A.L. Central Discussion 2016

[Voltaire26]

I'd rather Rose get in over the roid users.

The problem with roid users is that (I believe) many were using. I would say better than 70%. There is no way people are going to watch Barry Bonds smack 73 Home Runs and not want the same advantage. Baseball just looked away and pretended it didn't exist. It only became a story when Bonds was closing in on Aaron's HR record. Major League Baseball is as responsible for PEDs and the many players who used.

 

[Erie Warrior]

The problem with roid users is that (I believe) many were using. I would say better than 70%. There is no way people are going to watch Barry Bonds smack 73 Home Runs and not want the same advantage. Baseball just looked away and pretended it didn't exist. It only became a story when Bonds was closing in on Aaron's HR record. Major League Baseball is as responsible for PEDs and the many players who used.

I totally agree. IMO, Selig should be banned from the HOF. Its and absolute joke that he is getting in.

 

[Voltaire26]

I totally agree. IMO, Selig should be banned from the HOF. Its and absolute joke that he is getting in.

I don't mind agreeing with an Indians fans, but a buckeye fan? Dammit don't do that to me

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Agreed, the older voters don't want to keep up the fight, the middle aged voters are changing their minds and the younger voters never were trying to keep them out.

I'm 40 years old. If I had a vote, I'd vote them in. There are plenty of PED users already in the hall, and plenty more will be added whether these two get in or not.

Also, there was no 'golden rule' (and still isn't) about steroids when these guys were juicing and everyone turned a blind eye to it. I do believe that had people gotten busted, or even scrutinized at that time, that Barry Bonds would not have juiced. Hell, he was lock for the HOF before he even started using.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

And yes....I don't really care if Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, McGriff, K-Rod, or Rose are put in the HOF. Well, maybe Rose...he is an a-hole. LOL

Rose should not be in and it has nothing to do with him being an asshole. Plenty of assholes in the HOF. There was a 'golden rule' about gambling on baseball. He knew it, bet on baseball anyway and got caught. It's that simple.

Further, I strongly suspect that evidence exists proving that he bet against his team at times.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

No offense to guys like Bagwell, Raines,and Pudge....but including them in the same "hall" as Ruth, Cobb, Aaron, Mantle, Williams, Koufax, Walter (or Randy) Johnson...makes no sense.

BS. It's been like that forever. You listed some of the best baseball players (as measured against their peers) to ever play the game. There are dozens of HOFers with stats well below that group and this year's inductees that have been elected for decades. It's not a new thing.

Hell, Bagwell has the 12th highest OPS of all HOFers.

You're just crotchety.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

I'd rather Rose get in over the roid users.

Without making any claims as to whether I think steroids or betting are worse for the game, I disagree with you completely. When there is a rule set with a clear penalty for breaking it, and someone breaks that rule and gets caught, they get the penalty. There's not much more to it than that for me.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Joe Jackson.

No White Sox should be HOFers.

 

[ChiSoxFan]

No White Sox should be HOFers.

I'm going to stab you with my new Trump knife.

Frank Thomas is going to break all of your Chevy Volt's windows now too.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

The problem with roid users is that (I believe) many were using. I would say better than 70%. There is no way people are going to watch Barry Bonds smack 73 Home Runs and not want the same advantage. Baseball just looked away and pretended it didn't exist. It only became a story when Bonds was closing in on Aaron's HR record.

I agree with most of what you say in this post with these notable exceptions:

I think that probably between 90-95% of players were using some PED or another during the wild west days. Frankly, I think that 70% figure you cited is probably where it is currently.

I don't think that Barry Bonds doing steroids was the impetus for much of the league to start juicing, I think much of the league juicing was the impetus for Barry Bonds to start. There are reports (and I believe them), that he knew he was the best baseball player in the league, yet he watched the teams/media/fans fawn over McGwire and Sosa -- who were vastly inferior hitters and more so player -- because of their steroid-fueled HR race. He saw that no one was even as much as mentioning it, and he said 'fuck it, I guess I'll do it too."

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Major League Baseball is as responsible for PEDs and the many players who used.

If you ask me, the outfit that shirked their responsibility the most during the steroid era was the MLBPA. One of a union's main goals should be to provide its members with a fair and safe working environment. They clearly fell short on that one.

It's a player's job to hit the ball - steroids helped that
It's a team's job to win games and attract fans - steroids helped that
It's a commissioner's job to make sure MLB remains popular - steroids helped that, particularly after the strike

The players' union is the piece in all of that that did not do their job. I suppose the media kind of dropped the ball as well.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

I totally agree. IMO, Selig should be banned from the HOF. Its and absolute joke that he is getting in.

Steroid scandal notwithstanding, he's done some pretty awesome things for the sport. It's more popular and certainly more profitable than it's ever been, and he has a lot to do with that.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

I'm going to stab you with my new Trump knife.

I'm going to grab you by the pussy.

[aside: when I walked my dog last night, I could smell the greatness coming]

Frank Thomas is going to break all of your Chevy Volt's windows now too.

Please. Jim Thome is my defender. He'll pick up The Tank by the neck and pop his head off like a dandy lion. Also, I've outfitted my Volt with bullet proof windows ahead of the zombie apocalypse.

 

[ChiSoxFan]

I'm going to grab you by the pussy.

[aside: when I walked my dog last night, I could smell the greatness coming]



Please. Jim Thome is my defender. He'll pick up The Tank by the neck and pop his head off like a dandy lion. Also, I've outfitted my Volt with bullet proof windows ahead of the zombie apocalypse.

Thome will wear Sox hat in Hall hopefully which will ruin your life

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

I suppose the media kind of dropped the ball as well.

Just to elaborate, had the media honestly addressed why all of the sudden players were smashing records, it's likely that MLB as a whole would have handled the steroid issue differently.

Then again, ultimately, it's the media's job to sell papers, so I wouldn't necessarily say they shirked their duty. It's not their job to police MLB.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Thome will wear Sox hat in Hall hopefully which will ruin your life

Good luck with that, cracker.

 

[ChiSoxFan]

Good luck with that, cracker.

That's Uncle Cracker of you.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Also, hey @dougplayer, Michigan and Detroit in particular suck rotting dead balls.

That shitty ass Lions team you were so excited about all year got completely exposed and sodomized by that homo, Pete Carroll.

 

[ChiSoxFan]

Good luck with that, cracker.

Total long shot, I know. At least the 2017 class will allow Thome to make it in.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Total long shot, I know.

Yeah, total. You've got a better chance at having a winning season in the DLFL than you do of Thome wearing a CHW hat to tHOF.