Steroid Education Controversy
During an appearance May 9, 2009, on WEEI's The Baseball Show, Merloni claimed that the Red Sox organization had a doctor brief the players during spring training on how to correctly use steroids. Merloni claims the session did not encourage players to use steroids, but rather informed players that there were right and wrong ways to use them. Merloni stated "It was like teaching your teenage daughter about sex education. The organization acknowledged that there were likely players using steroids and basically 'if you're gonna use them, this is how you use them so you don't abuse them'". Merloni could not remember the name of the doctor nor the year in which the briefing took place.
Merloni's claim was quickly refuted by former Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette who stated "It's ridiculous. It's totally unfounded ... If there was such a doctor, he wasn't in the employ of the Red Sox. We brought in doctors to educate the players on the major league drug policy at the time, at the recommendation of Major League Baseball".
Former Red Sox player Troy O'Leary was interviewed and stated he didn't remember the incident. "I remember the normal union meetings in spring training where they'd talk about drugs and steroids, and I remember doctors talking negatively about them, but I don't remember ever hearing anything like, 'OK, this is the right way to do steroids.' If that happened, I missed that one."
Merloni's account conflicted with former major league pitcher John Rocker who previously stated that a doctor hired by the Major League Baseball Players Association told Alex Rodriguez, Iván Rodríguez, Rafael Palmeiro and him how to use steroids after a spring training lecture in 2002.
On May 16, 2009, ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons claimed that an unnamed major league player corroborated Merloni's claim. The player, who also could not remember the doctors name, placed the briefing as occurring during spring training 2001. The player is quoted as having said: "I'm not sure of the name of the doctor; he was someone outside the Boston organization. In no way did I think Boston was trying to push steroids; I think they just wanted to educate us on the subject. But you could tell by the faces on the training staff that they didn't think the doctor would say the things he did".
Read more about this topic: Lou Merloni
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