Jose can you see

[grimm]

This picture is just begging to be farked

http://www.jimrome.com/home.html

[Biggy]

Do you really like Jim Rome?

I was wondering how that guy is still on the air, his banter is so fucking annoying. The only time I change off of ESPN, is when hes on.

[grimm]

his tv show is better than the radio show. better in small doses, for sure.

hes arrogant, but unlike other sports personalities, he makes good points and knows what hes talking about. but he does get annoying.

[SykkBoy]

Is it just me or is Jose Canseco the biggest bitch in baseball (er, out of baseball, since he burned every single bridge)

Here's a guy who was on pace to be a first ballot Hall Of Famer and then he stopped trying/started sucking and became a laughing stock...so, he goes nuts with allegations of being blackballed and then goes on this crusade making wild accusations (first, he claims 80% of baseball is on steroids, then he retracts, then makes other allegations which may or may not be true), he can't get his book published for years, then suddenly adds more about steroids and a publisher picks it up and he names names of people he is jealous of, who have achieved and are achieving what he will never achieve and he acts like a little bitch about it....

[Biggy]

Originally posted by SykkBoy@Feb 16 2005, 10:03 AM
Is it just me or is Jose Canseco the biggest bitch in baseball (er, out of baseball, since he burned every single bridge)

Here's a guy who was on pace to be a first ballot Hall Of Famer and then he stopped trying/started sucking and became a laughing stock...so, he goes nuts with allegations of being blackballed and then goes on this crusade making wild accusations (first, he claims 80% of baseball is on steroids, then he retracts, then makes other allegations which may or may not be true), he can't get his book published for years, then suddenly adds more about steroids and a publisher picks it up and he names names of people he is jealous of, who have achieved and are achieving what he will never achieve and he acts like a little bitch about it....
He may be a bitch, but how far are those allegations off the truth....

[JR]

Originally posted by SykkBoy@Feb 16 2005, 10:03 AM
Is it just me or is Jose Canseco the biggest bitch in baseball (er, out of baseball, since he burned every single bridge)

Here's a guy who was on pace to be a first ballot Hall Of Famer and then he stopped trying/started sucking and became a laughing stock...so, he goes nuts with allegations of being blackballed and then goes on this crusade making wild accusations (first, he claims 80% of baseball is on steroids, then he retracts, then makes other allegations which may or may not be true), he can't get his book published for years, then suddenly adds more about steroids and a publisher picks it up and he names names of people he is jealous of, who have achieved and are achieving what he will never achieve and he acts like a little bitch about it....
when a person gets backed into a corner, they tend to lash out. often rationality and logic go out the window. i would have had a lot of respect for him if he would have just said "ok, you caught me... i was wrong and i am sorry". what he has been doing is pretty childish considering that it will not improve his situation or help him... it can only hurt others.

i don't doubt that a lot of baseball players are on some illegal drug at one point or another. even the pro-hormones (adros) that McGuire made famous were made illegal a few weeks ago. the single distinguishing difference is that they did not get caught.

[grimm]

pretty far... he names too many names, some of which don't even make sense on the timeline of his career. looks like he has a vendetta against certain "above the board" players. and other times he is blatantly pandering to sell his book.

a load of horse shit to capitalize on the climate

[PornoDoggy]

Hmmmm ... I think the last newly-released sports book I read was Ball Four by Jim Bouton (?).

[JoesHO]

I have to agree with biggy's question it seems pretty close to accurate, I mean think about it a homerun record stands for 40 yrs, then all of a sudded it is broken six times in less than three yrs?

[PornoDoggy]

a homerun record stands for 40 yrs, then all of a sudded it is broken six times in less than three yrs?

That could be the result of something as simple as how tight the ball is wrapped.

Granted, attributing it all to drugs is certainly more "sexy" than a marketing decision made as a result of a drop in revenue due to a labor-related work stoppage.

There's no doubt in my mind that steroids have something to do with it - Maquire included. and Tony LaRussa's protests to the contrary. As a diehard baseball fan, I don't even like that type of one dimensional player. I'd rather have a lineup full of singles hitters with occasional power and lots of speed.

Hard to sell that to the casual crowd who doesn't realize there's more to baseball than home runs, though. Best baseball game I ever saw in my life was a 1-0 game between the Carindals & the Giants (Gibson v Marishal) that lasted 1:48 minutes, with with something like 23 strikeouts between them. It was an awesome ballgame - but would make lousy television for the same reason that college hockey does, or that soccer does.

[SykkBoy]

bowling night, so a lot of random thoughts before I go ;-)

there have always been performance enhancers....whether in the form of a protein shake pep pills of some type...

I don't doubt that steroids were used, but steroids won't make you hit the ball any better (just further when you do manage to hit it)...I wonder if steroids helped Canseco knock that ball over the fence that bounced off his head when he played for Texas...too bad there isn't/wasn't a drug that could have made him a better fielder...

the andro McGwire was taking may have been a "performance enhancer" but it wasn't illegal at the time he took it....

The homerun boom could also have to do with the baseballs (as PD pointed out). Remember, before Babe Ruth was swatting homers (the deadball era) it was almost of unheard of see a guy with even 20 homeruns. So MLB made the balls different so they'd fly further. Players are also using better equipment now: better bats, balls, etc. There are better conditioning programs and weight training that just wasn't around in the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc.

I truly believe the reason baseball didn't act sooner in instituting steroid testing is because they were in love with the homeruns...think of what it took to get baseball "back on the map" after the strike of '94...Sosa and McGwire's home run chase...it put asses in seats and sold a lot of tickets.

So, if we blame someone for this, who? the players? the owners? the fans? We can all share blame...when more home runs are hit, revenues go up...it's business...

I'll share more of my thoughts after beers and bowling :)

[PornoDoggy]

In the pre-Ruth era there was a guy called Frank "Home Run" Baker, and no, it wasn't used sarcasticly. He led the majors a couple of years with homerun totals that never exceed an even dozen.

More recently, after the 68 season (in addition to the blasphemy of the designated hitter), after an era when pitchers like Gibosn, Kofax, Drysdale, blew most hitters away, they dropped the mound 6". May not seem like much (and there were rumours that they played with the density of the ball then, too) but it increased hitting. BTW - the drug scandal of that era was amphetimines - if a 90-year-old-man was as stoked as Pete "Charley Hustle" Rose was in those days, he'd have run to first base after a walk too.

Cheating has ALWAYS been an integral part of sports. Hockey is, to the average fan, all about fights. Players become legends because they get away with cheating (Conrad Dobler and Lyle Alzado in football, any number of spitballers in baseball).

I'm old enough (barely) to remember listening to my grandfather predicting the destruction of the game becase Stan Muscial managed to get the Buschbirds to make him the 2nd player to make $100,000.

[SykkBoy]

Originally posted by PornoDoggy@Feb 17 2005, 01:36 AM
In the pre-Ruth era there was a guy called Frank "Home Run" Baker, and no, it wasn't used sarcasticly. He led the majors a couple of years with homerun totals that never exceed an even dozen.

More recently, after the 68 season (in addition to the blasphemy of the designated hitter), after an era when pitchers like Gibosn, Kofax, Drysdale, blew most hitters away, they dropped the mound 6". May not seem like much (and there were rumours that they played with the density of the ball then, too) but it increased hitting. BTW - the drug scandal of that era was amphetimines - if a 90-year-old-man was as stoked as Pete "Charley Hustle" Rose was in those days, he'd have run to first base after a walk too.

Cheating has ALWAYS been an integral part of sports. Hockey is, to the average fan, all about fights. Players become legends because they get away with cheating (Conrad Dobler and Lyle Alzado in football, any number of spitballers in baseball).

I'm old enough (barely) to remember listening to my grandfather predicting the destruction of the game becase Stan Muscial managed to get the Buschbirds to make him the 2nd player to make $100,000.
Yup, Home Run Baker's highest total was 13, I believe
baseball has always done things to improve the hitting game because it packs more butts in seats than pitching (which is sad...one of the best games I ever saw was Greg Maddux pitching a 98-pitch, 102 minute gem in Wrigley field against the Cubs, but a game like that draws boos from the average crowd)

[TheEnforcer]

Originally posted by PornoDoggy@Feb 16 2005, 08:48 PM
a homerun record stands for 40 yrs, then all of a sudded it is broken six times in less than three yrs?

That could be the result of something as simple as how tight the ball is wrapped.

Granted, attributing it all to drugs is certainly more "sexy" than a marketing decision made as a result of a drop in revenue due to a labor-related work stoppage.

There's no doubt in my mind that steroids have something to do with it - Maquire included. and Tony LaRussa's protests to the contrary. As a diehard baseball fan, I don't even like that type of one dimensional player. I'd rather have a lineup full of singles hitters with occasional power and lots of speed.

Hard to sell that to the casual crowd who doesn't realize there's more to baseball than home runs, though. Best baseball game I ever saw in my life was a 1-0 game between the Carindals & the Giants (Gibson v Marishal) that lasted 1:48 minutes, with with something like 23 strikeouts between them. It was an awesome ballgame - but would make lousy television for the same reason that college hockey does, or that soccer does.
Bravo PD!!


I'm a DIE-HARD Cubs fan and I can't even begin to describe how happy I am to see Sammy Sosa gone from the team this year! I don't care what happens with him gone as far as records go I am just happy a cancer is gone from the team.


I absolutely love "small ball" and intelligent baseball along with great pitching and that looks to be what the Cubs will have to rely on more this year. I would be in heaven watching a 15 inning shutout that was won with a base hit to drive in a run!!

[nlphoto]

Originally posted by SykkBoy@Feb 16 2005, 09:11 PM

The homerun boom could also have to do with the baseballs (as PD pointed out). Remember, before Babe Ruth was swatting homers (the deadball era) it was almost of unheard of see a guy with even 20 homeruns. So MLB made the balls different so they'd fly further. Players are also using better equipment now: better bats, balls, etc. There are better conditioning programs and weight training that just wasn't around in the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc.


There is one other factor that none of you is considering that is affecting
all sports in the last 3-4 years... the refinement and acceptance of laser
refractive eye surgery. There is no reason for any healthy athlete these
days to not have 20/20 vision or better. With the possible exception of
a NHL goalie, I can't think of another position in sports that would more
directly be influenced by that medical advance, than a baseball player's
ability at bat.

[grimm]

and of course you are leaving out the smaller, hitter friendly ball parks.

Yankee Stadium is still the best pitchers park in the league.

[Biggy]

Let me clarify, the year after steroids came out, the homeruns dropped by 20 something.

I'm not talking about a long-drawn out situation.

There were 2 or 3 years players were hitting 60 or 70 homeruns. Steroids news started circulating a little, and boom, the year after I think the homerun leader hit 47. from 60s to 40s in one year, and no one has bursted past 60. Id have to dedicate some time to it as im not 100% of all the #s, but look, how come no one is hitting 70 or even 60 homers a year anymore? It has nothing to do with the ball, it has nothing to do with pitching, it has everything to do with steroids.

Lets not forget these guys are ballplayers, not rocket scientists. Giambi drops 30 lbs last offseason, says he was dieting and only lost 3 lbs :) Steroids were very widespread, MLB did nothing about it, as a Yankee fan it is absurd they took the word "steroid" out of Giambi's contract. They had to have known, it doesn't make sense any other way - their excuse "we thought it was covered by other language" is a crock of shit.

Who said it best - "In Numbers I Trust, People I Don't" :)