Wednesday, January 9, 2013


Today's Baseball Hall of Fame announcement raised many questions. One was that some players knew of the cheating by Bonds, Clemens, etc and said nothing. I can't go along with the "said nothing" because sports at any level just doesn't lend itself to exposing a fellow athlete. Lance Armstrong is just one example. Next, "said nothing" really does not apply because there was no testing for most of the time that Bonds, Clemens, et al played. No testing, no penalty, no nothing. Next, baseball in general, owners and players and stadium workers and EVERYONE benefited when McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Clemens and who knows who else brought a new level of HR records and Cy Young awards to the game. Blind eye! So, though they were never accused nor was there ever a sniff of guilt, the likes of Biggio, Bagwell, and Piazza did not gain entry because of some suspicion or rumor of use, or in your thinking because they knew what was going on. It reminds me of going through an airport. TSA assumes everyone is guilty because of 9/11. Have we forgotten innocent until proven guilty? True these are ballplayers, but Congress chose to indict and foolishly threw away tax payer money and in addition, without naming names, cast a shadow of doubt over every player from that era. Just not fair. My last argument has to do with PEDs. What exactly is a Performance Enhancing Drug? If Barry Bonds twisted his ankle and got a Novocaine shot so he could perform, isn't that a PED? Where do we draw the line? If you wake up with a severe headache and take a few Advil so that you can do your job, haven't you enhanced your performance? I won't even go into Viagra! I'm not in favor of just allowing Bonds et al into the HOF carte blanche. Some determination makes sense as far as acknowledging the era. But unless they are proven to have cheated then the likes of Biggio and Bagwell and Piazza should be enshrined without an asterix. Let's not even go into "integrity." Do some reading on Cap Anson, Charlie Radbourn, Ty Cobb and many others already enshrined. Not good example of "integrity", to say the least.
Today's Baseball Hall of Fame announcement raised many questions.  One was that some players knew of the cheating by Bonds, Clemens, etc and said nothing. I can't go along with the "said nothing" because sports at any level just doesn't lend itself to exposing a fellow athlete. Lance Armstrong is just one example. Next, "said nothing" really does not apply because there was no testing for most of the time that Bonds, Clemens, et al played. No testing, no penalty, no nothing. Next, baseball in general, owners and players and stadium workers and EVERYONE benefited when McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Clemens and who knows who else brought a new level of HR records and Cy Young awards to the game. Blind eye! So, though they were never accused nor was there ever a sniff of guilt, the likes of Biggio, Bagwell, and Piazza did not gain entry because of some suspicion or rumor of use, or in your thinking because they knew what was going on. It reminds me of going through an airport. TSA assumes everyone is guilty because of 9/11. Have we forgotten innocent until proven guilty? True these are ballplayers, but Congress chose to indict and foolishly threw away tax payer money and in addition, without naming names, cast a shadow of doubt over every player from that era. Just not fair. My last argument has to do with PEDs. What exactly is a Performance Enhancing Drug? If Barry Bonds twisted his ankle and got a Novocaine shot so he could perform, isn't that a PED? Where do we draw the line? If you wake up with a severe headache and take a few Advil so that you can do your job, haven't you enhanced your performance? I won't even go into Viagra! I'm not in favor of just allowing Bonds et al into the HOF carte blanche. Some determination makes sense as far as acknowledging the era. But unless they are proven to have cheated then the likes of Biggio and Bagwell and Piazza should be enshrined without an asterix. Let's not even go into "integrity." Do some reading on Cap Anson, Charlie Radbourn, Ty Cobb and many others already enshrined. Not good example of "integrity", to say the least.

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