Some baseball players respond to article

These statements are in response to The Duke Chronicle’s article printed April 15, 2005 titled “Steroid Charges Rock Duke Baseball.” During the seasons of 2000-2004 Duke Baseball may have had a few problems, but steroid use was not one of them. The Chronicle took it upon themselves to publish an article on Duke Baseball over the Bill Hillier era without consulting the “true” Duke Baseball Alumni of those years. 

When they did contact a “true” former player, they did not get the answers they wanted for their biased article. If a couple of young sports reporters thought they found their big break with a scandalous story on Duke Baseball, they were wrong. Make sure you check your facts before you decide to run an entire program’s name through the mud.

The article was a slap in the face to Duke University and the Athletic Department. At no point in time was steroid use ever prevalent within the program. If we recall correctly, no player during this time ever tested positive for steroid use.  In fact, Grant Stanley was the only player along with Aaron Kempster ever to have reported steroid use, which occurred over the summer of 2002, not during the Duke Baseball season. If steroid use was encouraged throughout the Duke Baseball program, why were the only two players ever known of using steroids not part of the Duke Baseball program for the remainder of their careers?      

Our point is this: The Chronicle published an article on Duke Baseball over the last few years citing unreliable sources. The sources cited in the article never were or will be part of the Duke Baseball Family; they only had the opportunity to see what it was about. It wasn’t about steroid use, inappropriate behavior, and bad coaching. Coach Hillier only had one fault at Duke University: He did not win enough baseball games.

If you talk to his former players, you will always get the same answer, “Coach Hillier has done so much for me.  He truly cares about his players, past and present.”  The Duke Baseball experience was about life lessons, relationships, and mostly baseball. Coach Hillier only asked a few things from his players: 1) Be on time, 2) Be honest, and 3) Give me everything you have every time you step between the lines.  

It was no “nod-and-wink kind of thing” [as Kempster told The Chronicle]. You knew what was expected of you everyday. Justin Calliham, Aaron Kempster and Grant Stanley all made a mistake and unfortunately they have put the blame on the one thing that screwed up their Duke Baseball experience. We were Duke Baseball from 2000-2004. The only bad memory we will ever have about Duke Baseball was the opportunity not to stay longer.

Kevin Thompson ’04

Troy Caradonna '03

Thomas Furlow ’03

Kevin Perry ’03                                     Brian Patrick ’03