More allegations against A-Roid in book

[coachx]

http://baseball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_arc..._against_a_rod/

Very interesting read.

The only guys I KNOW did not use Roids are guys like Griffey Jr., Maddux, Glavine, and the mighty Mark Lemke. For all we know every one else has juiced.

The 3 best players of this generation are almost undoubtedly steroid users:

Roger Clemens

Barry Bonds

Alex Rodriguez

The 4th and 5th best played clean in Greg Maddux and Ken Griffey Jr.

Maddux and Griffey, Jr. should be remembered for their greatness more so then their counterparts who committed felony acts by purchasing and using illegal steroids to cheat the game of baseball.

The only way to keep future generations from using roids is to put your foot down and ban the player who used them from the Hall of Fame. If their numbers are in record books they should have big ,bold asteriks. Personally I do not believe they should be rewarded for cheating by having their numbers in the MLB Record Books. (The multi million dollars contracts they were rewarded with and the 4 years steroids lengthened their careers, for themselves and their family's financial security, should be enough of a reward for committing a felony crime......should it not ?

What makes baseball unique to the other sports is it's long history and how career numbers are compared from generation to generation.

Atlanta favorite, Dale Murphy, may have quite a compelling case for the hall of fame now. His numbers were dwarfed by chreaters who came after him. However, in the 80's (when only the Oakland A's were known to use steroids) Murphy finishes 2nd in the decade of the 80's in HR's behind hall of famer Mike Schmitt. Dale Murphy also won back to MVPs that decade while leading the Braves to their first pennant in over a decade. Its not Murphy's personality to campaign for himself but the guy deserves it based on players of his era before the rampant use of steroids.

I ask you this. Is there another 2 time MVP, who finshed 2nd in any decade for HRs, who is not in the Hall of Fame besides Dale Murphy ? Is there a player made of better morale fiber then Dale Murphy ? I know the 2nd one is not a prerequisite for the hall of fame but Murphy's character should not go unmentioned.

If Murphy wanted to juice he would have had 5 straight 50 homer years instead of 5 straights 36-44 HR years. Instead of 395 homers he would be over 500. All of these other clowns who have recently hit 500 HRs, like Shefield just did, would be stuck around Murphy's 395 had they played a clean career.

So I ask you this............Why punish the guys in the 80's who played clean and reward the 1990 - 2009 guys who may have better numbers but cheated to get them with Hall of Fame inductions ?

Edited April 30, 2009 by coachx

[frosgrim]

Interesting points about Murph and his place in MLB history. I grew up with Murphy, so I want to see him in the HOF.

That all said, baseball writers are idiots. For the life of me I can't figure out how a guy like Hank Aaron didn't get 100% of the votes when he came up for the HoF. There are two explinations and neither of them are very good. 1) is that some writers think you should wait unitl your second year of eligability to get into the HoF- why? What is the difference? My take- they are envious and this is their way of expressing power- and that is just pathetic. 2) Racism- hate to bring it up, but if it isn't 1, then 2 is the only other thing that I can think of.

Thus, in the long run, I would love to see Murphy in the HoF, but if its up to the morons who are the baseball writers in this country, it will never happen.

[AHF]

1) I agree with you that the MLB HOF should ban people who cheated and used steroids, HGH, etc. I would also strike records from confirmed users from the record books.

2) I think Murphy is a fringe guy but as an Atlanta fan I would definitely vote for him.

3) I think Murphy should be compared with people who came before him who are in and out of the HOF and not the steroids era players.

[coachx]

2) I think Murphy is a fringe guy but as an Atlanta fan I would definitely vote for him.

3) I think Murphy should be compared with people who came before him who are in and out of the HOF and not the steroids era players.

Murphy can be seen as a fringe guy. Alot of 70's - 80's players are fringe players. Jim Rice just got in as a fringe player. Jim Rice was not a fringe player when comared to players of his generation. He was only a fringe player when stats were compared to players of previous generations who never had to face the concept of relief pitching. That is an important point that must be remembered as the game of baseball evolved.

I think Murphy should be compared to the players who played in his specific era where relief pitching came in as an added variable and greatly reduced offensive numbers.

Offensive numbers before the 1970's where much higher b/c hitters never faced relief pitchers. They were going against guys who threw over 150 pitches a game. Then came The "Goose", Rollie Fingers, Denis Eckersly, Dave Righetti, Lee Smith, Gene Garber, and the likes to revolutionize the game and make it tougher on the hitters through the 70's and 80's. For the decades of the 70's and 80's hitting numbers and offensive production were down b/c of this.

Then came the steroid era in the 90's which more then compensated for the dip in offensive production seen over the previous 2 decades. MLB was trying to recover from the players strike and turned a blind eye since the increased offensive production was drawing fans back to the ball parks.

Another fact that has raised players batting averages by .015 to .020 is the fact that baseball parks have brought the fans so close to the field of play there are hardly ever any foul ball fly outs like there were in days of old.

Yet another thing that has helped hitters is the computerized strike zones. Strikes zones have been shrunk. Any baseball guy will tell you that and its another advantage hitters today have.

I have never been to the MLB Hall of Fame. I would hope they divide it up by years. I would hope they have visual exhibits that explaining each era of baseball and how the game has evolved as you walk through the Hall of Fame like its a time machine where you walk through time, decade by decade.. Give reasons why numbers go up and down BUT DO NOT REWARD STEROID USERS. I have never seen the Hall of Fame but that is just the way I would picture it.

Edited April 30, 2009 by coachx

[mattlanta]

It's all just he said, she said crap... I want evidence first before I really believe something this serious.