So David Ortiz Gets Voted Into The Hall Of Fame and Not Bonds Or Clemens?

[abdcskins]

I don't recall if I knew what steroids were in 1998 during that home run record chase. I was 15-16 years old at the time. But if you had told me then what they were I would have the same reaction as I do today, that they are wack and have no place in baseball. It's cheating straight up, I don't care if MLB turned a blind eye it doesn't make it right. 

[Captain Wiggles]

I was about nine when I learned what steroids were. 1988 Olympics and Ben Johnson. I've always assumed athletes at the highest levels take some sort of PEDs. Hell my high school football team was juiced the four years I was there. N we were just in some basic Virginia AAA league. 

[China]

Interesting take from someone who played in that era:

 

Doug Glanville: Why I'm OK with Barry Bonds not being elected to the Hall of Fame

 

BACK IN 1997, when I was in my second year with the Cubs, I vividly recall watching batting practice when Mark McGwire stepped in the cage for the Cardinals. It was awesome. I saw how far the ball flew, and, like so many of us, I suspended disbelief. It was like watching a good horror movie, before we knew how wrong things could go.

 

Over time, a cloud of doubt seeped into clubhouses. Suspicion about whether that teammate beating you out is playing fair. Records became mere placeholders. Every home run hit a little too far brought a hitter's integrity into question. We stopped trusting the game, and, worse, we lost our sense of awe in it. Even as the fans came back post-strike, it was still eroding.

 

I've thought about those days a lot recently, as the end of Barry Bonds' candidacy on the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot approached. 

 

Click on the link for the full analysis

[TD_washingtonredskins]

On 1/30/2022 at 12:35 PM, TryTheBeal! said:

Baseball honks play the “hardest thing in sports” card because this country is filled with 5’9” 160lb guys with no discernible athletic talent except they can occasionally get contact at the high school level.  Then they spend the rest of their lives doing this goofy baseball thing cause it makes their ego feel good.

 

Then they retire and start telling everybody how golf must be the 2nd most difficult sport.

I know you're trying to be funny, but this is idiotic and so simplistic. 

 

Something being "the hardest thing to do in sports" doesn't also make someone who does it well "the best athlete" in sports. I think Michael Jordan or Bo Jackson or Michael Vick are some of the best athletes that I've ever watched play. But I still believe that hitting major league pitching consistently is likely the toughest thing to do in sports. I don't think that makes Dustin Pedroia a more impressive athlete than Nick Bosa. I also think golf is WAY harder than football, but it takes far less athletic ability. 

[Riggo#44]

15 minutes ago, TD_washingtonredskins said:

I know you're trying to be funny, but this is idiotic and so simplistic. 

 

Something being "the hardest thing to do in sports" doesn't also make someone who does it well "the best athlete" in sports. I think Michael Jordan or Bo Jackson or Michael Vick are some of the best athletes that I've ever watched play. But I still believe that hitting major league pitching consistently is likely the toughest thing to do in sports. I don't think that makes Dustin Pedroia a more impressive athlete than Nick Bosa. I also think golf is WAY harder than football, but it takes far less athletic ability. 

You're dead on here. John Kruk hit .300/.397/.446 over his 10 year career. He also said "I'm not an athlete, I'm a baseball player." 

 

Side note: Bo Jackson might be the greatest athlete in the history of sports.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

8 minutes ago, Riggo#44 said:

You're dead on here. John Kruk hit .300/.397/.446 over his 10 year career. He also said "I'm not an athlete, I'm a baseball player." 

 

Side note: Bo Jackson might be the greatest athlete in the history of sports.

Right...and he could also HIT! 

 

It's why I have been so impressed with the moderate success that other athletes had playing baseball. Even when MJ or Deion or Brian Jordan were able to be below-average to average in the minors or majors, I was floored. They were great (or good, in Brian Jordan's case) at their primary sports and then OK at baseball. That was AMAZING to me because that sport is very, very hard! 

 

But Bo was GREAT at it...along with being just hands-down the best athlete in the world. 

[Captain Wiggles]

Yeah but Kruk had a world class mullet to help him along his way. That's not something just anyone can do. 🤓

 

[skinsmarydu]

That time Bo practically walked up the outfield wall for a catch is probably the greatest moment in sports ever.  

[Spaceman Spiff]

Oh no!!!

 

https://apnews.com/article/hockey-barry-bonds-nhl-mlb-sports-fdcd0eba22fc00a70144ce1ab89f8dea?utm_medium=AP_Sports&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter

 

 

Quote

NEW YORK (AP) — Drug testing in Major League Baseball has stopped, a casualty of the sport’s lockout that started Dec. 2.

Testing for steroids was halted for the first time in nearly 20 years due to the expiration of the sport’s drug agreement between management and the players’ association, two people familiar with the sport’s Joint Drug Program told The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because no public announcement was made.

When they negotiated the 2017-21 drug agreement, the sides included a provision that states “the termination date and time of the program shall be 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1, 2021.” That matched the expiration of the five-year labor contract.

“It should be a major concern to all those who value fair play,” Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said Monday.

MLB and the union declined comment on the halt.

 

Juice if you got 'em! 

[TradeTheBeal!]

This is awesome.  Soto with an additional 20 lbs of muscle should be a hoot.

[PleaseBlitz]

The Astros:

 

 

 

[Riggo#44]

Carlos Correa in 2 weeks: