[Phils20]

Garciaparra on deck for Phillies?

By Jim Salisbury
Inquirer Staff Writer
If infielder Nomar Garciaparra is interested in continuing his career, the Phillies may sign him to be a righthanded bat off their bench. A team source yesterday confirmed a Fox sports report that said the Phillies had interest in the 35-year-old former two-time American League batting champion. The Phils have not made an offer, but may if Garciaparra tells them that he wants to play in 2009.
The Phillies also have shown interest in Gabe Kapler as a righthanded bat, but it appears he will sign elsewhere.
Garciaparra, a 13-year veteran, hit .264 with eight home runs in 55 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.
Drug report. In addition to Phillies pitcher J.C. Romero, 18 players on 40-man rosters in the major leagues tested positive for a banned substance leading up to and during the 2008 baseball season.
The list of banned substances that showed up in tests was released yesterday by the independent administrator that oversees the joint drug prevention and treatment program of Major League Baseball and the players' association.
The independent administrator collected and analyzed 3,486 tests from the start of the 2007-2008 off-season until the end of the 2008 postseason.
Five tests were positive for steroids. Fourteen players tested positive for stimulants; as first-time offenders, they entered a treatment program and were not suspended.
Romero tested positive for a banned steroid in August and will serve a 50-game suspension at the start of the 2009 season. Though names of violators were not listed on the report, multiple baseball sources have said that Romero tested positive for androstenedione.
Romero was suspended this week with New York Yankees pitcher Sergio Mitre, who has admitted that he tested positive for androstenedione. The two have denied wrongdoing, saying they took an over-the-counter dietary supplement they believed was free of banned substances.
Last season, San Francisco catcher Eliezer Alfonso, Colorado catcher Humberto Cota, and Florida pitcher Henry Owens were suspended for 50 games for using performance-enhancing substances.
Stimulants found in tests included Adderall, Clobenzorex and Dexedrine.
Baseball issued 114 therapeutic-use exemptions, 106 of them for attention-deficit disorder.
The public report was a recommendation of former Sen. George Mitchell (D., Maine) after his December 2007 report on the use of banned substances in baseball.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

I like to call Nomar, "MR Mia Hamm"...can you imagine the kids these two will produce?