The future of Baseball is no different than any other issue of integrity. The truth has to rousted out ...

... the value of all that makes us within the game significant needs to return. The 'purity' of the game, the love of the sport has to come first before any manager can hang their hat on a team worthy of any title.

The real challenge to Americans that love 'the game' is to pursue relentlessly the desire to return the luster to the trophies.

It's time to put all into perspective and set the course for a future of baseball that is deserving of fans, rather than pandering for them.

Good night.

The 'impact' of such a scandal has far reaching implications...

... and the value of Baseball as a game will likely never be the issue. There are too many Little Leagues. Too many fans to ever believe 'the game' will disappear because a Baseball Comissioner could not find the self discipline to hold all those responsible for hurting the players, the fans and the integrity of the game to the highest of standards to benefit 'the truth' rather than the 'profits' of huge corporations.

The Baseball Economy

Drugs didn't make arms grow longer. An athletes body was still blood and bone.

It seems to me there were dynamics at play in the economy of Baseball that could have contributed to such exploitation of player well being. Easily.

...''I know of 15 major league clubs that have serious economic problems, or would have if they didn't have ownership pumping in the dollars.''...

Here again, the entire dynamics of Baseball, the fact it has survived even when in fact many times it was questionably able to sustain it's own clubs and cost, had to play a role in what was to follow. There are too many questions regarding external issues of 'the game' and it's management to hold players responsible.

Are the record books tainted forever or just temporarily eschewed ?

Are they eschewed at all?

Seriously.

What exactly did performing enhancing drugs do to 'the game.' What did they do to the record books? Did drugs actually change the game, or was it all a psychological issue and perhaps enhanced the way the players felt they could perform?

I believe those are all valid questions.

The human body has limits. There are just so many muscle fibers, there is just so much capacity of any one muscle or tendon. The limits of 'the human condition' results in injuries. Were all these players injury free while performing to enhanced performances? Were their performances outside the rhelm of 'possiblity' or does one have to realize an entire generation, twenty years of ball players competed on a scale somewhat different in some way, but, in competition of each other anyway.

The most notable competition between ball players was that of the seasonal accomplishments between McGuire and Sosa. Were they competing between this generation of ball player differently from each other?

All the questions have to be asked otherwise irrational revenge of 'the cheat' will outweigh the reality of the game as it was played for twenty years.

"...bases loaded and two men out. Next expected at bat is ..."

Were the lengths between bases increased? Were the throws from first to second in a double play faster? Were pitches exceeding the speed of sound?


To disqualify any player from any recognition of their talents there needs to be measurable differences in achievement.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

The "Sweet" Spot


Were the line drives that much better? Were the homeruns that much longer?


I didn't notice any stadium redesign to accommodate the exceptional abilities of the 'new' steroid bound athletes, or did I miss something?

So then what of the game? The legacy? The purity of 'the game' and 'the greatness' of the players?

The young Babe Ruth.

Clifton Park Babe Ruth World Series 2006 (click here)

And get that mess out of your mouth ! No 'anything' on the mound or any place else ! Gatorade and ONLY Gatorade.

Roger Clemens


Look at him. All bloated and performing like a racehorse shot up with But and Lasix. What kind of a life did these men have? No one cared? Does anyone yet? Is the disappointment so great there is no compassion for the people involved? It seems pretty obvious to me that performance enhancing drugs were an understanding to any contract.


The Mitchell Report: Name by Name (click here)
Players identified in Major League Baseball's report on performance-enhancing drugs.


This many people? This much money? This level of performance? You are not going to tell me this was not 'understood' at the highest levels of management of the game, including sports agents, that in order to 'play' there was a bottom line of corruption that included drug abuse by the athletes.

Arnold gets three months. Three lousy months. The players? A lifetime of worry. The fans, a lifetime of disappointment.

Patrick Arnold

Who knew it and when did they know it? You've got to be joking. This drug was patented and marketed and manufactured. "The Clear" was top secret? Or was it commissioned !!!!

BALCO investigation timeline (click here)

Key dates in various investigations of BALCO and athletes linked to the lab or punished for using THG and modafinil, two drugs that play a key role in the BALCO investigations. Does not include track and field doping cases not related to BALCO, THG or modafinil....

This is called 'intent.' Do we need anything else here?

...1984: Victor Conte, a former bassist for Tower of Power and other bands, forms BALCO. He does chemical analysis on athletes using an ICP spectrometer, which is used in a variety of fields.

No one involved here are naive or babes in the woods. Everyone along the way has responsibility, but, the blame exists with Selig and no one else !

I'm supposed to believe there was no knowledge about any players for over twenty years in Baseball locker rooms taking performance enhancing drugs. I am supposed to believe this horse hockey? Gee, I was born yesterday !


Lockers inside Miller Park made of Cherry colored wood line the Milwaukee Brewers Locker Room.




NO SAFETY IN NUMBERS: Bonds not let off hook by steroid scope (click here)


...Bonds isn't off the hook because Roger Clemens has joined him in the penthouse of shame. He isn't any less of a fraud because the Mitchell Report implicated an array of current and former stars who could comprise a lineup of most valuable players.


The problem is that there's more interest in assigning blame than finding a solution, and the Bonds apologists have galvanized around the idea that Bonds deserves an apology because he's clearly not the only star who sought an improper edge.


Common sense too often unsettles the prejudices that some won't surrender for anything -- even the truth....

Here is someone who makes lots of money. Let's lay blame, shall we?

Bud Selig


Everybody know this guy? I doubt he needs an introduction.

Bud Selig has DOMINATED American Baseball since 1992. He was "Acting Commissioner" from 1992 to 1998. Then he was awarded the status of Baseball Commissioner in 1998 and continues to DOMINATE American Baseball in 'indecision' regarding the presence of performance enhancing drugs ALL ALONG THE WAY.

Fifteen 'flyin' years of being Baseball Commissioner and Bud Selig didn't see the forest for the trees when it came to the pressure placed on players to perform beyond any reasonable standard with contracts escalating into some of the highest pay rates in a professional sport.

He knew it. He didn't care about it. He looked the other way. He neglected his responsibility to the players well being, the fans TRUST, allowing owners the pressure on their managers to evade reporting any and all abuse witnessed or otherwise understood to keep a nice cash flow.

There is dearly no one else to blame.

End of discussion.

Bud Selig has to go !!!

Now you have got to be joking if no one along the way didn't realize this was a possiblity in Baseball.

The lousy stuff is still available. Why?

It is not only still available, but, comes with advise and instructions. This ad states, "I do need to stress that there is no recommendation that anyone "should" use these drugs. We are discussing use by those who have already made that decision for themselves."

So, it's okay for people that 'decide' to take steroids to continue to take steroids. After all. The players paid millions of US Greenbacks 'decided.' I guess if they decided then everyone so inclined can decide. Basically, people that make millions of dollars in contracts are good decision makers. Really?

All I heard is "Will the legacy ever be the same?"

There are basically two losers in this fiasco. Profoundly, the players, whom under the influence of performance enhancing drugs may face lifelong health issues:


"..[steroids] they are dangerous drugs, and when used inappropriately, they can cause a host of severe, long-lasting, and often irreversible negative health consequences. These drugs can stunt the height of growing adolescents, masculinize women, and alter sex characteristics of men. Anabolic steroids can lead to premature heart attacks, strokes, liver tumors, kidney failure and serious psychiatric problems. In addition, because steroids are often injected, users risk contracting or transmitting HIV or hepatitis.."



But, most affected by the presence of drugs in Baseball are the fans. The loyal and trusting fans. Drunk as they are sometimes, misdirected in their actions when excitement overcomes inhibitions, they are the real losers in all this. Idols have been diminished. Preciously paid for stadium seats now tainted with disappointment and skepticism.

The fans. The enthusiasts. The 'want to be' baseball heroes growing up under a cloud of illusion. How do we reconcile the loss? The profound and aching loss of heroes, idols and how does anyone believe that Baseball, the precious American sport, can go forward from here?

It's Sunday Night

Centerfield by John Fogerty

Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today!
We're born again, there's new grass on the field.
A-roundin' third, and headed for home, it's a brown-eyed handsome man;
Anyone can understand the way I feel.

Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield.

Well, I spent some time in the Mudville Nine, watchin' it from the bench;
You know I took some lumps when the Mighty Casey struck out.
So Say Hey Willie, tell Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio;
Don't say "it ain't so", you know the time is now.

Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield.

Yeah! I got it, I got it!
Got a beat-up glove, a homemade bat, and brand-new pair of shoes;
You know I think it's time to give this game a ride.
Just to hit the ball and touch 'em all - a moment in the sun;
(pop) It's gone and you can tell that one goodbye!

Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield.

Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield.

Yeah!