• chone

  +3

  Carlos Pena's got to be hitting the HGH. Can't wait for the talking heads and columnists to explode on this one. 

  Posted 9/7/2007 respond (flag)

• mlnsports

  +2

  We had been trying to do a comeback story on him, and the lid is clamped down so tight, which is unusual even for the tight-lipped Cardinals.  This sadly makes sense.

  Posted 9/7/2007 respond (flag)

• Redsauce

  +2

  Crap, if this means Roy Hobbs was juicing too, my childhood's going to pot as we speak.

  Posted 9/8/2007 respond (flag)

Drug Cloud Now Hovers Over Feel-Good Rick Ankiel
Bugs & Cranks — ... The Daily News is reporting that Cardinals pitcher turned slugger Rick Ankiel was a customer of a “pharmacy at the forefront of Albany District Attorney David Soares’ two-year investigation into illegal Internet prescription drug sales, which has brought 22 indictments and nine convictions.” ...

N.Y. Daily News: Ankiel received 12-month supply of HGH
BBTF's Baseball Primer Newsblog — N.Y. Daily News: Ankiel received 12-month supply of HGH Well...so much for that. St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel, baseball s feel-good story of the season, received a 12-month supply of human growth hormone in 2004 from a Florida pharmacy that was part of a national illegal prescription drug-distribution operation, the Daily News has learned. ...According to records obtained by The News and sources close to the controversy surrounding anti-aging clinics that dispense illegal prescription drugs, Ankiel received eight shipments of HGH from Signature Pharmacy in Orlando from January to December 2004, including the brand-name injectable drugs Saizen and Genotropin. Signature is the pharmacy at the forefront of Albany District Attorney David Soares two-year investigation into illegal Internet prescription drug sales, which has brought 22 indictments and nin ...

Report: Rick Ankiel Recieved HGH
FanHouse — ... was. Now the New York Daily News gives us this: ...

NY Daily News: Rick Ankiel Purchased HGH
STLSportsMag — Via NYDailyNews.com: Â PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel, baseball's feel-good story of the season, received a 12-month supply of human growth hormone in 2004 from a Florida pharmacy that was part of a national illegal prescription drug-distribution operation, the Daily News has learned. Ankiel, who flamed out mentally and physically as a pitcher earlier this decade, only to return to the majors as a slugging outfielder last month, has evoked comparisons this season to Roy Hobbs and Babe Ruth. He hit two home runs, a double and had seven RBI yesterday against the Pirates at Busch Stadium, giving him nine home runs in 81 at-bats since his remarkable major league comeback began on Aug. 10. According to records obtained by The News and sources close to the controversy surrounding anti-aging clinics that dispense illegal prescripti ...

Getting in before the rush
Get Up, Baby! — ... Official Get Up, Baby! position statement regarding the imminent “Ankiel-bought-HGH-in-2004″ kerfuffle: barring further, actually damning evidence, this is going to be a sad and unnecessary derailment of what is–remains–the best baseball story in years. ...

Rick Ankiel: Reports of HGH Use Surface
FanIQ Blog — ... The New York Daily News is reporting that Rick Ankiel received a 12-month supply of HGH in 2004. ...

Why Am I Not Surprised?
Rumors and Rants — ... According to The New York Daily News, the Cardinals right fielder received a 12-month supply of human growth hormone in 2004 from a Florida pharmacy that was part of a national illegal prescription drug distribution operation. The Daily News' reporters saw clinical records and date they saw during the investigation. Ankiel's prescriptions were signed by William Gogan, a Florida physician, who provided them through "The Health and Rejuvenation Center," or "THARC," a Palm Beach Gardens clinic. ...

The Pages of the Storybook, A Bit Yellowed Now.
Signal to Noise — ... If the information obtained by the New York Daily News is to be believed, then the Cardinals are having a hell of a bad year in PR as they make a run for it in the NL Central: our feel-good story of the year in Rick Ankiel may make us a bit queasy, with reports he bought a year’s worth of HGH in 2004. This was before MLB banned HGH, but regardless of timing or legality, it’s going to leave a bitter taste in a lot of mouths. It’s part of the larger investigation by the Albany DA of a pharmacy in Florida that provided drugs to athletes, but I think this is probably the bigger point to note below: ...

Rick Ankiel and HGH: “The Natural” Isn’t So Natural, After All
The Starting Five — ... The New York Daily News bust ‘em crew of T.J. Quinn, Christian Red, Michael O’Keefe, and Bill Madden (whew!) report that the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder was supplied dwith HGH from Signature Pharmacy in Orlando from January to December 2004: ...

The Un-Natural?
MVN Outsider — ... Barely hours after he cleared the fence twice and drove home seven in a 16-4 pasting of the Pittsburgh Pirates, resurrected St. Louis Cardinals star Rick Ankiel turned up on the wrong side of a published report saying he received twelve month’s worth of human growth hormone (HGH) from a Florida source that was tied to a nationwide operation trucking in illegal prescription drugs. ...

Shoot Me Up A Winner, Bobby
Insomniac's Lounge — ... The New York Daily News is reporting that in 2004, Cardinals catalyst and one of the rare feel-good stories of the summer, Rick Ankiel, received a 12-month supply of human growth hormone from a Florida pharmacy. For Cards fans, this has to feel like they were just shown an alternate version of The Natural in which Roy Hobbs' pain becomes so severe that he has to shoot up with morphine before each game; and eventually, he robs a drifter for a fix, beats him to death with the Savoy Special, and finds himself sentenced to life in prison. (Actually, I think I'd watch that movie.) I wouldn't be surprised at all tomorrow to tune into Deadspin and see that its creator and ardent Cardinals fan, Will Leitch, has mimicked MGoBlog's response after the Wolverines lost to Appalachian State and replaced the entire site with pictures of kittens. ...

Wonderboy!
ShysterBall — ... Rick Ankiel reportedly received and presumably took HGH back in 2004. While the pharmacy is in the crosshairs of an investigation of illegal PED prescriptions, it doesn't appear at this time as though Ankiel is in any legal trouble over it. He apparently stopped receiving the HGH right before it was banned by baseball in 2005. ...

Ankiel’s New Nickname : The Unnatural
Can't Stop The Bleeding — ... Much as I hate to challenge the veracity of the below report from the New York Daily News’ T.J. Quinn, Christian Redd and Michael O’Keefee, we have to ask ourselves…is it really like Tony La Genius to ...

100% Injury Rate — ... Also, unless you've been under a rock, then you know Rick Ankiel - The Story of the Year - has now been connected to an HGH scandal. Which means he's no better than Bonds as we are more than happy ...

Day 157
Fantasy Alpha — ... Wunderkind Cardinals' OF Rick Ankeil hit two HRs and drove-in seven runs. Then the Daily News story broke that he received HGH shipments in 2004.

The Natural Not So Natural?
OUT OF RIGHT FIELD — ... ...

Growing Ankiel
baseballmusings.com — The New York Daily News connects Rick Ankiel to HGH . According to records obtained by The News and sources close to the controversy surrounding anti-aging clinics that dispense illegal prescription drugs, Ankiel received eight shipments of HGH from Signature Pharmacy in Orlando from January to December 2004, including the brand-name injectable drugs Saizen and Genotropin. Signature is the pharmacy at the forefront of Albany District Attorney David Soares' two-year investigation into illegal Internet prescription drug sales, which has brought 22 indictments and nine convictions. Ankiel's prescriptions were signed by Florida physician William Gogan, who provided them through a Palm Beach Gardens clinic called "The Health and Rejuvenation Center," or "THARC." The drugs were shipped to Ankiel at the clinic's address. THARC also provided a shipment of steroids and gr ...

Bourne to Preview the NBA
SLAM Online — ... should be… interesting today. Rick Ankiel is the anti-Jason Bourne. I don’t know what that means but it’s true. ...

Ankiel and HGH
Sabernomics — ... Late yesterday, The New York Daily News broke the story that Rick Ankiel received several shipments of human growth hormone (HGH) in 2004. ...

Ankiel On HGH?
Hot Foot — ... That would be a hell of a shame if ...

Baseball Today: Friday, September 7
Projo Sox Blog — ... THE LATEST BOMBSHELL: The New York Daily News reports the Cardinals' Rick Ankiel -- one of baseball's best feel-good stories for his transformation from no-control pitcher to slugging outfielder -- received a 12-month supply of HGH in 2004. The story is careful to note ''he stopped receiving HGH just before Major League Baseball officially banned it in 2005. MLB does not test for HGH, but a player who is known to have used it or even possessed it from the time it was banned can face a 50-game suspension.'' ...

Rick Ankiel, the Unnatural?
Babes Love Baseball — ... "The thing to remember when you get up there with runners on base is that the pitcher is the one that's in trouble," explained Ankiel.Except for when the Daily News reports that you received Human Growth Hormone. ...

On second thought......
The Bleacher Bums — ... this morning that Ankiel received a 12-month supply of human growth hormone in 2004 from a Florida pharmacy that was part of an illegal prescription drug ring. The article reports that Ankiel ...

say it ain't so
Viva El Birdos — ... . i have my own reasons for assuming that it's true --- i know two of the writers bylined on the article containing the allegations, quinn and o'keeffe, and they're both excellent journalists and individuals of integrity. if they've signed their names to this, i take it very seriously. a third byline on that story belongs to bill madden, who --- while not my favorite crafter of prose --- has been in this business for 30 years and has a spotless reputation. ...

Newspaper: Rick Ankiel Received Human Growth Hormone Shipments
SportsFilter —

Rick Ankiel: What We Lost, And What We Never Had
Deadspin —

Fantasy Baseball - Rick Ankiel, Danys Baez, Alfonso Soriano
FakeTeams —

Links of the day --
TheBigOz.com —

Randon Tidbits 9-7-7
the metropolitans —

Yeah ...
Our Book of Scrap: Sports News —

The Not So Natural?
The Big Lead — ... Before we castrate the guy, we do need to point out one key sentence in the NY Daily News report: “Ankiel, 28, has not been accused by authorities of wrongdoing, and according to the Signature records obtained by The News, he stopped receiving HGH just before Major League Baseball officially banned it in 2005.”

Wow, revisited
The GYS Network — ... On the upside, I think a 9th inning infield single, steal, and RBI single to win the game counts as "heart". Next complaint: the Red Sox have no "stomach". Who's with me? Eric? Dan?

Ankiel story takes turn
Sports Scope — ... that he received a one year supply of human growth hormone in 2004. Ankiel, according to the story, illegally obtained eight shipments of HGH from Signature Pharmacy, which allegedly is part of a national drug-distribution operation. Records obtained by the paper show Ankiel stopped receiving HGH before it was banned by Major League Baseball in 2005.

Figures
Sportsfrog.com — ... , thanks to Swamp omnipotent being, Hood*. Drop by with a thought or three.

Is Rick Ankiel For Real?
SOX & Dawgs —

Bad News For People Who Like Good News
The Feed —

Rick Ankiel, from anti-Bonds to Antichrist
The Postmen // A Sports Blog // Chicago, IL. — ... , I’m struggling to get my head around the Rick Ankiel shocker in today’s New York Daily News, which ...

St Louis Cardinals new natural Rick Ankiel: Growing (HGH) by artificial leaps and bounds
Steroid Nation —

Rick Ankiel Is a Cheater: He's Worse Than Bonds
Dan Shanoff —

Why Are We Finding Out That Rick Ankiel Bought HGH Now?
FanHouse — ... , who were publicly named. And has Major League Baseball known about Ankiel's status the whole time? This quote from the Daily News suggests not ... ...

HGH IN BASEBALL? MY INNOCENCE IS LOST
With Leather - Sports news and gossip, panda sex, and the occasional Toonces the driving cat Photoshop —

Thoughts on Rick Ankiel
The Legend of Cecilio Guante —

NYDN: Ankiel Bought HGH in 2004
The Joy of Sox —

Friday Afternoon Linkin Park
Drunk Jays Fans — ... Whatever you do, don't check out this link if you're a Cardinals fan or into feeling good about humanity. ...

You Have to be Kidding
Sportszilla and the Jabber Jocks — So yesterday the news came out that everyone's Golden Boy, Rick Ankiel, received HGH through an illegal prescription drug ring in 2004. Now, I'll be the first to admit that Ankiel was a great story...guy loses his mind on the mound, never recovers his phenom status, comes back as an outfielder, and starts smacking home runs...The Natural, all that. Like I said, it was a great story. Then this. Oh well Rick, it was a great run, but get used to being booed everywhere you go. Oh wait, apparently not. See, it seems like everyone wants to give Ankiel a pass. "He was just using it to recover from Tommy John surgery," they say, or "it wasn't technically against the rules of baseball (even though he got it illegally)." You know who else didn't technically break any baseball rules, but has been pilloried for his alleged abuse of HGH? Yeah, that's ri ...

Ankiel and HGH is why we need to lay off of Bonds, McGwire
Obscure Sports Quarterly —

I Only Want To Hear From One Man...
STLSportsMag —

Rick Ankiel and HGH
Construda — There's been a lot of blogging/writing about this today and judging by Ballhype and Technorati, this is easily the most blogged story in several weeks. Our opinion is simple: If Ankiel used HGH , he needs to come clean. But everyone should also note that he received HGH - which only helps heal, not make stronger or faster or quicker or your head grow - in 2004, which is before MLB banned the substance in 2005. Plus he hasn't been accused by authorities of any wrongdoing. Here are just a few tremendous blog and .com entries we've found today: Rick Ankiel: What we lost, and what we never had ( ...

Another Athlete Implicated; MLB’s Black Eye Gets Bigger
SOX & Dawgs —

The Unnatural
Fungoes — ... Since no one in baseball these days has shown himself to be trustworthy these days, the only source of information we have to go on is those who cover the game and are bold enough to investigate what Major League Baseball refuses to. In this case, it’s the New York Daily News (who also detailed the Mark McGwire steroid cocktail story), which broke the news that Ankiel, the Cardinal twice-phenom, received eight shipments of Human Growth Hormone from January to December 2004. ...

Open Thread - Game 141: Mariners (74-64) vs. Tigers (75-65)
Bless You Boys —

Jack Wilson: The Trade Rumor That Just Refuses to Die
Bless You Boys —

Glaus and Ankiel Received PEDs, According to Report
The Biz of Baseball :: Business of Sports Network — ... Rick Ankiel, the St. Louis Cardinals feel-good story of the summer, received a 12-month supply of human growth hormone (HGH) in 2004 according to an investigation into Signature Pharmacy, of Orlando, FL that did an estimated $36 million in business last year, mostly via the Internet.  As reported by the NY Daily News: ...

Ankiel Biters
El Lefty Malo — ... about it so far.

The Media and Porformance-Enhancing Drugs
Sabernomics —

SI links Gibbons to steroid and HGH shipments
Sports Scope —

Rick Ankiel: From the Golden Boy to the Golden Sombrero
Home Run Derby — ... Wow.  A lot has changed since late last Thursday night when Rick Ankiel went 4 for 4 with two Home Runs and had seven RBI against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Everything was going great for the Cardinals, who were 17-9 in their last 26 games (since Ankiel s 2007 debut) and were now only one game out of first place in the NL Central.  Thanks in no small part to Rick Ankiel. Ankiel was the feel-good story of the MLB season for a Cardinals team that desperately needed one after the drunk driving arrest of their manager and the death (from drunk driving) of one of their pitchers.  Not to mention the fact that the team had played poorly throughiut the first half of the season. But then on Friday, the news broke that Ankiel had recieved a one-year supply of Human Growth Hormone from that Florida pharmacy that s at the center of an an illegal prescription drug distribution. ...

Chicago Bulls Season Preview
SLAM Online —

La Russa : Lay Off Roy Hobbs Jr.
Can't Stop The Bleeding — Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, no stranger to presiding over sluggers suspected of using something-or-other to gain an edge recover quickly, tells the St. Louis Post Dispatch’s Joe Strauss scrutiny of pitcher-turned-outfielder Rich Ankiel is unwarranted. And he may have a point — it’s not like Ankiel fell asleep at the wheel or something. On Sept. 6 Ankiel included two home runs and seven RBIs among three hits in only seven innings of a 16-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. A report surfaced during the team’s charter flight to Arizona of Ankiel’s connection to HGH. The next day Ankiel began an ...

Whoa, Canada
Roar from 34 - A Baltimore Orioles Blog — Millar, Loewen, and Bordick make a new home in the Great White North Despite the headline, this post has nothing to do with Alex Rodriguez homering in the Yankees' spring training opener against the Blue Jays . Instead, the focus here is on former Orioles who are now with the Blue Jays. Somebody needs to tell the Jays that we haven't been very good lately. If nothing else, at least it makes for some compelling storylines. First, there's the obvious, the Jays' acquisition of "Orioles Magic, The Sequel" star Kevin Millar, who has parlayed his " veteran player who won a World Series and can therefore be a clubhouse leader " reputation to extend what otherwise might have been a very ...

The Natural: Cinema, Fiction, Myth and Reality
AZ Snakepit — The 2009 baseball season is officially under way, and I marked that fact by watching The Natural this afternoon - which may become an annual tradition. It's probably my favorite sports films of all time, and the final scene is among the best in cinema, always making me pretend something has got stuck in my eye. But the movie operates on so many levels: as a heroic struggle, a tale of redemption and happiness lost and found, and among the most evocative depictions of what makes baseball the game that we love. After the jump, we look at the movie from these various angles, the book from whence it came, and also the players to whom the tag 'The Natural' has been applied over the ...

The Natural: Cinema, Fiction, Myth and Reality
Fanster.com — The 2009 baseball season is officially under way, and I marked that fact by watching The Natural this afternoon - which may become an annual tradition. It's probably my favorite sports films of all time, and the final scene is among the best in cinema, always making me pretend something has got stuck in my eye. But the movie operates on so many levels: as a heroic struggle, a tale of redemption and happiness lost and found, and among the most evocative depictions of what makes baseball the game that we love. After the jump, we look at the movie from these various angles, the book from whence it came, and also the players to whom the tag 'The Natural' has been applied over the ...