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Acer wrote:
Barry was very good in Pittsburgh before his head literally swelled to twice its normal size. (Though his ego was already well on the way to twice a normal size.) He took them into the playoffs the last time they were there. He didn't need the cream or the clear.
(OTOH, maybe a little cream or clear would have gotten Pittsburgh into the series, but I digress.)
He's not missed in Pittsburgh, except they still miss his bat and glove of course. He was the King James of baseball--instead of taking pride in leading a small market team to glory, he whined every moment he had to be there, and didn't stay an inning longer than necessary.
that said, as a ny mets fan i envied and feared that outfield-bonilla-van slyke-bonds!
ymmv
be well
rob
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M A V I C wrote:
[quote=freeradical]
Barry should be in the hall of fame. He was so much more than just a home run hitter...
Yeah, he was a drug user, liar, cheat... but none of those are qualities people like to see for HOF inductees.
He never cheated. He never lied. I could teach you about baseball if you want me to.
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I like baseball.
I don't condone cheating.
But, I'm a pragmatist. The HOF celebrates the on-field achievements of every era.
One thing is certain--I've had more than enough sanctimony surrounding the HOF, from writers who never played the game, to players who surely have flexible notions of morality, often to suit their own behavior.
In the end, it's a game, entertainment, and the HOF is only a museum, most of which reflect both good and bad.
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Acer wrote:
Barry was very good in Pittsburgh before his head literally swelled to twice its normal size. (Though his ego was already well on the way to twice a normal size.) He took them into the playoffs the last time they were there. He didn't need the cream or the clear.
(OTOH, maybe a little cream or clear would have gotten Pittsburgh into the series, but I digress.)
He's not missed in Pittsburgh, except they still miss his bat and glove of course. He was the King James of baseball--instead of taking pride in leading a small market team to glory, he whined every moment he had to be there, and didn't stay an inning longer than necessary.
In fairness, when the Bucs signed Van Slyke to a 3 year contract, Bonds offered to sign the same deal and was turned down. Whether that was racism on the part of the Bucs or just stupidity I'll leave to others.
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Next year will be very interesting, too - with the likes of Maddox on the ballot.
HOF includes a character requirement - and has since the beginning. No class cheaters should stay out.
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vision63 wrote:
[quote=M A V I C]
[quote=freeradical]
Barry should be in the hall of fame. He was so much more than just a home run hitter...
Yeah, he was a drug user, liar, cheat... but none of those are qualities people like to see for HOF inductees.
He never cheated. He never lied. I could teach you about baseball if you want me to.
He used banned performance enhancing drugs - that's cheating.
He denied using such drugs - that's lying.
It doesn't take any knowledge of baseball to know that.
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The problem for me is, you have people like Fred McGriff with nearly 500 home runs and nearly 3,000 hits, and he did not juice. But his stats pale in comparison with the McGwires and Palmeiros and Bondses who did juice, and Fred's not in. And what about Dale Murphy? Same era, nearly 400 HRs and over 2,000 hits, five Gold Gloves and seven All-Star appearances, the heart and soul of a very good Atlanta team, and he's not in.
Even if the juice adds only 10 feet to a hit--even if it's only five feet-- that's the difference between a warning track out and a home run. The juice makes a lot of long fly balls into home runs and it makes stars out of people who would ordinarily be very good but not special players (Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa). Clemens and Bonds would probably have gone into the Hall of Fame anyway, probably on the first ballot. They should never have cheated.
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AT&T park isn't exactly home run friendly.
Should we put an * next to the home runs hit by the Rockies in their park prior to the introduction of the humidor?
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