A place for the discussion of all things not closely related to the sport and its competitive side. (Locked down several times a year during the major championships)
I want to refer everyone back to paulthefan axiom number 1 regarding PEDs... players with the largest contract $$ are most likely in the deepest. This one is based on basic economics.
26mi235 wrote:1 The top players are warned in advance.
Didn't The New York Times reveal that MLB's drug testers routinely notify the team ahead of time when they are coming to town for testing?
Yes, the tester have to get stadium passes from the team, so the team has to be told in advance. I wonder how many other holes that you can drive a truck through they have in their testing regime. And some people complained about Masback and USATF....
gh wrote:then why is it that most who have fallen afoul of (admittedly weak) testing have by and large been shlubs in baseball?
that is a no-brainer, because they (the shlubs) can't afford to get the latest and best information on the testing... basic economics. They are always decades behind what the champs know.
On a fair playing field the best are the best. However everything gets transmogrified with big dollars as then the best appear superhuman as they reap a tremendous dividend (call it a millionaires tax break) in PEDs.
Last edited by paulthefan on Fri Nov 16, 2007 11:35 am, edited 2 times in total.
The Chicago Tribune's Philip Hersh makes an excellent point in defense of Bonds' records:
During the period the indictment suggests Bonds was taking steroids, baseball was not officially testing for them. Until 2002, MLB had no official policy about players using steroids.
When Bonds hit 73 home runs in 2001, one of the years the indictment says he took drugs and allegedly lied about it under oath, MLB had not banned them either de jure or de facto.
There is no evidence, alleged or otherwise, that Bonds had taken steroids in the four seasons (2004 through 2007) the sport officially has tested for them.
I didn't know about Soto and Mary Decker. You learn something new everyday. Ty Cobbs and Ted Williams weren't exactly known for being cuddly either.
And having been in the Bay Area for the time that Bonds was a Giant, either the press is pulling the most massive snow job of all time (including doctoring numerous videos) or Bonds is deserving of his reputation as an asshole. I’d say maybe he’s a sweetheart around his family, but most of the available evidence argues against it.
a poster wrote: "...Bonds was also a great player before he became a committed user of what in many sports are PEDs. McGuire was always a really good player - not on the same level and did not have several MVPs that led to him getting contracts with the highest salary in baseball beginning rather far back. I am even unsure of my feelings on Hall of Fame, as I think he would have been in it without the chemical assistance (however, MJ might well have been almost as good, but not as "multi-evented" at OG/WCs)..."
Bonds was great prior to the weight gain, but not a 50 or 55 homer player as were Griffey, Jr., A-Rod, and McGwire even before they were 30. He had generally hit about 35 a year before he bulked up (and 49 once), then hit 73. He would not have done that (actually, no one had, not even Mays, Mantle, Foxx, Killebrew, McCovey, Kingman, Jackson, Greenberg or Ruth). Would have made the Hall, wouldn't have threatened or broken Aaron's career mark.
gh wrote:I don't have time to look this up to confirm, but it's my recollection that even when he was of collegiate MVP status at Arizona State, his teammates nonethless voted him off the team (but the coach would have none of it). Can anybody verify that?
I remember reading about that last year or the year before. I think it was an excerpt from a biography on Bonds. Probably posted on ESPN's website.
As I recall the story, on a trip to Hawaii, Barry and two other players missed curfew bed check. The captain handed out punishment to the players (running laps or some such thing). The other two players accepted the punishment, but Barry refused to do anything because the captain was not his boss. The players met with the coach to complain that Barry was ripping the team apart. The coach said that if the players voted to get rid of Barry, he would do so. The players voted, and only two voted to keep him on the team. The coach said that since it was not unanimous, Barry got to stay on the team.
bijanc wrote:a poster wrote: "...Bonds was also a great player before he became a committed user of what in many sports are PEDs. McGuire was always a really good player - not on the same level and did not have several MVPs that led to him getting contracts with the highest salary in baseball beginning rather far back. I am even unsure of my feelings on Hall of Fame, as I think he would have been in it without the chemical assistance (however, MJ might well have been almost as good, but not as "multi-evented" at OG/WCs)..."
Bonds was great prior to the weight gain, but not a 50 or 55 homer player as were Griffey, Jr., A-Rod, and McGwire even before they were 30. He had generally hit about 35 a year before he bulked up (and 49 once), then hit 73. He would not have done that (actually, no one had, not even Mays, Mantle, Foxx, Killebrew, McCovey, Kingman, Jackson, Greenberg or Ruth). Would have made the Hall, wouldn't have threatened or broken Aaron's career mark.
I completely agree that he would never have made the 700 Club (probably even the religious one ) much less broken the 754 mark, without PEDs. It just a comment about the two players discussed by someone above. It also expressed my uncertainty on the HoF given that things are tainted; removing anything extra above what he might have done (including stopping at 40 instead of continuing), his record was a HoF one.
I soured on the HR stuff after the McGuire/Sosa contests when the pieces fit together enough to raise big questions about the comparability of the 'playing field'. By the time Bonds was doing the big damage I was not hoping he hit a lot.
Bonds was at the top but saw himself eclipsed by somewhat lessor players and felt the need to exceed, so to speak.
gh wrote:I don't have time to look this up to confirm, but it's my recollection that even when he was of collegiate MVP status at Arizona State, his teammates nonethless voted him off the team (but the coach would have none of it). Can anybody verify that?
I've got nuthin but time and found this article...thanks Google...
Bonds' MVP, or "Bonds is the G.O.A.T." apologists have contested my columns on a few counts, one interesting one being that he has won eight Gold Gloves. But the ESPN article on his ASU days contains this assertion:
..."There'd be 15 scouts in the stands, and he didn't want them to see that he had no arm."..'
Bonds' Gold Gloves were awarded for playing LF. Manny Ramirez plays left. Frank Howard played in left. Ted Williams played in left. The Reds stuck Pete Rose in left. To argue that Bonds is baseball's greatest ever with "stellar left field play" as a plank in the platform is by definition diminishing- the two thirds of National League outfielders who are charged w/ covering the most ground, and making the most challenging throws, are the RF'ers and the CF'ers. When Bonds teamed w/ Gold Glover Andy Van Slyke in Pittsburgh, it was Van Slyke who was considered a fielding standout.
Griffey (cf) was rated a superior fielder, Griffey was younger, and tabbed by Aaron as most likely to break his record, and Sosa and McGwire captured media attention w/ the assault on Maris' mark. Some sportswriters considered A-Rod the best all-around player. All that had to get to Bonds in the late 1990's.
(red flag- home run production does not spike at age 36)
BCB
Last edited by bijanc on Fri Nov 16, 2007 3:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
bijanc wrote:Bonds' MVP, or "Bonds is the G.O.A.T." apologists have contested my columns on a few counts, one interesting one being that he has won eight Gold Gloves. But the ESPN article on his ASU days contains this assertion:
..."There'd be 15 scouts in the stands, and he didn't want them to see that he had no arm."..'
BCB
Bonds was never a true five-tool player. His own godfather, the Say-Hey Kid himself, has talked about his lack of arm strength. Had he stayed healthy, Ken Griffey Jr. would have likely eclipsed Willie Mays as baseball's GOAT.
Bonds' Gold Gloves were very much in keeping w/ his ability. Having a cannon for an arm is a minor part of being a great fielder. And Bonds was a great fielder in his prime.
gh wrote:I don't have time to look this up to confirm, but it's my recollection that even when he was of collegiate MVP status at Arizona State, his teammates nonethless voted him off the team (but the coach would have none of it). Can anybody verify that?
I've got nuthin but time and found this article...thanks Google...
A lot of these sociability issues have to be laid squarely at the feet of Bobby Bonds. The behavior being described would not have gone unnoticed by his parents when he was growing up. On the other hand, Bonds is a baseball player, not a diplomat.
Last edited by jazzcyclist on Fri Nov 16, 2007 3:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Not so much. Great fielders are positioned by their coaches and managers in right or center, not left. Clemente, Mays, Kaline, Maris, Blair, Furillo, Piersall, Rieser, Terry Moore, DiMag, Speaker, Geronimo, Flood, Maddoxx, Evans, Dale Murphy, Pettis, Lofton, Torii Hunter, Carl Crawford all play or played CF or RF.
Name an all-time great major league outfielder (regardless of how they batted) who patrolled left field. Best I recall was Carl Yastrzemski- I'd stop short of calling him great, or ranking him w/ the aforementioned. Left has been tradtionally been reserved for players (nice hitters all) such as Greg Luzinski, Jason Giambi, Berra (when he could no longer play beh. the plate every day), Stargell and Reggie Jackson. There are, beyond arm strength, issues of throwing accuracy, judgement of balls in flight, knowledge of baserunners and situations, the longer throw from right to third, range, speed, and hitting cutoff men.
Not so much. Great fielders are positioned by their coaches and managers in right or center, not left. Clemente, Mays, Kaline, Maris, Blair, Furillo, Piersall, Rieser, Terry Moore, DiMag, Speaker, Geronimo, Flood, Maddoxx, Evans, Dale Murphy, Pettis, Lofton, Torii Hunter, Carl Crawford all play or played CF or RF.
Name an all-time great major league outfielder (regardless of how they batted) who patrolled left field. Best I recall was Carl Yastrzemski- I'd stop short of calling him great, or ranking him w/ the aforementioned. Left has been tradtionally been reserved for players (nice hitters all) such as Greg Luzinski, Jason Giambi, Berra (when he could no longer play beh. the plate every day), Stargell and Reggie Jackson. There are, beyond arm strength, issues of throwing accuracy, judgement of balls in flight, knowledge of baserunners and situations, the longer throw from right to third, range, speed, and hitting cutoff men.
BCB
Fielding is considered a different tool than throwing. You just can't put weak arms in right or center. If a guy can field/run but can't throw, you put him in left field. If a guy can throw but can't field/run, you put him in right field. If a guy can do neither you put him in left field. By the way, Reggie Jackson played right field, not left field. Babe Ruth and Sammy Sosa also played right field while Ricky Henderson played left field. Why do you think Bonds won so many Gold Gloves anyway?
Reggie played a lot of left before he was a Yank. I think Bonds won a lot of GG's because there weren't many good fielders playing left in the NL in the 1990's. The most contested GG's were in CF and among the RF's. Were he a true five-tooler, he'd have occupied right as Van Slyke, or center.
Being one of the premier LF's in the NL from the late 80's to early 90's was as empty as being one of the top wide receivers in the Big 8 in the 1980's- who was one competing against?
e.g.- What merit is there being one of the top heavyweight boxers during an era when the superior talent is in the middle and lighter weight classifications? It's all relative.
bijanc wrote:Reggie played a lot of left before he was a Yank. I think Bonds won a lot of GG's because there weren't many good fielders playing left in the NL in the 1990's. The most contested GG's were in CF and among the RF's. Were he a true five-tooler, he'd have occupied right as Van Slyke, or center.
Being one of the premier LF's in the NL from the late 80's to early 90's was as empty as being one of the top wide receivers in the Big 8 in the 1980's- who was one competing against?
e.g.- What merit is there being one of the top heavyweight boxers during an era when the superior talent is in the middle and lighter weight classifications? It's all relative.
BCB
I don't disagree with anything you've said, but I would add that you would be hard pressed to find a better fielding left fielder in the history of baseball that was appreciably better than Bonds in his early years. However, I agree that a left field GG doesn't carry the prestige of a CF or RF GG, but I do believe that a left field GG probably has more prestige than a 1st base or pitching GG.
"...Funny - back when I played ball we always put the crappiest fielder out in right . . ."
That's because not that many little kids bat lefty, so fewer balls are hit there. The more advanced the baseball, the more sweet-swinging lefties one encounters (and switchers too). And even some of the best righty batters aren't dead pull hitters.
) much less broken the 754 mark, without PEDs. It just a comment about the two players discussed by someone above. It also expressed my uncertainty on the HoF given that things are tainted; removing anything extra above what he might have done (including stopping at 40 instead of continuing), his record was a HoF one.