redacted

[Redacted]

By D

Let's play a game. It's called Google Monkey. First, find a document

with redacted names. Second, use Google to figure out which names are

which. Let's agree that neither of us shall make any claims on

certainty, okay? This is merely a parlor game meant to point out the

inevitable futility of redacting names on public documents. Ready?

Let's use the Jason Grimsley affidavit posted on The Smoking Gun for

our first attempt at this game.

***

PAGE 11

Grimsley stated that during Major League Baseball's 2003 drug-testing

program for anabolic steroids, he tested positive. Grimsley stated

that [redacted] told him about the positive test.

While this isn't particularly juicy, the name has been redacted and I

want to know who it is. The 2002-2006 MLB Basic Agreement (PDF) spells

out procedures for exactly how a urine specimen is to be gathered and

submitted for testing, but there is no procedure spelled out for how

to inform the player that he has tested positive for a prohibited

substance. On page 164, Attachment 18.3.G, under the heading

"Notification", the Agreement states "HPAC shall immediately notify

the Player and the Club's Employee Assistance Professional of a

Player's positive result from a test conducted pursuant to Section

3.A.2." HPAC is the Health Policy Advisory Committee, responsible for

adminstering the drug testing program. It is described starting on

page 157 of the Agreement. The members of the HPAC are one physician

appointed by the Player's Association, a physician appointed by the

Commissioner, an attorney representing the Players, and an attorney

representing the Commissioner. According to Wikipedia, the attorneys

are Rob Manfred (Commissioner) and Gene Orza (Players). The Royals do

not list an Employee Assistance Professional on their website.

However, the Employee Assistance Professional is occasionally listed

with the team medical staff, so it might be one of the physicians the

team employed in 2003. Following all this information, it is likely

this redacted name belongs to a physician or is Gene Orza.

PAGE 13

Grimsley named, [redacted], [redacted] (whom he stated was

[redacted]), [redacted] (whom Grimsley stated was very obvious and had

the worst back acne he'd ever seen), and [redacted] as anabolic

steroid users. Grimsley also stated that [redacted] had a doctor in

Colorado that supplied him ([redacted]) with amphetamines.

This last guy, the one with the doctor in Colorado, requires serious

digging, but a little reasoning can narrow the guesswork. First, the

name that has been blacked out on the page is short, shorter than

"Leskanic" (foreshadowing?). Grimsley didn't play for the Rockies, so

it's possible he's speaking from secondhand or somewhat distant

knowledge. It's also likely he's speaking about someone on the

Rockies, or he's speaking about someone who resides in Colorado. Of

course, there is a lot of overlap between the two groups. What is

definite is that the player's name is shorter than "Grimsley" in Times

New Roman font. I couldn't find a list of ballplayers who reside in

Colorado, though there is this list of players born there. The Rockies

roster, of course, is readily available online. From browsing the two

lists, one name among the current players stands out: Grimsley's old

Royals teammate Nate Field, who was born in Denver and, this season,

has joined the Rockies. What's more, this cached article from 2002

says he resides in... wait for it... Littleton, CO.

PAGE 15

Grimsley also identified [redacted], a former Major League Baseball

player, as one of his better friends in baseball. Grimsley stated that

knows [sic] [redacted] used human growth hormone and knows [sic] that

[redacted] obtained the human growth hormone from the same source that

Grimsley obtained his from.

This name is roughly the same length as "Grimsley" in Times New Roman.

Do you see where I'm going? Google eventually points us to this

MLB.com article from 2004 that characterizes Curtis Leskanic similarly

to the affidavit, saying, "The Royals, stuck in last place in the

American League Central, last week released Grimsley's close friend

and bullpen buddy Curtis Leskanic." For confirmation of his

retirement, we turn, again, to Wikipedia, which says he retired

following the 2004 World Series. Again, I make no claims on certainty,

but this one seems clearest of all.

***

Let me repeat, to make it clear: I make no claims on certainty. Mine

is an idle mind wandering. There are more redacted names in the

affidavit's twenty pages. There are more instances of Grimsley's loose

lips. There are more unsavory details. However, it's still just a

smattering. This document is, by no means, a sweeping indictment.

Rather, it is another shrub upon the mountain of evidence that PED use

is endemic in big time sports. When the names are leaked (I have

little doubt they will be, considering I am one of many who think Jeff

Nowitzky, the FBI agent who filled out the report, is the one who

leaked the Giambi/Bonds grand jury testimony to the San Francisco

Chronicle), the MSM will jump all over those players and hold them up

as cheaters, even though, up to now, reporters have been pretending

that the Steroid Problem in American sports has been solved.

Castigating [redacted], in this instance, would be a monumentally