As noted in the comments on yesterday's entry, Mike Cameron has now been suspended 25 games for failing a second drug-test. Honest, it was a tainted batch of supplements - now, conveniently vanished - that did it. What is perhaps less well known is that it's not the first time he has played "under the influence". Thanks to Jed at Random House for providing me with the following excerpt from p.101-102 of Andy Roddick Beat Me With a Frying Pan:
"Almost every current major leaguer I spoke to knew of players who had stepped on the field under the influence. When asked what the signs were, the players typically responded the way Giant Ryan Klesko and Padre Jake Peavy did: `I just knew.' Interestingly, another Padre, center fielder Mike Cameron, had a more intimate experience with game-day tipsiness:
" `Shit, I've played drunk.'
"When?
" `New York City.'
"What were the circumstances?
" `I went four for four with two jacks and eight ribbies. I'm not saying that's the only day I played drunk, but that was the best one.'
"Further evidence that vodka tonics may replace anabolic steroids as the new performance enhancer of choice."
Further research reveals that the game in question was August 19, 2001, for Seattle against the Yankees.