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Tag: Doping

  • Olympic doping case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva opens Tuesday

    Olympic doping case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva opens Tuesday

    The doping case of teenage Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva that shocked the 2022 Beijing Olympics returns to the highest court in sports on Tuesday.

    The Court of Arbitration for Sport begins a hearing set for at least three days with Valieva, now aged 17, expected to testify by video link from Russia in a case that was slow-walked in her home country and could now deliver a verdict by the end of the year.

    Awaiting the outcome are nine American skaters who could become Olympic champions in the team event after finishing second in Beijing behind the Russians and their star performer Valieva.

    The center of Valieva’s defense has been that her positive test for a heart medication banned in sports was caused by accidental contamination – maybe from a glass or plate – by tablets her grandfather claimed he took.

    Valieva and her legal team “intend to conduct further investigation and present the results” at future hearings in the case, the first Russian anti-doping tribunal to judge the case said in February last year.

    The key future hearing is now about to start – more than 19 months after a first CAS panel of judges let Valieva continue skating in Beijing despite a failed doping test on her record.

    This appeal hearing was brought by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Skating Union. They have challenged a Russian ruling belatedly announced in January that Valieva, as an underage minor at the time, was not at fault and should keep her Olympic results.

    WADA has asked the three judges to ban Valieva for four years and disqualify her from the Olympics.

    “We want a just outcome of the case, based on the facts,” WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald said, adding the Montreal-based agency will “continue to push for this matter to be concluded without further undue delay.”

    The ISU seeks a ban of at least two years and disqualification. The Russian anti-doping agency also joined the appeal and suggested a reprimand would do.

    Valieva’s legal team will argue that CAS has no jurisdiction, the court has said, and alternatively that she was not at fault so a reprimand is enough.

    The United States figure skating team could be upgraded to gold in an event where no medal ceremony ever was held.

    On the same day, Feb. 7, 2022, that Valieva’s free skate in Beijing helped seal the Olympic team title, a laboratory in Sweden notified her positive test from a sample given six weeks earlier at the Russian national championships. The lab later cited staffing issues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The medal ceremony was postponed and a frenetic week of legal hearings in Moscow and Beijing led to the first CAS panel letting her enter the women’s individual event as the gold-medal favorite. The three judges then, who are not involved this week, ruled Valieva faced serious harm in her career by the anti-doping system’s “failure to function effectively.”

    Amid the intense and stressful attention on her, Valieva produced a mistake-filled free skate and finished fourth.

    The reaction rinkside by Valieva’s storied coach, Eteri Tutberidze – sternly criticizing her 15-year-old protégé’s errors — fueled further controversy.

    International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach spoke in Beijing of “a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this.” He also rebuked a Russian journalist who suggested the IOC was partly responsible for bullying a child.

    Bach replied “the ones who have administered this drug in her body, these are the ones who are guilty.”

    Tutberidze, who also coached the individual gold and silver medalists in Beijing, should herself be investigated because anti-doping rules require it of the entourage when a minor is implicated in doping. That, however, should be in Russia where this year she got an honor from the Kremlin.

    Valieva has not skated internationally since Beijing because of an ISU ban on Russians during the country’s war on Ukraine.

    First, three CAS judges from Australia, the U.S. and France – picked respectively by the court, WADA and Valieva’s lawyers – will preside over a momentous Olympic case.

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    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • NCAA committee recommends dropping marijuana from banned drug list for athletes

    NCAA committee recommends dropping marijuana from banned drug list for athletes

    An NCAA medical committee is recommending the removal of marijuana from its banned drug list and suggesting that testing should be limited to performance-enhancing substances

    ByMICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer

    FILE – Signage at the headquarters of the NCAA is viewed in Indianapolis, March 12, 2020. An NCAA medical committee believes it is time to remove marijuana from the governing body’s list of banned drugs. It also thinks drug testing should be limited to performance-enhancing substances. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

    The Associated Press

    INDIANAPOLIS — INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An NCAA panel is calling for the removal of marijuana from the organization’s list of banned drugs, suggesting that testing should be limited to performance-enhancing substances.

    The proposal released Friday from the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports would mark a big change for the NCAA, which has been conducting drug tests at championship events since 1986. Committee members recommended halting cannabis tests at such events until a final decision is made, likely this fall.

    Legislation would still have to be introduced and approved by all three NCAA divisions to take effect. Administrators in Divisions II and III had asked the committee to study the issue.

    The recommendation comes as the U.S. is seeing more and more states allowing medical or recreational marijuana use.

    Earlier this year, the committee increased the THC threshold needed for a positive test and recommended revamped penalties for athletes. The threshold for THC — the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana — was raised from 35 to 150 nanograms per milliliter, matching that of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

    The committee noted last December that marijuana and its byproducts are not considered performance-enhancing substances. Instead of focusing on penalties for cannabis use, the panel suggested stressing policies that focus on the potential threats from marijuana use and the need to reduce the harm and use of cannabis products.

    It also recommended schools that test to use those results to help find “problematic” cannabis use. The committee also wants to provide schools with additional guidelines about cannabis.

    Separately, the committee proposed setting a threshold of 0.1 nanograms per milliliter as a trace level for the hormone GW1516 in hopes of preventing athletes from becoming ineligible because of ingesting the substance unintentionally from contaminated supplements.

    The substance was initially designed for diabetes treatment but was discontinued in 2007. It has been linked to positive doping tests in endurance-related sports.

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  • NCAA committee recommends dropping marijuana from banned drug list, focus testing instead on PEDs | AP – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    NCAA committee recommends dropping marijuana from banned drug list, focus testing instead on PEDs | AP – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An NCAA panel is calling for the removal of marijuana from the organization’s list of banned drugs, suggesting that testing should be limited to performance-enhancing substances.

    The proposal released Friday from the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports would mark a big change for the NCAA, which has been conducting drug tests at championship events since 1986. Committee members recommended halting cannabis tests at such events until a final decision is made, likely this fall.

    Legislation would still have to be introduced and approved by all three NCAA divisions to take effect. Administrators in Divisions II and III had asked the committee to study the issue.

    The recommendation comes as the U.S. is seeing more and more states allowing medical or recreational marijuana use.

    Earlier this year, the committee increased the THC threshold needed for a positive test and recommended revamped penalties for athletes. The threshold for THC — the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana — was raised from 35 to 150 nanograms per milliliter, matching that of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

    The committee noted last December that marijuana and its byproducts are not considered performance-enhancing substances. Instead of focusing on penalties for cannabis use, the panel suggested stressing policies that focus on…

    MMP News Author

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  • Horse racing’s national anti-doping program starts Monday

    Horse racing’s national anti-doping program starts Monday

    Horse racing’s efforts to clean up the sport and level the playing field take another step forward Monday with the launch of a new anti-doping program.

    It’s an attempt to centralize the drug testing of racehorses and manage the results, as well as dole out uniform penalties to horses and trainers instead of the current patchwork rules that vary from state to state.

    The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) was created by the federal government nearly three years ago. It has two programs: racetrack safety, which went into effect in July, and anti-doping and medication control.

    “It’s one standard. You can be in Kentucky, you can be in Ohio, you can be in California and you’re going to be judged by the same standard,” HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus said.

    HISA’s Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit — its independent enforcement agency — has reached agreements with all of the state racing commissions and/or racetracks that will have live racing as of Monday.

    Seven of the biggest racing states — Arkansas, California, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania, as well as Will Rogers Downs in Oklahoma — will continue to use their current staff to collect samples.

    In Arizona, Illinois and Ohio, there is no signed voluntary agreement with HISA, so it contracted directly with either current staff or hired its own personnel to collect samples. Post-race testing only in New York will be handled this way.

    States that have live racing after mid-April are in discussion with the enforcement agency, HISA said.

    The agency will work with accredited labs in Ohio, Illinois, Colorado, California, Pennsylvania and Kentucky to analyze samples.

    “For the first time, racing’s labs will be harmonized and held to the same performance standards nationwide,” said Ben Mosier, executive director of the enforcement agency. “Thoroughbred racehorses will be tested for the same substances at the same levels, regardless of where they are located or compete.”

    Unlike the central offices that govern the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, the 38 U.S. racing states have long operated under rules that vary from track to track. Horses, owners, trainers and jockeys move frequently between states to compete. Locales would honor punishments meted out elsewhere, but inconsistencies created confusion and made it possible to game the system.

    Lazarus said that in talking with horsemen they want three things from HISA: Catch the cheaters, be realistic about medication, and be aware of environmental contaminants that trainers cannot control but can trigger positive tests.

    “That’s exactly what our program does,” she said recently.

    HISA has been met with resistance in its short existence.

    Last year, a federal appeals court ruled it unconstitutional, saying Congress gave too much authority to the group it established to oversee the racing industry. Congress tweaked the wording of the original legislation to fix that. It also gave the Federal Trade Commission the authority to oversee HISA.

    Legal challenges in Texas and Louisiana to HISA resulted in the federal appeals court preventing it from operating, so state regulations will continue to govern the sport. Racetracks in Texas and Nebraska have chosen not to broadcast their simulcast signals out of state, so HISA currently has no authority to regulate them, Lazarus said.

    As a result of the ongoing legal issues surrounding HISA, the anti-doping program won’t begin in every state on Monday as Lazarus had hoped.

    “It’s not perfect,” she said. “We have to change some things, we have to see how some things go.”

    There’s also been vocal opposition among some in the industry over the prospect of sweeping change — as well as its cost to racetracks, horse owners and trainers, and the impact it will have on business.

    “They’ve been taking away certain medications, therapy machines, things that are truly beneficial,” said trainer Bret Calhoun, whose stable operates in Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas. “They’re having the opposite effect of what they’re saying … safety of the horse and rider. They’re doing absolutely the opposite.”

    Calhoun spoke earlier this month at the National Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association national convention in Louisiana.

    Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry was even more blunt.

    “At the core of HISA is this: a handful of wealthy players wish to control the sport through a one-size-fits-all, pay-to-play scheme that will decimate the inclusive culture of horse racing,” he said at the convention.

    Lazarus counters the criticism, saying, “We’re there to make racing better.”

    She has said she’s aiming for transparent investigations and speedier resolutions of disputes. And Lazarus has spent much of her first year on the job trying to “overcommunicate and overeducate.”

    “I’m really hopeful that the message is getting through,” she said.

    There will be no trial period for infractions under the new rules. Veterinarians who administer medications to horses have had to get up to speed on the regulations as well as trainers who are ultimately responsible for what goes into their horses.

    “Change I think is always hard,” Lazarus said, “and this is like seismic change.”

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  • Russian skater Valieva’s doping case to go to sports court

    Russian skater Valieva’s doping case to go to sports court

    MONTREAL — The World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva’s doping case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and said Tuesday it is seeking a four-year ban.

    WADA is objecting to a finding by a Russian tribunal that Valieva bore “no fault or negligence” in the case, which overshadowed last year’s Beijing Olympics. WADA wants a four-year ban and for Valieva’s results to be disqualified from the date she gave the sample, Dec. 25, 2021. That would include the Olympics.

    The Russian skater, who was then 15, won Olympic gold in the team competition in February before it was announced that a sample she gave two months before tested positive for a banned substance. The result was reported later because the laboratory which tested the sample was affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

    No medal ceremony has taken place for the team competition because of the uncertainty.

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  • Bonds, Clemens Hall of Fame bids now on even shakier ground

    Bonds, Clemens Hall of Fame bids now on even shakier ground

    SAN DIEGO — Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were rejected by baseball writers in their bids for the Baseball Hall of Fame ten times. On Sunday, the duo chased by steroid suspicions got another rebuke from a panel that included many of their peers.

    The door hasn’t formally shut on their Cooperstown chances. But the latest letdown means the pair — with eight MVPs and seven Cy Young Awards between them — may never be celebrated with the sport’s greatest individual honor.

    Fred McGriff was the only player elected Sunday to the Hall of Fame by a 16-member contemporary era committee, one of several groups credentialed to seal a player’s enshrinement. McGriff was chosen unanimously, while neither Bonds or Clemens received more than three votes.

    When it comes to the Baseball Hall of Fame, there are several potential avenues to induction, but it can be a very bumpy road for all but the most straightforward cases.

    HOW CAN PLAYERS BE ELECTED TO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME?

    Players are first considered by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America no sooner than five calendar years after their big league career ends. A BBWAA screening committee creates the annual ballot, and members who have been active baseball writers for at least 10 years are eligible to vote.

    Players on Major League Baseball’s ineligible list cannot appear on BBWAA ballots, the mechanism by which Pete Rose has been excluded from consideration. Voters are instructed to base their decisions on “the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”

    The result of this year’s writers’ vote — which requires 75% for induction — will be announced Jan. 24.

    Players are removed from the BBWAA ballot if they receive less than 5% of the vote. They also are taken off after 10 appearances. Bonds (66%), Clemens (65%) and Curt Schilling (58.6%) fell well short in their final chances on the BBWAA ballot last January.

    Once a player is no longer being considered by the BBWAA, his case shifts to the Hall’s committee system — divided into the contemporary and classic eras. The contemporary era committee considers candidates whose careers were primarily from 1980 on. The classic panel examines players who had their most significant impact on the game prior to 1980.

    The committees rotate yearly. The contemporary committee approved McGriff on Sunday at baseball’s winter meetings in San Diego. Another contemporary committee meets next year to consider managers, executives and umpires. The classic committee votes in December 2024.

    The ballot for each panel consists of eight candidates selected by a BBWAA-appointed historical overview committee. There is no limit when it comes to how often a candidate can appear on an era ballot.

    Rose also is ineligible for era ballots because of his inclusion on MLB’s ineligible list.

    The 16 members of each era committee — comprised of Hall of Famers, executives and writers — are appointed by the Hall’s Board of Directors. Voters can select as many as three candidates, and the support of 75% of ballots cast are required for induction.

    WHAT NOW FOR BONDS, CLEMENS AND SCHILLING?

    The next time Bonds, Clemens and Schilling could be considered would be by a contemporary committee for the 2026 Hall of Fame class.

    Bonds and Clemens look like no-doubt Hall members on the backs of their baseball cards, and Schilling has a strong case, as well.

    A seven-time NL MVP, Bonds set the career home run record with 762 and the season record with 73 in 2001. A seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Clemens went 354-184 with a 3.12 ERA and 4,672 strikeouts. Schilling went 216-146 with a 3.46 ERA in 20 seasons, winning the World Series with Arizona in 2001 and Boston in 2004 and 2007.

    But Bonds and Clemens have been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, and support for Schilling dropped after he made hateful remarks toward Muslims, transgender people, reporters and others. Bonds has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs, and Clemens maintains he never used PEDs.

    Schilling got seven votes Sunday, and it’s possible a future committee may swing in his favor. For Bonds and Clemens, that now seems unlikely.

    There was a thought that maybe Bonds and Clemens would get more sympathy from their peers than writers for their suspected steroid use during an era tarnished by the stain of PEDs. That clearly wasn’t the case.

    This year’s contemporary committee included Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Jack Morris, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Frank Thomas and Alan Trammell, plus executives Paul Beeston, Arte Moreno, Kim Ng, Theo Epstein, Dave St. Peter, Derrick Hall and Ken Williams; and media members Steve Hirdt, LaVelle Neal and Susan Slusser. Chipper Jones was supposed to be on the committee but missed Sunday’s vote due to COVID-19. He was replaced by Hall.

    The Hall of Fame did not reveal all down-ballot totals, saying only that Bonds and Clemens received fewer than four votes — a strong indication that unless new evidence exonerates them from PED charges, they might never get their day in Cooperstown.

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    Follow Jay Cohen at https://twitter.com/jcohenap

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • A giant Maradona emerges in Argentina, days before World Cup

    A giant Maradona emerges in Argentina, days before World Cup

    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — In the middle of the concrete jungle that is Argentina’s bustling capital, a huge mural has emerged of Diego Maradona wearing a national team jersey, his right hand in a fist and a defiant expression on his face.

    The massive artwork, 148 feet high and 131 feet wide (45 meters by 40 meters) and painted on the side of a 14-story building in Buenos Aires, is one of several tributes that Argentines have dedicated to their soccer “God” shortly before the start of this year’s World Cup in Qatar, the first since Maradona’s death on Nov. 25, 2020.

    Maradona’s feats and defeats as a player on the national team are being remembered, from the famous and infamous goals against England before the county won the 1986 World Cup to the failed final against West Germany four years later, and the doping test that got him expelled from the following World Cup in 1994.

    Well-known street artist Martín Ron was behind the world’s largest mural, inspired by a photograph of the then-Argentina captain that captures his expression shortly before he sang the national anthem at the 1990 World Cup final against West Germany, which Argentina lost 1-0.

    “It’s a photo of Diego when he was close to winning the country’s third star,” Ron told The Associated Press during a break from the work he began a month ago.

    Argentina also won the World Cup in 1978, but Maradona didn’t make the team for that tournament.

    “This photo summarizes everything Diego was,” Ron said. “Beyond the player, he was the guts, the motor, the heart.”

    To one side of Maradona’s face, Ron painted a constellation of stars in the shape of a kite, a reference to his nickname “cosmic kite,” which is what one well-known radio commentator called the soccer star following his second goal against England in 1986.

    “His absence will be felt, Diego was always a star. In all the World Cups he did his own thing, inside and outside the field,” Ron said. “And in Qatar, he will sadly not be there.”

    Ron’s mural was officially unveiled on Sunday to coincide with the soccer great’s birthday.

    Days earlier, the Argentine soccer association received the original jersey that Maradona wore in the 1986 World Cup. It was a gift from Germany great Lothar Matthäus, who exchanged jerseys with Maradona after the final that Argentina won 2-1 at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

    “One of the happiest moments with him was when (Brazilian referee) Arppi Filho blew the whistle during the final in Mexico. I just happened to be very close to Diego, I was lucky that he hugged me before anybody else,” former player Ricardo Giusti recalled during a recent event alongside other former World Cup champions outside Buenos Aires.

    “We enjoyed it so much, everybody enjoyed Diego. That’s what’s sad. It makes us feel a lot of sadness, sorrow and disillusion,” the former midfielder said.

    Matthäus’ donation was a sort of reparation for Argentina after it failed to win an auction for the jersey Maradona wore in the match against England in the quarterfinals of that World Cup tournament. An unknown bidder from outside the country bought the iconic item at auction for a record $9 million in May.

    In 1994, Maradona played his last World Cup match against Nigeria in the group stage. He was suspended for 15 months following the 2-1 victory after a positive doping test.

    As Argentina coach, Maradona led the national team to the quarterfinals at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but the team lost to Germany 4-0.

    One of the most disturbing images came eight years later at the 2018 World Cup in Russia when an overweight and somewhat disoriented Maradona collapsed at the stadium in St. Petersburg following a 2-1 victory over Nigeria.

    Maradona died at the age of 60 while he was under hospital care in his home following brain surgery. Judicial authorities continue to investigate if medical negligence was involved.

    “He is missed, Diego’s image has been, and is, very strong,” said Carlos Tapia, another member of the 1986 championship team. “He was our reference, captain, everything. He was always close to each one of us. Let’s hope he can be a guiding light from above in Qatar.”

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Former No. 1 Simona Halep suspended for positive doping test

    Former No. 1 Simona Halep suspended for positive doping test

    Former No. 1-ranked player Simona Halep was provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency after failing a drug test during the U.S. Open last month.

    The ITIA announced the suspension Friday for Halep, a two-time Grand Slam champion who is currently No. 9 in the WTA rankings. She won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019, beating 23-time major champion Serena Williams in the final.

    Halep, a 31-year-old from Romania, who recently announced she was taking the rest of this season off after having nose surgery to improve her breathing.

    She was seeded No. 7 at the U.S. Open when she lost to Daria Snigur of Ukraine 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 on Aug. 30.

    The ITIA said Halep tested positive for the banned substance Roxadustat, a drug approved for medical use in the European Union to treat the symptoms of anemia caused by chronic kidney failure.

    According to the EU’s medicines agency, which approved Roxadustat last year, it stimulates the body to produce more of the natural hormone erythropoietin, or EPO, which has long been a doping product favored by cyclists and distance runners.

    During a provisional suspension, a tennis player is ineligible to compete in, or attend, any sanctioned events.

    Under the World Anti-Doing Code, Halep faces a ban of up to four years for a positive test for a substance like Roxadustat. Athletes can earn a reduction in their ban, likely to three years, if they quickly admit an offense and accept their sanction.

    Tennis authorities will handle Halep’s case and any ruling can be challenged by the World Anti-Doping Agency in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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    AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.

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  • Ex-Angels employee gets 22 years in Skaggs overdose death

    Ex-Angels employee gets 22 years in Skaggs overdose death

    FORT WORTH, Texas — A former Los Angeles Angels employee was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison Tuesday for providing Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs the drugs that led to his overdose death in Texas.

    Eric Kay, dressed in an orange jumpsuit with handcuffs and leg shackles, didn’t react when U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means read his sentence. Kay faced at least 20 years in prison on one of the two counts.

    There was no reaction from Skaggs’ widow and mother or members of Kay’s family, including one of his sons who read a statement on his behalf before sentencing. A bailiff had warned observers they would be removed from the court over any outbursts.

    Prosecutors presented evidence of Kay, 48, making derogatory comments about Skaggs, his family, prosecutors and jurors in phone calls and emails after he was convicted in February.

    There was emotional testimony from both sides in federal court in Fort Worth, about 15 miles from where the Angels were supposed to open a four-game series against the Texas Rangers on July 1, 2019, the day Skaggs was found dead in a suburban Dallas hotel room.

    Kay was convicted on one count each of drug distribution resulting in death and drug conspiracy. Means recommended Kay serve his time in his home state of California. He has been in prison in Fort Worth since the conviction.

    A coroner’s report said Skaggs, 27, had choked to death on his vomit and that a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was in his system.

    The trial included testimony from five major league players who said they received oxycodone pills from Kay at various times from 2017-19, the years Kay was accused of obtaining pills and giving them to players at Angel Stadium. Kay also used drugs himself, according to testimony and court documents.

    After revealing the sentence, Means said he dreaded this day from the beginning of the case because the 20-year minimum could be considered too harsh for the crime.

    Means said he added two years because of Kay’s comments to his family in jailhouse conversations after the conviction.

    The judge interrupted Kay to quote the former public relations employee as saying in one of those exchanges, “I’m here because of Tyler Skaggs. Well, he’s dead. So (expletive) him.”

    “That’s disgusting,” Kay responded. “I don’t know why I said that. I was mad at the world.”

    Means appeared skeptical, even saying at one point after delivering the sentence that he would probably become a target of Kay’s anger.

    The judge said Kay displayed “a callousness and refusal to accept responsibility and even be remorseful for something that you caused.”

    “Tyler Skaggs wasn’t a perfect person,” the judge said. “But he paid the ultimate price for it.”

    Kay sobbed while one of his three sons spoke to the judge from the lectern in a plea for leniency. Carli Skaggs, the widow, fought back tears much the same way she did when she testified during the trial.

    “Not only am I grieving the loss of my husband,” she said. “I’m grieving the loss of myself.”

    Defense attorney Cody Cofer, who took over after Kay’s two trial lawyers were removed, sought a motion that would have allowed Means to consider a sentence below the 20-year minimum. It was denied.

    “We are very grateful to everyone who worked so hard to investigate and prosecute Eric Kay,” the Skaggs family said in a statement. “Today’s sentencing isn’t about the number of years the defendant received. The real issue in this case is holding accountable the people who are distributing the deadly drug fentanyl.”

    Kay served as the team’s public relations contact on many road trips, and the trip to Texas was his first since returning from rehab. Kay was placed on leave shortly after Skaggs’ death and never returned to the team. He didn’t testify during his trial.

    The government argued at trial that Kay was the only one who could have given Skaggs the drugs that led to his death, that the delivery was in Texas and that fentanyl was the cause of death. Prosecutors say Kay gave Skaggs counterfeit oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl.

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  • Yankees star Judge hits 62nd homer to break Maris’ AL record

    Yankees star Judge hits 62nd homer to break Maris’ AL record

    ARLINGTON, Texas — Aaron Judge hit his 62nd home run of the season Tuesday night, breaking Roger Maris’ American League record and setting what some fans consider baseball’s “clean” standard.

    The long chase to top a mark set in 1961 ended when the 30-year-old Yankees slugger drove a 1-1 slider from Texas right-hander Jesús Tinoco into the first row of seats in left field leading off the second game of New York’s day-night doubleheader.

    After No. 99 took a smooth, mighty swing, he had a wide smile on his face as he rounded the bases and his Yankees teammates streamed out of the dugout to celebrate with him. They stayed away from home plate, letting Judge step on it before sharing hugs and high-fives.

    Barry Bonds holds the major league record of 73 home runs, set with the San Francisco Giants in 2001.

    Judge’s mother and father were in the stands to see him end a five-game homerless streak, including Game 1 of the doubleheader when he was 1 for 5 with a single.

    The ball was caught by Cory Youmans of Dallas, who was sitting in Section 31. When asked what he was going to do with the ball while being taken away with security to have the ball authenticated, Youmans responded, “Good question. I haven’t thought about it.”

    Another fan was escorted away after leaping over the rail into a gap between the seats and the left-field wall.

    Judge, eligible to become a free agent after this season, struck out on a full-count pitch when batting again in the second.

    He took right field in the bottom of the inning before manager Aaron Boone pulled him from the game. Oswaldo Cabrera, who had been at second base, moved to right field and the slugger got another loud ovation as he jogged back to the Yankees dugout on the third base side.

    Reaction quickly came from far beyond the ballpark.

    “History made, more history to make,” President Joe Biden posted on Twitter.

    Tweeted former Yankees star Derek Jeter: “Congrats @TheJudge44 on 62! Postseason next!!!”

    Maris’ 61 for the Yankees had been exceeded six times previously, but all were tainted by the stench of steroids. Along with Bonds’ record, Mark McGwire hit 70 for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1998 and 65 the following year. The Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa had 66, 65 and 63 during a four-season span starting in 1998.

    McGwire admitted using banned steroids, while Bonds and Sosa denied knowingly using performing-enhancing drugs. Major League Baseball started testing with penalties for PEDs in 2004, and some fans — perhaps many — until now have considered Maris as holder of the legitimate record.

    A Ruthian figure with a smile as outsized as his body, the 6-foot-7 Judge has rocked the major leagues with a series of deep drives that hearken to the sepia tone movie reels of his legendary pinstriped predecessors.

    “He should be revered for being the actual single-season home run champ,” Roger Maris Jr. said Wednesday night after his father’s mark was matched by Judge. “I think baseball needs to look at the records and I think baseball should do something.”

    Judge had homered only once in the past 13 games, and that was when he hit No. 61 last Wednesday in Toronto. The doubleheader nightcap in Texas was his 55th game in row played since Aug. 5.

    Judge was 3 for 17 with five walks and a hit by pitch since moving past the 60 home runs Babe Ruth hit in 1927, which had stood as the major league record for 34 years. Maris hit his 61st off Boston’s Tracy Stallard at old Yankee Stadium on Oct. 1, 1961.

    Judge has a chance to become the first AL Triple Crown winner since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012. He leads the AL with 131 RBIs and began the day trailing Minnesota’s Luis Arraez, who was hitting .315.

    The home run in his first at-bat put him back to .311, where he had started the day before dropping a point in the opener.

    Judge’s accomplishment will cause endless debate.

    “To me, the holder of the record for home runs in a season is Roger Maris,” author George Will said earlier this month. “There’s no hint of suspicion that we’re seeing better baseball than better chemistry in the case of Judge. He’s clean. He’s not doing something that forces other players to jeopardize their health.”

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    AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

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