Comments on: Pitcher's Treatment Draws Scrutiny

Pitcher's Treatment Draws Scrutiny

reenum — Thu, 12 May 2011 09:53:33 -0800

Bartolo Colon, now of the New York Yankees, underwent a controversial stem-cell treatment in the Dominican Republic to regain his old form.

By: inigo2

inigo2 — Thu, 12 May 2011 09:58:08 -0800

MLB is looking into it because it seems to be the first of its kind. Not sure that it's really "controversial". The only controversial thing seems to be that the doc has used HGH in the past, but didn't in this case (so he claims).

By: exogenous

exogenous — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:02:29 -0800

It was an autologous stem cell transplant (i.e., his own cells from elsewhere in his body where placed in his elbow and shoulder). This is not, in my opinion, nearly as controversial as the autologous blood transfer that has been used to cheat in cycling events.

By: joe lisboa

joe lisboa — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:12:32 -0800

Christ, what a colon.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:13:15 -0800

"Hey Doc, can I get that Colon surgery?"

By: (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates

(Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:13:51 -0800

HIS LAST NAME IS LIKE A BUTTHOLE.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:15:26 -0800

I could go for a nice controversial stem-cell treatment about now.

By: joe lisboa

joe lisboa — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:16:25 -0800

I assume full blame for rectal punning. I apologize. Christ, I am the asshole.

By: Hoopo

Hoopo — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:16:35 -0800

HIS LAST NAME IS LIKE A PUJOLS.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:16:54 -0800

His old form? Was he like a Minotaur or something?

By: Nomyte

Nomyte — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:20:55 -0800

No, but he was strong like bull.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:24:27 -0800

HIS LAST NAME IS LIKE A BUTTHOLE. Stem cells can turn into anything!

By: Melismata

Melismata — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:29:03 -0800

He went AWOL from the Red Sox, IIRC. The last name applies.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:49:57 -0800

"He went AWOL from the Red Sox, IIRC. The last name applies." [emphasis mine] This is what I love (not really) about Red Sox fans. So much hatred, yet none of that energy can be diverted to fact-check that the hatred is justified (which, in this case, it still wouldn't be).

By: IanMorr

IanMorr — Thu, 12 May 2011 11:18:00 -0800

Is this somehow different than taking a tendon from your left arm to replace your right UCL, like they do in Tommy John surgery?

By: hincandenza

hincandenza — Thu, 12 May 2011 11:53:23 -0800

Okay, I have to give in to my 'Grawr' and say "What the fuck?!" Not to the story itself, but the framing. The OP says "controversial treatment", the NYT title says "Disputed Treatment"... yet unless I glossed over it this is completely unsupported by the article or the story. What controversy? What dispute? From what I can tell, this procedure is:

Fairly new, even pioneering... but completely legal
Not regulated by federal or state law in terms of who can use this procedure
Not implicitly or explicitly prohibited by MLB rules or union agreements
As IanMorr notes, is functionally no different than the very common TJ surgery in the sense that it's not about foreign agents or designer drugs- and plenty of players have had unnecessary elective surgery including TJ or laser vision correction

So I have to ask, "Where's the controversy? Where's the dispute?". People, this kind of sloppy language is what helped get us a War on Drugs, and it's how we end up with overly broad rules in sports that disqualify athletes for using nasal spray or OTC aspirin, while so-called sports "journalists" engage in hand-wringing about PEDs and other national crises. Ugh.

By: yerfatma

yerfatma — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:04:09 -0800

He went AWOL from the Red Sox, IIRC. The last name applies Well, he was pretty much useless before he left, so why bother holding a grudge? Are you still upset with Jay Payton too?

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:39:41 -0800

Is there some sort of stem-cell bath I can soak in? Man, to feel 20 again.

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:43:02 -0800

You guys know his last name is pronounced co-LONE, right?

By: joe lisboa

joe lisboa — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:47:17 -0800

Shamefully, I do, dirigibleman. But if it is any consolation, my juvenile antics evidently pissed someone off enough to de-favorite some other comments. Off to cry the sweet, sweet tears of a Tigers fan.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:30:52 -0800

"You guys know his last name is pronounced co-LONE, right?" HIS LAST NAME IS LIKE A ~~BUTTHOLE~~ PERFUME.

By: box

box — Thu, 12 May 2011 17:07:37 -0800

Man, I wish my name was a punctuation mark.

By: inigo2

inigo2 — Fri, 13 May 2011 05:05:32 -0800

Stem cell procedure nothing new

If stem cells open a new can of worms, then it should have been opened a long time ago. And we'd better add a bunch of other players who have had a stem cell procedure to the scrutiny list. To name just a few: Indians' outfielder Grady Sizemore; Saints' safety Darren Sharper; and here's your All-NBA stem cell first team: Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady, Amar'e Stoudemire, Allan Houston, and Kenyon Martin. These are all athletes who have had microfracture surgery, which is a stem cell procedure.

By: yerfatma

yerfatma — Fri, 13 May 2011 06:11:47 -0800

It's all really small beer compared to Robin van Persie's horse placenta deal.