Steroids?

Today's New York Times brings an article about baseball players slimming down over the off-season.  Among stories of Marlon Anderson losing 22 pounds in 25 days thanks to a cleansing program and Brian Bruney ("Mr. Avant Garde himself"?) losing 35 pounds in the past two off-seasons and looking like a different person, there are these three paragraphs (I'm cutting out the one about Anderson, which is the only thing in the *** space):

Among the biggest losers are Brett Myers and Ryan Howard of the championship Phillies, who lost 30 and 20 pounds. Yankees relief pitcher Brian Bruney, Mr. Avant-Garde himself, shed 25 pounds before last season by giving up beer and eating healthy food. He has slimmed down another 10 this year, and essentially does not look like the same person.

****

We have seen some sluggers and power pitchers lose bulk in recent years, in the wake of increased testing and penalties for steroid use. In his humiliating appearance in front of Congress in 2005, Mark McGwire was noticeably slimmer than when he was passing the season records of Babe Ruth and Roger Maris in 1998.

“You have to be a little skeptical, given the context of watching bodies change,” Dr. Gary Wadler, an internist and member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said Thursday. “The explanation then was that they were eating more and working out more. Now if you hear players say, ‘We changed our ways,’ all you can do is be suspicious.”

So you be the judge.  With the "biggest losers" being Myers and Howard and then the World Anti-Doping Agency representative saying that "all you can do is be suspicious," is the New York Times, or at least George Vescey, the author of this piece, implying that Ryan Howard and Brett Myers lost weight this off-season because they stopped doping?

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innuendo

It’s a really strong implication in that oh-so-cute NYT “we’re the paper of record so we’re above these things, even though we’re really not” kind of way. Frankly I gave it a cursory look when I added it to the link dump, but they do seem to be saying, at the very least, that it’s “fashionable” to be smaller now in the alleged “post-roid” era.

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Feb 27, 2009 10:07 AM EST reply actions  

If Myers was taking roids before, they were some pretty crappy ones. It would have been the softest juiced body ever.

by taco pal on Feb 27, 2009 10:15 AM EST reply actions  

does it make sense?

McGwire clealy lost muscle when he went off the stuff. Howard and Myers appear to have lost fat. Is the implication that steroids put the fat on them? I guess I ought to stop steriods then too.

by lseltzer on Feb 27, 2009 10:25 AM EST reply actions  

imagine that...

wow (sarcasm), a ny paper implying the phils cheated? i simply cannot fathom this. they can ‘supsect’ all they want but the fact is, no suspensions have been laid out. innocent until proven guilty baby!

by PHIGHTINPHILS on Feb 27, 2009 11:43 AM EST reply actions  

Well, if it makes them play better and they don’t get caught I really don’t care.

by FuquaManuel on Feb 27, 2009 1:12 PM EST reply actions  

The only irksome thing about it is that Vecsey gives an explanation as to why Bruney and Anderson dropped the weight, but doesn’t even bother to try finding out why Myers and Howard did. Whether he meant to imply that they were doping or not, it follows logically from what he wrote — and that borders on lazy journalism.

by PhillyFriar on Feb 27, 2009 2:27 PM EST reply actions  

I think that's what it was

It didn’t seem like he was implying Howard and Myers were on steriods, just lazily brought them, didn’t bother finding out how they lost weight then went into a steriod rant. Terrible structure and lazy journalism.

by Sokojoe on Feb 27, 2009 2:58 PM EST up reply actions  

well its not hard to lose weight and slim down if you change your eating habits. I wanted to lose 15 pounds so i gave up soda and lost 7 pounds in the first two weeks. I think it is just the players trying to get healthy. It will help out their game and help prevent injuries.

by Ben16 on Feb 27, 2009 2:38 PM EST reply actions  

you have to remember..

It is the NEW YORK post…so what do you expect.??

Marc Gross

by phillyfansportstalk on Feb 27, 2009 3:56 PM EST reply actions  

Actually it’s not.

by taco pal on Feb 27, 2009 4:02 PM EST up reply actions  

oops..my mistake

but you guys get the idea anyway..right??

Marc

Marc Gross

by phillyfansportstalk on Mar 1, 2009 12:51 AM EST up reply actions  

obviously hinting at it

regardless of how it was supposed to come off, it definitely reads as though they’re implying they both used. although like others have said, the Mets and New York certainly need a reason as to why the phillies kicked ass last fall. Just an unnecessary low blow.

by phills on Mar 1, 2009 8:12 PM EST reply actions  

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