steroid era

[hoebob69]

I know I can't be the only one ready for the sports writers to get their heads out of the clouds and give the guys from that era their due respect. The fact that Dee Gordon just tested positive with 11 career home runs should finally put it to bed!

[OriolesFan]

Just my opinion, but : No matter who you are, wrong is wrong. It doesn't matter if you're Gordon, McGwire, Bonds,Clemens, etc. Therefore, even if they put up good/great numbers, they violated the rules to do so. Maybe they can make the very first class into "The MLB Cheaters HOF", but they surely don't belong in "The National Baseball HOF".

Have a good night.

[hoebob69]

Well I get that,but at the same token you can fail a drug test for things you can buy at gnc. My issue is that it not only wasn't illegal at the time but baseball used those players in that era to win their way back in to America's heart after the mid 90's strike! They didn't care then,they practically ignored/encouraged it because the fans loved it. But my main point is most of those guys were stars without it. You can dope all day but it will never help you hit or throw a ball. There are some that say it wasn't fair for Babe Ruth to play on a field smaller than my sons Tee ball field.

[OriolesFan]

If you go back in time, most fields were bigger then than they are now. Great example: Cleveland Municipal Stadium - center field was more than 450 feet away from home plate. Look at the picture of Willie Mays over the shoulder catch of Vic Wertz's hit ball, it has the center field distance in it. And there were many many more.

In regard to "those guys were stars without it", how do you know they'd have been stars without the drugs/enhancing drugs ? We can't, and that is a problem they brought on themselves for using it. Barry Bonds probably wouldn't have been the power hitter he was without the drugs. Look at his cards in his early years with the Pirates, and then the ones later when with the Giants. Physically, he was two different guys. Without a doubt it had to do with enhancing drugs. Also, look at the difference in his stats, a considerable difference. And there were others, he's just the best example.

Also, if it wasn't illegal then why did the hide it, and later deny it? If they were playing honestly then how would this have become an issue?

So far as baseball's STRIKE in the 1990's, they didn't win "America's heart", Cal Ripken should be given that honor. He continued to play, play, play and baseball fans tuned in because of that.

Also, Pete Rose was just as bad. He violated the rule about betting, even with it posted in every stadium. He lied about 20+ years about it before he finally confessed. And now he thinks he should be forgiven and put in the HOF, but at times he goes back to saying again he didn't do it. He VIOLATED,lied,admitted, and now at times lies again. Based off of this he SHOULDN'T be allowed to be put in the HOF.

Have a good day.

[hoebob69]

We will have to agree to disagree! Ty Cobb is the biggest racist ever,which is now a crime,and he's in the Hall. Not to mention no steroid has ever hit a baseball. The only perk to using is a shorter recovery time. As far as Bonds goes,I get it! He lied. But he also was the only one really left playing when it hit the fan so he had to hide it. Now with that being said,his home run spike in the latter part of his career had a lot to do with the Giants building a right field fence as short as Fenway. We could go back and forth all day about this. Certainly everyone is entitled to their opinion. But they're not witch hunting all the guys who through spit balls now that its illegal so why not just leave it alone.

[OriolesFan]

Yes, I guess we will have to agree to disagree. Racism is bad, but ones opinion/belief isn't a "crime". So, that has nothing to do with Cobb and the HOF. He didn't violate MLB rules. He wasn't jailed/arrested for such a "crime". If he was, without a doubt, Commissioner Judge Mountain Landis would have had him suspended or removed permanently from MLB. Also, Bonds wasn't "the only one left playing" when he "had to hide". In regard to spitballs, when they got caught "throwing spit balls" they got ejected from the game. I can't recall any "spit baller" lying after being caught, or protesting their ejection. Oh well, thanks for the conversation. Hope you enjoy the baseball season. Have a good evening.

[cornwellfamily]

I'm not sure how to view this subject. Cheating is cheating but I've heard several HOFers saying there was always something players were trying to do to stay ahead. I remember Ron Santo saying he saw all kinds of concotions in the locker room that were suppose to help you and I know Whitey Ford has said he was the biggest cheater there was out on the mound. Also there was so much steroid use out there (as proven by the hundreds of players that were supposedly in the reports) that in order to hit the ball with the speed that the juiced pitchers were pitching you had to juice yourself and the pitchers were saying with these hitters juicing and kiling the ball they had to juice to get the ball by them. So in reality if everybody is juicing whose cheating? Cheating as defined by Webster is: to break a rule or law usually to gain an advantage at something. Well no advantage is made if your all doing it.
It is funny though that Mark McGwire had 1626 hits and 583 of them were homeruns. Basically 1/3 of all of his hits.

[hoebob69]

There has been cheating since the birth of sports! Cobb sharpened his spikes so he could physically hurt infielders as he slid. Juicing or not though,steroids really only helped with recovery,otherwise Dee Gordon would have more than 11 career home runs. Baseball let it go for over a decade! So it really didn't give players much choice. Either juice or get replaced by a juicer! I've been around baseball my whole life,I put countless hours in working to get better from tee ball all the way to high school and the chance at college. I've never heard of anything you can take to make your hands and eyes collaborate to hit a baseball. And there are quiet a few guys that were named by Canseco or Mitchell that never put up ungodly home run numbers or looked like the hulk! The three rangers players for example! Palmeiro,Gonzalez and Pudge. All consistent but not hulk like,but black balled none the less.

[tejadafan1]

i agee they all are cheaters, but everyone collected checks the stats were counted trophies handed out! therefore its crap that it is held against them , for bringing baseball out of the ruins and back to its popularity it once was! there for let rose in and the rest of them , put astricts behind there names! and yes its nice to know players like ripken didn't have to cheat to make it there!