A Baseball Player From The 1990's Took Steroids?

by R.J. Anderson on Feb 7, 2009 10:20 PM EST

via LookoutLanding

Tweet Comment 24 comments | 6 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I lol'd 'til it hurt.

And That Happened: Sports with a Hint of Sarcasm

by philkid3 on Feb 8, 2009 3:43 AM EST reply actions

me too...

best picture ever

---
Juuuust a bit outside!!
http://www.rightfieldbleachers.com

by Jack Moore on Feb 8, 2009 3:50 AM EST up reply actions

One of the shortest, yet funniest posts I have seen in a long time.

Rec’d.

Well, I'll appreciate for you to keep my zingers outta your mouth!

by BoSox415 on Feb 8, 2009 4:08 PM EST reply actions

It really sucks for the guys who were clean.

They should just close the Hall and open a new one.

by bdalebs on Feb 8, 2009 5:00 PM EST reply actions

Babe Ruth never had to face a black pitcher.

by Aaron Campeau on Feb 8, 2009 5:30 PM EST up reply actions

Don't like this point

Who's world is it? It's yours.

by BlackOps on Feb 8, 2009 5:53 PM EST up reply actions

That's your prerogative, but the idea that the game was somehow more pure in times past drives me insane.

People have always cheated and they always will cheat. That doesn’t mean attempts shouldn’t be made to control it, but recognizing great players from the “steroid-era” with Hall of Fame enshrinement does nothing to diminish the careers of anyone else in the hall. Steroids were a fact of life in MLB in the 1990s, just like spitballers, the color barrier, amphetamines and Ty Cobb’s spikes.

by Aaron Campeau on Feb 8, 2009 8:58 PM EST up reply actions

Damn.

Never thought about that.

Space.

It's a problem we face.

So we never go anywhere.

We just stay in one place.

by hazel on Feb 9, 2009 6:52 AM EST up reply actions

Seriously?

How does the fact that Babe Ruth never had to face a black pitcher compare at all to cheating?

Who's world is it? It's yours.

by BlackOps on Feb 9, 2009 4:58 PM EST up reply actions

The argument that's always made against admitting suspected (or confirmed) steroid users to the hall

is that their numbers are falsely inflated and aren’t as worthwhile as players from earlier eras. Players before integration did not compete against some of the best players in the world at the time, so shouldn’t we take that into account as well?

The point is that the only way to determine how good a player really was is to compare him to his peers. Players should be defined by their accomplishments relative to the era in which they played.

by Aaron Campeau on Feb 9, 2009 5:08 PM EST up reply actions

Are you arguing that a black man would be a better pitcher solely b/c of his race?

by bdalebs on Feb 9, 2009 6:34 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Rec'd.

by R.J. Anderson on Feb 9, 2009 6:38 PM EST up reply actions

If this were LL I would reply with a joke that was even funnier.

by Aaron Campeau on Feb 9, 2009 10:05 PM EST up reply actions

Teasing is no good.

At least email it to me.

by R.J. Anderson on Feb 9, 2009 10:09 PM EST up reply actions

It's at least theoretically possible that I used this as an excuse for not being able to come up with a decent response.

by Aaron Campeau on Feb 10, 2009 5:14 AM EST up reply actions

Read Derek Zumsteg's book, The Cheater's Guide to Baseball.

Cheating is a part of the culture.

by R.J. Anderson on Feb 8, 2009 5:49 PM EST up reply actions

Cheating is part of the marriage culture too.

I guess by your rationale, that makes IT o.k. too.

If more than one person knows a secret, it ain't a secret.

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 9, 2009 10:29 AM EST up reply actions

RJ's point (I think, don't want to totally speak for him)...

is not that steroids are ok. It’s that every era is full of its quirks and cheaters. To think that the steroid era is any more impure is to ignore the problems of an earlier age.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Feb 9, 2009 10:38 AM EST up reply actions

Not full.

I’m sure there is at least one player who never cheated knowingly in any way.

by bdalebs on Feb 9, 2009 6:35 PM EST up reply actions

I'd rather not have players that cheat.

But what I’m saying is, players/teams have ALWAYS cheated. Corked bats, spitballs, changing the field to slope in a certain direction, grass length, changing the bases distance, stuff like this has always been prevalent. What we’re dealing with now is less obvious but will always be around. Hank Aaron admitted he used greenies, they’re illegal now, should we asterisk Aaron? Of course not.

People act like the hall of fame has some morality code, yet why are there racists in it? Why are there wife beaters in baseball who get less grief than someone who took drugs that, in return, entertained us? Would I prefer a clean, rule abiding league? Absolutely, but unlike most, I’m going to accept that PED chemists are always going to be ahead of the curve.

by R.J. Anderson on Feb 9, 2009 12:08 PM EST up reply actions

i think the problem most folks have with PED

comes down to the fact that if you cork your bat with superballs and it breaks during a game, it’s obvious that you’ve cheated (unless Jason Grimsley pulls a quick swap) when the superballs bounce around on home plate Graig Nettles-style.

essentially, most forms of cheating leave you open to be caught (such as scuffing the ball, etc). steroids testing (being new and largely misunderstood) is seen a bit differently.

But, yeah, people have always cheated . . .

“I don’t put any foreign substances on the baseball. Everything I use is from the good old USA” – George Frazier.

“Cheating is as much a part of the game as scorecards and hot dogs.” – Billy Martin

"The NY Mets are my favorite squadron" -- Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

by jessef on Feb 9, 2009 4:12 PM EST up reply actions