Final Random Thoughts

8 Thoughts on Steroids in Baseball for 2/11/2009 #8

• I keep hearing fans say things like, "As far as I'm concerned, Hank Aaron is still the real home run king." Who cares what you think? Sorry, but no, he isn't. I'm as big a Hank Aaron fan as you will ever find. I think that he runs circles around Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez as both a player and a man. Still, the fact is that Barry Bonds hit more home runs than he did. Case closed.


• Is there anyone who seriously thinks Congress needs to get involved with steroids in baseball again? What good could possibly come from it? 


• Some idiot at Bleacher Report, a sports blog to which I refuse to link, posted today that he suspects Chipper Jones of the Braves might be on the juice. Was this post based on any actual evidence? No. It was simply based on Chipper's batting average the past several years. A good review of the post is available at Talking Chop. It is the height of irresponsibility to make this accusation in the absence of any evidence. Sadly, I don't think the sports pages at many newspapers, let alone sports talk radio, operate at any higher level of journalistic integrity.

Let's Blame the Union!

8 Thoughts on Steroids in Baseball for 2/11/2009 #7

There are few unions in America that are more hated than the Major League Baseball Player's Association. However anyone who has studied the history of MLB's labor relations knows that much of this hatred is based on ignorance. Sort of like the union movement as a whole.

Anyway, it is beyond the scope of this blog to go into the history of MLB vs. the MLBPA, but there is a reaction among many fans that I find revolting. They are blaming the drug problem in baseball, or more specifically the failure of the league to deal with the problem, on the union. As usual, the more conservative elements of baseball fandom (such as sports talk radio which often makes right wing political talk radio seem intelligent) look for the simplistic answer to a problem. Is there any problem you can find in America to which a conservative cannot find a way to place the blame on the unions?

With the problem of steroids in baseball, there is certainly blame that can be placed on the shoulders of the MLBPA. They have never fully acknowledged the seriousness of the issue and they have fought the tough enforcement needed to root steroids out of baseball. Still, they are simply the group representing the employees. Is it the fault of the MLBPA that the commissioner and the owners raked in money with glee when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chased Roger Maris's home run record? Is it the fault of the MLBPA that the owners lived in denial about the steroid problem despite every serious fan realizing that something was up? Is it the MLBPA's fault that the owners were dishing out their biggest contracts for home run hitters? Is it the MLBPA's responsibility to control the actions of every major league ballplayer? Of course not.

Look, steroids are problem in baseball and they are a problem that threaten the long term viability of the sport. The mere fact that so many fans care, and care passionately, about the drug use means that it has to be taken seriously. If the union wants their members to continue receiving their high dollar contracts then they need to consider that if the fans are unhappy, the money will not continue to roll into the sport. They need to ask their members to accept more testing and stricter penalties. Additionally, MLB needs to stop demagoging the issue and pretending that the only thing that stands in the way of solving this issue is the union. There needs to be less focus on who did what and when and more focus on getting the rugs out of the sport.

Ultimately, there needs to be a revelation with the fans, the union and the league that the people most responsible for cheating are those players that cheat. Yes, the systemic problems can be addressed, but as long as the players are normal human beings, there will be those who look for an edge. It's a simple reality in a complex problem.

The Curious Case of Barry Bonds

8 Thoughts on Steroids in Baseball for 2/11/2009 #6

Everyone has made up their minds about Barry Bonds. I readily admit that I have as well. The man used steroids. I don't doubt that for a second. Still, there's more to the case than just his steroid use. How does one drug user end up in a seven year dance with the Justice Department?

I heartily recommend this story by ESPN Magazine's Jon Pessah. This is just another case of how the government works under a conservative administration. The constitution has, once again, been thrown in the garbage. 

Three federal judges reviewed the raid. One asked, incredulously, if the Fourth Amendment had been repealed. Another, Susan Illston, who has presided over the BALCO trials, called Novitzky's actions a "callous disregard" for constitutional rights. All three instructed him to return the records. Instead, Novitzky kept the evidence ...

You would think our federal government had more important cases to pursue than a seven year vendetta against Barry Bonds. Seriously. Torture anyone?

The Ballplayer as Hero

8 Thoughts on Steroids in Baseball for 2/11/2009 #5

As a rather avid baseball fan, I've had to come to grips with the fact that many of my favorite players are not very good people. Baseball is a game and I admire the way certain people play the game. I do not have to admire their off-field behavior. I do not have to admire everything they say or do to support them on the field. I make no apologies for this. 

Here's an example: John Smoltz is one of my three favorite baseball players of all-time. He's also a stupid bigot. His opinion on gay marriage? Well, let's just say he's opposed. I believe his exact quote was ...

What’s next? Marrying an animal?

This, however, has nothing to do with my fandom. I admire the baseball player for his ability to pitch in the big game. I admire the baseball player for trying to take the mound for every start despite the immense pain he suffered in his shoulder and his elbow. I don't have to admire the stupid bigot man.

So many people want their ballplayers to be everything. They expect them to be Superman. They teach their kids to look up to athletes as role models. Typical human frailty is presented as a symbol of the end of all that is good in society. As would most human beings when placed in this position, the athletes fall short more often than not. 

This isn't to say that there aren't heroes in the world of baseball. Jackie Robinson's entire career and Hank Aaron's chase of Babe Ruth's home run record are cultural and racial milestones in our nation's history. Certainly, these two men should be looked at as role models. Does this mean every ballplayer should?

In a perfect world, every player (for that matter, every man) would be honorable and noble and always do the right thing. We don't live in a perfect world. 

The players of the days before 24/7 sports cable networks were able to hide their warts from the fans. They can still be held up as heroes. The fact that they may have done "greenies" is just grit for colorful stories of baseballs past. The fact that they may have thrown spit-balls is cause for laughter at putting one over on the hitters. Cheating is cheating but steroids are somehow considered worse. We expect today's players to live up to a standard that the players of yesteryear could not have lived up to under the constant scrutiny of today's press.

Yes, ballplayers have taken steroids. No, it has not destroyed the very fabric of our society. The Earth continues to turn on its axis. The wind still blows. Rush Limbaugh lies to his listeners. Everything goes on.

Is the Use of Steroids Cheating?

8 Thoughts on Steroids in Baseball for 2/11/2009 #4

The answer here is an unequivocal yes. Yes, some people will argue that "everyone was doing them" but that is simply not the case. Steroids are a performance enhancing drug and they have improved the performance of some of the greatest players to ever play the game. It is clearly not fair to those players who have chosen not to inject their body full of dangerous drugs.

Of course, uppers were used as performance enhancing drugs in the 50s and 60s and no one seems to get a rise up about them. People still throw spitballs but I can't recall anyone demanding that Gaylord Perry be removed from the Hall of Fame.

It seems that people only care about some types of cheating. It goes to the idea of "ballplayer as hero".

Steroid Accomplishments

8 Thoughts on Steroids in Baseball for 2/11/2009 #3

A lot of people seem to have a misconception about steroids and what they will do for your performance. Let it be known that there isn't a single bad baseball player who took steroid and "got great". As for great players who used ...

Before the period in question, Alex Rodriguez was already considered the best player in all of baseball. Nothing he had done since the period in question does anything to diminish that belief. Now, there does appear to be an uptick in the number of home runs hit by A-Rod when he arrived in Texas, so that leaves another explanation. I do think it is safe to say that steroids can make a great player even better.

Look at Barry Bonds. When he arrived in San Francisco with a regular size neck, he was already the best all around offensive player in the league. Somehow though, his neck grew to the size of a linebacker, and as it did, he became the best power hitter in the game. This great player managed to turn in what it arguably the best offensive season in the history of the game in 2001 when he hit 73 home runs and drive in 137 runs with a .328 batting average. Did I mention the .863 slugging percentage? Still, Bonds was one of the best in the game before it appears he began using, and simply became even better after.

Now, I've tried for the life of me to find a mediocre player who rose to greatness under the suspicion of steroid use, but I can't find one. Glenallen Hill? Paul Lo Duca? No.

Does this mean I think steroid use is okay and should be condoned? No, I don't. More on that later.

I Don't Like Alex Rodriguez

8 Thoughts on Steroids in Baseball for 2/11/2009 #2

I could give a million reasons why I don't feel the least bit sorry for Alex Rodriguez, even though he was most certainly wronged by the revelation of his steroid use. I haven't liked him since he signed that obscene contract with the Rangers before the 2001 season, and pretended it was about more than the money. Sorry dude, nobody with a brain ever bought that.

I can remember in the run up to the 2001 season the clearly bitter comments from A-Rod about the Mets's GM at the time, Steve Phillips. Clearly, Rodriguez was upset that the Mets didn't want to go into hock for him. Neither did the Mariners, who also left A-Rod bitter.

When he arrived in New York, he was in the press every day and his real personality was on display. He was sour. He was moody. Worst of all, especially for Yankee fans, he had a tendency to come up short in the division series. Yes, when his team has made it to the ALCS, he hit .315, but in the division series he's only managed to hit .258 which helps explain the four times his team failed to make it to the ALCS. He was expected to lead the Rangers and then the Yankess to the World Series, instead, his Yankess have fallen in three straight division series, and last year missed the playoffs. All of this can't be blamed on A-Rod, but he has played his part.

Yes, I don't like A-Rod, but I'm going to defend him a bit today. You see, with or without steroids, he is clearly one of the greatest players in the history of the game. More later.

A Presidential Matter

8 Thoughts on Steroids in Baseball for 2/11/2009 #1

I find it remarkable that, during his first prime time news conference, in the midst of our greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, at a time when we are actively engaged in two wars, a reporter felt it was his duty to ask President Obama about Alex Rodriguez. 

The very idea this is an important American issue is ridiculous. Of course, this will eventually lead to additional Congressional hearings. Remember that: the blatant crimes committed by the Bush administration don't matter; sports do.

Hey, I'm a big sports fan and I'm going in indulge that by spending a day blogging about steroids, but ultimately, this issue doesn't matter. It doesn't really affect the lives of anyone outside the employ of Major League Baseball. This is, in the great scheme of things, not that important.