Mark McGwire admitted during the last week that he did used steroids during his career that was highlighted by 583 home runs but now wants every one to forget the tales of steroids to move ahead.

This admission has once again reaffirmed the fact that there is a relationship between steroids and sports. It is believed that baseball fans would find it difficult to forget the steroid tales that were once related to their favorite stars.

From Freep.com:

“I hope you all can accept this,” McGwire said. “Let’s all move on from this. Baseball is great right now, baseball is better.”

McGwire, the new Cardinals hitting coach, is getting support from his boss, manager Tony La Russa, and St. Louis‘ best player, Albert Pujols.

“Go talk to Mark, I think he cleared up everything, he closed the doors,” Pujols told reporters at the team’s Winter Warm-Up. “If you want to reopen those doors I know the right guy. Go talk to Mark about it. … There’s 300,000 people that just died in Haiti and you guys just want to concentrate on Mark McGwire. Come on, give me a break.”

The admission by McGwire has also blasted the claims of anti-doping and government officials that have been long in place for curbing the use of anabolic steroids in sports.

Jim Rice, who will be one of the elite inductees to the Hall of Fame with Rickey Henderson on July 26, spoke on Friday against use of steroids and the bad vibes created by steroid using players and steroids in baseball. He was of the view that steroid-using baseball players namely Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, among others, just do not deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

In a conference call that was arranged by the Hall of Fame, Rice said that baseball players who used steroids to deliver dramatic performance on the field and hampered the spirit of the game do not deserve any place in the hall of fame.

From Sfgate.com:

“You can almost look at the same thing as Pete Rose,” Rice said on a conference call arranged by the Hall of Fame. “I think if they did something wrong to enhance the game of baseball or go against the game of baseball, they shouldn’t be in. That’s just me.”

Regarding steroids, Rice said of the players already enshrined, “You didn’t find anything that they did wrong. They’re in the Hall of Fame. All of a sudden, you pick someone who did something wrong, and they say, ‘Well, we’re going to overlook that because he was a Hall of Famer before that.’ Nah. Uh-uh. I don’t believe in that. If you’re going to be that way, you’ve got to be straight with everyone.”

Both Bonds, a seven-time MVP, and Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, elevated their games in their late 30s and early 40s and are targets of federal investigations into whether they lied about using steroids. Both were considered Hall of Fame worthy before their first link to performance-enhancing drugs.

“If they used steroids, it’s up to the writers to make the decision. As Hall of Famers, we have no vote,” Rice said. “You go back and ask, ‘Was he a Hall of Famer before they caught him using steroids?’ So you’re telling your kids, ‘Hey, you can use steroids now, don’t get caught.’ “

It is believed that many of the several players who have been included in the hall of fame expressed their disapproval of players who used steroids during their playing days, including Rich Gossage who was one of the inductees last year, who motivated young players to fess up with steroids.

The steroids controversy is creating quite a mess in the world of professional sports. The carnage is getting crazy and more names are being dragged into the fore. Doubts whether baseball heroes today are really deserving of the accolades they have been bestowed. More still question the credibility of the MLB players. Baseball has now become a world of cheating and lying.

The latest to be named in connection with the use of performance enhancing drugs, as reported by the New York Times, is Dodgers pitcher Ismael Valdez. Joining him is Troy Glaus who reasoned that his use of the drugs was to speed up the recovery of his injury. Scott Schoeneweis was also identified with steroids but he said he had stopped taking them because he was a union representative.

From Examiner News:

According to the Times account, Valdez did not take steroids until he left the Dodgers after the 2000 season. He allegedly found an Angels doctor who injected him with steroids in 2001 because the “Anaheim Angels doctor told him that his testosterone levels were low.” Then Valdez allegedly continued his steroid use upon joining the Texas Rangers in 2002.

That steroids would be connected to the Rangers in that period is hardly a surprise. That squad featured Rafael Palmeiro, last seen famously lying to Congress about his own steroid use. For the record, Raffy hit 43 homers that year, the second-highest total of his career at the age of 37. Alex Rodriguez was also on that team, and has since admitted taking steroids at that time. A-Rod hit a staggering 57 homers that year and drove in 142 runs. Amazingly, he finished second in the MVP race to … wait for it … admitted steroid user Miguel Tejada.

Who else doesn’t use steroids? This act shouldn’t be tolerated because it is sending the wrong message to the fans, especially to the young ones who emulate their baseball heroes.

America loves baseball and fans all over the country can’t wait for the day baseball season opens every year. They love the game so much they wouldn’t mind spending most, if not all, their hard earned money for a seat or a souvenir in the games. Dads eagerly teach their children the sport and young wannabe baseball players try to imitate their heroes on the field. With this hero status, these players decide to take the game to the next level, the competition pushing them to be the best in everything they do. Each player wants to make a mark in baseball history that they take extreme measures such taking steroids of performance enhancing drugs, regardless of their effect on their reputation and career.

Headlines screamed steroids controversy since Senator George Mitchell started the investigating how certain baseball icons used them in the 1990s. Sports Illustrated came out with an article about player Alex Rodriguez’s drug test results leaked despite its supposed confidentiality. Jose Canseco authored a book alleging more “heroes” using the said drug. The sport has been tainted that fans are starting to think twice about the game they loved.

Lucas Swineford is one such that he’s urging other fans to give any money or time they would spend on baseball to charity instead this Friday, April 17. This is his way of protesting against players who have taken performance-enhancing drugs. Swineford was inspired to take this action after hearing the report he heard over the radio about A-Rod’s interview with Peter Gammons.

From Connecticut Post:

“I was driving in the car and I heard some highlights from the Alex Rodriguez interview with Peter Gammons after he admitted he took performance-enhancing drugs,” Swineford said. What stoked his anger was Rodriguez saying he had to take performance enhancers to deal with the pressure of his $250 million contract.

“I almost drove off the road,” Swineford said. “That’s pressure to you? Watch the news. People are struggling to pay the mortgage and keep the lights on. That’s pressure.”

Angry as he was, Swineford, who works in digital media with Yale University, decided there had to be something positive to come Advertisement out of all the negative publicity over steroid use in baseball.

Swineford is asking fans to donate $13 to a charity of their choice — or one of the 13 listed on the Web site. “That’s half the price of the average ticket to a game,” he said. It’s also Rodriguez’ number.

Swineford also wants fans to remember what Roberto Clemente’s did to baseball thus the boycott he is planning to stage.

Now that baseball season has begun, everyone wonders when the steroids story ends. Players have been charged and someone already stepped forward to confess that he was guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs. On April 6 Jose Canseco tries to fan the dying flame of the steroids controversy back to life. He was at Bovard Auditorium at the USC discussing his book Juiced. He also brings another name to the list of steroid users. Manny Ramirez is now thrust into the spotlight.

During Canseco’s talk at Bovard he dropped several leading questions to make the press speculate that Ramirez is really using steroids. “Why didn’t Ramirez get a long term deal? Why were the owners hesitant to get him in their teams?” He even gave his opinion that Ramirez is “90% on top of the list” but he was not very sure.

Everybody now turns to Ramirez for his take on the issue.

From CBS LA Sports:

Manny Ramirez had a one-word answer when asked if he had anything to say about the accusation that he used performance-enhancing drugs in 2003:

“Nothing.”

Does he have anything he wants to say to his accuser, Jose Canseco?

“Nothing.”

It took a few days before anyone in the media got around to asking Ramirez about the shaky allegations from Canseco. Those allegations are largely supposition on Canseco’s part — his proof is that Manny’s contract negotiations dragged out this summer.

Apparently, it had nothing to do with the economy or Manny’s behavior in Boston. Canseco even had to put a qualifier on it — he is “90% sure” Ramirez is on the list of positive tests from 2003.

The steroids story should be put to rest and it is a good thing that Ramirez chose not to comment any further. If indeed he has nothing to say then there is nothing to talk or write about. Everybody can now concentrate on baseball and put this unpleasant subject behind.

Baseball fans in college are shocked that their favorite sports hero Alex Rodriguez had admitted to using performance enhancing drugs while he was still with the Texas Rangers in 2001-2003. Apparently, the effects of the news had taken quite a while to ebb. A-Rod was just one of the 104 who were tested positive for steroids. There were 103 more to be revealed. Jose Canseco had already identified some in his book Juiced. Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens were some of those who had been named in the book.

From The Batt:

“A-Rod was one of those players that we all had no doubt that he wasn’t taking steroids,” said Texas A&M junior pitcher Travis Starling. “He was kind of the poster child of the perfect baseball player. He worked hard. He showed up every day and he played hard every day and he produced good numbers off of purely his talent and his work ethic, and now we are being told that he did take steroids. So for me individually, as a baseball player, and as someone who enjoys the game of baseball, it is still a shock to me.”

“I think when it’s admitted, you get it out of the way,” said A&M junior infielder Brodie Greene. “People are obviously not going to forget it. You admitted it, and you came out and told your side and that helps you. That’s why I think Bonds and [Roger] Clemens are going to end up hurting themselves in the long run because they are just denying it. I guess they are innocent until proven guilty. I feel that they are on the guilty side but haven’t really admitted it yet.”

Very few had expected A-Rod to cheat by using the banned substances, but he is admired for stepping forward and admitting it. No one knows really what the out come of this steroid era to those who are linked and involved with the use of PEDs, but one thing is for sure, A-Rod is facing a dim future in his baseball career.

Jose Canseco tries to take advantage of the season’s opening day to draw attention to himself as he stands on the stage of Bovard Auditorium to talk about his steroid use and his book Juiced, where tells all about the wide spread use of performance enhancing drugs in the MLB. But very few came, about 50 people in an auditorium that has a seating capacity of 1,235. That alone speaks volumes on what people think of Canseco. His book was a bestseller but it was not enough to draw a crowd to hear him talk about it. A diminishing star. Steroids had definitely made him infamous.

Clad in a motorcycle jacket, Canseco admits that he still uses testosterone. In 1998, however, he stopped using steroids because he had a depression. It was during this time, too, that he played with Toronto and was able to score 46 home runs. He could have made the choice to quit there but he did not.

From The LA Times:

In fact, 1998 has made him reconsider things. After long telling anyone who’d listen that he might not have made the big leagues without steroids, maybe the year in Canada shows he could have become a star without drugs. He holds tight to this new notion.

“I have regrets,” he says. “The way people look at my career was compromised by using. Then the whole thing fell apart. . . . I was cut off. Not being able to play at 36. That’s how old I was when baseball colluded to keep me out. They were sending a message to all the other players: ‘Stop using, or you will be like Jose.’ “

Canseco keeps talking, unburdening. He seems tinged with a paranoia that makes him easy to dismiss, except he has so often been right.

“I have nightmares, almost every night. I’m on some team, but they will not let me actually play. The bus leaves without me. . . . “

Several players were implicated in his book to have used performance-enhancing drugs. These were Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Giambini, and Juan Gonzalez. Canseco himself admitted to using steroids himself.

The opening of the new season in less than a week and the MLB is bruised and battered of everything it has to deal with in the off-season. They barely had their rest from the controversies, they are now about to face the pressure of the ballgames. However, before they do so they have to pay attention, at the very least, to what the fans are saying. They have grown tired of the steroids talk and they want some action, pronto. Some excitement was stirred when the news about Alex Rodriguez and several other ball players got involved with performance enhancing drugs. It gave the fans and the media something to talk about for a while. But when it started to dominate the headlines longer than it should, baseball buffs are getting annoyed. They want the old baseball game back.

In a way, the MLB did their best to put the issue under control by imposing penalties on those who are caught on dope. The first offense gets a 50 game suspension, second offense-100 game suspension and a lifetime ban on the third offense.

From The Daily News:

Moving forward there needs to be and outrage – the kind being directed at the crooks who hijacked our economic system. In the end, the marauders who molested Wall St. are no different than professional athletes who use steroids; both are consumed by the money to be made when you toss the rules aside and are governed by nothing more than gluttony.

“Ban ‘em for the whole year,” Red Sox slugger David Ortiz said last month.

While Ortiz’s suggestion is a good start, MLB needs to be tougher than it has ever been before. Here’s what the new punishments should be: a first offense gets you a year ban; a second offense gets you banned for life. No exceptions.

Fay Vincent, who was commissioner in 1989-1992 said they are all working towards a lifetime ban for the offenders. That should make them think twice before they touch any of the banned substances.

The global financial crisis has hit the ballgames as well. A survey conducted by the Associated Press-Knowledge Networks showed the top result that fans found it expensive to watch baseball games these days. This is a rather dismal view especially with the season opening in less than a week. Not to mention that the major league has just come from a steroid controversy which involved its best players. Apparently all the issues in the MLB are stressing the fans out.

From The Associated Press:

That would make for a cheap seat at either of the two new ballparks opening in New York. At the $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium, a ticket in the lower deck between the bases goes for a minimum of $350 and tops out at $2,625.

At the Mets’ Citi Field, it’s $18 just to park.

The average ticket price in the majors was $25.43 last year — up 11.7 percent over the previous season, according to The Team Marketing Report. The 2009 cost hasn’t been determined, but the increases typically outpace the inflation rate.

MLB said two-thirds of the 30 teams lowered either their average ticket price or some level of seats. The Toronto Blue Jays went even further, offering a season ticket in the upper deck for $76 — less than $1 per game for all 81 home dates.

Next highest opinion of the fans in the survey is that players who are, or have been, involved in steroids should not be voted into the Hall of Fame. Fan Robert Moore of Clearwater Florida said that players who were into performance enhancing drugs shouldn’t even be recognized.

Third highest among the fan’s concerns is the exaggerated salaries that the players were getting. New York Yankees Mark Teixeira’s signing bonus was $181 million and CC Sabathia signed $161 million. This is comparable to a third world country’s national budget according to Margaret Costello. Sabathia remains nonchalant about this and just hopes that fans would still watch them this season.

Miguel Tejada, the star baseball player, was sentenced for a year’s probabtion and fine of $5,000 by federal court on the charges of misleading the Congress. In a 23-minute hearing on Thursday, the legendary player confessed his misleading act. Though any travel restriction was not put on the star by the court.

Tejada admitted that he withheld information from congressional investigators about the use of performance-enhancing drugs by an ex-teammate in 2005. He told U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay that he took full responsibility for not clearing the doubt and confusing the Congress.

Tejada apologized to everyone and said, “I learned a very important lesson.” He also admitted that he himself bought human growth hormone while playing for the Oakland Athletics but threw it without using.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Durham said, “People have to know that when Congress asks questions, it is serious business.” He also told that if you lie we can prove it that you are lying and then there will be no liability.

From ESPN:

Congress referred Tejada to the Justice Department in January 2008, a little more than a year before it asked that Clemens be investigated to determine whether he lied when saying he never used performance-enhancing drugs.

Tejada was the All-Star sitting in court this day, his chin resting on his right hand while Durham talked. Tejada was the past American League MVP receiving his punishment after pleading guilty last month and admitting he withheld information about an ex-teammate’s use of performance-enhancing drugs when questioned in 2005 by congressional investigators.

“I take full responsibility for not answering the question,” Tejada told U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay.

Standing at a lectern facing Kay, Tejada spoke softly for less than a minute, the talented hands he normally uses to grip a bat or field ground balls stuffed in the pant pockets of his pinstriped, three-piece suit.

Tejada became the first high-profile player whose name come with any sort of steroid issue from baseball. The court also gave a warning to another baseball star, Roger Clemens.

Ed Wade, Astros general manager, said in a statement that the team and whole organization was happy that the issue had been resolved. He also said, “Miguel can now focus on baseball and direct all of his energy toward being a key member of the Astros. It was resolved the way Miguel and his representatives believed it would be, and we can now all move forward.”

Tejada’s steroid issue started in March 2005 when Rafael Palmeiro, one of his teammate, claimed that he was tested positive because of a tainted B-12 vitamin injection given to him by Tejada. And from this point onwards, the needle of suspection moved towards the star player.

While the Major League Baseball continue to battle it out with the steroids issue, the McQueen Lancers do preventive measures in making sure that the young athletes stay clean while playing on the field. McQueen coach Brian Nelson says there are no evidences to prove that the steroids problem have reached their baseball teams. But with the steroids scandal all over the media, there is no telling when the student athletes get curious and try out the substances as well.

From News 4:

“These people they look up, their idols, unfortunately are in the media way too often for breaking rules and making baseball a dirty game right now,” McQueen Head Coach Brian Nelson said. “So we are just trying to send a message that we are going to do it the right way, and that’s keep it clean.”

Anti-steroid banners are posted throughout McQueen’s stadium, including on the outfield fences, the dugout, and the snack bar.

The McQueen Baseball Boosters Club received the $50 thousand grant that made the campaign possible. They applied for the M.L.B.’s Baseball Tomorrow Fund grant and received the money for the anti-steroids campaign and field renovations.

The anti-steroid campaign also aims to reach out to the kids through the Babe Ruth State Championship. This would teach elementary kids the importance of playing fair and not cheating with the use steroids.

Steroid use is like an epidemic. It starts with a few bunch of pros injecting themselves or taking orals to give themselves a boost of energy in their work outs. Then when they start playing better, run faster and pitch harder they take more PEDs so they could push harder into their training. Before they know it they get tested positive and face charges.

Out of the steroids limelight, Rodriguez is enjoying a low profile lifestyle as he recovers from his recent hip surgery. After the media had feasted upon his admission to steroids use, his move to the Dominican Republic team for the World Baseball Classics, and his recent medical condition he is able to breathe a sigh of relief for, at least, being able to take a much needed break. The cyst, was rumoured to have been caused by his use of performance enhancing drugs. But this was put to rest by renowned sports surgeon Dr. Mike Philippon by saying that the cyst was caused by a tear in Alex’s labrum. Since it had not been treated earlier the cyst had formed around it.

From the Daily News:

Yankee Alex Rodriguez is living in rustic style while rehabbing his hip after surgery, staying in a luxurious log cabin with expansive views of the snow-capped Rockies.

The four-bedroom, 4-1/2-bath chateau is near a creek in Vail’s swanky Cascade Village. It’s owned by Jeff Heinen, who co-owns Heinen Fine Foods, an Ohio grocery store chain.

Sources told the Daily News that A-Rod chose the house because it has “a master bedroom on the main floor, and Mr. Rodriguez doesn’t have to walk up and down steps.”

There’s even access to the hot tub from the master bedroom.

A-Rod is recovering from hip surgery and is expected to hit the pool soon for some rehab exercises.

Locals of Vail, Colorado enjoyed the presence of the baseball celebrity. Rodriguez was spotted having drinks and pizza with a friend at some local bars.

Dr. Philippon also operated on Golf star Greg Norman, and NFL quarterbacks John Elway and Dan Marino have been treated at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic where Rodriguez had his surgery.

What is the difference between the NBA and the MLB? Well, first of all, there’s the game. Second, there are the players. And third, there is steroid use. Major League Baseball started out to be a clean sport with several of its best players earning titles and awards based on pure training and hard work. Now, however, it is probably the only sport that has been tainted with so much steroid use and widespread performance enhancing drug abuse. Basketball, on the other hand, used to be that sport that was almost dragged down by “gangsta” mentalities and recreational drugs. Yes, its tattoo-laden players had that “we bad and we know it” aura. Now, though, NBA has been redeemed. During the NBA All-Star game, basketball players, officials and fans were proud to know that out of the 20,000 people there, no one had used performance enhancing drugs and no one doubted the talent of the athletes.

From The Canadian Press:

“There are no questions,” Tim Duncan said. “They know we’re tested. They know we’re clean and they know the product that’s put on the floor are natural athletes that are performing the way they perform.”

The reasons behind that are many, though commissioner David Stern would like everyone to believe that the league’s drug-testing program is so stringent that it’s almost impossible to cheat. Olympic drug-testing experts say that’s not entirely true because there’s not enough tests and they don’t test for enough things, but what is true is that everyone in the league is tested four times a year and it’s truly random.

The real reason, though, may be that steroids never became a big part of the NBA culture because the perception among players is that they wouldn’t help much.

According to Chauncy Billups, basketball doesn’t have any need for anabolic steroids or growth hormones. Basketball is more of a mental game rather than a sport that needs its players to have rippling muscles or something to that extent. Nobody suspects anything bad from NBA players and that is something that basketball is truly proud of on top of every veteran and retired members of the sport that deserved the awards they received.

Florida is in the right path of creating clean, disciplined athletes with their new program to test high school students for alcohol and illegal drug use.

Athletes in the Olympics and Major League Baseball won’t be the only ones submitting urine samples to authorities. The program is being funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant

From Palm Beach Post:

High school athletes will have to submit to random testing to detect the use of alcohol as well as illegal and widely abused prescription drugs under a policy preliminarily approved Wednesday by the Palm Beach County School Board.

If the board gives final approval next week, the same company that tests district employees for drug use would randomly test this season’s baseball and softball players at six high schools.

The test for anabolic steroid use will not be available initially. This is because the Florida High School Athletic association was already testing for steroids when the grant was made and funding had already run out. NMS Management Services Inc., the company who would do the tests, is willing to add steroid testing on the program later on though.

Many school officials support the idea of testing the athletes. This will work by assigning a number per athlete and numbers will be chosen randomly. The corresponding students to the numbers picked will be the ones tested. Just as Ron Hoyt, West Boca Raton High’s softball coach, had said, the new policy will serve as a warning to students who plan on using drugs or steroids since they know that there will be consequences in doing so. When caught for the first time, an athlete will be banned from joining any games for 10 days, although he or she can practice with the team. When caught for the second time, the athlete will be removed from his or her team and will be prohibited from joining any competitions for an entire year. The main goal of the program is to make sure that the students are safe, and that they develop some discipline and knowledge with what is really going on in sports.

Marshall Gadd of Manchester was suspended from the rugby union after testing positive for stanozolol.

It follows a random drugs test after the National Division One match between Coventry and Manchester on 25 October.

Gadd’s suspension is for two years, which runs until November 18, 2010, according to the report of BBC Sport. The ban excludes Gadd from playing, training or being a member of a club, coaching or acting in any official capacity within the sport.

Gadd has two weeks to appeal against the ruling.

Stanozolol, commonly sold under the trade name Winstrol, is one of the most abused anabolic steroids by athletes for them to gain a winning edge.

This banned compound figured prominently in the case of sluggers Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Allegations abound regarding these two famed sluggers’ use of stanozolol and other performance-enhancing compounds.

Brian McNamee, Clemens’ former trainer, had testified that he had injected the pitcher with stanozolol during the 1988 baseball season.

Then there was Ben Johnson, the Canadian sprinter who was stripped of his gold medal in the 100-meter final at Seoul Olympics for testing positive for this anabolic steroid.

Stanozolol has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for both veterinary and human use. It is prescribed to treat anemia and hereditary angioedema in humans. In animals, it is used to facilitate muscle growth, red blood cell production, and to improve bone density.

The so-called steroid era in baseball is timelined from the 1990s onwards and it precipitated passage of several legislations, tell-all books, congressional inquiries, implementation of doping controls within the sport, and, just recently, an off- Broadway play.

Written by Itamar Moses, “Back, Back, Back” has this synopsis: “Does greatness always come with a price? Can only someone with nothing to lose tell the whole truth? The play follows the turbulent careers of three very different teammates in baseball’s steroid era whose clubhouse secrets bring them under federal scrutiny.”

The play is described by Steve Kettman in his review of the preview performance as “a fictionalized inquiry into the strange saga of former Oakland A’s teammates Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. The daring and talented playwright tosses in a third teammate, the lesser known shortstop Walt Weiss, as a pretty good device to get some of his own points across.”

Kettmann is a former baseball beat writer and Jose Canseco’s ghostwriter for “Juiced”. Kettmann’s review appeared on the Daily News and has the following excerpts:

the pressing question of how the steroid era in baseball happened and what it meant. That is what art is for. That is what it does. I’m still trying to figure out if the gents did not know that there was a real Jose Canseco who gave the world a real book called “Juiced,” that shot to No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list and precipitated congressional hearings, all thanks mostly to Canseco’s naming of his former teammate, McGwire, as a steroid user and his vivid description in the book of jabbing McGwire in the ass with a steroid needle.

The notion of an imagined conversation between Canseco and McGwire about why one of them wrote the book that would kill the Hall of Fame chances of the other is, to any real sports fans or to anyone who has grappled with the baseball issues of recent years, deeply fascinating and irresistible. For sheer creative bravado and raw courage, I think we owe young Berkeley, Calif.-born playwright Itamar Moses an extended ovation. And I defy anyone to question the man’s ability to imagine his way to truth that others have missed.

“Back, Back, Back” will be shown at the Manhattan Theater Club at Stage 2 at NY City Center on Nov. 18, Tuesday.

Moses has written several plays including “Bach at Leipzig” and “Biathlon”, the latter is the story of two Olympic cyclists colliding on the track.

We can’t seem to get enough of Jose Canseco, and here’s the latest update on the former MLB slugger.

Canseco, aka ‘The Godfather of Steroids’, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in connection with the importation of performance-enhancing drug into the United States from Mexico.

Canseco was sentenced to 12 months of unsupervised probation after he entered his guilty plea.

Canseco told the magistrate, Judge Ruben Brooks, he was sorry that he did not declare to border agents that he had with him the HCG vials.

Canseco was detained by customs officials on October 9 at the San Ysidro border when mislabeled vials were found in his vehicle. Said vials reportedly contained human chorionic gonadotropin and Canseco was unable to present prescription to justify the presence of the compound in his vehicle. Canseco was with a woman and the woman’s ‘minor’ daughter.

It was reported that the Cuban-born outfielder tried to smuggle in HCG, a fertility drug, to normalize his hormonal level. He was a self-confessed steroid user, and he blames his use of these controlled compounds as the cause of his hormonal levels being depressed.

And with his latest probation predicament, we’re sure it’s not only his hormonal level that feels depressed now.