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http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7355434?MSNHPHMA

Paul Byrd's dream postseason run with the Indians has hit a speed bump.

The Cleveland Indians pitcher bought thousands of dollars of human growth hormone and syringes, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Byrd, who is 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA in the postseason this year, spent $24,850 on products from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center in Florida between August 2002 and January 2005. The center has been targeted for illegally distributing performance-enhancing drugs, the report said.

Byrd pitched for the Royals, Braves and Angels in those years, going a combined 37-29. He struck out a career-high 129 batters with the Royals in 2002.

The Indians' 15-game winner reportedly bought more than 1,000 vials of growth hormone between 2002 and 2005.

In his 11 seasons, Byrd is 97-81 with a 4.35 ERA. He has pitched for seven teams.

Another success story a result of HGH (Ankiel)? What a disappointment..

I never would have guessed Byrd would have done anything like that. I guess that really proves you can't just go with the players size to determine he used or not.

Looks like a lot of players will be called out soon enough.

gnats, HGH, how low will they go?!


Seriously though, what an idiot.

Actually, it means the Red Sox are already in the World Series.

I get the feeling ALOT of pitchers are going to come out in that list of names and there's going to be a lot of guys like Byrd. It's those fringe players that you are going to see a lot of people they have the most to gain by staying in the majors and collecting big paychecks. Pitchers will also use them to help recover from the stress of pitching so often. Recovery is key, especially if they aren't all that good like Byrd.

I would bet $100 that if this news came out today and Byrd was starting, that the Sox were responsible for the name drop. They very well may be but if he were starting, I would put hard money down. mahalo
~Chach~

- HGH is not a steroid, it is a hormone - the counterpart to insulin.
- Byrd took HGH because of a medical condition (a thyroid tumor) that caused his body to not release the normal amount of HGH just as a diabetic takes Insulin when their body doesn't make the normal amount of Insulin
- Byrd has fully disclosed his use of HGH in his upcoming book and the teams he was playing for at the time were fully aware of his medical condition
- Byrd stopped taking HGH after it was banned from baseball despite the fact that he has a medical need to take it and most certainly will resume taking it for that medical need once his playing days are over.

The whole "breaking" of this "story" and the way ESPN is covering it looks like either a way to draw ratings or an attempt to distract the Indians for game 7 over a complete non-issue.

Any even nominal research would uncover the true story as the true story was out there long before this report. The sad part about all of this is Byrd seems to be a genuinely great guy and he's the one that's being picked to tear apart.

Would it get this kind of coverage if it was "discovered" a diabetic player had bought insulin? At least FOX took the time to find out what really happened.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7358706

Byrd said that three different doctors diagnosed him as suffering from adult growth-hormone deficiency. In spring training, he said, he was diagnosed with a tumor on his pituitary gland at the base of his brain, a condition that may have contributed to his deficiency, doctors told him.

"I have not taken any hormone apart from a doctor's care and supervision," Byrd said. "The Indians, my coaches and MLB have known that I have had a pituitary gland issue for some time and have assisted me in getting blood tests in different states. I am currently working with an endocrinologist and will have another MRI on my head after the season to make sure that the tumor hasn't grown."

and

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of HGH only for specific conditions and diseases, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. The list includes adult growth-hormone deficiency

wow what a completely blown out of porportion story

No wonder he looked like Chris Benoit to me.

What an odd time for this to come out

lj4mvp wrote:- HGH is not a steroid, it is a hormone - the counterpart to insulin.
- Byrd took HGH because of a medical condition (a thyroid tumor) that caused his body to not release the normal amount of HGH just as a diabetic takes Insulin when their body doesn't make the normal amount of Insulin
- Byrd has fully disclosed his use of HGH in his upcoming book and the teams he was playing for at the time were fully aware of his medical condition
- Byrd stopped taking HGH after it was banned from baseball despite the fact that he has a medical need to take it and most certainly will resume taking it for that medical need once his playing days are over.

The whole "breaking" of this "story" and the way ESPN is covering it looks like either a way to draw ratings or an attempt to distract the Indians for game 7 over a complete non-issue.

Any even nominal research would uncover the true story as the true story was out there long before this report. The sad part about all of this is Byrd seems to be a genuinely great guy and he's the one that's being picked to tear apart.

Would it get this kind of coverage if it was "discovered" a diabetic player had bought insulin? At least FOX took the time to find out what really happened.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7358706

Byrd said that three different doctors diagnosed him as suffering from adult growth-hormone deficiency. In spring training, he said, he was diagnosed with a tumor on his pituitary gland at the base of his brain, a condition that may have contributed to his deficiency, doctors told him.

"I have not taken any hormone apart from a doctor's care and supervision," Byrd said. "The Indians, my coaches and MLB have known that I have had a pituitary gland issue for some time and have assisted me in getting blood tests in different states. I am currently working with an endocrinologist and will have another MRI on my head after the season to make sure that the tumor hasn't grown."

and

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of HGH only for specific conditions and diseases, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. The list includes adult growth-hormone deficiency

great post, however, according to the espn article, a source is saying that 2 of his Rx he used to get the HGH were written by a dentist.....if that is indeed true, that sounds really, really fishy.....if they all came from endocronologist, a internal med doc, fam prac doc, id be ok with it....but coming from a dentist, sounds really fishy

so if that source is true, then it looks fishy to me
if not, then i guess its ok

Oddly enough my dad has the exact same condition as Paul Byrd and he also has a prescription for HGH. Our family teased him for a while when he first got the prescription saying he was going to be banned from sports. This is a serious medical condition and Byrd did absolutely nothing wrong. Even his last order came before HGH was banned. This was blown way out of proportion. I wonder if the people who responded negatively in this thread even read the articles first. The media has great timing doesnt it?

B Mac wrote:Oddly enough my dad has the exact same condition as Paul Byrd and he also has a prescription for HGH. Our family teased him for a while when he first got the prescription saying he was going to be banned from sports. This is a serious medical condition and Byrd did absolutely nothing wrong. Even his last order came before HGH was banned. This was blown way out of proportion. I wonder if the people who responded negatively in this thread even read the articles first. The media has great timing doesnt it?

see my post, there is no reason he (or any1) for that matter should be getting scripts from a dentist to treat this type of condition

and this is why i have my doubts over this

Let's hope that the upcoming Mitchell Report gives us juicer names than Paul Byrd.

of course, perhaps you should have more information before you condemn a man. Just where did those prescriptions come from? Was it something improper Byrd did, something improper the pharmacy did, or even was there some other explanation.

Would anyone be this worked up to hear a diabetic bought a thousand vials of insulin and hundreds of needles over a 3 year span? Again, HGH is simply the counterpart hormone to insulin.

Byrd has previously disclosed his use of HGH, and even according to this report, he hasn't bought it since baseball banned it. And given his condition, he most certainly will resume use when his career is over because it is an appropriate use for HGH.

Isn't George Mitchell affiliated with the Red Sox in some way? I'm just saying that to throw that out there, because what an unbelievably peculiar time for this to come out, and no other name comes with it.

Considering that it was alright known, that it came out of the San Fran Chronicle, and Byrd wasn't starting, I doubt that the Sox brass played a role in the leak. The Sox were already on a roll, they really didn't need the help. I'll withhold judgment until we get all the details. mahalo
~Chach~

lj4mvp wrote:of course, perhaps you should have more information before you condemn a man. Just where did those prescriptions come from? Was it something improper Byrd did, something improper the pharmacy did, or even was there some other explanation.

Would anyone be this worked up to hear a diabetic bought a thousand vials of insulin and hundreds of needles over a 3 year span? Again, HGH is simply the counterpart hormone to insulin.

Byrd has previously disclosed his use of HGH, and even according to this report, he hasn't bought it since baseball banned it. And given his condition, he most certainly will resume use when his career is over because it is an appropriate use for HGH.

everybody associated with this steroid/hgh ring got their products illegally. if byrds condition is legit why did he get his prescription from a dentist? the whole thing is a weird situation

Chach wrote:Considering that it was alright known, that it came out of the San Fran Chronicle, and Byrd wasn't starting, I doubt that the Sox brass played a role in the leak. The Sox were already on a roll, they really didn't need the help. I'll withhold judgment until we get all the details. mahalo
~Chach~

It is a weird time for it to come out, but I would be more suspicious if it came prior to game 4. I didn't seem like it was much of a distraction to any other Indian (i didn't see a single player interviewed other than Byrd). I believe Mitchell was also quoted as saying he was surprised by the story aswell.

t was definitely a weird time Game 4 or 5 would have been a more "helpful" time for the Sox. If it came out before Game 4, I would be the first person to admit the Sox were behind it. mahalo
~Chach~

I don't get what the big deal is. Correct me if I'm wrong but the substance he used wasn't banned at the time so why the **** should we care?