Baltimore Orioles: Explosive report

Has a former Baltimore Orioles’ catcher and several high profile athletes been behaving badly?

Former Baltimore Orioles’ catcher Taylor Teagarden was named in an Al Jazeera report last night as being linked to PED use. It doesn’t appear that the PED use occurred while he was with the O’s, however he was implicated in the report. But he was the least of all the names that were raised.

Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals, Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies, and (get this) the NFL’s Peyton Manning, were also named in the report. With the exception of Teagarden, all of the players have denied the accusations either directly or through lawyers. The Washington Nationals also released a statement alleging that Al Jazeera’s “source” had “recanted his story” before it even came out.

Obviously Teagarden is only of interest to Orioles fans because he played in Baltimore for a couple of seasons. It’s unclear whether or not the alleged PED use occurred while he was an Oriole, or after. However Howard and Zimmerman are two huge names in baseball. And I don’t have to mention how big a name like Manning is in football.

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For starters, I would say consider the source. While I’m not going to say that Al Jazeera isn’t totally a “reliable source,” needless to say they aren’t CNN or ESPN. Secondly, what motivates a TV network to do a story? Al Jazeera doesn’t have the reach that networks such as CNN or FOX have in terms of being a cable news channel. What better way to get that reach than to break a story like that?

If in fact the source recanted his story, I would subit that this is very sloppy reporting on the part of Al Jazeera. And the fact that they went ahead and ran the story anyways makes it even more so. If the story turns out to be false, it’s not enough to say no harm no foul. These are very serious accusations, and as we all know they’re taken very seriously in the sports world. Manning said that he would “probably sue” over this – and I can’t say I blame him (assuming the accusations are false).

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Zimmerman and Howard are two beloved players in Washington and Philadelphia respectively. Teagarden is obviously more of a journeyman, however I digress. Speaking for myself, I’d gladly put my hand on the fire for those two guys and claim their innocence for now. In effect, it’s their word against that of a source who now apparently isn’t so sure what he heard or saw. Perhaps give the benefit of the doubt is a better way of putting it, but I’m not going to convict someone in the court of public opinion over that.

The same is true with Peyton Manning. We all know who he is and what his body of work entails. And quite frankly I don’t blame him for threatening to sue – this report is being released in a shady manner and it comes across as unsubstantiated.

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For what it’s worth, MLB could go back and discipline Howard, Zimmerman, and Teagarden retroactively if they chose to do so. However I think they’ll need more evidence than a second-rate cable network’s claim – which was based on speaking with someone who now says it wasn’t true.

Has a former Baltimore Orioles’ catcher and several high profile athletes been behaving badly?

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