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.

Sully Baseball Honors... Luis de los Santos

Going through my old baseball cards tucked away in my parents house, I stumbled across one for Luis de los Santos. Chances are you never heard of him, and don't feel bad if that is the case.

But I believe this obscure player, a native of the Dominican Republic who grew up in New York and was drafted by the Royals a few picks ahead of Tom Glavine, is worth honoring for a few reasons. One of those reasons reflects what was truly unfair about the steroid era, but I will get to that later.

First of all, while he never made it as a big league hitter, he was a terrific AAA hitter. He became part of that mysterious and ultimately frustrating category of players too good to stay in the minors but can't quite figure out major league pitching. For three straight seasons he was one of the leading hitters at AAA Omaha, winning the American Association MVP in 1988.

He had three cameos in the big leagues. He played briefly for the Royals in 1988 and 1989 and had a cameo with the Tigers in 1991. He didn't exactly light the big leagues on fire and wound up playing in Independent Leagues and elsewhere.

He was partially affected by a log jam of good hitters in Kansas City. Remember in the late 1980s, the Royals still had the aura of being an elite team. Between 1976 and 1985, they made the post season 7 out of 10 seasons, winning the 1980 pennant and 1985 World Series.

And by 1988 they seemed ready to make another run at it. The team still had George Brett, Bret Saberhagen, Mark Gubicza, Frank White, Willie Wilson and Bud Black from the World Champion squad. But they also had new stars like Kevin Seitzer, Danny Tartabull, Jeff Montgomery and of course Bo Jackson.

And to show how different baseball was then, they also had one of the highest payrolls in the game.

With that much talent on the big league roster, there wasn't a lot of room for de los Santos to play. If he had been traded as a prospect to a less talented squad, he may have had the opportunity to play every day. But there was no moving George Brett off of first, who had another batting title in him.

So instead de los Santos stayed at Omaha for 4 straight seasons, piling up hits and driving in runs, waiting for a spot to open up on the big league club that never did.

He wound up in Detroit briefly in 1991 and missed the 1992 season. By 1993 he was in the Angels organization, still hitting well (he batted .311 at AAA that year) but he never got the call to come back to the show again.

After the 1993 season, he began a global odyssey playing baseball in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Italy. In 2002, as a 35 year old he played 50 games for AAA Rochester, but never got the call from the Orioles.

And as far as my limited research has gone, his playing career ended in 2002 with the Mexico City Reds.

So what does de los Santos have to do with steroids?
When people talk about what harm did the steroid era do and what difference does it make if they were getting a competitive edge, I can't help but think of players like de los Santos.

Here was a guy who was obviously a good hitter but he also had unimpressive power numbers. He never hit more than 6 home runs for the season in AAA. His highest slugging percentage at AAA was .416. So while he got hit after hit (and drove in 87 runs in 1988 despite only hitting 6 homers) he didn't have the eye popping stats that would prompt someone to keep him in the big leagues. And certainly not one to move a George Brett or Kevin Seitzer to the bench.

And he was doing this in the early 1990s, the infancy of the juiced era. It was also the post collusion period where baseball salaries were starting to skyrocket. Imagine the choices he could have made. Imagine the thoughts and temptations that could have gone through his head.

"I am a good hitter, but nobody is interested in a first baseman with no power. If I could just add some home runs to my game, I could stick around on a big league roster and become a millionaire many times over."

Of course he could have thought that.
And I bet he was starting to see some teammates and other players starting to try stuff out. Remember we know Canseco was using the stuff in 1988 and no doubt people were asking in the work out rooms "What is Jose doing differently?"

Canseco was the AL MVP in 1988 the same year de los Santos was the American Association MVP. No doubt Luis would rather have Canseco's trophy, and his respect around the league and his bank statement.

And yet his home run and power numbers stayed the same.

How many Luis de los Santos couldn't find a big league job during the steroid era because they were playing with their natural gifts rather than enhancing them with hormones meant for cows? How many other good hitters never got past AAA while they saw players with a worse sense of the strike zone but bigger biceps get prolonged shots in the big leagues.

We'll never know.
I am sure when de los Santos was globe trotting playing in leagues so obscure that I can't find the stats for them he was watching the inflated bodies and pay checks of the players back in America. I wonder how many of them were teammates of his in the Royals and Tigers farm system.

One side note. In 2000, nine years after his last big league cameo, Luis de los Santos surfaced in the Mexican League as a member of the Saltillo Saraperos. While he never hit more than 6 homers nor slugged higher than .416 professionally in his 20s, he suddenly hit 25 homers and posted a .632 slugging percentage and an OPS of 1.050 as a 33 year old.

I am not saying anything. I am just listing the stats.

And I am still saluting you Luis.
You deserved a real shot in the big leagues.

Rangers fans might not want to be throwing stones here

Hey, it's a clever sign... but remember something, Rangers fans:

You are the same team that had Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and Pudge Rodriguez when he was VERY pudgy.

And A-Rod admitted he did the stuff while in Texas.
(Oh yeah, they traded for Jose Canseco as well.)

Best watch out while throwing those stones.
Your walls are made of glass.

You are damn right Giants fans should cheer Barry Bonds

Barry threw out the first pitch yesterday afternoon in San Francisco, and no doubt people will fret over it... wondering what message it will send the kids.

Funny, the other night when Andy Pettitte pitched a wonderful game against Cliff Lee, I don't remember people saying how disgusting it was that he was playing.

He used the stuff.

He followed Clemens from New York to Houston and back again.

He denied it at first, and then after getting caught was hailed as a great man for saying "Yeah I used it... like one time. The fact that I was crossing country back and forth with Clemens was a complete coincidence."

Nobody seems upset that Alex Rodriguez has been playing this post season... another guy who used it and denied it left and right until he was cornered.

Those guys are playing in the PLAYOFFS.

Is anyone upset that Mark McGwire, the man who could have done so much good if he were honest but decided to not talk about the past, is a hitting coach for a contending Cardinals team and giving players tips? Maybe some pointers... like one to inject into your butt.

Bonds got applause from the fans and threw a ceremonial first pitch.

And the fans know, as I wrote earlier, that Bonds saved baseball in San Francisco... BEFORE his body ballooned up.

The fans were sitting in beautiful AT&T Park, instead of miserable Candlestick Park... or Tropicana Field, because of the excitement that Bonds brought to San Francisco starting in 1993... the year after they almost moved to St. Pete.

Let's not get carried away over a first pitch, shall we?

For Christsake, they had someone dressed as Captain Morgan throw out the first pitch at some games! It's not a big deal!

There's just nothing to write about the Clemens case

I got a bunch of e mails asking what my take was on Clemens pleading not guilty today.

Here's what it is:

It's sad and EVERYONE on the planet Earth knows how this is going to end except Roger Clemens.

When Pete Rose comes across as a beacon of wisdom, you know we are heading towards a sad ending to... let's face it... a wonderful career.

What else can you say about this?

He's a big stubborn S.O.B.
That's what made him great and that's what's going to bring him down.

How is this going to end?
Christ, just watch Raging Bull.

(Spoiler alert!)

It isn't a happy movie.

(Although I would like to see Fat Rocket doing the speech into the mirror at the end.)

I guess Big Mac is smarter than the Rocket

Remember how we all made fun of Big Mac's "I'm not here to talk about the past" line that he kept saying over and over to Congress?

He looked like a big dumb jock who was trying to weasel his way out of trouble, didn't he? And he looked even worse with his cringe worthy pathetic and half baked apology interview he gave last January that I couldn't even finish.

Well McGwire is no Mensa candidate, but man he was smarter than Roger Clemens.
Here's something Clemens should have written on his hand as a reminder:

You are better off looking stupid than lying.

And another thing:

Your drug dealer has nothing to lose by telling the truth.

You should have taken my advice and learn the two words "No Comment."

This story makes me sad... I think more sad than most Red Sox fans. Clemens was always my favorite Red Sox when he was on the team, and I wore a Blue Jays cap the days he pitched.

Yeah I rooted against him as a Yankee, but I would have rooted against Jesus Christ if he played for the Yankees.

Clemens, like Bonds, was a Hall of Famer before he mysteriously got bigger and stronger in his late 30s. McGwire wasn't. McGwire was a Dave Kingman, slugger with a low batting average whose career would have been over around 1993 or 1994. Then he got healthy and BOOM! Became the Charles Van Doren of baseball.

Clemens being indicted doesn't mean he is convicted. But it gives the vote AGAINST him more weight.

Roger... Roger... Roger... Why couldn't you have been content with fame, fortune and immortality?

A-Rod hits 600... and the fans go wild

I wonder how many fans cheering for A-Rod as he entered the 600 home run club were booing Barry Bonds and saying how awful his chase of Hank Aaron was for baseball.

I wonder how many of them thought Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco is a bum.

I am guessing there is some overlap.

And basically it goes to show what I've always felt... when it comes to steroids and PEDs we only care when ANOTHER player is doing it.

I wrote the other year how the "Mannywood" section in Dodger Stadium used to be filled with people taunting Barry Bonds' interesting bulkiness.

Red Sox fans still stand for Big Papi.

McGwire still gets applause in St. Louis.

Sosa is personal non grata in Wrigley, but that's because he quit on the team.

Soak it up A-Rod. You've joined the 600 homer club. Oh there will be hand wringing when it comes to your Hall of Fame vote (it will be interesting to see how Sammy Sosa does with the voters) but he happy you did it at home.

The fans love a winner... no questions asked.

Let's reach a compromise with this whole steroids thing

OK, we can all agree that steroids are horrible for you, it is a bad message to be sending to the kids and it cheapens the home run records.

Fine.


Can we allow it for one day?

The Home Run Derby.



Seriously... one day they can inject God Knows What into themselves and we can see the balls fly.



It's not the "sacrifice fly derby."



It's the "Hit the Snot Out Of the Ball and watch it Fly" contest.



Just one day they can pump themselves up.