I don’t think you think.

You’re right we don’t know for sure that Bonds wasn’t using before 1998, but FWIW it has been widely reported that he started using after 1998 because he hated how much attention McGwire-Sosa got in ’98.

right. i think it’s completely plausible he could have used something before 98 since he’s already proved so willing to cheat once.

who knows…he might pull a pete rose and admit to it years from now when it proves financially beneficial.

I would not do this on the simple principle that they destroyed the game’s history, imo, in a way that will forever relativize great accomplishments.

Oh sheesh it’s just a stupid fucking game. Get over it.

McGwire I think is open to discussion. I don’t know when he started using so I’ll try not to assume that it was at a certain point

You’re right we don’t know for sure that Bonds wasn’t using before 1998, but FWIW it has been widely reported that he started using after 1998 because he hated how much attention McGwire-Sosa got in ’98.

Bonds, I think it can be roundly agreed, was a Hall of Famer before he used. That makes him a selfish prick for wanting to push himself even more, but shouldn’t keep him out of the Hall. McGwire, depending on when he started, is an argument we could all have, but his early career numbers were pretty fantastic by themselves (unless you believe Canseco when he says he was injecting him in the ass back then).

interesting you cast speculation as to when mcgwire used, but you assume bonds didn’t start using any performance enhancers until 1997 or 1998 or whenever.

/I know Cubs decision faulty enough

Also don’t think the greenies did much to the game. Didn’t really change statistics in any appreciable way.

And, the argument that one has to have a segregation wing is flawed. Great black players would have been at the top but that would not have changed the greatness of great white hitters or pitchers. I think they should put all the great Negro league players in. And, they’ve generally done a good job with that.

Two different cases, really.

/take my cues from bill plaschke
//just kidding
///98-04 never happened

i venture to sites to check out the stories, and make fun of the crazies.

no one should care this much about a game. really. seriously. there’s being entertained, and then there’s crazy. all this talk of asteriks, and whether guys should get into the hall….what’s it matter? it’s still just a game.

I don’t see a problem with being passionate about a sport. If you do, perhaps a “sports blog” is not the place for you.

The funny thing is this: steroids don’t make shitty players good (the amount of career minor leaguers who have been busted should be evidence enough of that), they make good players last longer and recover easier and thus put up more numbers. Bonds, I think it can be roundly agreed, was a Hall of Famer before he used. That makes him a selfish prick for wanting to push himself even more, but shouldn’t keep him out of the Hall. McGwire, depending on when he started, is an argument we could all have, but his early career numbers were pretty fantastic by themselves (unless you believe Canseco when he says he was injecting him in the ass back then).

This is all by way of saying that those players who we are arguing about whether or not they should be in the Hall, were all very good players without steroids.

maybe they should stop calling it a hall of fame, and call it a sports museum…strictly for significant events of that particular sport.

example: a picture of bonds hitting number whatever homerun, and next to that a picture of him and bonds testifying at congress

Too bad we only know 1% of the actual steroid users

yup, and that 1% should not be voted into the HOF.

Too bad we only know 1% of the actual steroid users

that’s enough data to come to the right conclusion, they are all guilty cheaters

/signed…all of us who are so creepily attached to a sport that it could be considered stalking

i say no HOF to the steroid users.

Too bad we only know 1% of the actual steroid users

Unless baseball wants us all to pretend the period from 1998-2004 didn’t happen, they’re going to have to acknowledge it in some way.

i was at the HOF about 18 months ago. they do acknowledge it. Maybe not in big bold letters, but throughout the building, on info plates throughout, steroids and other PEDs are mentioned. Just as Pete Rose’s banishment from baseball is mentioned.

i say no HOF to the steroid users. they cashed in during their career because of steroid use, and even though it wasn’t “illegal” in baseball terms, they knew it was bad enough to not talk about it and cover it up.