Thread: John Rocker Admits Using Anabolic Steroids as MLB Baseball Player

John Rocker Admits Using Anabolic Steroids as MLB Baseball Player
By Millard Baker ~ source

John Rocker has finally admitted to using anabolic steroids while he was a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who once played for the Atlanta Braves. Rocker made the admission during an interview with Mike Silva for the New York Baseball Digest podcast while publicizing his new book, “Rockers: Scars & Stripes.”

“Yeah, of course I was. I mean who wasn’t? Let’s be honest here, who wasn’t?,” Rocker responded to a question about steroid use in 1999.

Rocker was linked to the Applied Pharmacy Services (APS) steroid scandal in in March 2007. Sports Illustrated reported that prescription records indicated that the MLB pitcher was the recipient of two shipments of human growth hormone (hGH) from APS between April and July 2003.

Rocker admitted to the use of hGH but only for therapeutic reasons.

“That was a growth hormone that was prescribed by a doctor in relation to his rotator cuff surgery in 2003,” according to his publicist.

Rocker had not previously admitted using steroids until his recent interview with Silva.

“No. Can I throw 3 or 4 mph harder because of it? Yes. Was my breaking ball better because of it? No. The reason was (for taking it) with my teammates and their confidence laying on my shoulders, with the coaching staff and their confidence on my shoulders, with the millions of Atlanta Braves fans, I am not going to step on that mound with that kind of responsibility with my gun half loaded. Knowing the people I am going to be facing, I know what they’re doing; I am not coming to the mound half-cocked.”

Rocker is best known for the racist, homophobic and misogynistic rants reported in a story published by Sports Illustrated in January 2000 written by Jeff Pearlman. During a December 2006 interview with Deadspin, Rocker criticized Pearlman as a “liberal Jew from New York” with an agenda who took his statements out of context.

Rocker also claimed that he submitted to a steroid test administered by MLB in the aftermath of the publication of the December 1999 SI article. He told Silva that he “failed it miserably”. He criticized MLB for their alleged ignorance of the steroid test results.

Rocker’s new book, “Rocker: Scars & Stripes”, has been in the works for at least five years. Anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs aren’t the subject matter discussed in the book. The book is said to be a collection of his conservative, Republican beliefs such as his advocacy of the “Speak English” campaign.


Sources:

Lacques, G. (December 13, 2011). John Rocker admits to steroid use with Braves. Retrieved from John Rocker admits to steroid use with Braves

Deadspin. (December 13, 2006). Our Interview With John Rocker. Retrieved from Our Interview With John Rocker

Pearlman, J. (December 27, 1999). At Full Blast. Retrieved from Shooting outrageously from the lip, Braves closer John - 12.27.99 - SI Vault

Originally Posted by maxamize

they all do, its just reality. He was good at what he did. Nothing more matters