A HOF Idea

Gemmy10

McGwire, Sosa, Bonds and ? should all get elected to the Hall of Fame the same year. Hopefully in that same given year Canseco will not make it but get a substantial vote, like maybe 40%. The Hall of Fame should build a new wing for these special Hall of Famers. Hopefully by the time McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds make the HOF, Selig will be retired and this new wing in Cooperstown could be named the "Bud Selig Wing" in honor of our former commish for our illustrious new Hall of Famer crew.

jamesy

Selig wasn't commissioner when all this started , but he is the first commissioner to put any type of steriod policy into effect. Fay Vincent and the boys before him let the horses out of the gate, Selig is trying to shut it as fast as the union will let him. Don't blame Selig for people using steroids. They were and are plain and simple illegal, just like cocaine or murder. Baseball shouldn't have to be redundant in making a rule that says that you can't do something that is already illegal. If your gonna hate on anyone it should be the union, the players themselves, the fans, managers, and writers who looked the other way when guys were reporting to spring training all puffed up.

I am not a big fan of Selig's, but he gets bashed more than he deserves. During his tenure, interleague play and the Wild card were introduced and have been a success(The Sox would still be cursing the Bambino if it wasn't for the Wild Card). New ballparks were built in around 20 major league cities, the All star game has some meaning again, fans turned out in record numbers last season and there is a revenue sharing system in place (though it's weak).

Axtell

Bud Selig is a puppet of the owners, plan and simple.

If he wanted to be a stand up guy, he'd have implemented a steroid policy long, long ago. He was content to look the other way as his boys (the owners) lined their pockets as these steroided bodies cranked out homers in record numbers. The guy is a moron, and has no business being commissioner.

The blame for this debacle falls squarely on the shoulders of Selig, Fehr, the owners, and the players. They all share equal responsibility for the decline of the integrity of the game. You say there shouldn't have to be redundant policies? What about in football? They have one of the most aggressive steroid and HGH policies around, and you see football has far outpaced baseball as the most popular in this nation.

GoBravesGo

hey Gemmy10, that is a great idea, but we need to make room in that "special steroid wing" for Pitchers too! Pedro, Clemmens and Johnson just to name a few.

jamesy

Axtell- I respect your opinion, but I would like you to quote the NFL policy you talk about. You are naive if you think that football isn't the sport that has the most steriod and chemical abuse. Just like the salary cap argument, the "policy" is a PR smokescreen to placate the fans.(Albeit a marketing coup for the sport).
David Boston was suspended this year for testing positive for steriods. Not a big media circus and coincidently a guy who was injured and wasn't gonna play anyway. Ricky Williams was going to be suspended for his 3rd failed for marijuana test last season. I don't recall ever hearing about the first 2. Keep drinking the NFL kool-aid that Tagliabue hands out.

Football's popularity has little to do with their so called drug testing policy, as I doubt few have ever read it. Gambling, parity(parody), marketing, a feel good salary cap and the fact that the game is more video friendly and takes a 21st century persons attention span for only 3 hours a week are bigger factors.

Just admit that you like football better than baseball, it's ok. If baseball had a 1 strike and your out for life steriod policy, it wouldn't make the game more popular.

Again, I don't really care for Selig, but he never stuck a needle into anyone and he is the only commissioner of baseball that has dealt with the steriod issue. An issue that existed at some level for almost twenty years.

Axtell

<< <i>

Just admit that you like football better than baseball, it's ok. If baseball had a 1 strike and your out for life steriod policy, it wouldn't make the game more popular.

>>



Well for one, I would rather watch a football game on TV than baseball, but in person, there's nothing better than a baseball game. I can't help it if baseball has allowed games to drag out to 3.5 to 4 hour marathons, and that makes it nearly unwatchable on tv. Couple that with the dwindling number of quality announcers (vin scully and jon miller), and the little things that MLB has done to wreck the game-milking every penny out of ad revenue with no day games in postseason play, opening day (yes, DAY) games at night, trivializing the AL vs. NL matchups in the postseason by having inter-league play, etc. etc. Allowing the Angels, for example, to call themselves the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Are you kidding me?

For a game that claims to hold so dearly to it's past and heritage, it has discarded many, many of the traditions that made it great. The inflated salaries, the lopsided spending, means that not all teams have a chance of winning it all every year. Will the Devil Rays EVER have a chance to win the world series, let alone the playoffs, with the Red Sox and Yankees spending 2x-3x their salary?

Say what you want about the NFL, they sure do a lot of things right. There is a reason that football ratings continue to climb year in and year out. And it has nothing to do with the 'kool aid' you so eloquently say the commissioner dishes out. Yes there is parity, and yes, there is drama until the final week of the year to determine final playoff teams and seedings.

It's not a matter of one or the other, as you can enjoy both, but football does a ton of things right that MLB just doesn't seem to get.

mintluster

I say let Bonds and Mcgwire both into the HOF, but place ASTERICKS by their records and mention that they belong to the steroid era.

In Bond's case, it is OFFICIALLY KNOWN he took steroids (whether he admits he knew or not is irrelevant, he took them and he cheated). So his single season record and his career HR totals must have ASTERICKS.

The simple reason is that we will NEVER really know how many HR's were hit because of the steroids or not. The fact is, he hit the HR's. So don't strip them all away, leave the totals as is, but there must be an ASTERICK that denotes some of those HR's were possible due to Bond's cheating and taking steroids (which may not have been illegal in MLB but were 100% ILLEGAL in society without Doctor's perscription). MLB is NOT above the law.

It must be known to all future generations that Bonds cheated. It cannot be allowed to get swept under the carpet, like the steroid problem itself for so many years, and like Bud Selig would rather do so he doesn't have to deal with this problem. The problem is here to stay and it must be dealt with. Ignoring it does not make it all go away.

It's amazing how swiftly they dealt with Pete Rose, but on this issue they are going out of their way to not give any punishments out.

They just want everyone to forget about it and not talk about it.

Well, I refuse to because I can see their scam a mile away. MLB is truly corrupt.

GoBravesGo

<< <i>I(whether he admits he knew or not is irrelevant, he took them and he cheated) >>

is it really cheating if he did not know he was taking them? the Definition of cheat is: 1 a : to practice fraud or trickery b : to violate rules dishonestly I think it would difficult to fraud or be dishonest if you are not aware you are doing something.

Axtell

<< <i>

<< <i>I(whether he admits he knew or not is irrelevant, he took them and he cheated) >>

is it really cheating if he did not know he was taking them? the Definition of cheat is: 1 a : to practice fraud or trickery b : to violate rules dishonestly I think it would difficult to fraud or be dishonest if you are not aware you are doing something. >>



And do you honestly think for a second that Bonds, who has his own doctor other than the team doctor because he doesn't trust him; has his own nutritionist outside the team one because he doesn't trust it; and has his own trainer outside the team because he doesn't trust them; didn't know exactly what he was using? I mean for god's sake, that's like a friend of yours coming up and saying 'here, take this pill...it's great for you!' and you not questioning it.

The line that Bonds tries to play in acting ignorant and not knowing what he was taking means he thinks we are all fools.

Bonds knew exactly what he was doing, what he was taking, and what the results would be. For him to assume the public would give him a pass when he tried to play the 'I didn't know' card is just ridiculous.