Cleveland Indians Steve Delabar Suspended 80 Games

Steve Delabar is working his way through minor league baseball trying to get back to the majors with the Cleveland Indians. Why is his suspension not getting the different attention it deserves for its unique circumstances?

On Monday, Minor League Baseball announced a number of suspensions for violations of the league’s drug program.

It was announced that Delabar tested positive for Ostarine, which is a drug used to treat osteoporosis and muscle wasting. Ostarine has shown in testing to produce anabolic effects.

Admission of guilt

What is intriguing in the response to Delabar’s suspension is that while most players that are suspended deny any knowledge of how the substance entered their body, Delabar admitted his wrongdoing and explained what happened.

Delabar issued this statement:

One of the constants in the arguments on social media and sports forums, and even among sports writers, when an athlete is suspended for a positive PED test is that there is criticism for the player who never owns up to his actions.

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Yet, here is a player, a former All-Star, no less, that is taking responsibility for his actions. Not only that, but he is warning fellow players against doing the same so as to avoid the stigma of a similar suspension in their careers.

However, rather than reading articles left and right about “finally a player came clean,” the majority of those who bad-mouth players for not coming clean about their knowledge of how they tested positive have been strangely silent.

Perhaps it’s ruining their status quo, and that’s an issue, but part of what we as baseball fans and baseball writers need to be able to do is admit our own wrongs and recognize those who show us our wrongs in a respectful manner.

The supplement issue

The other issue that Delabar’s statement brings to light is the issue of mislabeling players who are found guilty of having these substances in their bodies as cheaters, guys who are intentionally trying to game the system.

You or I can walk into any Wal-Mart or Target and purchase from a whole array of supplements. I thought on this issue before writing this article and I went to my local Wal-Mart, a store in a rural area, so not an overly large store by any means. I counted 237 options in the one main aisle with supplements, vitamins and powder proteins. That isn’t 237 brands, that’s 237 different options, many of which had different dosage options along with different brands.

PBS did an excellent examination of supplements on their Frontline program in early 2016. One of the things that came from that examination was that a number of vitamins sold had been found to have traces of anabolic steroids in them, such that people taking the vitamins were experiencing symptoms of a frequent anabolic steroid user by taking a daily vitamin.

The supplement industry is truly unregulated and these elements are quite dangerous to the average player. Jonah Keri had a very interesting podcast discussion with former NFL player Shawne Merriman, who was himself suspended of PEDs in his career. Merriman discussed the incredible difficulty that any athlete has finding a supplement, even at the more sports nutrition focused places like GNC or somewhere like that.

Many of these supplements are being found to be tainted, leading to suspensions in collegiate athletics. There hasn’t been one particular supplement that has been linked in a large number of major and minor league baseball suspensions, but that is one thing to consider before leveling judgment upon a player who tests positive.

Next: College prospects for 2017 MLB Draft

Delabar does have the distinction of being the first pitcher to record four strikeouts in an inning during an extra inning. Here’s the video of his story with HBO Real Sports discussing how he worked to get to the major leagues from being a baseball coach and substitute teacher: