Wednesday March Mariner News
DMZ · March 8, 2006 at 9:39 am · Filed Under Mariners
Dan Wilson is retired. Beltre hit two home runs yesterday. That’s more than he hit in either June or September of last year.
Lots of people wrote angry columns about Barry Bonds. There’s no point to linking: you could click anywhere else on your monitor but this story and find four.
Comments
68 Responses to “Wednesday March Mariner News”
I meant they were prohibited by the MLB but not tested for. That sounds like grounds for punnishment if they should choose to make an example of him.
I can’t find a solid answer on the MLB steroid rules from that period though.
#50 — Im afraid you’re right. And that’s too bad. Its too bad that nobody is willing to make tough decisions at the upper levels of MLB.
Some of the blame has to be shared with the MLBPA. MLB could not unilaterally impose a testing policy — it had to be collectively bargained.
#53. You are absolutely correct. The MLBPA resisted testing as long as they could. But MLB didn’t push it all that hard either. After all the juiced power era was filling the seats and affecting the owner’s bottom line in a positive way. I suppose one could also point a finger at the media for not blowing the whistle.
I recommend highly Howard Bryant’s book on baseball and steroids, “Juicing the Game”. There is plenty of blame to go around,including the Commissioner,the owners and the players that used.I,for one,feel only sadness over the Bonds revelations.Barry made bad choices.He would have been a HOF player had he never used ‘roids, and still mentioned in the same breath as Ruth.Now it is all tarnished. And that’s just plain sad.
w/r/t the drugs Bonds was accused of taking in the book excerpt, to make broad generalizations:
– the steroid was generally illegal (but not tested for). It’s now tested for (see: Raffy)
– the BALCO drugs were neither illegal or tested for. They are now illegal and, as much as it is possible, tested for.
– HGH use is in a legal gray area (that would require a long explanation) and was and is not tested for.
How’s Japan doing against the M’s? Any updates?
Derek, do you mean legal in regards to US law or for the MLB?
#58 Japan 5 Ms 2 Japan batting top of the 8th.
Sorry that #58 should be #57.
There is absolutely no way that the MLBPA would ever allow Bonds, Giambi, or anyone to be banned from baseball – in violation of the agreement, and without evidence. So, really, this is all an argument over nothing. The union is a heck of a lot stronger than it was when Rose was banned, and Selig is not about to upset the peace they reached in 2002.
I’m one of those in the camp who really couldn’t care less, I think Bonds is the best ball player of this generation, period.
The argument that “technically Bonds did nothing wrong” is an utter sham, and wrong on both fact and spirit. Performance enhancers were specifically banned for major league players, and also covered by other ‘good conduct’ clauses in _every player’s contract_. That six-year, $90M deal Barry signed had ample language to that effect. Many of the substances Bonds is documented to have used in this recent book were not _illegal_ to use at the time, in so many words, although their possession was controlled, so if you bought them your conduct put you in jeopardy, but if somebody else stuck a needle in you and pushed the plunger you were in the clear, so to speak. The substances produced by BALCO were not ‘illegal’ in this sense because their exact chemical composition was unknown to legal authorities, and purposefully concealed from them. Those substances would clearly have been illegal if known, were immediately criminalized when identified, and anyone puchasing, possessing, or using them would have and should have known that they were skirting the spirit and intent of the laws controlling the use of steroids. HGH remains in a legal gray area, yes, but any athlete using it without a specific prescription from a medical profession can only be doing so with an intent to violate the substance of the clauses on performance enhancers in their respective sports.
While the MLBPA bears heavy responsibility for enabling the situation with performance enhancers in baseball to get wildly out of line in the ’90s, I place more blame on MLB who definetly looked the other way while all this was blatantly happening before their eyes, because big guys putting up big numbers made for large numbers at the turnstiles in my view. And in fact, I _did_ quit watching MLB TOTALLY from 1997 to 2001 exactly for this reason. Dusty Baker and Brian Sabean had nothing but sawdust in their mouths today when asked by reporters to comment on the new documentation on Bonds. Yechhhhh. MLB will never expunge anyone’s numbers from the record book; they don’t see that as their function. Personally, I eliminate the numbers of the known cheats from any consideration and analysis, but hey, that’s just me.
Technically speaking, Bonds has done everything wrong; wrong in intent, wrong in action, wrong in accountability. The documentation on his conduct in the new work only supports what has been crystal clear since the BALCO situation broke. The differences in the headlines in Canada have everything to do with differences in editorial policies and libel laws in that country relative to those in the USA, nothing more. I can hardly think of a sentence about Barry Bonds which doesn’t include the word ‘despicable’ in there somewhere. I seriously hope the dude retires.
On a different note (if one with the key transposed), it’s good to see Beltre hit a couple, but with the kind of cuts he was taking he should hope that pitchers keep throwing him mistakes like that all year long. Nothing wrong with his batspeed though.
#61 you really couldn’t care less? So 200+ years of tradition doesn’t mean anything to you?
Oops I meant 100+ years!
For once I totally agree with Bela. Derek, as for your summary, it omits to state that the CBA at the time proscribed controlled substances — like cattle steroids, f’rinstance. Really Evan, if there was no problemo with juicing in the gold old days, why did the players all deny it? Why didn’t they brag about the quality of their steroids and their strategic combinations? Why didn’t trainers become celebrities for their doping skills? Do you think — just maybe — they knew they were cheating?
Incidentally, the Giants come out smelling like onions. They did background on Anderson, figured he was probably a doper, but didn’t want to get in the grill of their meal ticket. Nice work, Sabes!
On a lighter note, the good Joel was throwing for PR. And guts? He outpitched Van Doomspeek, a pitcher that deserves MLB exposure for name alone.
Hi, sort-of new guy here. Long-time lurker, but only occasional poster.
Speaking of home runs, Petagine also hit one today. I live in Japan, and IIRC, Petagine was actually quite good in the past. Perhaps offensively comparable to a Hideki Matsui at some points, although he’s obviously been struggling in recent years. If he somehow got back close to his old self, I think he could be more valuable than Carl Everett as a “left-handed sock.” Anyone concur?
Concur.
Corco is the Kibo of USSM.
Closing comments.