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Yanks 2B Chuck Knoblauch Lost His Ability To Throw To First, But Gained A Love for HGH
Commenter Joe Corrao takes me to task in my last post for cherry-picking a data point from the Mitchell Report that reflects badly upon my hated Boston Red Sox. He goads me into citing some Yankees named in the report who were part of the Bronx Bombers' torrid 1996-2000 teams. Sure, I mentioned both Clemens and Pettitte in the last post, but you know what, Joe? Fair enough. Behold, the horrible coda to one of the strangest psychological tales in baseball: the case of Chuck Knoblauch's wonky arm.
Every Yankee fan remembers the horror of Knoblauch. Knoblauch was a fantastic second basemen who, starting in 1999 and accelerating in 2000, lost the ability to throw to first base. Sure-fire outs sailed into the stands or into the home-team dugout. The conventional wisdom said it was a vicious circle of self-inflicted psychological pressure, as Knoblauch buckled under the freight of playing for the Yanks. Buster Olney devoted a whole chapter to Knoblauch in his book The Last Night of The Yankee Dynasty.
It turns out that after Knoblauch's troubles sunk in, he turned to juicing -- very likely seeking a pharmacological solution for a psychological problem. According to Mitchell, Knoblauch bought human growth hormone (well, I guess juicing isn't the right word, given that Knobby used HGH, but still) from Yankee assistant strength coach Brian McNamee during 2001 spring training and the early part of the season, using Yankee pitcher Jason Grimsley as his cutout man. McNamee bought his HGH from the steroid-pusher-turned-Mitchell-snitch Kirk Radomski, who produced checks from Grimsley totaling $5,550.
If Knoblauch intended to use HGH to overcome his fielding troubles, he failed. During the 2001 season, Knoblauch was bounced around to the outfield and to the designated hitter's slot. He became a free agent after the '01 season, and played his last year in 2002 in Kansas City.
And with that, we end our diversion into the major leagues' muck.
Josh
Zachary
Thanks for putting something other than the Beltway on your websight for a change. Nice to break up things a little.
December 13, 2007 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
You da man!
December 13, 2007 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Knoblauch thought he was going to rehab his arm using HGH, he's clearly the biggest idiot in baseball history (exaggeration) to go about the problem which I have to assume was without any sort of medical supervision or consultation.
Throwing a ball is one issue. But throwing a ball with pinpoint accuracy and speed is something that is not exclusively a physical issue. I would have to guess that because of his HGH, his muscles may have regained form but his mind hadn't adapted to the new muscle growth to be able to use it properly. His wildness (much like Rick Ankiel's wildness) was a direct result of losing that pinpoint control because of a drastic change to his muscular and nervous systems getting thrown into flux. Nobody just loses the ability to throw like that overnight without the introduction of other factors. Just a casual observation from a lifelong Yankee fan.
As far as steroids go, those commercials love to talk about shrinking your balls, but what's even more dangerous is the decline of mental function in many users. Perhaps someone who actually went to school for endocrinology can expand for us.
December 13, 2007 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
In all seriousness I'm very surprised that few current Sox weren't on the list, and for the most part the players named were not superstars, but mid level utility guys. I guess they needed a little help to keep their jobs...Knoblauch's story is a very sad 1.
December 13, 2007 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rick Ankiel, also on the list, had a promising career as a pitcher derailed by a mental block that caused his pitches to sail three feet over the batter's head, or into the home team's bullpen a'la Nuke LaLoosh.
I guess it turns out that Rick Ankiel has a doctor's excuse for the HGH though, since he was recovering from Tommy John Surgery at the time. It obviously did nothing for his pitching.
December 13, 2007 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ankiel's juicing sure had some effect; last summer, he made an improbable comeback, switching from pitcher to outfield. Lo, and behold, he started cranking home runs. Despite the uproar over his HGH use, the Kangaroo Kommish's office found no evidence of wrongdoing....
as Gomer Pyle used to say, "surprise, surprise!"
December 13, 2007 6:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was pleased that none of the current Mariners were on the list, but saddened to see former Mariner David Bell named.
I guess they left Brett Boone, he of one, presumably, juiced Hall of Fame season, off the list because he's been out of the game for three years now.
December 13, 2007 6:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dude sure could play some ball when he first came up though.
December 13, 2007 6:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Remember, folks, that the report relied heavily on a few specific sources, and that Mitchell supposes that at least 2x or 3x as many players have used banned substances.
For example, I didn't see Sammy Sosa's name on the list (to choose an example from my own team, the Cubs). Anyone want to debate whether Sammy was juicing back in the late-90s? Seems pretty likely to me.
-- ARG
December 13, 2007 7:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
The World Series Yankee-steroid-tainted wins should be removed from the records, and re-awarded like the Olympics. Especially year 2000. In fact the Yankees whole season in 2000 should be removed from the record books because of steroid-using-cheating Roger Clemens!
December 13, 2007 9:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey PA - - Get a life!
December 13, 2007 10:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
He has got to be the second biggest idiot in baseball history...
(A moment of trolled silence...)
December 13, 2007 11:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
How can you possibly talk about 'roids without mentioning Brett Boone, who with the Seattle Mariners was hitting home runs pitched over his head! The guy hit 330 something. Then when Canseco implicated him, Boone got off the steriods and after that couldn't hit the ball out of the infield. This steriod thing stinks! And it's not just in baseball - it's in all sports. It's cheating folks. Cheating, plain and simple.
December 14, 2007 12:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Paul - You won't see anybody in hockey or soccer on steroids. When it comes down to conditioning in those sports steroids is about the worst thing you can do to your physique.
December 14, 2007 9:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
C-mon Spencer- where's the petitte/clemens raking?
Additionally, I'd like to point out that no one- NO ONE- can attribute any of the Sox's success last season to Gagne.
In fact, if there was going to be one guy on the sox who was found to have been on drugs, I'd just assume that it'd be that trainwreck of a reliever.
Have fun, Brewers!
December 14, 2007 10:59 AM | Reply | Permalink