Ex- Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon admits to taking Toradol
Yesterday, former Red Sox closer Jon Papelbon admitted to taking the legal yet controversial drug Toradol. This is the same anti-inflammatory drug that Clay Buchholz admitted to taking last season and it is what he blames for his esophagitis that cost him 20 games in 2012. One of the known side effects for Toradol is esophagitis, a swelling and bleeding of the esophagus.
Toradol is frowned on by many organizations around the majors. During his 2011 physical with the Phillies, Papelbon's tests showed that he had Toradol in his system, and the Phillies made it known that they did not encourage those types of drugs. Papelbon has said he no longer takes the drug with his new team.
They told me, 'We don't do that here.' That kind of surprised me, [but] I haven't had a single Toradol shot since.So if this drug is legal, why is this such big news to MLB? Well, Red Sox fans, it cost Clay Buchholz, our ace, quite a bit of time last season. Who knows what else it has done to other Red Sox players over the years. Also, if it has come out that the Red Sox staff is allowing this highly controversial drug in the clubhouse, what else are they allowing their players to take? Last week, Curt Schilling claimed that a Red Sox staff member told him in 2008 to start taking PEDs in order to recover faster. Since the claim, MLB has done a review and found that Schilling's story was baseless, but the fact that a former Red Sox player has even implied that PED use was loosely thrown around the clubhouse should raise as many flags as a linesman during a Baltimore Raven's game.
How many other horn-blowers are there in the majors? Can we all really believe what Curt Schilling is saying? No one wanted to believe Jose Canseco when he implicated the many MLB players for steroids, but much of what he said ended up being the truth. Big mouthed Texan Josh Beckett left the Red Sox on bad terms over the Summer, so if there is anything he wants to say, he could always reveal some hidden truths as well.
Overall, there may be some worry in the Red Sox clubhouse because you know that MLB executives will spend some extra TLC around Boston this summer, and they won't just be looking for the rest of Jon Lackey.
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