Alfonzo busted

Alfonzo suspended 50 games for positive drug test

By JOSH DUBOW, AP Sports Writer 1 hour, 5 minutes ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)-San Francisco Giants minor league catcher Eliezer Alfonzo
was suspended 50 games Wednesday for testing positive for a
performance-enhancing substance, the first player penalized this year under
Major League Baseball's drug program.

Alfonzo is on San Francisco's 40-man roster so he falls under the major
league program even though he has played all season at Triple-A Fresno.

"I made a mistake, and I want to apologize to my family, my teammates, the
fans and the Giants organization," Alfonzo said in a statement released by
the team. "I know what I did was wrong, and now I will pay the penalty. As a
father, I now have to look my children in the eye and explain to them that I
have made a big mistake, one, unfortunately, that they are also going to
have to deal with, as well as me."

The 29-year-old Venezuelan was optioned to Fresno just before opening day
and is batting .306 with three homers and 14 RBIs in 16 games. The
suspension will start Thursday, and Alfonzo will be eligible to return to
play June 27, assuming there are no postponements.

He played 113 games with the Giants in the 2006 and 2007 seasons, batting
..263 with 13 homers and 45 RBIs.

The Giants said in a statement they also were disappointed to learn about
the positive test and that they support baseball's testing program. Alfonzo
is the first Giants player to be suspended under the major league drug
program that first started suspensions in 2004.

"As an organization, we will continue to work with our players, Major League
Baseball and the players association to do what we can do to eliminate these
performance enhancing substances from our game," the team said. "We will
continue to support and counsel Eliezer during his suspension."

Five players have been suspended this year under the minor league program.

"Awesome Lincecum" <Lincecum@sf.giants> wrote in message
news:67s54jF2pt6jbU1@mid.individual.net...
>
> Alfonzo suspended 50 games for positive drug test
>
> By JOSH DUBOW, AP Sports Writer 1 hour, 5 minutes ago
>
> SAN FRANCISCO (AP)-San Francisco Giants minor league catcher Eliezer
> Alfonzo
> was suspended 50 games Wednesday for testing positive for a
> performance-enhancing substance, the first player penalized this year
> under
> Major League Baseball's drug program.
>
> Alfonzo is on San Francisco's 40-man roster so he falls under the major
> league program even though he has played all season at Triple-A Fresno.
>
> "I made a mistake, and I want to apologize to my family, my teammates, the
> fans and the Giants organization," Alfonzo said in a statement released by
> the team. "I know what I did was wrong, and now I will pay the penalty. As
> a
> father, I now have to look my children in the eye and explain to them that
> I
> have made a big mistake, one, unfortunately, that they are also going to
> have to deal with, as well as me."
>
> The 29-year-old Venezuelan was optioned to Fresno just before opening day
> and is batting .306 with three homers and 14 RBIs in 16 games. The
> suspension will start Thursday, and Alfonzo will be eligible to return to
> play June 27, assuming there are no postponements.
>
> He played 113 games with the Giants in the 2006 and 2007 seasons, batting
> .263 with 13 homers and 45 RBIs.
>
> The Giants said in a statement they also were disappointed to learn about
> the positive test and that they support baseball's testing program.
> Alfonzo
> is the first Giants player to be suspended under the major league drug
> program that first started suspensions in 2004.
>
> "As an organization, we will continue to work with our players, Major
> League
> Baseball and the players association to do what we can do to eliminate
> these
> performance enhancing substances from our game," the team said. "We will
> continue to support and counsel Eliezer during his suspension."
>
> Five players have been suspended this year under the minor league program.
>
>So it was Alfonzo not Bonds, they have been after the wrong guy.

29? He looks like he's 39. No big loss.I like Holm better anyway.

On Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:19:04 -0700 (PDT), "benf802961@aol.com"
<benf802961@aol.com> wrote:

>29? He looks like he's 39. No big loss.I like Holm better anyway.

One of the local sports broadcasters for Oahu's ESPN station had
Alfonzo designated as the Giants' starting catcher. Needless to say,
I got on the cellphone and set the station straight about that.