A Sad Day for Baseball

Eric, as expected I too am in the process of digesting this, but this scandal goes way above and beyond the New York Yankees. This entire era has been tainted and there is ‘plenty of blame to go around’ (see how I worked that title in)… And if you look at the post-season stats by those that wore the pinstripes during their championship run in the late-90’s, there are only a couple of those named that had exceptional performances during that period. The unfortunate reality in all of this is that the players named would have probably been great without juicing. I am shocked that Clemens was named, and yet in retrospect, not all that surprised. We all knew there was something going on and yet refused to admit it. The worst part is that there are apparently many more names to come and although a lot of this is hearsay, it stings all the same. Here’s to us all getting through this (as fans) and remembering that nothing has been proven yet. Let the facts come out and then we’ll start discussing stripping titles and taking away championships. I’ve studied the history of this game like you have studied the history of horse soldiers and it has never-ever been 100% pure. Cheating has always been there and the HOF is full of cheaters. To truly love the game you have to acknowledge the fact that there are dishonest participants in it just as with any segment of society. It doesn’t make the game any less brilliant. Players are people too – the good – the bad – and the ugly. Today was a day for the bad and the ugly. Let’s not forget about the good.

As if anyone needed more reasons to hate the Yankees……..

Regards,

Rick

Well, I’ve been chuckling (perhaps hiding my sadness and shock) when many news organizations call this era now the “Era of the Asterisk.” Makes me wonder if the baseball stats and records books should all be full of asterisks for at least the past decade or so. Each asterisk could then refer to a particular chemical name at the bottom of the page.

The only thing that juiced up the Babe was that 10th hot dog for dinner.

Some of those old guys must be shaking their heads up there.

J.D.

It will be interesting to compare the penalties handed down by MLB with those routinely given out by the Olympic organization and international cycling sanctioning groups. Ask Marian Jones if you can see one of her Olympic medals!

Eric: Ask yourself “Is baseball tainted more by performance enhancing drug usage by its players or the greed of owners who turned a blind eye to this usage when in the mid 1990’s it was apparent that the players were performing beyond the scope of previous efforts but were also restoring fan attendance that had slipped in the wake of a debilitating strike?” A second question may also be asked: “Is MLB baseball competetive when teams with $50 million payrolls compete against teams with $200 million payrolls? If baseball desires a fair,just and compettive balance should they not adopt rules that the NFL,NHL and NBA subscribe too: That is equality not only amongst the players but also in their payrolls. Baseball needs to fix both issues. Therefore competetive balance can be restored.Good topic. Have a great holiday too. Regards, Jeff.

P.S. If Clemens was not using steroids or hgh why did he refuse to talk to George Mitchell. I would think he would have cooperated with this request instead of letting himself get used by Don Fehr’s machinations.

As for Bud Selig: He is a poo stain on the great American pastime. A stooge of a man who cares nothing about competitive balance, economic equlibrium and athletes competing against each other ethically and fairly. He lacks the character and will to stand up to a blowhard like Don Fehr. If Bud Selig cared about baseball he would have long ago demanded that the owners back him in a demand for mandatory drug testing amongst the players. That some players were ingesting illegal substances like steroids and human growth hormone to gain a competetive advantage over others speaks volumes to the fact that he is more interested in turning a buck than presenting the paying fans and supporters of the game with an unbiased, untainted product. He is just as decrepit as the cheats who used the drugs to pad their lifetime stats as if they will someday be immortalized for their achieviements. The sole gate keepers of the games…the men who vote for the inductions of players into the hall of fame will most assuredly not induct: Roger Clemens,Barry Bonds,Mark McGwire,Sammy Sosa,Rafael Palmiero,Jose Canseco and any other person with extraordinary career statistics identified by the Mitchell Investigation or any prior or after revelation to Cooperstown and rightfully so. Therefore Eric, George Steinbrenner, who bagged millions with his high flying Yankees, taking advantage of baseball’s inability to not only reign in illegal substance usage but also in implementing a balanced and fair salary ceiling amongst its teams shares a great deal of responsibility in this whole sordid era. Thus the linkage of the haves and have nots although different than the illegal drug issue is part of the pattern of how baseball unlike the NHL,NBA and NFL is a sport devoid of fairness, truth and transparency. Fix the game MLB owners and if Bud Selig and Don Fehr object show them the door. The court of American public opinion will back you 100% I’m sure (unless you are a Yankee or Red Sox fan.)

Oh, and a p.s. Learned today that there were names released without any corroborating evidence that rises to the point of conclusive. On the other hand, there were many names NOT released because those involved would not speak openly about the matter and so NOTHING was available to add their name to the list other than suspicion.

This means that there may be those who have been accused but not involved and those who have been involved but whose names were not released. To me this is worse than the scandal itself. Either name EVERYBODY or NOBODY except those – like Jason Giambi – who came forward and admitted their involvement. Throwing out some names and not others gives the appearance of guilt where none may actually exist and the appearance of innocence which may very definitely be undeserved (neither McGuire nor Bonds is ‘outed’ in the report, so I’m reliably informed!). What sort of ‘justice’ is this??

In recent years, it has been the Boston Bosux who have been the best team money could buy. It seems obvious that some of their players have been involved with drugs. One has to wonder why none of them were named.