Is Marlon Byrd the worst steroid user ever?

Former Chicago Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd was suspended 50 games today for failing a drug test. Byrd tested positive for Tamoxifen, a drug that blocks the effects of estrogen hormone. The drug is used by steroid users to prevent breast tissue growth and stop post-cycle crashes.

Currently a free agent, this may well be the deathblow to Byrd’s career. The only current Major League Baseball player who still works out with convicted steroid peddler Victor Conte, Byrd was released by the Boston Red Sox on June 12.

While Byrd has always been huge, his size never translated into power. As a viewer of about 300 of Byrd’s at-bats, I can say that I have never seen a bigger man roll over a fat pitch better than Marlon Byrd. Byrd was simply the master of the roll me over 6-3 putout.

In 1,159 plate appearances for the Cubs, Byrd went deep 21 times. That is a bomb every 55.2 ABs. For a man listed at 6’0″, 215 pounds, that stinks. I remember watching a game from the front row of the bleachers in center and I can testify that Byrd was one of the bulkiest players I have ever seen.

However, Byrd only collected 82 home runs in his 10-year career. The only year Byrd ever hit more than 12 home runs came in his (shocking!) 2009 contract year with the Texas Rangers.

Byrd knew eyes were on him as the only MLB player still working with Conte.

“I’m always going to watch what I take. I’m not going to say I have a bull’s-eye on my back, but I think a lot of people are waiting for me to get my first positive test and miss 50 games. They’d like that just so they can say, ‘We told you so.’ I know that won’t happen. I know I’m clean. I know the supplements I take are clean. I’m going to make sure of that.”

Oops.

Conte tweeted that he had no involvement with Byrd’s positive test and Byrd placed the blame solely on his shoulders. He says he took the drug for a private condition that he had surgery for years ago and recently reoccurred.  Whether or not his condition was the development of bitch tits was not revealed.

In all seriousness, the most telling information here is that Byrd lost 40 pounds in the offseason. He credited a new diet and Muay Thai, but that sounds like an equation that would drop at most 10 pounds on a premier athlete. This suspension seems like the final piece to the puzzle of an athlete who kicked steroids, kicked the weight, but could not kick the body-altering impact steroids have on their users.

The Big Guy

The Rocket’s Guilt and A-Rod’s Innocence

Roger Clemens was acquitted of six charges— two counts of perjury, three counts of making false statements and one count of obstructing Congress— which would have effectively confirmed his use of steroids during his pitching career. Clemens walks away as a legally clean man. Baseball writers will never buy it.

Clemens denies that he ever used steroids during his 24 year career. The winner of seven Cy Young Awards says he is simply the beneficiary of an otherworldly work ethic and superhuman gifts, most notably a 100 MPH fastball.

Left for old at 34 by the Boston Red Sox, The Rocket rejuvenated his career in Toronto with a 21-7 season, posting a 2.05 ERA and logging an MLB-high 264 IP. This following a 10-13 campaign where he posted a 3.63 ERA while striking out an MLB-high 257 batters.

Clemens joined the junior circuit at the ripe age of 41 and promptly won his final Cy Young Award with the Houston Astros while sporting an .818 win percentage. At 42-years-old he posted a career-low ERA of 1.87 with an MLB-best 6.4 H/9.

For what it is worth, Clemens’ closest comparison, Nolan Ryan, also threw for Houston in his age 41 season. He went 12-11, with a 3.52 ERA and led baseball with 228 strikeouts. Clemens pitched 24 seasons, until he was 44-years-old. Ryan pitched 27 seasons, until he was 46-years-old.

Clemens career ERA: 3.12; Ryan’s: 3.19. Ryan picked up 9.5 K/9, Clemens’ 8.6/9.

Clemens possessed all-time great talent. He was one of the most gifted, hard-working pitchers to ever play. His focus and tenacity went unrivaled. The same can be said for Ryan. But something happened during Clemens’ career: everyone took steroids.

While the federal government may not be able to prove Clemens’ steroid use, the Court of Public Opinion will never doubt it. Clemens’ close friend and teammate, Andy Pettitte, admitted to his own use of performance-enhancing drugs and many in Clemens’ former circle testified against The Rocket.

As every no-hitter and perfect game advances the Steroid Era’s daily shuffle behind us, there grows a gap between the perceived liar and admitted cheater.

In the Court of Public Opinion the admitted cheater trumps the suspected liar. And that is where Alex Rodriguez comes into play.

Rodriguez, like Clemens (or his future HOF ballot mates Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds), never needed steroids to excel on the diamond. These men were blessed with preternatural baseball talents.

Ask any scout who witnessed either man’s teenage years, and you will hear that both were destined from conception for the Hall of Fame. Both knew they were gifted, but only one admits to succumbing to taking steroids.

Rodriguez admits that from 2001-2003, under “an enormous amount of pressure,” he took steroids. This admission, similar to Pettitte’s, exonerates Rodriguez in the Court of Public Opinion.

The importance of Rodriguez’s 60 Minutes interview with Katie Couric can not be overstated. It will go down as his ticket into the Hall of Fame. By the time A-Rod retires, let’s say 2016 at the modest age of 40, his HOF clock will be set to strike in 2021 and he will almost undoubtedly be the new Home Run King.

By that time, the children of the Steroid Era will be in their 30’s. They will be ready to forgive and move on. A-Rod’s admission of guilt will earn him Innocence by way of Honesty. Clemens, on the other hand, will be an afterthought, convicted guilty by association of era.

It may not be fair, but the distinction between the two supremely talented men is a modicum of honesty, and perhaps, an ounce of humility. The Rocket, a pitcher who finished 170 games above .500, could never stand to lose. However, by winning his case he wore out the patience of the fans willing to find him innocent through his admission of guilt. Rodriguez, the winner who failed 70% of the time (.301 lifetime batting average), faced his guilt and moved on. For that, he will go down as the earliest great to enter the HOF as a member of the Steroid Era. The greatest pitcher, on the other hand, will go down as a winner in the legal field and a loser in the more important Court of Public Opinion.

The Big Guy