MLB 2017 Thread

[Hewson]

15, 22, 22, 27, 45, 40*, 17**, 49, 56, 56, 48, 40, 22, 8**, 13**, 20**, 35, 27, 30, 18, 19

*strike shortened 1994 season, played in 111 of team's 112 games
** played 83 games or less due to injury.

Player X's home run totals by season, which would graph out to a pretty consistent bell curve showing major power increase from 1993 through 2000 (height of steroid era) followed by a drop off starting in 2001 that coincides with 3 successive injury shortened seasons with the type of injury related to breakdown from steroid use.
Should we vote player X into the HOF?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

he freely admitted to the new york times to taking andro for the express purpose of enhancing his performance. i'm not sure how much more obvious it gets than that.

Andro is not a steroid, nor was it a banned substance at the time.

It is, however, a very common steroid precursor.

Was Piazza jucing? Probably. But he's never admitted to it and never been caught.

Not that it should matter.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

15, 22, 22, 27, 45, 40*, 17**, 49, 56, 56, 48, 40, 22, 8**, 13**, 20**, 35, 27, 30, 18, 19

*strike shortened 1994 season, played in 111 of team's 112 games
** played 83 games or less due to injury.

Player X's home run totals by season, which would graph out to a pretty consistent bell curve showing major power increase from 1993 through 2000 (height of steroid era) followed by a drop off starting in 2001 that coincides with 3 successive injury shortened seasons with the type of injury related to breakdown from steroid use.
Should we vote player X into the HOF?

Yes, regardless of whether he used a substance that wasn't banned by baseball at the time or not.

But to be fair - player X was 19 when he bit 15 HRs, and his arc can also be explained as a phenom hitting his prime at the appropriate age, and breaking down at the appropriate age.


Use of performance enhancing substances continues to be rampant across sports. But not everyone is on something, and not ever performance enhancing substance is a steroid.

An athlete should start to peak around 23, and start to fall apart physically in his early 30s. The ones who continue to excel into their late 30s and 40s with minimal athletic drop off are the ones who those who are inclined to be upset about such matters should be questioning.

 

[the tourist]

15, 22, 22, 27, 45, 40*, 17**, 49, 56, 56, 48, 40, 22, 8**, 13**, 20**, 35, 27, 30, 18, 19

*strike shortened 1994 season, played in 111 of team's 112 games
** played 83 games or less due to injury.

16, not 15. Heh.

Of course, the drop off could have something to do with the natural breakdown of a body playing at a high level into its 30s. Especially one that threw itself around like a rag doll to try and make catches for the entirety of its 20s.

 

[MrPryck2U]

What's hilarious is that Bonds, Clemens, etc. don't get in because of alleged PED use and Tim Raines gets in. Raines, a guy who spent an entire season on cocaine and did it any chance he could. Before, during, after, and on the way home from games. He even carried the shit on the field with him, kept it in his back pocket, and would slide head first to keep it safe. Cocaine has arguably ruined more lives than PED's. But. the voters have chosen to forgive and forget Raines' transgressions. Took him 8 years to get in. It's been 5 years for Bonds and Clemens. I suppose it's just a matter of time.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Raines is a bad example because cocaine isn't performance enhancing. Morality doesn't seem to be an issue for the old guard of sports writers.

Willie Mays, on the other hand, absolutely took amphetamine, as did many of the players of the day. But he played when these cranky old men were kids, so they couldn't yell at Bonds to get off their lawn if they did anything a out Mays.

 

[DaveC]

umm i dunno if you've ever done it before but cocaine is absolutely without a doubt performance-enhancing for sports. the only thing is it wears off quickly enough that you'd have to keep doing it throughout the game or else the crash would fuck you. but if you have enough to take a bump whenever you need it there's no doubt it would be a huge performance enhancement for any sport where taking speed gives an advantage. cyclists used to hoover it mid-race back in the years before world war 2 and amphetamines becoming commonplace.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

No matter how it is abused (e.g., snorting, smoking or injecting) most of the cocaine impacts the brain. Its use results in a euphoria that only lasts five to 15 minutes. Studies that have analyzed how cocaine impacts athletic abilities have actually determined the drug decreases the user’s performance. This is because cocaine makes the user feel so good, they perceive everything around them in a better light, including their own abilities. Researchers found cocaine to diminish an athlete’s strength, endurance and overall performance, despite the user’s distorted perception that they were improving. It also impaired the body’s ability to regulate its own temperature.

I'm sure there's an argument that can be made that it can be a performance enhancer in short bursts... but it's not overly realistic as a performance enhancer.

 

[bono_212]

LMFAO, get the fuck out of here trying to compare Piazza to Bonds because of that quote.

Jesus.

I hope Sosa never gets in the hall. He's a cheater in more ways then one, I hope the organization never brings him back into the fold, too.

Bonds and Clemens should get in at some point, but I don't mind that they're being made to wait for it.

 

[DaveC]

I'm sure there's an argument that can be made that it can be a performance enhancer in short bursts... but it's not overly realistic as a performance enhancer.

yea nobody is doing coke primarily as a performance enhancer. speaking from experience ( ), if you have enough of it to constantly keep you up, the energy boost will definitely help in just about any strenuous physical activity, but the flipside of that coin is the shitty part - unless you're tony montana, you're gonna run out sooner or later. there are obviously many better options if you're looking for something to help you cheat on the field.

LMFAO, get the fuck out of here trying to compare Piazza to Bonds because of that quote.

Jesus.

i pretty clearly wasn't doing that. chill the fuck out.

 

[bono_212]

But you were! You tried to lump them all in together, like Bonds and Clemens are getting a raw deal with all of these other admitted steroid abusers are in.

 

[DaveC]

But you were! You tried to lump them all in together, like Bonds and Clemens are getting a raw deal with all of these other admitted steroid abusers are in.

i most definitely did not do that. what i assume to be post that inexplicably made you so upset was written by someone else. i provided the quote as backup to someone asking when piazza admitted it and made no comparison whatsoever between him and barry bonds.

 

[MrPryck2U]

Raines is a bad example because cocaine isn't performance enhancing. Morality doesn't seem to be an issue for the old guard of sports writers.

Willie Mays, on the other hand, absolutely took amphetamine, as did many of the players of the day. But he played when these cranky old men were kids, so they couldn't yell at Bonds to get off their lawn if they did anything a out Mays.

It wasn't necessarily an example of cocaine being performance enhancement. Just an example of how the voters forgive an individual who abused an illicit and illegal drug during his career, but made it into the HOF. Do I think that Bonds and Clemens used PED's? Sure, but it has never been proven. Plus, they weren't banned substances at the time. I never thought Raines would get in. Not just because of the coke, but I always looked at him as very good, but not great or HOF caliber.

 

[bono_212]

i most definitely did not do that. what i assume to be post that inexplicably made you so upset was written by someone else. i provided the quote as backup to someone asking when piazza admitted it and made no comparison whatsoever between him and barry bonds.

FUCK.

My apologies.

 

[DaveC]

all good, just a misunderstanding

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Off with Hewson's head!

 

[Hewson]

Off with Hewson's head!

Would be easier than removing Bonds' giant head.

 

[Gzusfrk]

Would be easier than removing Bonds' giant head.

Haha!!!

 

[MrPryck2U]

RIP Oscar Gamble

 

[Hewson]

That sucks, RIP.

 

[PhilsFan]

I think it's cool that Jim Thome is in the Hall. One of the few stars who is universally liked.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

I think it's cool that Jim Thome is in the Hall. One of the few stars who is universally liked.

Add Frank Thomas to that list.

 

[Gzusfrk]

Add Frank Thomas to that list.

IMO, the success of Greg Maddux is incredible during the PED era. Much respect!!

 

[PhilsFan]

Add Frank Thomas to that list.

No question.