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Miguel Cabrera Takes Home Triple Crown

4 Oct

The last time anyone won a the Triple Crown in baseball acid was considered a mind liberating drug. Yes it is has been since 1967. After 45 years the dry spell is finally over and Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera has won the title. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Triple Crown it is when a player has the most home runs, highest RBI (which means is statistic for runs batted in or in English is gives a runner credit for all the runs scored while they were at bat), and highest batting average(the number of hits divided by times at bat). Cabrera had 44 home runs, an RBI of 139, and a batting average of .330. Now Cabrera will be down in the history books with players like Mickey Mantle and Lou Gehrig.

It is an amazing accomplishment especially in an age where everyone else seems to be doping up to get results. So far there has been no indication that Cabrera has used steroids. So finally there can be a record without an asterisks.

-M

 

Goodbye Bobby Valentine

4 Oct

I don’t think anyone is shocked to hear that the Boston Red Sox fired manager Bobby Valentine. The Sox had one of their worst seasons on record this year, ending 69-93. And we all know that when a team loses somebody has to take the fall. The irony being that Valentine was brought in to try to improve the Sox but instead gave them their worst season since 1965. It didn’t help that many of the Sox star players were injured this season including: David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, and Andrew Bailey. Regardless rumored swirled all season that the players were not so happy with Valentine’s hardline approach. This led many of the players to rely more on the coaches. I think the only people who will miss Valentine is the media who enjoyed reporting on his often misconstrued comments in the Club House.

The bright side for Sox fans is that without the huge salaries of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Josh Beckett they have enough money to rebuild in the off-season.

-M

 

No Melky in the Playoffs

27 Sep

San Francisco Giants’ outfielder/superstar hitter Melky Cabrera will not be joining the playoffs after his 50-game doping suspension ends. The Giants have decided not bring him back. With the suspension still in place Cabrera would have had to miss the NL championship series if the Giants advance, anyways. But it is kind of interesting that the Giants wouldn’t want an All-Star game MVP with a NL-leading batting average of .346. Seems like that might come in kind of handy. The general opinion is that the Giants want to distance themselves from doping scandals and win based on talent. There is also the idea that bring him back so late might disrupt the current roster who is used to playing without him.

This might be a mistake for the Giants but we’ll have to wait and see.

-M

Ahh A Moment of Integrity

21 Sep

San Francisco Giants’ Melky Cabrera has decided to disqualify himself from the NL batting title. The announcement has not been officially made but someone close to Cabrera told the AP that he sent the request to the MLB. Cabrera is still serving a 50 game suspension for doping. If you read my previous post the MLB had said that they would not disqualify Cabrera. Part of MLB commissioner, Bud Selig’s argument was it would make things too complicated if they adjusted records for doping.  I am glad to see that Cabrera would rather earn the title cleanly than win by cheating. Although I am sure that the MLB did put some pressure on him to do it. Regardless it was a classy move.

-M

Cheating Pays Off: Cabrera Could Still Win Title

19 Sep

The San Francisco Giants’ outfielder, Melky Cabrera, could still win the NL batting title despite being serving a 50-game suspension for testing positive for steroids. Major League Baseball despite giving him the ban is not going to get in his way of winning the title. Although I personally think the doping witch hunt in baseball is a ridiculous waste of time, because let’s face it they are all doping, I don’t see the logic in this decision. So you ban a player for taking a drug that makes him better than other players but then could still consider him for an award? It’s like saying we know you cheated but you still won anyways. I thought the MLB was all about cracking down and discouraging doping?

This is of course if Cabrera still wins. Right now he has 501 appearances at the plate which is one fewer than the required amount provided the Giants play 162 games. But under the rules of baseball he could still win if an extra hitless at-bat is added and his average still remains higher than other players.

The best part about this story is that when baseball Commissioner Bud Selig was asked about changing records he responded by saying, “You can’t change records because once you get into that it would never stop.” I think the Commissioner just confirmed my belief that everyone in baseball is doping and if they a start looking into records they would all have to erased. I think right now Lance Armstrong is wishing that the cycling community had taken the same position. It’s a lot easier to celebrate success if you don’t look below the surface.

-M

 

 

The Return of Clemens

27 Aug

And we thought we heard the last of Roger Clemens when he avoided being charge with perjury/doping this Spring. Now the 50-year old pitcher has returned to the mound. Saturday was the first day Clemens pitched for the minor league team the Sugar Land Skeeters(yes their mascot is actually a mosquito).

So how did Clemens do after being out of the game for 5 years? He looked pretty good for an old dude. Clemens threw 37 pitches, allowing one hit and topping out at 88 miles per hour. Although Clemens says he’s currently not interested in pitching in the majors again scouts from the Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals attended the game.

Clemens is on the ballot this year for the Hall of Fame if he decided to return to the pros, that vote would be pushed back 5-years. I think 5-years is good buffer for people to forget about all the doping controversy, that is unless you dope again. And returning to the major leagues at 50 has steroid need written all over it.

-M

 

 

Are the Dodgers Making a Big Expensive Mistake?

25 Aug

One of the biggest trades in MLB history happened Friday between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Red Sox are sending first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Josh Beckett, infielder Nick Punto and outfield Carl Crawford in exchange for first baseman James Loney, pitcher Rubby De La Rosa, middle infielder Ivan De Jesus and left fielder Jerry Sands. The Sox also added on $12 million dollars to sweeten the deal.

So who is winning in this massive trade? The Sox are definitely winning. By trading all these players they freed up a quarter of a billion dollars in payroll. It also got rid of a lot of upset players who were not so happy with new manager Bobby Valentine. So instead of fight through it they decided just to trade them. The Sox couldn’t get in worse they are already in last place in AL East so why not make a change?

The Dodgers fate is still unclear. Right now the Dodgers(under new ownership including Magic Johnson) are three games away from first place behind the San Francisco Giants in the NL West. And there is nothing more than a winning team to make new owners happy. A winning team is exactly what the new Dodger owners need to make sure they make their money back in television deals. No one is going to pay big bucks to broadcast a team that sucks. So the Dodgers are hoping the veterans can help them not only play better but establish a new brand.

-M

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Surprise More Doping in Baseball

23 Aug

Yet another baseball player is being suspended for the use of synthetic testosterone. This time it is Oakland’s Athletics’ pitcher Bartolo Colon. He will join his fellow teammate Melky Cabrera with a 50-game suspension. Colon will definitely be missed by the As he was a solid starter who over 24 starts had an 3.43 ERA(earned run average, Jered Weaver has the top ERA currently at 2.29).

Synthetic testosterone is popular because of its ability to leave your system within 6 to 8 hours. It also if used in small doses will not elevate testosterone to an alarming level. Despite the obvious popularity of this steroid and former drug pusher Victor Conte pointing out the lack of adequate testing by the MLB changed little.. The MLB has said that they are now exploring anyone who has slightly high testosterone on any test not just the one specifically destined to test for synthetic testosterone. And maybe it’s working they caught Colon. But the MLB is delusion if they think only these two players were engaging in this activity. But there defense is that they cannot afford to test everyone as much as they would like. If they could how many players would be left standing?

-M

Oh Silly Rabbit, Don’t You Know Better Than to Create a Fake Website

19 Aug

San Francisco Giants’ Melky Cabrera for tried to fool the MLB into thinking he “accidently” took performance enhancing drugs. Cabrera’s people created a fake website that sells a suspicious supplement with side effects of increasing testosterone. It was their execuse for why Cabrera suddenly had a spike in testosterone. Cabrera paid a consultant, Juan Nunez, to create the site for $10,000. Nunez is now taking the fall for the failed plan.

I can’t say I blame them for trying. I mean after all we are talking about the MLB who still thinks that most of their players are not doping so they are definitely not the brightest crayons in the box. So where did this genius sad plan go wrong? The site only magically appeared during the appeals process. Don’t they know if you are going to launch a cover-up it needs to be way before Cabrera has already been suspended. The MLB maybe be dumb but they are not that dumb.

-M

So Everyone is On Drugs

17 Aug

I’m always amazing that out of all the sports, baseball is the one in the spotlight for steroid use. I understand it takes a lot of power to hit the ball and you need to be able to run fast but I also remember pictures of a chubby Babe Ruth . . . so you can see my confusion. But yet again another player has been suspended. San Francisco Giants’ outfielder, Melky Cabrera, received a 50 game suspension for having high levels of testosterone. Cabrera is an MVP who leads the league in hits with 159 and is second in batting average at .346. The record for highest batting average held by Ty Cobb is .366. (The batting average is number of hits divided by times the player is at the plate batting). So you can imagine losing him will really hurt the Giants.

In reaction to the suspension Giants general manager Brian Sabean was only slightly surprised shocked. Sabean said, “I was actually in the meeting with Bruce when he talked to the players and I kind of got emotional because I didn’t see something like this coming.” Who did see this coming? None other than steroid developer and pusher Victor Conte. You may remember Conte from his involvement in the Barry Bonds case. Conte served time in prison for his distribution of steroids and money laundering through his company, Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative(BALCO).

When asked about the current drug use in the MLB Conte said, “I would say maybe as much as half of baseball. I’m not going to name names but I’ve talked to a lot of top players in Major League Baseball, and they tell me this is what they’re doing. There is rampant use of synthetic testosterone in Major League Baseball.”

Not only that but Conte went on to claim that it is pretty easy to get away with it despite the more strict drug test that have been implemented by the MLB. Players can get rid of steroids in their system in as little as 8 hours.

So what does the MLB have to say about all of these allegations. MLB vice president Rob Manfred said, “There is no way that Victor Conte would have information that would allow him to have any basis on that.” Good job MLB baseball denial is the best way to deal with this issue. Let’s all just keep pretending that this is not happening and it will just continue go away.

As I have said before I think we should all just get real. There is no way to stop players from using steroids . . .  obviously. So instead let’s just make everyone use them. It is the only way to level the playing field. Legalize steroids and pass them out to players. I mean we have no moral problem pumping farms animals full of them so why can’t we just legalize them in purer form? We are all already eating them anyways.

-M

 

 

 

 

 

 

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