A Baseball Fan's Take On McGwire

I know, shocker! Big Mac was on 'roids.

While being 100% against the use of steroids, I can't completely condemn him and here's why.

Baseball was in a bad place in the late '90's and the fans were still pissed about labor strife. Canceling the World Series in 1994 was just too damn much for those of us who live and die with our teams.

People deserted America's game in droves and I felt like we were seeing the end of it's popularity. We heard that soccer, lacrosse and spring football were going to replace it.

Enter the Maris homerun chase with McGwire and Sosa and all of a sudden baseball got a shot in the arm (pun definitely intended). They were both roided up but no one cared because our love of baseball returned.

Neither deserve the Hall of Fame either...at least as long as they keep Pete Rose out but I digress. Not when McGwire's arms made Popeye look like a pussy and Bonds' head grew a few sizes making him look like the Elephant Man while smashing records that should be re-instated tomorrow.

So, for the record, I abhor that Big Mac cheated but I appreciate what he did to bring baseball back. That's the extent of my sympathy and admiration.

As an aside to McGwire: Dude, the crying thing is bullshit and you know it. Have you opted to stop testosterone and inject estrogen? Man up, dude, it's friggin' embarrassing.

It's Time For Baseball to Come Clean

The worst commissioner in any major sport was on Capitol Hill yesterday with union bigwig Donald Fehr talking steroids. Too bad for them the questioning went in a different direction:

Nevertheless, it was amphetamines that left baseball looking flat-footed Tuesday when Commissioner Bud Selig and the players union executive director Donald Fehr joined Mr. Mitchell to discuss his report’s findings before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Amid discussion of steroids and human growth hormone, amid an atmosphere more tame than tempestuous, it was Representative John F. Tierney, a Massachusetts Democrat, who caught everyone’s attention when he asked why the number of major leaguers claiming therapeutic-use exemptions for attention deficit disorder had mushroomed to 103 this past season from 28 in 2006.

To Mr. Tierney, the implication of the sharp increase was clear. Players were brazenly getting around the ban on amphetamines by making attention deficit disorder claims that allowed them to use stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall. Based on the 2007 numbers, Mr. Tierney said, the use of such stimulants among major leaguers was “almost eight times the adult use in our population.”

A good question Congressman. Too bad old Bud and Don didn't have the answer.

Fortunately, there is a player who has the one and only answer to that congressional query:

TEMPLE, Texas -- Houston Astros slugger Lance Berkman has definitive opinions about the controversies surrounding the aftermath of the Mitchell Report, and he's not afraid to share his thoughts.

Berkman is adamant that there is only one way to end the "Steroid Era" once and for all: blood testing.

Count Berkman as one who will race to the front of the line should Major League Baseball develop a blood test that can accurately detect the use of human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs.

Fehr would not and could not agree to that if the players were against it but the bad publicity this issue has casued the league may well force his hand. I agree with Berkman, random blood testing at the conclusion of every game. Generally I'm libertarian on issues such as this and believe that urinalysis and blood testing are gross invasions of ones privacy. That said, the integrity of the game is at stake and baseball is riding a crest of popularity right now. If they want to destroy the good will that has developed between fans and teams, maintain the status quo and all that was gained since the strike will be lost.

I'm a baseball junkie with no regrets, I live and die with the Phillies on a daily basis. Their play the night before dictates my mood the next day. My son works out four to five nights a week with some of the best young baseball talent on the East coast, I want those young men to have the opportunity to play in a league that is drug free.

Mark McGwire Out, Gossage In to Hall

The Baseball Hall of Fame committee selected Rich "Goose" Gossage for the Hall in Cooperstown:

A frustrating and sometimes agonizing nine-year wait finally came to an end for Rich "Goose" Gossage, the intimidating right-hander who Tuesday became only the fifth relief pitcher elected to baseball's Hall of Fame.

"It was like being hit with a brick -- my head went numb," Gossage said of his emotions after receiving Tuesday's news. "If somebody said when my career started that I'd go into the Hall of Fame, I would have said you're crazy, because this is something. . . .

Congrats to Gossage and I still have to ask why he's more worthy nine years later than he was in his first year of eligibility? Jim Rice did not make it unfortunately.

Now we come to Mark McGwire, some would say a poster boy alongside Bonds for the steroid era. Yes, he did help big time in bringing baseball back from death after the strike, yet because of his actions (and Bonds), grade school kids know what steroids are and that if you take them you can hit 550-foot moonshots.

The electors evidently feel the same:

In the 2008 Hall of Fame balloting, announced on Tuesday, Mark McGwire received exactly the same number of votes he received last year -- 128. But because the number of total votes cast decreased, from 545 to 543, McGwire's share of the total increased ever so slightly, from 23.5 percent to 23.6 percent.

There went the theory that many baseball writers were merely punishing McGwire on a one-year basis and that, after his first appearance on the ballot, he would receive increased support in subsequent elections. His actual support remained literally unchanged, and it remained less than one-third of the 75 percent necessary for election.

And this status quo lack of support for McGwire did not reflect an electorate that was set in its ways. There were substantial changes in the voting for other candidates.

I predict McGwire will get in in a few years but I thought the same about Pete Rose as well. I still find it a travesty that "Charlie Hustle" is not in the Hall because of actions after he played. It had no bearing on Rose's on field playing style and production and he was only juiced on adrenaline but that's an argument for another day.

There is a sizable contingent out there who believe McGwire should be in so I would predict 2010.

Clemens Allegedly On Steroid List (Update: Or Not?)

I hope not but it appears that the star St. Louis first baseman and the Yankee pitcher are about to take a serious hit to their careers.

Newschannel 4's Jonathan Dienst has obtained the expected list of current and former major league players linked to steroids, according to George Mitchell's investigation. The list includes former MVP's Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Jason Giambi, Ken Caminitti and Albert Belle. The list contains two sets of brothers: Jose and Ozzie Canseco and Aaron and Bret Boone. Cy Young award winner Roger Clemens is also on the list.

Update: The report has been retracted by WNBC at the link above. It sounds like Bud Selig is doing some damage control before the list is released at 2:00 PM today.

Update 2: More here.

Update 3: OK, the WNBC link keeps changing and they're sticking by their story. We'll know soon enough and you can see it at their site where it's streaming live.

Update 4: A heated debate at Hot Air about 'roids, asterisks and an Allah homage to A-Rod.

Update 5: Analysis:

Paul LoDuca's name is all over the report (PDF), as is Clemens, Pettitte and a whole bunch of former Mets players. The name that shocked me is David Justice and it appears that Justice threw some other players under the bus.

The only notable Phillies aren't even on the team or are retired--Lenny Dykstra (no surprise) and Todd Pratt (a bit of a surprise).

So, to sum up, the Mets and the Braves were cheating like crazy. They should be proud. The Yankees should be proud as well.

Note: Headline changed from original.