Look, there are many possible ways this study could have been done. But there is no evidence that the quibbles you are pointing out would have SYSTEMATICALLY biased the results.

1. My main “quibble” is that the paper suffers from obvious coding errors. In academic journals, such errors normally result in a paper being retracted from publication unless the authors demonstrate that the errors are not major.
2. Actually, there is evidence that the errors bias the results, and the evidence is provided by the authors. When the mis-coded Bonds is excluded from the sample, steroid use is no longer associated with improved performance.

Now, I have a sneaking suspicion JC is going to censor this comment. And if so, then fine, it’s your blog, do what you like: But get over it already.

Patrick, if that is his real name, has been submitting comments for some time under the names of real people (baseball players, GMs, etc.) . I would have kindly asked him to stop, but he always submits a fake e-mail. I was hoping a ban might cause him to contact me so that I could tell him in private that I would like him to stop posting under other people’s names.

It seems like JC is just bitter that HE is not the one getting the attention and credit for doing this study

Now, I have a sneaking suspicion JC is going to censor this comment. And if so, then fine, it’s your blog, do what you like: But get over it already.

Or, how about a preview of some of free agents and their numbers? Something other than this dead horse..please, pretty please?

I believe it was an umpire talking about Mike Scott (during his resurgence with the Astros, pitching against Gary Carter and the Mets) who once observed, “They challenged his first pitch, which was clean.  Therefore, he had demonstrated what he could do with a ball, and I had no reason for suspicion for the rest of the game.”

When Clemens is admitted and Bonds rejected, can we just rename the building in Cooperstown as “Not Just the Ball Must Be White”?

For example. Could I watch a game in which Mike Cameron hit 4 home runs, then walk away asserting that Mike Cameron hits 4 home runs a game?

Comparing ‘known’ users to those who did not use is simply hypothetical. There is not any conclusive evidence to argue one way or another. Do we know that steroids helped Alex Sanchez get to the majors, did they help him stay in the majors, or did they prohibit him from becoming a better hitter? Will we ever know?

Honestly, we will not. Even when we know which players used and did not use, the evidence will simply become hypothetical. How would Alex Sanchez perform in a non-steroid era?