Mastersball Fantasy Forum

Interesting tidbit from Elias Sports and Mike & Mike; Andy Pettitte becomes the only pitcher in major league history to start and win each clinching game in his team's single season's path to the World Championship.

IMHO, the next 6 months will be the TRUE test of the steroid issue. Time has passed, some wounds have been healed and this issue is no longer the pressing one it once was. The next 6 months will see the celebration of the aforementioned pitcher, the "vindication" of the Yankee third baseman and the return of the man most closely associated with not being forthcoming about his involvement with steroids. I can not help but wonder what impact a "significant" disclosure would have now? I don't think many people will be booing Pettitte and ARod on Friday.

Lawr wrote in an article about how there was a lot of back and forth in another thread about the HOF voting and how Mark McGwire's name wasn't brought up. Well, sorry to burst your bubble Lawr .

Jack Clark absolutely excoriates McGwire about his use of steroids and recent 'confession'. All I can say is WOW:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports ... enDocument

i don't think you burst any bubble there. i am, if nothing else, fairly pragmatic.

and, clark played the game, so i can see his indignation in a different context.

i think, as with the black sox, or the greenies era, or the pirates coke years, speculation will always hover over the sluggers of the late 80's and early 90's. but, enhanced or not, steroids were not actually banned, so baseball is a tad duplicitous in condeming for something that was not illegal.

and, i am not a defender of big mac, or cheaters. but, i do believe we tend to judge and not put ourselves in the shoes of those we criticize. i mean, who would not do whatever it takes to win. and, if i am king george, i would expect a guy i am paying $25 million to to do whatever is necessary, you know?

however, jack clark is also, in my view, a pretty dim bulb. he could hit, and was great in the clutch, but i will always remember an interview after he hit a walk off.

announcer: "tell me jack, what were you trying to do when you hit that ball out?"

clark: "well, i was looking for something to drive, and i thought i saw one i could drive, and i drove it."

he also noted once that the giants had "deep depth" on their bench, and he filed for bankruptcy a few times. i know he was buying a house in the bay area and had never seen it, but, before he would move in, he had several hundred thousand dollars worth of marble put in the entry way.

but, back to the core, very little of the behaviors, rules, and enforcement within baseball was not handled too well by anyone in my view.

and, it is nice to converse where people actually can use words like excoriate correctly in a sentence. kudos bro!

This actually leads to a very interesting problem that Lawr, Trace Wood and I argued on a car ride to an AFL game. If everyone else was doing it would you do it too?

For example, I am a major league caliber prospect just about to start the season in Double-A. I know that there is going to be a spot open for my position in the Major Leagues. I'm in the weight room, taking extra batting practice and doing everything I need to do to be considered for that position. As I walk into the spring training facility, this backup who I know I am better than, shows up all buff and is cranking home runs in batting practice. I know he is cheating. Do I cheat?

It is a simple Prisoner's Dilemma. There is no penalty if I get caught. There is an unknown penalty for my health. The prize is a multi-million dollar deal. If I don't cheat, I loose out and become an insurance salesman with stories about my life in the minor leagues. I also have my pride and honor knowing that I did the right thing.

What would you do?

Jose Canseco said that 80% of all Major League players were enhanced. Of the top 10 home run hitters of the Steroid Era, only two (Jim Thome and Frank Thomas) have not been associated with steroids. Could Canseco be right?

If there's one thing that's been proven, it's that Jose has been right every time.

Disturbing isn't it... The only one not caught in a lie is Canseco.