That blogger, of course, is former New York Times baseball columnist Murray Chass, who takes an especially dim view of his former employer’s pursuit of Alex Rodriguez, if not Miami New Times’ attention to detail.
The New York Times’ Tyler Kepner, who always writes of Rodriguez with disdain, cited the slugger’s “con” and “deceit” in inducing the Yankees to sign him to a 10-year, $275 million contract 5 years ago.
Kepner’s column and an accompanying article didn’t even grant Rodriguez the presumption of innocence, as in innocent until proven guilty. The word alleged appeared nowhere.
Rodriguez might very well have used the illegal substances the New Times report accuses him of having used from 2009 through 2012, but neither M.L.B. nor law enforcement authorities have uncovered evidence to make similar charges.
The information in the New Times supposedly came from former employees of a defunct south Florida anti-aging clinic, Biogenesis, which was owned by Anthony Bosch. The article said former employees told of Bosch “would openly brag about selling drugs to Rodriguez.”
Impressively detailed and written by Tim Elfrink, the article has the ring of believability. Without knowing details of the alleged drug use, I found only one mistake. The article said Melky Cabrera’s positive result last August came from a blood test; it was a urine test. Blood tests take effect this year.
If the reporter made up any of the other drug details he cites, he’s wasting his time writing for a weekly newspaper in Florida; he should be writing novels or screenplays and being paid a lot of money for creative fiction.
Hopefully, as Kepner and Elfrink mature, they’ll each learn there’s only one thing that absolutely proves PED useage beyond a shadow of a doubt. But it takes a while in the sportswriting trade before you learn that back acne is the key to everything.