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IMAGE: ALPINEINC FROM FLICKR
So Barry Bonds failed a drug test back in '01.
I haven't posted in a few days, mostly because I'm bored as hell with all of the 'roid stuff.
I watched the entire congressional when Mark McGwire got amnesia and Sammy Sosa flunked ESL, and have followed suit with every other major happening in the whole saga, including the Clemens show two days ago, and it's really gotten old.
The last hearing, in my eyes, didn't accomplish much beyond what we already knew, and I doubt at this point that Clemens will be further prosecuted. The overall summation: Clemens is lying, McNamee isn't the greatest guy on earth, and Pettitte is right there with them. It really frustrates me that Pettitte appears to be getting such a pass on all of this, as there is really no reason to assume that what he has already conceded to doing isn't just the tip of the iceberg. He was deeply immersed in a group of characters that were all clearly juicers, and went from initially saying he never used, to saying he did one time, to admitting one MORE time. Why on earth shouldn't anyone think he was doing it just as much as the rest of them, the whole time? Even if "Mac" doesn't recall other juicing by Pettitte, Andy could have easily acquired the stuff elsewhere. It looks like selective judgment by a bunch of people who don't want to group a "true Yankee" in with the mercenary Clemens and the yippy Knoblauch.
Anyhow, a lot of guys did this, they'll never catch all of them, and it is what it is, but what struck me today were the comments of Pedro Martinez, proud to have notched such slimmed-down ERA's in such a beefed-up era. More power to Petey for coming out and saying that, and it's certainly worth recognizing. He is in my book the best we've seen in decades and the best we will see for a long time, which leads me to a larger point:
The zeitgeist of the day has dictated that the bulk of the 1990's and the early 2000's be labeled the "Steroid Era", and I think that's unfair. Take the other major "eras" that have been labeled in baseball history. There is the dead-ball era vs. the post-dead-ball era, and there is the modern era vs. the era between dead-ball and the lowering of the pitcher's mound. There is the integration era, the expansion era, and the post-free agency era. Now, folks want add the steroid era to that list, but it is decidedly different. In the dead-ball era, the strategy of play was universally more geared towards small ball. The material of the ball itself was less live, and the same ball would be used for nearly an entire game. At most one would see 4-5 balls in 9 innings, creating dirty, lumpy balls that severely handicapped hitters. Thus, this effects of this era were ubiquitous, affecting all players and teams. The same can be said for the periods before and after the lowering of the mound, and further for the rest of the periods I listed above.
The "steroid era" is different because it was NOT universal, and that is why I see the term itself to be wholly unfair. It is unfair because while so many cheated, so many did not. The lead example is Pedro Martinez, but the list goes on: The entire Braves pitching staff during their run, Griffey, Gwynn, Puckett, I would hope Piazza, and on and on. Heck, I'll even give credit to someone I truly can't stand, Captain Smug himself, Derek Jeter. The whole strech of time can't have a vernacular asterisk attached, because it does not apply to so many who deserve appreciation in their own rite. some would say let the good ones be held up as becaons of light in the overall dark era, but I watched too much great baseball in that time to cast it away and make exceptions. Let the users be blacklisted, but let the rest of the game stay, I say.
After all of this, however, we have pitchers and catchers in Port St. Lucie, and I'll be thrilled to get past the reruns of baseball Law & Order and back to live, old-fashioned ball. I want to hate the Phillies, not criminals.
Next up: Preseason previews/picks.
I just read a pretty compelling article on the Daily News website, an interview featuring that alleged hamstring specialist, Marty Miller, from last year's Yankees who was fired after the team's fourth hammy injury. At any rate, he certainly didn't even begin to refute what's been said about Pettitte and Clemens, but more notably, mentioned players who "just suddenly retire, and then come back", pointing out that these players are technically not MLB players while "retired", and therefore are not subject to testing. The most notable baseball player I can think of that really fits this mold is ol' Rocket (but don't forget Sammy Sosa, among others...), and that's obviously who he was referring to in this instance, but beyond that there has been a lot of talk in recent years of other aging players beginning to follow suit with Clemens, exploiting the extra months of rest and the elevated, rental-type paychecks. The point raised about the potential to bypass testing, however, is really a valid one, no matter what Miller's intent was. Any old player could just say "hey, I think I'll just 'retire', get all jacked up on juice until around June, and then sign up somewhere for a bunch of loot and play like a 20 year old for 4 months!" In my eyes, the seesaw retirement thing has got to go; some sort of league policy needs to be concocted, one that would still allow for sincere players to come out of retirement under a set of guidelines, i.e. testing prior to reinstatement.
Just a thought...
IMAGE: ANTDEROSA FROM FLICKR
I'm not sure whether to be overwhelmed or underwhelmed by the Mitchell Report.Here's what I think:For one, let's get half of that 2000 World Series trophy back to Shea. While almost every Major League team was dishonorably represented in the report, perhaps no single ball club stood out more than the 2000 New York Yankees. The most compelling statistic relating to that series is that the four Yankee pitchers from the 2000 team that were indicated as users in the Mitchell Report combined in the Subway Series for 30.2 IP, 5 ER and an ERA of 1.46. The rest of the Yankee staff? 16.1 IP, 9 ER and an ERA of 4.95. Kudos to Anthony DeRosa at Hot Foot for that stat. (Who incidentally, I'm pretty sure, took the flickr photo I'm using for this entry. My appreciation) Beyond pitching, the '00 Yanks also featured 5 position players who popped up in the report, most notably the frequent #3 hitter David Justice, and 2B Chuck Knoblauch.
Game 1 really hurts the most: Andy Pettitte starts the game against Al Leiter, going 6.2 innings and allowing 3 er; After Benitez blows Leiter's win by giving up a sac-fly to Chuck Knoblauch (Leiter having gone 7 innings giving up 2 runs, both runs produced by David Justice), Mike Stanton delivers 2 shutout innings in the 11th and 12th for the Yankees, setting up Jose Viz's game-winning single off of Turk Wendell in the bottom of the 12th. Then Clemens dominates Game 2, after roid-raging all over Mikey P. Jeez.
As my friend Rob put it today, "I always knew Benny Agbayani was a champion".
At the end of the day, my protestations are really tongue in cheek. What's over is over, but it kinda hurts. Good ammo with a Yankee fan, I suppose.
Kind of ironic that the day before this thing comes out, I post an entry half devoted to eulogizing the great Paul LoDuca, who now looks like the most likely candidate for discipline in the wake of the investigation, not only using himself, but apparently sharing the love with anyone who was interested. Really puts a damper on my love of Paulie, and particularly that great game against Oakland last year that I wrote about, in which he blew his top with the ump. Quite possibly that great memory can also be attributed to roid rage. Ugh. I have to join Adam from Brooklyn Met Fan in conceding to Omar, and taking back all of my constant complaints about not re-signing Duca, though official word from the Mets is that the decision to let Duca walk had nothing to do with the Mitchell Report. Yeah, right. They can't come out and say it, but it's pretty clear they knew something about this, so I say nice job doing your homework, something the Milwaukee Brewers didn't do with regards to their new closer. I really enjoyed LoDuca's time here, but if I have any self-respect I have to admit that he is just as bad as any of them. I can't sit here and bash the Rocket (Who I once adored as a member of the Red Sox when I was a little kid) and with a straight face defend LoDuca.
Overall, the report didn't really shock me, or anyone else. It is certainly only the tip of the iceberg as far as the list goes, but I imagine that wasn't really the point. The point is to display the widespread use of PED's, and discuss what to do about it. Again, Mitchell doesn't say anything too revolutionary, but he does suggest that MLB use other methods than testing to regulate steroids, and that the testing be expanded and controlled by an independent party. I would agree with both ideas, and I hope Selig follows suit. The Players' Union would probably take issue with either policy, but there probably isn't much they could do about it. I can't imagine anything worse PR-wise for Donald Fehr and the MLBPA than a lockout caused by unwillingness to submit to drug-testing and investigation.
Then there's the whole Mitchell/Red Sox conspiracy theory, which is just ludicrous. We're talking about a man who served in the US Senate, and was a key figure in Cold War foreign policy and a mediator in Northern Ireland. Somehow I doubt he would put the integrity of his career on the line for the sake of protecting a baseball team that he used to have a limited stake in. He has dealt with much bigger issues in his life. This is coming, mind you, from someone (me) who doesn't happen to be on the same side of the political fence as Mitchell.
The other interesting elements of all this are the potential sources of fallout: How will the players named, or their lawyers, respond? How will ownership respond? I for one would love to see a Fernando Vina, who works for ESPN, fess up and use his role in the media to candidly address this stuff. Will David Justice still host the kids show on the Yes network? Ha. Also, will other names start to trickle in from elsewhere? The next congressional hearing, which has now been announced, could produce something like that.
Without getting too hard into schaudenfreude, it's nice to see that arrogant prick Clemens get his due. Oh my goodness gracious, of all the dramatic things...
ESPN is reporting that during his tenure with the ChiSox from '03-'04, Scott Schoeneweis received shipments of Testosterone and Stanozolol. Here's the link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3045585
So that's why he suddenly became so ineffective, even with the AL to NL switch. Maybe Show saw the swoon coming, and preemptively picked up old habits in the summer. He did get a lot better later on...
Jeez, the news for this team just keeps getting better, huh?
EDIT: Initially, the Big Show has vehemently denied any knowledge of these shipments, and has claimed that he never live at the address where the steroids were allegedly sent to him. The MLBPA has kinda brought upon itself our skepticism of such denials, but I suppose you have to wait and see it proven...
IMAGE: ALPINEINC FROM FLICKR
