Papelbon: Red Sox Gave Me Toradol Shots
Philadelphia Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon said on Saturday that he received Toradol shots during his days as a member of the Boston Red Sox. This news comes off the heels of former Boston pitcher Curt Schilling's claims that the team encouraged PED use.
Toradol is a legal anti-inflammatory drug that is injected. The use of Toradol has become increasingly controversial in the world of sports.
Papelbon doesn't recall who introduced him to the drug, but says that he started using it in 2007, the year the Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies to win their second World Series in four years.
"It was kind of a word-of-mouth thing," Papelbon said. "You got in the clubhouse and said, 'Man, I feel like crap,' and somebody would say, 'Oh, you should get a Toradol shot.' All players talk about what gets you through a 162-game season."
Papelbon claims that he never say another player use it, but pitcher Clay Buchholz has acknowledged that Toradol might have been to blame for his esophagitis that caused him to miss 20 games. Buchholz was in intensive care and lost three to four pints of blood, a side effect to Toradol.
Papelbon has said that Red Sox team physicians never told him about possible side effects, such as life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding and ulcers, and that he himself had never experienced any side effects.
"I used it based on how I felt," he said. "The days I felt bad, I took it. Maybe once a month.
"It made me feel better. You had to get it about 30 minutes before a game, and it made me feel pretty damn good. It only lasted about four hours maximum. But I never saw anyone else get injected -- that's the God's honest truth."
When Papelbon was taking his physical upon signing with the Phillies, team physicians asked Papelbon if he was using Toradol, Papelbon said that he did and the physicians asked him to stop immediately.
"They told me, 'We don't do that here.' That kind of surprised me," the Phillies' closer said. "I haven't had a single Toradol shot since.
"But here's the thing you have to understand. There are so many organizations that do it. Not only baseball, but every sport. Football, basketball, hockey. It's not just the Red Sox."
Papelbon has said that he does not miss taking the drug since his time in Philadelphia saying, "They use safer anti-inflammatories here, have other ways to keep you strong,"
Red Sox officials say that the drug is legal with many pain-management benefits, and acknowledged its widespread use in baseball and before Red Sox pitchers starts.
The official also said that the club is looking into its policy more in order to ensure player safety, saying, "A club's policy is related to how it's using Toradol, not whether it would use it."
