It probably shouldn't be a surprise that the latest update in the story has come out today. With the World Baseball Classic in Miami, the Miami New Times' investigation into the since-shuttered Coral Gables, Florida anti-aging clinic Biogeneis and its owner Anthony Bosch's alleged connection to professional athletes, who allegedly purchased performance-enhancing drugs from Mr. Bosch, is once again in the headlines.
The latest update, of sorts, comes over a month after the paper's editor said he was considering handing over to Major League Baseball what was described in the original article by the Miami New Times' reporter Tim Elfrink as, "...an extraordinary batch of records from Biogenesis," given to them by a former clinic employee which included, "... the patient files, the payment records, and the handwritten notebooks kept by the clinic's chief, 49-year-old Anthony Bosch," which, after a three-month investigation, provided what the Miami New Times believed was evidence that, "... the firm's real business," was, "... selling performance-enhancing drugs, from human growth hormone (HGH) to testosterone to anabolic steroids." Mentioned in the records, according to the original report, were the names of at least six major league players.
More names have surfaced since. Major League Baseball launched an investigation immediately. Several of the players named in the article issued denials or explanations of their connection to the clinic and the Miami New Times considered handing over the records to MLB. Miami New Times' editor Chuck Strouse wrote this afternoon, however, that they had finally decided against giving Major League Baseball the batch of records they received. In today's article, Mr. Strouse explained the decision:
"The reasons are manifold. History plays a role in our decision. So do journalistic ethics and the fact that we have already posted dozens of records on our website. Finally, there is a hitherto-unreported Florida Department of Health criminal probe into clinic director Anthony Bosch."
History? Mr. Strouse goes on to talk about Marlins' owner Jeffrey Loria's time in Montreal and the ongoing drama surrounding the construction of Marlins Park (a site of WBC games today) and Miami's MLB team's decision to deal a number of the high profile free agents they acquired once the new facilty was built. Mr. Strouse also goes back in time some and mentions Shoeless Joe Jackson, MLB's handling of the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal, the history of racism in the game and Major League Baseball's handling of the last steroid scandal in the 1990s. As for journalistic ethics, Mr. Strouse writes about the chilling effect handing over the records might have on potential future sources. It's an interesting read at least...
Read the article HERE.
(ed. note - "Not sure about the second sentence of the new article in light of subsequent reports.")
CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman spoke to an MLB spokesman who commented on the Miami New Times' announcement:
miami new times says no to mlb. mlb spokesman pat courtney says "we have been proceeding w/ our investigation as if (cont.)
' Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) March 12, 2013
(Cont.) we were not going to be getting documents from them."
' Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) March 12, 2013
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