tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562453620510655271.post8189603411859946439..comments2023-06-26T09:25:54.337-05:00Comments on My Baseball Fantasy: Today's lineupGreg McConnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17504912601218236507noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562453620510655271.post-80961220174490233242009-07-11T07:19:05.356-05:002009-07-11T07:19:05.356-05:00Steroids sell papers, magazines and TV ads; but th...<i>Steroids sell papers, magazines and TV ads; but they dont affect ticket sales, do they?</i><br /><br />Good point, Pauly.<br /><br /><i>People are very quick to forgive Petitte and Manny and Arod -- they make for better baseball. Only the schmucks like Bonds give the whole thing a foul stench.<br /></i><br />But that's probably true wtih anything. When people tend to like you (for whatever reason), they're quicker to forgive. If they tend to not like you (for whatever reason), they tend to hold any negative against you in an effort to validate their original feelings.<br /><br />If McGwire had tearfully broken down before Congress and admitted steroid use, then dedicated himself to warning children about the dangers of steroids and other drug abuse for the next several years, he might be in the Hall of Fame today--especially as voters start to realize just how prevalent steroid use had been (and the likelihood that Hall is already filling up with juicers... Kirby Puckett, anyone?).<br /><br /><br /><i>Tend to agree with Pauly. But, why is Bonds any different than any of the other guys?</i><br /><br />Two reasons: 1) Much of the media has always disliked his arrogance and 2) He owns two of the most cherished baseball records: Homers in a season and homers in a career. <br /><br /><i>Where I get a little annoyed is with all of the old timers bashing today's players and this steroid stuff. The same folks who used Amphetamines and acknowledge it with a wink and nod are now out there on a pedestal condemning steroids. </i><br /><br />Yeah, this is definitely something I've noticed, too. Plus, how many ex-pitchers have we heard during TV broadcasts joke about the cheating they knew "other" pitchers would do--and then go into how one were to do it IF they were to do it--wink wink, nod. (Using nail files, spitters, etc.)<br /><br />I guess where steroids stands out are that they can supposedly do more damage to your body than these other performance-enhancing measures. But then again, many legitimate jobs do damage to your body, such as being a coal miner.Greg McConnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17504912601218236507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562453620510655271.post-23841303656763816542009-07-10T18:16:50.223-05:002009-07-10T18:16:50.223-05:00Tend to agree with Pauly. But, why is Bonds any d...Tend to agree with Pauly. But, why is Bonds any different than any of the other guys? <br /><br />Where I get a little annoyed is with all of the old timers bashing today's players and this steroid stuff. The same folks who used Amphetamines and acknowledge it with a wink and nod are now out there on a pedestal condemning steroids. If you look at some of the revealing stuff from baseball's history, the use of greenies (uppers) has been a part of baseball since the 1940's:<br /><br />http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2006/04/02/PBP_AMPHET_0402.html<br /><br />And if you read Ball Four, Bouton mentions them on a few occasions.<br /><br />I get annoyed with this arbitrary line for things that we call "performance enhancing"." So, we're OK with injections for pain (cortisone). We're not OK with injections that help you train longer (steroids). We're OK with pills that reduce pain, but we're not OK with pills that increase attention and focus, or pills that increase awareness. <br /><br />I mean, if you want to go old school, once you blew out your arm, you had to go pick up a trade. Now, we have people replacing ligaments with different parts from the body. That's definitely performance enhancing. <br /><br />It just feels arbitrary and hypocritical...Chairmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02042114331279771820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562453620510655271.post-21069015558098703192009-07-07T13:06:20.981-05:002009-07-07T13:06:20.981-05:00No matter what the verdict, the only people who ca...No matter what the verdict, the only people who care about steroid abuse in baseball is the media. <br /><br />Steroids sell papers, magazines and TV ads; but they dont affect ticket sales, do they?<br /><br />Only silly baseball purists really have a problem with it. Personally, I rather enjoy seeing Sheffield swing it like he swings it; and I like it when somebody hits it onto the street or into the water. <br /><br />People are very quick to forgive Petitte and Manny and Arod -- they make for better baseball. Only the schmucks like Bonds give the whole thing a foul stench.Paulyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13277287057711585857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562453620510655271.post-26382734799721728582009-07-06T18:54:14.608-05:002009-07-06T18:54:14.608-05:00I just took another peek at that list... not a wh...I just took another peek at that list... not a whole lot of Reds players on there, I don't think. I, for one, would have preferred to have seen the Reds get more of these juiced players that could play, rather the retreads we kept throwing out there... Maybe a little juice for Austin Kearns would have jump started his career...Chairmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02042114331279771820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562453620510655271.post-51878134927276409912009-07-06T11:50:23.961-05:002009-07-06T11:50:23.961-05:00Well, my philosophy is that if you're going to...Well, my philosophy is that if you're going to have juiced up players on your team, you should have the really good ones who have a compulsion to become transcendent (i.e., Bonds, Clemens, Manny, etc.). What I'm not as fond of is the crappy players all of a sudden become Brady Anderson, and then crashing back to earth. It's not so much a philosophical position, as a practical one. I just hate having to factor that sort of variance into my fantasy selections.Chairmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02042114331279771820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562453620510655271.post-8257343201656994132009-07-05T23:24:28.271-05:002009-07-05T23:24:28.271-05:00Dang, I just looked up my '01 roster and saw R...Dang, I just looked up my '01 roster and saw Roger Cedeno on it, too. I guess you better put an asterisk by my name on the C-Lauff Dollar...Greg McConnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17504912601218236507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562453620510655271.post-62571554418327928132009-07-05T23:20:32.819-05:002009-07-05T23:20:32.819-05:00My hunch is that this list doesn't exactly mat...My hunch is that this list doesn't exactly match the elusive MLB list of 103 (or is it 104?) from 2003. But given what has already been revealed about that list and the seemingly large number of people who have actually seen it, along with the fact that players on that list are starting to admit to steroid use (i.e., A-Rod), I think it's only a matter of time before the real list does come out. When that happens, we can compare it to this one.<br /><br />Regarding "sucky" players being on steroids, I suppose that brings up an interesting discussion. Exactly what role do steroids (or HGH) play in enhancing the performance of a baseball player? It's possible that steroids help some guys but hurt others (in terms of being effective baseball players). <br /><br />As for 2001, I actually got some good production from Raul Mondesi and Jose Lima during that championship run, too. ;-)Greg McConnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17504912601218236507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7562453620510655271.post-73563630660122312782009-07-05T16:57:03.420-05:002009-07-05T16:57:03.420-05:00Interesting. There are a bunch of players who suc...Interesting. There are a bunch of players who sucked for a long time, prior to 2003, though... For example Corey Patterson. If he was on the juice, then he needed to get better juice.<br /><br />However, given the inclusion of Paul LoDuca and Bret Boone (who just happened to have ridiculous career years in 2001), are you finally admitting that your inaugural UPL win was tainted :-)Chairmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02042114331279771820noreply@blogger.com