Saguaro High School students get lesson on dangers of taking steroids

Rob Garibaldi could have been the best teammate Derek Jeter and Pedro Martinez never had.

The budding baseball star from the University of Southern California, who had been drafted by the New York Yankees as a right fielder in 1999, led USC to the College Baseball World Series in 2000 with a .480 batting average.

He had a lot of drive from the help of anabolic steroids, an illegal performance enhancing drug, Garibaldi’s mother told an auditorium filled with Scottsdale Saguaro High School students on Tuesday.

The steroid use was so extreme, Garibaldi nearly choked his father to death in a fit of “’roid rage” before he later killed himself with a gunshot to the head in 2002. He was 24.

Denise Garibaldi was at Saguaro as part of the Scottsdale Unified School District’s and the Scottsdale Charros’ effort to help bring an awareness of the dangers of steroid abuse, whether for enhanced physical appearance or performance in sports.

“Rob thought Barry Bonds was talking to him through psychosis through the television,” Garibaldi said. “The steroid abuse all developed into a mental illness and depression. This is a prevalent issue — it happens, it’s secretive. Rob didn’t know he had a choice. Hopefully, these students went away with an informed choice, and they’ll make the right choice.”

Denise Garibaldi remains active with the California-based Taylor Hooton Foundation, named after a promising baseball player who committed suicide at age 17 in 2003 due to bouts of depression from steroid abuse. At 16, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound athlete was told by his coach he “needed to get bigger” if he wanted to have a better chance at making his school’s varsity team.

Anabolic steroids — whether taken in powder form, injection or ointment, once were used by bodybuilders and power lifters, but now, its most common users are freshman high school girls, according to Garibaldi and information provided by Scottsdale schools.

Today, one in 16 high school students admits using anabolic steroids, compared to one in 45 students 15 years ago, according to statistics, and the number is believed to be increasing.

Garibaldi also told students of the dangers of steroid abuse — loss of hair, elevated cholesterol, heart and liver problems, depression and aggressive mood swings — but was quick to tell students they have a choice and that she hopes they make the right choice: not to abuse the drug.

Carlos Rascon, 15, a sophomore at Saguaro, said he is the No, 8 runner on the Sabercats boys’ cross country team and said he learned a little bit about steroids he didn’t know during the assembly.

“I definitely don’t want to die early,” Rascon said. “Increasing your cholesterol doesn’t sound good, either.”

So what does he do to enhance his performance?

“I eat as healthy as I can,” Rascon said. “I stick to an all-natural diet that includes fruits and no junk foods.”