Weight Watchers in the Steroid era

After the Balco grand jury testimony last year, both Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds showed up visibly lighter than the previous season. Jason said that he didn't lose that much, he only trimmed a little while Barry said that he decided to lose weight and gain flexibility. Of course, we now know that both were under the influence in 2003 of steroids, Balco-style.

However, at that time, both were only rumored users, so I thought it would be interesting how each of them performed. Their performance on the field couldn't have been any different. Giambi showed all the signs of a user, with odd injuries and lessened performance while Bonds continued at the same pace he did previously with no change in performance, suggesting that he is truly doing it on his own and not with help.

Now a new season is upon us and like swallows of Capistrano, baseball returns to us, a sign of spring. And with it, the news of weight loss flutters in the news winds. Our new subject of observation, one Ivan Rodriguez, fingered in Jose Canseco's tome de tell-all, showed up at 193 pounds, 22 fewer than last year. Someone new to track.