Yes, But How Will It Affect His Friendship With Michael Irvin?

We have quite a bit of history with John Rocker and his PR agent Debi Curzio, but we'll confess — and we're not sure why — we simply never thought to ask either of them about steroids. Maybe it's because we don't care about steroids all that much, or maybe it's just because asking a guy who has been retired for four years about steroids seems beyond the point. Or maybe it's just because we've always assumed half of baseball's roided anyway, and we just don't get too worked up about it.

Anyway, it appears Rocker received some HGH from that lab everyone's talking about. The collective jaws of a sports public are dropped.

"That was a growth hormone that was prescribed by a doctor in relation to his rotator cuff surgery in 2003, so I don't really think there is anything to the story," said Debi Curzio, Rocker's publicist.

That's Curzio in this morning's New York Daily News. Doctors say that HGH isn't supposed to help with recovery from rotator cuff surgery, but that's beside the point: If Rocker has been using HGH, for whatever reason ... well, it certainly does explain a lot.

More Rocker Dope [New York Daily News]
Now There's A Shocker [Rumors And Rants]
Our Interview With John Rocker [Deadspin]
John Rocker Rocks Slowly [New York Magazine]

(UPDATE: Ms. Curzio writes in with a statement:

"In 2003, several doctors had recommended that my client, John Rocker, take growth hormones in an effort to continue pitching right up until he had rotator cuff surgery. Growth hormone supplements can be purchased over the counter at any vitamin store across the country, and they were recommended to help heal John Rocker's shoulder and to potentially avoid surgery. Reports by the media trying to link my client to the use of illegal substances are incorrect, and this is nothing more than another example of irresponsible journalism.")