What is the truth?

He continues to stick by his assertions that former Oakland A's teammates Jason Giambi and Mark McGwire, along with Texas Rangers' teammates Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro and Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez all were introduced to steroids by Canseco, a claim all but Gonzalez dismissed as false. Gonzalez has yet to say anything.

All of which leads to a disturbing thought process: Who's telling the truth? Who's lying? Granted, people don't think Canseco has much credibility. A player who was at one time one of the best in the game, degenerated into a laughingstock on the field and a menace to society off of it with his various run-ins with the law.

But does that mean he's lying now? What does he have to gain from not telling the truth? In fact, he actually has more to lose — money-wise — if he is lying.

What the Lounge finds interesting is all the players he names in the book denied taking steroids, yet there has not been a threat of any lawsuit against Canseco or the publisher of the book. If the players in question truly haven't taken illegal, performance-enhancing drugs, then what Canseco says in his book is libel.

Yet all you hear is, "I feel sorry for Jose," or "I guess he needs money," or "we were never really that good of friends."

That's all well and good, but who's telling the truth? After a recent report in the San Francisco Chronicle had Giambi admitting to a Grand Jury he used steroids, suddenly other rumors don't seem so far-fetched.

The Lounge believes some of Canseco's accusations were embellished, but there has some nugget of truth to them.

***

Hey kids, if you needed any more proof steroids can ruin your life, just look at these examples:

Lyle Alzedo, former NFL football player. Although he technically died from a brain tumor, he blamed it on his long-term abuse of steroids.

Ken Caminiti, former MLB baseball player. He died from a cocaine overdose but you can trace his taste for illicit drugs back to his use of steroids. He admitted he was on the juice when he won his MVP award in 1996, but what had he done before, or after, that year? Not much.

Jose Canseco, former MLB baseball player. Admitted his career was built on steroids and while he was once one of the best in the game, look where he ended up. Had a chance to be one of the best ever but began to slack off the hard work needed to stay at the top. Just another example of needing more than pharmaceutical help to be a star.

Jason Giambi, currently with the New York Yankees. He signed a huge deal with New York in 2001 and after his first year in which he excelled, has steadily declined since. He looked like he was a cancer patient when he showed up at Spring Training last season, looking as if he dropped about 25, 30 pounds instead of just the four he claimed. Will be dodging steroid questions for the rest of his career.

Juan Gonzalez, currently with the Cleveland Indians. When he came up, he had future Hall of Famer written all over him. Over the past four or five years, however, he's battled one injury after another, just one sign of steroid abuse: The body constantly breaking down.

Granted, he has not said he took steroids, but the rumors are out there.

There you go. In many of the above cases, the drug itself has not destroyed the person, but it led them to more poor choices in their lives.

It just goes to show you that while shortcuts to the top can help, you need a lot more than just a pill or syringe to stay there. And the dropoff, it appears, is pretty severe.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102. What do you think of this column? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.