Name That Steroid User

For those who don’t remember, Jason Grimsley was receiving shipments of human growth hormones to his house in Scottsdale Arizona in May of 2006 when Federal investigators obtained a search warrant to search his house. Grimsley was charged for receiving the banned substances but offered to cooperate with federal authorities to reduce any potential sentence that he might incur. As part of this cooperation Grimsley named several current and former players who he suspected of using steroids or other substances. Federal prosecutors requested that the courts seal the affidavit in an effort to assist investigators. This request was granted and the record was sealed. Today prosecutors in Phoenix unsealed the document and released the names that Grimsley had identified. Although the names may not have been as shocking as those in the Mitchell Report, there were several new players identified widening the defined problem within baseball. Among those named were Chuck Knoblauch, David Segui, Allen Watson, Rafael Palmeiro, and Pete Incaviglia, Jose Canseco, Glenallen Hill, Geronimo Berroa, and Lenny Dykstra. It was that last name that was the most interesting. Dykstra was always a fan favorite especially in New York and Philadelphia. He was a blue collar player whose nickname of “Nails” was fitting. He was gritty and did what it took to win. Who knew that included substances banned by baseball? This is the latest of what will no doubt be a continuing saga for many years to come. The breadth and depth of the drug problem within baseball continues to amaze everyone as each new story breaks. An entire generation of baseball players will play under the dark cloud of suspicion of cheating and that is unfortunate for those who played the game the right way.