Ten Hall of Fame Thoughts

Another year another name in the Hall of Fame and more thoughts from me.

1. Barry Larkin isn't sexy, but he's worthy.

Actually Barry Larkin is a handsome guy, so maybe someone DOES think he's sexy.

But it isn't like when Reggie Jackson or Rickey Henderson or Cal Ripken got into the Hall of Fame where there was a national buzz.

It probably would be a more exciting day if he had been elected with Blyleven and Alomar last year, but hey. Larkin deserves it. He was a great player who nobody seems to have a bad word about him. Maybe after sharing the spotlight with Ozzie Smith and Cal Ripken then later Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter it is appropriate that Larkin has the stage to himself.

2. Tim Salmon got two votes? Really?

There were a few players who got more than one vote and they fascinate me more than the ones with one vote. Both Eric Young and Javy Lopez got a single vote and chances are they were from a sports writer who liked them and tipped the proverbial cap to those players.

But 6 put Vinny Castilla on there? 5 put Salmon? 4 put Bill Mueller? 2 said "Brad Radke belongs in the Hall of Fame?"

One of these years someone will be voted in with those sympathy votes and I will laugh like hell.

3. No votes for Ruben Sierra...

Sierra doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame. His career came way short. But you'd think if someone could put Brad Radke's name on their ballot then someone would rustle up a sympathy vote for a man who for a time truly was an elite player.

For a stretch he was a legit MVP candidate (and probably could have beaten Robin Yount for the 1989 AL MVP.)

Sierra himself has acknowledged that he squandered some of his talent but the one time Diva became one of the games good guys by the end of his career. Not enough for Cooperstown, but odd that he didn't get an Eric Young pity vote.

4. If Jack Morris gets in next year, they should put his plaque next to Jim Rice's

Seriously, other than Don Sutton, Phil Rizzuto and Bill Mazeroski, I haven't such vitriol for a Hall of Fame case than Jack Morris and Jim Rice.

I've supported both and I admit that I am biased. They impressed me as a kid and I want to believe the great players from my youth are worthy to stand shoulder to shoulder with Hank Aaron, Stan Musial and Sandy Koufax.

Yeah yeah yeah, I understand the arguments against him. I'm still rooting for him. He's inching closer but has only 2 more chances. The showdown will be the next two years.

If he gets in, but his plaque next to Rice so their detractors can get all of their anger out at once.

5. We are going to be nostalgic for the Jack Morris and Jim Rice debates next year.

With those two people compare stats, memories, new stats, traditional stats and it is a rational (if passionate) argument.

Next year? We have the man who holds the single season and All Time home run record on the ballot. We have the man with more Cy Young Awards than anyone in history. We have one man who broke Roger Maris' mark joining the other man. And the ballot also includes a member of the 3,000 hit and 500 home run club! It should be one of the greatest classes in baseball history. And it is going to SUCK!

What bigger names bring up the ugly head of Steroids more than Clemens, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire and Palmeiro. It's a Mount Rushmore of juicers. (Yeah, Mount Rushmore has only 4 heads, but they broke THAT record as well.

The debate will turn away from stats (they all have stats that are worthy) and to if they are worthy. It is going to be a sea of "Not Fun!"

Trust me, you'll become nostalgic for Jack Morris' ERA.

6. It's a shame Juan Gonzalez fell off the ballot

I don't think he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Under normal circumstances, his 2 MVP awards would be compelling but the needles found on his trip to Toronto are more interesting to voters.

So why is it a shame he's off the ballot?

It would have been nice to see McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Clemens, Palmeiro and Gonzalez on the ballot together.

It would be a Mitchell Report reunion.

7. You will hear "Back Acne" and "Friends with Ken Caminiti" more than you want to next year.

Mike Piazza will be on the ballot. Jeff Bagwell is returning to the ballot. Normally they'd be preparing their speeches, but the whispers of PEDs for both of them might prevent their induction.

Think that's unfair? Perhaps. But remember how the likes of McGwire, Clemens, Bonds and Sosa were celebrated? Remember how Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Andy Pettitte and Alex Rodriguez all got standing ovations?

This is the pendulum swinging the other way. The voters want to make sure they don't have to deal with the specter of putting a guy in and THEN finding out he's a juicer. If Jim Rice and Bert Blyleven can wait a decade and a half, then so can some of these guys.

8. My endorsement of Alan Trammell didn't amount to crap

I thought I had more pull in the baseball world.

I said that I believe he is a Hall of Famer and he gets a measly 36.8% of the vote?

He only has 4 more ballots to pick up 38.2% of the vote in order to get him over the top.

I better get some more power for next year.

9. Tim Raines would be a nice protest vote next year

I am a big Raines supporter and his bandwagon is growing bit by bit. But with all the steroid users on the next ballot, Raines would be a perfect middle finger to the juicers.

Think about it. You are actually saying "You'd have been better off doing cocaine!"

I wonder if his stolen base total was inflated because he was on coke.

10. Lee Smith was on more than half of the ballots.

I didn't just make that up. More than half of the writers said "YES" to Lee Smith in Cooperstown.

He has 5 more chances to add 25% to his vote total. Has there EVER been a candidate with this many votes who has this low a profile candidacy?

I hear more debating over Edgar Martinez and Alan Trammell who can't even bust 40% than Smith who has a majority of the writers approval.

Yet I don't know ANYONE who thinks he's a Hall of Famer and trust me, I know a lot of baseball fans.

It's an odd candidacy to be sure.

So there you have it.

Another year and another vote. Bernie Williams is the only new name coming back and Dale Murphy has his final go round next year.

Be prepared... next year is going to be a bumpy ride.

A-Rod runs to Germany to hide from Father Time

I have no clue what Kobe Bryant suggested to Alex Rodriguez. I hope it wasn't marital advice. But the two least favorite players for Boston Sports Fans met and evidently talked about going to Germany to get some sort of blood work done that sounds strange at best and fishy at worst.

Is it legal?
Probably.

It is a red flag that he can't find someone in America to do it?
Yeah. Sort of.

But there are two things that A-Rod can't prevent no matter how many procedures he has had and how many timezones he crosses:

Age and a lack of steroids.

He's on the wrong side of 35.
Back before the days of Performance Enhancing Drugs, that was right around the time that sluggers fell apart.

Jimmie Foxx was washed up by 35.
Frank Robinson was on the decline by then.
Dave Winfield had one more great season after 35, then fought constant injuries.
Eddie Murray was still effective, but his best years were well behind him.
Al Kaline was on his last legs.
Jim Rice was winding down.
Hank Greenberg had his last great season at age 35. He was out of baseball at 37.
Willie Mays never hit 30 homers after age 35 and was never again an MVP candidate.

Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth continued to put up amazing numbers after 35.
They were both pretty good.
And they were the exceptions.

A-Rod is no longer juicing. According to A-Rod his juicing days ended when he left Texas. He took them in Texas because of the pressure. And then he stopped (because Heaven knows there is no pressure in playing in New York.)

He was caught in 2009 and turned his year around by leading the Yankees to the World Championship... an act that bought A-Rod about 3 minutes of good will from Yankees fans. Since winning the MVP (his 3rd) in 2007, his OPS has dropped every season, his home run totals have dropped almost every year (he hit 30 in both 2009 and 2010) and he hasn't been able to avoid injuries.

A drop in power and inability to recover suddenly happening in the past few years, ESPECIALLY after the positive test was revealed? Are you SURE you stopped when your days in Texas ended?

His 1.067 OPS in 158 games in 2007 has turned into an .823 OPS in 99 games last year.
And he will be a year older.
With six years left to play in his megacontract that is set to pay him $29 million in 2012, $28 million in 2013, $25 million in 2014, $21 million in 2015, $20 million in 2016 and a mere $20 million in 2017.

He'll be 41 years old in 2017.
His body is breaking down to the point where he is doing experimental blood work in Germany to get him in playing shape at age 36!

How is this going to get BETTER over the next six years?
Yeah the Yankees have tons of money, but enough to pay a player in 6 years like a superstar even though those years seem behind him NOW?

If 2009 is already a hazy memory for Yankee fans NOW, how distant will it seem in 2017?

Good luck in Germany, A-Rod.
You better hope they found the fountain of youth there... and you had also better hope the fountain of youth isn't on the list of banned substances.

The Brewers should sign Manny to replace Ryan Braun

Well won't this MVP presentation be awkward for Ryan Braun on opening day.
"Here's your trophy. Now sit down for the next 50 games for being caught with PEDs."

They should bring in Manny to replace him while he is sitting out his suspension.

He's rested, won't cost him a draft pick, is usually good when he arrives on a team and hey... you can't play the whole "We don't want a juicer on our team" angle.

Yeah it's sad because Braun seemed like a good guy and easy to root for. But the guy tested positive, and how much of a blockhead do you have to be to come up positive in this day and age.

Yeah yeah yeah, he didn't do it. Just like Andy Pettitte didn't. Just like Rafael Palmeiro didn't do it.

Either way, let me just say I don't feel so dumb thinking Matt Kemp was the MVP of the National League over Ryan Braun!

(Quick, someone test Matt Kemp.)

The Muted Celebration of Jim Thome

Jim Thome has 600 homers.

Great. Good for him. He seems like a nice guy and has had a terrific career.



Is he a Hall of Famer? I guess. I won’t have a problem if he is elected.



Is the 600th home run one of the great moments in baseball history?



Eh.

Frankly I don’t even think it was the highlight of the night (Milwaukee’s bizarre triple play on the Dodgers had that honor with me.)



So why isn’t Thome’s home run a bigger event?

Thome seems like a good guy. You never hear a bad word said about him. He’s friendly, charming and humble in interviews.



And he has never been tied to any scandals. His numbers peaked in his late 20s and early 30s and then came down and didn’t suddenly spike again.



Why isn’t he getting the love? Bert Blyleven joked during the Twins game last night that Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit celebration was so over the top that you’d think he was the first to ever do it.



No it isn’t fair that Thome didn’t get all the attention. But that doesn’t mean that it was wrong.



Jim Thome hit 600 homers in the wrong era. Sorry. That’s just the truth.

And the long term result of The Steroid Era is that the people who played in the post strike flurry of elite home run hitters are going to be scrutinized heavily.



No it isn’t fair that McGwire and Sosa got to be showered with accolades while Thome gets a nice golf clap.



But that is the price of people saying “We were burned but now we have our guard up.”



You don’t like that journalists go after politicians with brute force? Blame Watergate.



Thome is like the nice guy trying to date the pretty girl who is always burned. And when Thome does one or two things the old boyfriends used to do, HE’LL catch the blame. It’s not fair. And he’ll say “You are making me feel badly because of what Jason did!”



(FYI, every single woman in the world has dated an a—hole named Jason or Mark.)



But we have been burned. And 600 home runs, or at least the celebration for it, has been diluted.



There have been only 8 players to hit 600 homers… and 5 of them have been in the past 10 years. Think about that… from 1931, when Babe Ruth hit his 600th home run to 2002 when Bonds got HIS 600th homer, a grand total of 3 hitters reached the milestone.



3 in 70 years.

And 5 more in 9 years.



It isn’t as special.



There was a seven decade window where 600 was a jaw droppingly impressive number. But with Bonds, A-Rod and Sosa crowding it up, it no longer seems to mean as much.



Thome and Griffey are on the list and there is no reason to think they did anything. I personally don’t think they did.



But be honest… would you be STUNNED if they did? How can anyone be shocked by any name anymore?



So good job Mr. Thome. I’m a fan. If you get into the Hall of Fame, you will no doubt be a classy member.



Sorry you didn’t get the big celebration. Chances are the guys caught juicing WON’T be in Cooperstown. You might get the last laugh.

The calm before the Hall of Fame storm

I hope you enjoyed the Hall of Fame ceremony yesterday. Pat Gillick, Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven all deserved to be voted in. I have supported Tim Raines, Jack Morris, Barry Larkin and Dave Parker in the past.

With the Cobra off of the ballot, there is good news for Raines, Morris and Larkin:
Next year's first time Hall of Fame ballot stinks.

I'm not kidding.
My dad and I went down the list of all the players who will be on the ballot for the very first time.

Heads and shoulders above all the other first time candidates is Bernie Williams.

Look, Bernie was a terrific player and a Red Sox killer. He was a champion who wore the pinstripes with honor and had clutch post season moments in the 1990s and the 2000s.

Nobody is denying that his #51 deserves to be retired at Yankee Stadium and he should get standing ovations in the Bronx for the rest of his life.

The only reason he should be at the Hall of Fame induction is if he is hired to be the musical act.

And he's BY FAR the best new candidate.

The other new candidates?
Vinny Castilla
Javy Lopez
Ruben Sierra
Jeff Nelson
Jeromy Burnitz
Tim Salmon
Mike Matheny
Edgardo Alfonzo
Danny Graves
Scott Erickson
Tony Womack
Jeff Fassero
Phil Nevin
Carl Everett
Brian Jordan
Eric Young
Tim Worrell
Bill Mueller
Joe Randa
Jose Lima
Matt Lawton
Terry Mulholland
Brad Radke
Rick Helling
Mike Remlinger
Felix Rodriguez

Wow.
Not a valid argument for one of them. Other than Bernie Williams, what player deserves 5% of the vote to keep them on the ballot a second year?

Williams is the only person on that list that I think has a prayer of being on the ballot in 2013, and that will probably be because a lot of sports writers think he is a nice guy.

So with writers feeling like they should put SOMEONE on their ballots, Larkin, Morris, Raines and maybe even Lee Smith will get some more love than usual. Maybe 1 or 2 of them will be pushed over the top.

And I hope they do because next year will be the last normal voting year before the dreaded 2013 ballot.

Sure there were juicers on last year's ballot and Mark McGwire, Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro will return for more (or less) votes next January. (So will Jeff Bagwell, a slender hitter with limited power who packed on muscle fast, hung out with Ken Caminiti and became a Hall of Famer. Not saying anything except facts.)

But the two big fish are eligible in 2013.

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

(Throw in Sammy Sosa too for good measure.)

2013 will be the LEAST FUN Hall of Fame vote in history. The feats of Bonds and Clemens will be staring at us all in the face... and nobody will know what to do.


It's great news for Craig Biggio, whose 3,000 hits will get him in automatically (just ask Rafael Palmeiro and Pete Rose.)

And it will probably be great news for Mike Piazza (although there have been louder whispers about Piazza's physique than for Bagwell.)

Voters won't know what the hell to do. So the borderline cases might ALL get in as a way to procrastinate or put off the inevitable.

All I know is this:

The next few years of Hall of Fame voting will be so NOT fun that you will become nostalgic for debating over Robbie Alomar spitting in an umpire's face.

Captain America - The First Juicer

I never really knew much about Captain America growing up. I was more of a DC Comic reader growing up.

So when I saw the preview for the movie that opened this weekend (and made more money that I could make in 10 lifetimes) two things struck me as odd about it.

First of all, what the hell was Paramount thinking NOT releasing this on 4th of July weekend?

Secondly, didn't Steve Rogers' transformation from a weakling to Captain America ring a bell with you?

A kid has tremendous heart and desire, but doesn't have the physical abilities to succeed... or at least keep up with the competition.

So in order to keep up and beat the competition, he is pumped with all sorts of unusual chemicals that transforms his body and BANG! He's a hero! He's the best! Everyone wants to be him!

Replace Dr. Abraham Erskine and his Super Sodier Serum with Victor Conte and "The Cream and the Clear."

Switch out Steve Rogers with Jason Giambi wandering into the A's clubhouse in 1995 meeting his new teammate Mark McGwire and in 1997 teaming up with Jose Canseco.

A few trips to BALCO later, he went from a lean first baseman to a professional wrestler!







It's the same damn story!
Granted, Captain America was taking out Nazis, so there's no loss of honor pumping your body up for THAT goal.

But still, are you trying to tell me that Stark Industries couldn't have made some quality post war bucks bulking up some big leaguers?

Here we are trying to get the whole steroid era behind us... and we have some awful Hall of Fame controversy on the horizon, the Bonds and Clemens trials this year... and now Hollywood is making juicing COOL again?

It's a bad lesson for kids.

Kids should know that if you want to turn your body unexpectedly into a muscular frame, you should do it more honestly!

You know like being bitten by a radioactive spider or getting hit with a ton of gamma rays!

Maybe I should have been a lawyer

Look, most of what I know about being a lawyer I know from watching Jack McCoy in Law and Order.

But I do know one thing... if something has been declared inadmissible as evidence, you don't bring it up at trial.

The judge in the Clemens case said a First Year Law Student would know that.
Screw that. I'm a Film School graduate and I know that!

Between the Casey Anthony trial and the Roger Clemens trial WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH PROSECUTORS?

Seriously, you think you are going to go after a high profile client in a public case, you'd make sure you'd cross all your T's and dot all your I's before you go in there.

This was over so fast that the sketch artist could barely finish one picture.

What does this mean?

It can't be double jeopardy, can it?

We didn't even get to hear how Clemens was going to blame everyone but himself for the use of steroids and HGH... including blaming his wife!

Nice job prosecutors. You think a slick guy like Rusty Hardin was going to be taking a nap when you played that tape?

Now, I have no idea how this trial will resume or if there will be a new one.
But we all know what happened.... and like when I talked about Barry Bonds at a barbecue, the burden of proof is obviously very low here.

Roger Clemens wanted to prove to the world (and by "the world" I mean "Dan Duquette") that he wasn't done when his Red Sox career ended.

And while he had one year that he basically willed himself to greatness, reality and physics trumped willpower and 35 year old pitchers tend to slip.

Enter old teammate Jose Canseco and trainer Brian McNamee and suddenly willpower could be injected.

Seriously, why would McNamee be telling the truth about Pettitte and Knoblauch (both who confirmed it) but not Clemens who was the big Alpha Dog?

Sure McNamee saved the needles. He was a former cop and he knew something like this could help him if he were in trouble.

Sure he lied early on. These trainer/'roids distributors are hangers on who look to be taken care of by their rich clients for their loyalty.
Don't believe me? How long does Greg Anderson have to sit in jail before you realize how much loyalty means to these guys.

McNamee even took the bullet in that sketchy "was it a sexual assault? Was it not?" night in Florida in 2001 that is being brought up. Why? To protect the Yankees player or coach who had relations with the woman earlier that night.

It's all consistent.
And he lied right up until the point where he realized he might go to jail for lying.

Anderson did. McNamee didn't.

And that's why the Bonds thing ended and the Clemens case is going on. (That and the fact that Bonds knew when to keep his mouth shut and Clemens is too bull headed to do so.)

Clemens side doesn't make any sense.

A trainer gave him B12 shots... and that caused an abscess that B12 doesn't cause but steroids do?

He works out and trains with a guy who is on his payroll who gave Pettitte, Knoblauch AND Clemens' wife juice but NOT Clemens?

Clemens body just HAPPENS to balloon up and he just HAPPENS to increase velocity in his late 30s around the time that he is in Toronto with a steroid distributing trainer who he swears by and Jose Canseco who has injected everything except Windex into his ass?

None of it makes sense.

All I know is everything I read in the book American Icon makes 100% sense to me.

Then again, the burden of proof at Barnes and Nobles is pretty low as well.

I can't prove it in a court of law.
That's not my job.
Maybe it should have been.

What should we do if Jose Bautista hits 62?

Jose Bautista has 31 home runs before the All Star Break.
He may have more if he gets a hold of one today.

Remember how having 31 homers at the All Star Break used to have people buzzing?

"Man, he has a shot!"

You know what "the shot" is, right?
A shot at 62 homers and maybe pass Roger Maris.

The suddenly "the shot" had a whole new meaning.

As in "a shot of supposed B12 by Alex Rodriguez's cousin in a bathroom stall."

So here we are and Jose Bautista is making a run at 60.
What are we supposed to do?

Are we supposed to celebrate like it is 1998 all over again?
Are we supposed to ignore some warning signs?

Like, oh I don't know the fact that he never produced like this before and suddenly became a 50 home run hitter?

And he did so without a change in environment (like Curtis Granderson heading to homer happy Yankee Stadium.)

And the fact that he is from a country that has relaxed laws about steroids and HGH and plays his home games outside of the United States.

Is it fair to be suspicious of Bautista? Was it fair to be suspicious of Albert Pujols and his speedy recovery?

Probably not.

Is it out of line?

Not at all.

As I wrote about the burden of proof with Barry Bonds, our guard is up now. It is the result of being burnt so often. Sure Bautista is paying for the sins committed by a previous generation of sluggers, but this is normal.

Like anyone who has been dumped, you start to get defensive when your next romance starts to go down old paths.

The pendulum has swung the other way. We used to celebrate without asking questions. Now we say "Hold on a second. I'm not going to be a little tempered in my euphoria this time."

We have grim reminders with Bonds' trial earlier this year and Clemens being grilled now. Are supposed to just take it on faith that Jose Bautista is clean?

He could hit 62.
I'm not sure how I'm going to react.

I jumped up in the air when McGwire hit HIS 62nd.
I did a dance when Sammy Sosa hit HIS.

Not sure I would do that with Bautista.
It's not fair, but the truth isn't always fair.

Albert Pujols will be a Dodger or a Met… and I predict a conspiracy theory

A bizarre and round about series of events and coincidences have made it clear to me that Albert Pujols will almost certainly not be a member of the St. Louis Cardinals next year.

Before Pujols files for free agency, two large market franchises will change ownership and be in position to bid for him, and I believe Bud Selig will be manipulating the whole thing to help preserve his legacy.

That’s right, I am predicting a conspiracy before there are any facts or events to back up my theory. I admit that is no easy trick. But I think I am on to something.

Follow me…

Bud Selig is retiring in 2012. With the steroid era evidently behind him and if baseball avoids a work stoppage (and the NFL and NBA have one) then he will be able to claim that he left the game clean and thriving with labor peace.

But there are four gigantic messes he needs to clean up before riding off into the sunset.

Two won’t be covered here, but I will mention them: The Rays and the A’s stadium disasters. Neither team can last in their current dumps and nor have a viable solution for survival, especially if the Giants can block the A’s move to San Jose. But that is another post.

The big BIG mess is the state of the Mets and Dodgers, two of the flagship franchises of the National League. According to USA Today, only the Yankees and Red Sox are worth more than the Dodgers and those teams plus the Cubs are the only ones worth more than the Mets.

I don’t think it is stretch to call New York and Los Angeles big markets. And guess what? They are both in financial chaos.

The Dodgers have been mismanaged to the point where MLB had to take the unprecedented steps of essentially removing the owner from power. (We’ll see if Frank McCourt surrenders the power of the team.)

And the Mets should be on notice. If the twisted finances of the McCourt divorce can make Selig and company take over the Dodgers, then being swindled by Bernie Madoff (and not being sure what they knew in advance) should be even a greater cause for MLB to step in and take the car keys away from the Wilpons.

In the very least, the Mets should be forced to sell.

So that would mean the Mets and Dodgers would have new ownership going into the 2012 season. And also have a disillusioned fan base, declining attendance and a natural division rival playing well (the Phillies for the Mets and the Giants for the Dodgers.)

Whomever is going to run the Mets and the Dodgers will need to assure their paying customers (and TV viewers and sponsors) that not only are the bad days behind them but glamorous superstar days are ahead.

The Giants were in a similar boat when Peter Magowan took over the team in the wake of the proposed move to Tampa Bay. He found the quickest way to get the fan base energized: He signed the best player in baseball, Barry Bonds.

Which brings us to Albert Pujols. He’s a free agent to be. He has nothing left to prove in St. Louis when he finishes this, his 11th season. He has given the Cardinals a championship, post season heroics, MVPs and done so with class and a flair for the dramatic. And, as I said in a previous video, Cardinal fans can NEVER boo him.

Pujols could need a new challenge in his life, the biggest contract in baseball history and a chance to be a hero in a brand new market.

(See Rose, Pete. See Jackson, Reggie. And Albert is better than both of them!)

And if just so happens that the Dodgers have an opening at first base. I may not be 100% sure how VORP works, but I can guess that Albert Pujols replacing James Loney is an improvement.

And the Mets have Ike Davis, who is a nice player. When you have the chance to get one of the great offensive players of all time, you might think about sacrificing a nice player or two!

Both the Dodgers and the Mets will have new owners, money to spend and a city to impress. And they will BOTH bid on Albert Pujols.

Why do I say that with such certainty? Because Selig will make sure of it. Captain Bud will not let an owner take over the Dodgers nor the Mets unless they were intending on trying to sign Pujols.

It makes sense for the Dodgers to win back their fans and show there is a new era in Chavez Ravine.

It makes sense for the Mets to turn the page on the Wilpon fiasco (and no doubt Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins would welcome Albert’s arrival.)

It makes sense for labor peace as players making big contracts is always looked on fondly by the Players Association.

And it makes sense for Selig as he leave the game with franchises other than the Yankees and Red Sox bidding over the biggest free agents.

And which ever team can’t land Pujols will have a nice consolation prize in Prince Fielder.

Think Selig is above this sort of backroom dealings? Or perhaps not clever enough?

PUH-lease. I am not going to even go into the whole “Used Car Salesman” past of Mr. Selig.

This was the guy who maneuvered the ownership of the Expos, Marlins and Red Sox around so his hand picked successor would take over in Boston instead of the McCourts.

This was the guy who claimed to have no clue about the steroid culture, even though allegations were made public as far back as 1988, when Peter Ueberroth was commissioner.

This was the guy who was part of the owners group that ousted Fay Vincent for not doing their bidding and installing himself as owner/commissioner. It was supposed to be temporary. That was 1992.

This was one of the many owners found guilty of collusion in the 1980s.

Shady wheeling and dealing are right in Bud Selig’s wheelhouse.

So a nudge here and there and making sure the new owners come with an aggressive eye on Albert is not as outlandish as colluding, kicking the commissioner out and not noticing that the players all were bigger than the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

You heard it here first on Sully Baseball.

I am declaring it a conspiracy before it actually happens.

Colluding is and always will be part of Bud Selig’s legacy.

Barry Bonds, Steroids and the Burden of Proof at a Barbecue

In the summer 2007, I was at my parents house for a barbecue. My dad was grilling up salmon and a swordfish, and something you should know about my dad: He cooks a terrific swordfish.

And while he was grilling, we did what we tend to do 365 days a year which is talk about baseball. My dad was, is and always will be a rabid San Francisco Giants fan and he was talking about Barry Bonds and his chase of Hank Aaron's record.

Now I am no Bonds hater (I've defended him on the blog several times) but I made a comment about steroids. I would call his steroid use the elephant in the room, but at that point I think Barry was BIGGER than an elephant.

My dad seemed annoyed by me (I think it was the first time ever that I did something that annoyed him) and he asked "Do you know that he did? Can you prove that he did? Unless you have proof that he did anything, how can you say that he did?"

I reminded my dad that we were not in a court of law.

We were at a barbecue.

The burden of proof at a barbecue is much lower than in a court of law. It SHOULD be greater in a court of law.

The lawyers found that he obstructed justice (not David) but that's it. It's hard to prove perjury without a positive test nor a witness. And of course Bonds threw in the phrase "did not knowingly take" into his defense.

Being stupid isn't illegal. And ironically acting stupid was how Barry showed he was smarter than the other juicers.



















How did the prosecutors intend to win this?
By holding up his 1987 Topps card and comparing it to his 2007 Topps card?

A doctor was called to the stands to testify that Bonds' body had changed. Wow, really? Do you know who else can make that statement? Anyone with eyes who saw Bonds play from 1986 to 2007!

They brought out recordings with a mistress to show he had rage, that must be about the steroids. I've never had a mistress but I can imagine even without steroids, they can lead to some tense filled moments.

When word of what was going on in the trial I thought "Man, the government is letting him walk... just like every other pitcher since 2000!"

He will be punished for obstruction of justice but his knowingly taking steroids will not be proven.

Meanwhile I can still say "I think he knowingly did steroids."

And I can say it about other players too.

I can say "I think Jeff Bagwell used something." I have no problems saying that and will sleep soundly. The burden of proof for thinking something and speculating is pretty low.

But it isn't baseless. Bagwell was a skinny player with limited power in the Red Sox farm system. He wasn't sent off to the Astros in the Larry Andersen trade because Lou Gorman was stupid. He was behind Scott Cooper and Mo Vaughn on the depth chart of Red Sox prospects.

He arrived in Houston, packs on 30 some odd pounds while being buddies with the late Ken Caminiti, who we know did steroids because he said so.

Then he became an elite slugger putting up Hall of Fame worthy numbers only to have his body collapse right around the time testing started.

I can say "I think Luis Gonzalez did something."

The guy never hit more than 15 home runs before his 30th birthday, then suddenly in his 30s he exploded into an elite slugger, crushing 57 home runs at age 33... all with newly found python like arms.

Can I prove it in a court of law? No. But I can still think it and feel like I am not off base.

We are more alert about the warning signs. We've been burned overpraising players and ignoring the clues.

I heard a Bagwell apologist say "He had the best work ethic and he just hit the weight room." Wasn't that what we heard about Bonds? Clemens? McGwire? Canseco?

You don't need to see every piece of evidence to connect the dots.

In 2009, I wrote a bunch of facts about David Ortiz. I just listed them and made no proclamation. But all of the facts when lined up pointed to his using Performance Enhancing Drugs.

A few months later it was announced that he was linked to them.

It wasn't shocking.

If you left your cheating spouse and then your new love interest comes up with lipstick on their collar and smelling of cheap perfume, it isn't out of line to say "Hey! I recognize the signs."

I was at a party in New York during my single days and a friend of mine kept going to the bathroom over and over again. Each time she would come back, she would be jittery and incoherent. I am confident she was doing cocaine. Can I prove it in a court of law? No. But I still think I am right.

Voters for the Hall of Fame can and will use that lower bar for burden of proof as well. If you truly can't vote for someone whose numbers have been artificially inflated to Hall of Fame levels, then vote the way your instincts tell you.

Or better yet, just ask Canseco who has been right on just about everything on this topic.

Don't worry about proving something beyond the shadow of a doubt. A voter isn't in a court of law.

They might as well be at a barbecue with my dad. And if you ARE at the barbecue, have a bite of the sword fish.

As usual, Bonds takes the walk

The Government is no different than any pitcher who face Barry Bonds from 2000 to 2007. They just let him walk. It's not quite an intentional walk, but they clearly didn't pitch to him.

Bonds' camp didn't even produce one witness. Why bother? I wasn't in the court room and my entire knowledge of the law is watching Jack McCoy kick ass. But when the defense doesn't call a witness, isn't that the same as Barry Bonds taking off his elbow guards while watching the pitcher intentionally throw ball 3 and ball 4? Isn't that basically Bonds saying "That's all you got?"

We know part of the case was already dismissed.
Bonds isn't as bullheaded as Clemens and he doesn't have the guilt of Giambi and isn't as image obsessed as A-Rod and isn't as stupid as Palmeiro.

He's going to beat the case.
He's going to walk.

Take your base.

They are replaying the 2003 Home Run Derby on MLB Network

No matter what you think about Performance Enhancing Drugs and if you are glad to see the 'roids era fading way, you can NOT deny that it was more fun when these guys were on juice.

Jason Giambi is on now and he is launching them into the U.S. Cellular Field night.
Alex Rodriguez is the guest announcer.

Can you IMAGINE what was being shot into the player's butt back then?
In 2003, did ANYONE know what BALCO was?


So maybe they should let them juice up for the derby... FOR THE FANS!

Chris Berman JUST SAID "Does it have enough juice?" for Giambi's latest hit.

Ahh the irony.