Tribe's Byrd admits purchasing HGH
Baseball Betting Lines
10/21/2007 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Byrd did not dispute a newspaper report from earlier Sunday, which detailed the veteran's purchase of human growth hormone over a period of more than two years.
The San Francisco Chronicle cited business records as showing Byrd bought nearly $25,000 worth of HGH from August 2002 to January 2005, just before Major League Baseball banned the substance. Included in those purchases were more than 1,000 vials of the prescription drugs and hundreds of syringes.
According to the Chronicle report, records provided by a confidential source showed Byrd's purchase and shipping orders, payment information, birth date and Social Security number.
Byrd responded to the report in a press conference before Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
"I have never taken any hormone or any drug that hasn't been prescribed to me from a doctor," Byrd said of his HGH purchases. "That is the key to this, I have a reputation. I speak at a lot of places. I speak to kids, I speak to churches and I don't want people to think I cheated. It's very important to me to make people understand that."
Byrd said in an earlier interview with FOXSports.com that he had pituitary issues.
"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," Byrd said in the interview. "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."
The Chronicle reported that Byrd made 13 purchases from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center, which has been targeted by the Albany, New York district attorney for alleged illegal sales of drugs. The DA's office has included other clinics and pharmacies in Florida and Alabama as part of its probe, claiming jurisdiction because millions of dollars worth of the banned drugs were allegedly sold in New York.
Byrd pitched for the Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves during the time frame. He reportedly used his credit card to make purchases and had shipments sent to an address in suburban Kansas City, his home in Alpharetta, Georgia, the Braves' spring training facility in Florida and a New York City hotel when the Braves were playing the Mets.
Now 36 years old, Byrd had his best season in 2002 -- the summer of his first alleged purchase -- with Kansas City, when he posted a record of 17-11 with a 3.90 earned run average, seven complete games and two shutouts in 33 starts.
After missing the entire 2003 season because of an elbow injury, Byrd followed with an 8-7 campaign in 19 starts with Atlanta in 2004.
The Chronicle reported that the last purchase Byrd made was during the first week of January 2005. A week later, MLB formally banned the use of HGH.
HGH has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for certain conditions and diseases, one of which is adult growth-hormone deficiency.
Byrd was 15-8 with a 4.59 ERA in 31 starts this season for the Indians and has two wins in as many starts this postseason.
The Indians released a statement on the scandal early Sunday morning.
"We aware of the story regarding Paul," said Indians general manager Mark Shapiro. "I have spoken with Paul about the situation, however, at this time I don't feel I have enough information to make any further comments on the matter. He has been an important member of this organization -- on and off the field -- over the last two years and we support him in this process."
Major League Baseball also responded with a statement released before Game 7 of the ALCS.
"We will investigate the allegations concerning Paul Byrd as we have players implicated in previous similar reports," the release said. "Since Mr. Byrd and his club, the Cleveland Indians, are currently active in post-season play, we will interview Mr. Byrd prior to the start of the World Series should the Cleveland club advance."
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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
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