Gio Gonzalez Linked To Miami Clinic That Provided Drugs To Athletes
By Jared Book
An article in the Miami New Times appeared online, with reports that link a clinic named Biogenesis near the University of Miami provided several Major League Baseball players, including Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez, with various drugs.
Update: Gonzalez has released a statement to the Washington Times:
"“I’ve never used performance-enhancing drugs of any kind, and I never will. I’ve never met or spoken with Tony Bosch or used any substances provided by him. Anything said to the contrary is a lie.”"
Oct 7, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez (47) throws to a St. Louis Cardinals batter during the second inning of the 2012 NLDS at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
The paper claims to have received the information from an employee after the owner had gone missing. The list includes Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon who both tested positive for performance enhancing drugs last season as well as Yasmani Grandal who tested positive this off-season. It also includes Nelson Cruz, Alex Rodriguez in addition to Gonzalez.
On page five and six of the article is the part relating to Gonzalez:
"There’s also the curious case of Gio Gonzalez, the 27-year-old, Hialeah-native, left-handed hurler who won 21 games last year for the Washington Nationals. Gonzalez’s name appears five times in Bosch’s notebooks, including a specific note in the 2012 book reading, “Order 1.c.1 with Zinc/MIC/… and Aminorip. For Gio and charge $1,000.” (Aminorip is a muscle-building protein.)Gonzalez’s father, Max, also appears on Bosch’s client lists and is often listed in conjunction with the pitcher. But reached by phone, the Hialeah resident insists his son has had no contact with Bosch.“My son works very, very hard, and he’s as clean as apple pie,” the elder Gonzalez says. “I went to Tony because I needed to lose weight. A friend recommended him, and he did great work for me. But that’s it. He never met my son. Never. And if I knew he was doing these things with steroids, do you think I’d be dumb enough to go there?”"
The Tony in question is Anthony Bosch, a 49-year old who was the clinic’s chief. The article points out that several former employees have confirmed the hand-written notes come from Bosch.
As for the substance Aminorip, Will Carroll has said that he is not familiar with the specific product nor what MIC could stand for. Carroll is one of the most well-known experts on sports injuries and medicine and was one of the first to promote the story on Twitter Tuesday morning.
It has been noted on Twitter that the products listed under Gonzalez may not be illegal under Major League Baseball’s drug system. However, the fact that Gonzalez issued a full denial from dealing with Bosch at all leaves questions surrounding why his name is even there. Had he denied using illegal or banned substances that could have been a little different. We will continue to follow the situation as more becomes available and as Major League Baseball’s investigation continues.
Obviously, as we learned from BALCO and other cases, it should be taken with a grain of salt. However, we also learned from these cases that where there is smoke, there can be fire. Being linked to a clinic that had three players test positive through Major League Baseball’s drug testing is not good no matter how you look at it.