Rambling On

I thought this article was interesting: Bill Simmons' search for baseball's "purest era" (and not just because he references one of my personal favorite baseball moments.)

It illustrates what I think is one of the best arguments for not keeping Bonds, Clemens, insert next superstar player to get entangled in PED scandal, etc. out of the hall. And that argument is this: cheating is nothing new to baseball, or sports in general for that matter. For as long as there have been organized sports played on an elite level there have been players with a "win at all costs" mentality who were willing to bend, if not outright break, the rules in order to be successful. Is seeking a chemical advantage that much worse than the more accepted forms of cheating: spitballs, cutting/scuffing balls, stealing signs, etc.? (I understand that stealing signs is a part of the game and that it's on you if you don't change up/protect your sign, unless there's telescopes/electronics involved, that is.) Also, I've never been 100% sold on exactly how much steroids will help you in baseball. Yes, you'll get stronger and faster and recover faster from injury, but it's not going to improve your hand-eye coordination or your pitching or swing mechanics. I don't consider myself a Bonds apologist, but I don't care what kind of drugs you're on, you don't hit 73 homeruns (or 45 while being walked 232 times) without being a supremely talented hitter. Also, I think you can only judge players against their era. Numbers of the past are suspect because of factors like the lack of minority players, lowering of the mound, etc. but no one talks about taking away any records from those eras, or even slapping asterisks on them. Since we know so many players from the current era used steroids or other PEDs, I think that the players whose numbers stand out shouldn't be penalized in that way either since they were playing against enhanced competition. There are also lots of average and below average players that have been linked to steroids proving they don't instantly turn you into a baseball machine. Anyway, I'm running out of juice (pun egregiously intended.) Blog over.

P.S. Apparently, some HOFers, juice or no juice, sometimes enjoy hooker parties on hockey players' money.