Steroids

I need to get this off my chest. With the Hall of Fame ballot results to be announced this week - many writers have been discussing their selections and with their votes how they feel about steroids.

What has gotten me worked up most is the attitudes of normally bright and logical people like Joe Posnanski who becomes illogical and hypocritical when it comes to steroids.

In discussing Jeff Bagwell - Posnanski opines:

I think my e-migo Craig Calcaterra has made this point on Twitter, but I’d like to also make it as strongly as I can: I’d rather a hundred steroid users were mistakenly voted into the Hall of Fame over keeping one non-user out.

He doesn't see that this thinking leads to the exact opposite results. You let in 100 steroid users and their numbers keep clean players from getting proper consideration. You let in a Mark McGwire and you make it harder for a Fred McGriff or Don Mattingly. Posnanski makes a case for Kevin Brown without once mentioning Brown was named in the Mitchell Report for taking human growth hormone and Deca-Durabolin. At the same time he takes shots at Jack Morris. I guess if Jack Morris had improved his numbers by taking steroids then he'd have a better shot in Joe's book.

The hypocrisy drips from his choices.

Fred McGriff and Mark McGwire - he votes No on McGriff but he votes Yes on Mark McGwire! Even if you think McGwire just used steroids for the last 3 seasons of his career (yeah right) then that's 3 seasons in which McGwire made $30 million and hit 126 HR. If for the last 3-seasons of his career McGriff used steroids to hit just half of those HR that McGwire got over his final 3 years then McGriff has well over 500 for his career and is probably in the Hall. Even more insidious though is the fact that McGwire used steroids to secure contracts bigger then what McGriff ever came close to making. The $11 million McGwire made for his final season was 34% more than McGriff ever made in any one season in his career. So not only did McGwire cheat to get paid - his cheating now screws clean players like McGriff's chances at the Hall of Fame as well. That's too much to swallow.

To take it one step further - if you buy what McGwire is trying to sell Posnanski about using steroids just to heal from injuries then what about a player like Don Mattingly? What if Mattingly had used steroids to extend his career? Would that have made him a Hall of Famer? I know you can't play this what if game but at the same time you can't reward a player like McGwire for cheating to get what was denied to a Donnie Baseball. Put another way - Posnanski's thinking on steroids is 0% logic and 100% bullshit.

Rafael Palmeiro - Posnanski has the balls to compare Palmeiro to McGriff:

McGriff: .284/.377/.511
Palmeiro: .287/.369/.510

You know what this comes down to - clean player who will be kept out of the Hall of Fame versus dirty player who would have been in Hall of Fame if he didn't get greedy and come back for one last season. Boo-freakin-hoo for Joe Posnanski who feels bad that he has to vote No on Palmeiro.

I am slightly surprised that Posnanski didn't go full-jackwagon when it comes to steroids and make the case for Jose Canseco.

One argument that really bugs me is the "he was a Hall of Famer before he started using steroids" argument. This is normally used to defend Barry Bonds. Well what about a player like Dale Murphy? He was a Hall of Famer in his prime - what if he started taking steroids at the same time as Bonds? Is he a Hall of Famer now? What if Bonds never took steroids? Does he break down like Murphy?

Two discussions on Twitter really set me over the edge on the subject of steroids.

A number of baseball writers were doing an echo-chamber re-Tweet-athon about how fans don't care about steroids and the Hall of Fame and that it was just the writers making a big deal of this. They have a point but they miss the forest for the trees. People are stopping to care about the Hall of Fame but it is precisely because of steroids.

The other Twitter discussion which pissed me off was the uber-smug King Kaufman knocking Jim Rice as not being Hall of Fame worthy but granting he was at least not a mediocre player. Jim Rice is the poster child for players whose accomplishments have been harmed by comparison to steroid cheats. It was nice of King Kaufman to say at least Rice wasn't mediocre. I'd like to return the favor. King I don't think your writing comes close to being worthy of Sports Illustrated good but I think at least you could hold your own at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

The Cleveland Indians are 1.5 games ahead (behind?) the Orioles for the worst record in the American League. Who saw that coming? I know I saw some people picking the Indians to go to the World Series in their pre-season picks. I can't recall anyone picking them to contend to be the worst team in the league... For all the complaining that their are no races this year in baseball - only less than half of the teams in the league (14) are numerically eliminated... Of all the teams that will make the playoffs - the Detroit Tigers have by far the worst road record (33-44). They also have the worst overall record of any team who will probably make the post-season. Which means they probably win their first round match-up with the Yankees... Alex Rodriguez needs one more RBI for 1696 and to pass Cal Ripken for 23rd place on the All-Time RBI list. He also needs just 1 more run for 1677 and to pass Mickey Mantle to move into a tie with Bid McFee for 26th place on the all-time runs list. I'm guessing that privately both these milestones mean a lot to A-Rod... Speaking of milestones - did you know that Todd Helton was tied with Babe Ruth for 44th place on the all-time doubles list with 506? Helton needs 4 more doubles to catch Rickey Henderson. As impressive as Helton's record of hitting doubles has been - he's only 5th among active players for two-baggers - behind Garrett Anderson (515), Ken Griffey (522), Manny Ramirez (530) and Ivan Rodriguez (547)... Quietly Florida's Chris Coghlan has made a pretty good case for NL ROY. Coghlan is hitting .314 with a respectable .836 OPS. I think JA Happ of the Phillies has the nod for the NL ROY though with a 10-4 record and a 2.77 ERA. In the AL - I think Rick Porcello of the Tigers deserves the award with a 14-9 record with a 4.14 ERA... Today is Rafael Palmeiro's 45th birthday. Has anyone ever fallen off the grid as quickly as finger-wagging Palmeiro?

Steroids

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive” - Sir Walter Scott

By now everyone is aware that Alex Rodriguez supposedly tested positive for steroids back in 2003. Here are a couple of thoughts on the subject.

1. I question the timing. Four sources confirmed the story for Sports Illustrated. Four sources! This isn't just one guy who has it out for A-Rod - there were four sources! Who benefits from this information being announced at this time? Barry Bonds certainly benefits as he is both taken out of the spotlight and he is no longer the only bad guy. Having A-Rod named opens a can of double standard worms. Why was Bonds singled out when baseball knew players like A-Rod were testing positive?

2. As much as the announcement may have benefited Barry Bonds - the announcement benefited the owners much more. They just took the highest paid player down a big notch and now any older slugger will be looking at a reduced contract because just the shadow of steroids will deflate the worth of any 30+ slugger. If you think Manny Ramirez' market worth is low now - can you imagine what will happen to his worth is he happens to be named among the 104 players who flunked the steroids test back in 2003?

3. The owners knew what players were on steroids. Remember Rangers owner Tom Hicks saying, "Juan Gonzalez, for $24 million, after he came off steroids probably... we just gave that money away." This is the same Tom Hicks who traded away A-Rod right after he tested positive for steroids in 2003.

4. It's not like the owners and the Commissioner haven't manipulated news about steroids before. Remember how the news about Rafael Palmeiro was delayed until after Ryne Sandberg was inducted into the Hall of Fame? If you think about it - the Commissioners Office was probably well placed to organize the leaking of A-Rod's name. They had both motive and opportunity.

5. Joe Posnanski made a great point (sorry I can't find the link) about how that 104 players who flunked the test in 2003 probably represents a much higher number than the 5-7% we were told it was. Poz notes "There were roughly 432 players who qualified for the batting title, the ERA title or pitched 50 innings of relief" and compares that to "If 104 people tested positive, and it was 5% — that means they tested 2,080 baseball players." Those numbers don't seem to add up - do they?

Oh what a tangled web baseball is weaving regarding steroids.

Top 5 - Baseball Players from Mississippi State University

In honor of Bobby Thigpen's 45th birthday - here are who I consider the top 5 players from Mississippi State University.

1. Will Clark - he started over Palmeiro in college and for the Orioles - so he gets the nod on this list too
2. Rafael Palmeiro* (gets the asterisk for obvious reasons)
3. Bobby Thigpen - it's his birthday so he gets the nod in 3rd place
4. Dave "Boo" Ferris - won 21 games his rookie season and 25 games the next year for the Red Sox
5. Jonathan Papelbon

Just missing the cut - Buddy Myer and Jeff Brantley (who used to really annoy me when he was on Baseball Tonight).