Comments on: What Impact Did Steroids Have on Alex Rodriguez’s Home Run Performance?

By: Weekend link dump for February 22 « Off the Kuff

Weekend link dump for February 22 « Off the Kuff — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:04:49 +0000

[...] What impact did A-Rod’s steroid use have on his home run performance? Most likely, almost none. [...]

By: If Lesnar had been a PRIDE fighter..... - Page 13 - Sherdog Mixed Martial Arts Forums

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:19:05 +0000

[...] a negligible difference in baseball players’ performance. Steroids, Other “Drugs”, and Baseball Sabernomics | What Impact Did Steroids Have on Alex Rodriguez�s Home Run Performance? 1. Ridiculous logic in that first sentence. 2. It’s possible to beat the tests. Uh, OK, so [...]

By: News Flash: Alex Rodriguez Still Really, Really Good At Baseball | MOUTHPIECE Blog // A Chicago-Addled Sports Blog

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:15:53 +0000

[...] The numbers suggest that A-Rod would still be on his 800-home run pace even without the steroids. From J.C. Bradbury: So, what were A-Rod’s steroids worth? 2.37 home runs over two seasons, or a little over one home [...]

By: Baseball Prospectus | Unfiltered

Baseball Prospectus | Unfiltered — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:05:15 +0000

[...] steroids. You can call it cheating and I won’t argue. I’m likely to point out that the impact is far less than what most think, but I believe it’s much more important that you realize that 94% of baseball players were [...]

By: JMO

JMO — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:50:03 +0000

Amphetamines, Cortisone, Steroids, et al…I’m having a difficult time understanding the cutoff point “between competitors looking for an edge” and “cheating.”

By: JC

JC — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:34:21 +0000

Doubter,

Good grief.

From #2

I’d be more concerned that he used before and after he stated he used having a bias. Here, I’m assuming he’s clean before and after, and that’s all you can do.

By: JC

JC — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:28:41 +0000

Jason,

I appreciate the sentiment, but please, don’t refer to this—or anything I write here—as a study. It is a blog post looking at some data using a few assumptions. These numbers are going to flop around by their nature. I wouldn’t draw much from them. I was just curious if anything obvious would jump out. Nothing did. To be honest, I was surprised at how closely the numbers matched up.

By: Doubter

Doubter — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:27:16 +0000

Your numbers are based on assuming that Arod was only taking steriods 2001-2003. Call me a doubter. He lied, he lied, he lied. When he got caught he minimized and blamed.

Neither you nor Arod can prove that he was clean from the beginning of his career until 2001 or from 2003 to the present, therefore your analysis proves little. Maybe the Feds will raid Boras and we’ll learn a little more.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:17:39 +0000

We have an endpoint here. A-Rod says he quit using steroids in spring training 2003, and there’s at least supporting evidence that he hasn’t been using any PEDs since 2004 because he hasn’t failed any tests. That endpoint rests on a much firmer foundation than the alleged starting-point, which depends entirely on A-Rod’s questionable veracity. Why, then, did you not address his declining performance since he says he quit steroids?

He fails to match his expected totals every year from 2003-08 with the exception of 2007, when he exceeded it by about one home run. Over that time period he has fallen about sixty home runs short of his expected total, roughly ten a year. Perhaps that’s what A-Rod’s steroids were worth. Rather than no effect, your study suggests Alex has been fibbing in saying his drug use only began in 2001.

By: JC

JC — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:31:41 +0000

You’re essentially saying that steroids have no effect on the basis of a proven liar’s word

I am? I believe there is strong scientific evidence that anabolic steroids have an ergogenic effect. I also stated in the post that he could be receiving a benefit and that it doesn’t show up in the numbers. I can’t help it if he is lying, I’m just trying to see how the data shakes out if he is telling the truth.