Baseball Chat

[jarsch501]

Vic,

Yes....you're correct. There have been quite a few players recently from the M's organization who have been caught using steroids. Most of the guys are in the minors and one was a rookie, Morse.

The one 'big guy' who tested positive was Franklin. I side with him on the test and think it was a one off thing.

Griffey hasn't been with the club since 1999 though.


Here's a good excerpt from an article on Franklin, who was released from the M's organization last year.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2006-01-23-dirty-dozen_x.htm
Positive test 'was a mistake'

Unlike Lawton, Franklin, who was 8-15 with a 5.10 ERA last season, says he has never taken a steroid. He says he took over-the-counter supplements and drank protein shakes. Last May he tested positive for nandrolone, a steroid that can be found in supplements, according to studies by the International Olympic Committee.

Pat Gillick, the Phillies general manager who had the same job in Seattle when Franklin started his big-league career with the Mariners in 1999, says he believes Franklin.

Gillick says he's bothered by any steroid suspension, "but if I didn't know Franklin, I'd be more concerned. I sound like a defense lawyer, but I like him, and he's a pretty up-front guy."

Gillick likes that Franklin is a durable pitcher who has thrown 600-plus innings in the last three seasons for the Mariners.

"He's been on the disabled list once, with a viral infection, so he's had no arm trouble," Gillick said.

Franklin and his wife, Angie, live during the offseason in Shawnee, Okla. They have three children — Logan, 8, Kaylin, 5, and Teegan, 18 months. Outside of reporters asking him, Franklin says it is easy to put last season out of his mind.

"Nobody brings it up," he says.

He was tested May 3. A week later, he was home in Seattle, getting ready to take a nap before going to Safeco Field when the union called with the news.

A couple of weeks later, Franklin was tested again and the test was negative. He had a hearing, and he had to keep the controversy quiet until his suspension was announced in August.

"There wasn't a day that didn't go by when I didn't think about it," Franklin says. "How could you not? You wouldn't be human if you didn't think about it."

And the negative attention was difficult for his family, especially explaining it to Logan.

"He knows what steroids are, and he knows that his daddy didn't do it," Angie says. "He was pretty angry.

"We had to explain to him before it came out that a lot of people (on radio and TV) were going to be saying bad things about daddy but that it is OK. There's not anything we can do about it."

Steroid tests are nothing new for Franklin, who says he's always campaigned for tougher penalties. He says he was tested at least six times when he pitched for the 2000 U.S. Olympic baseball team that won a gold medal in Australia. And, during seven minor league seasons, he was tested every year, sometimes twice a year.

"I've been tested maybe 20 times, and only one positive test, and I think it was a mistake," Franklin says. "I have a wife and three kids, so I'm not going to put anything in my body that would shorten my life.

"My family is important. I want to see my kids grow up. I want to be there for them for when they go through life, pick their careers, whatever they want to do."