Larry Gude
Strung Out
In todays Post, Tom Boswell lets loose the most sanctimonious, self righteous piece I've ever read from him and he's a writer whom I almost always love his work.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6271-2005Feb7.html
Basically, he just denounces Cansecos self serving, selfish and untrustworthy nature, essentially dismissing Joses claims of knowing and naming steriod users in the game on the basis of Jose's charcter. Snitches usually are pretty low characters. Snitches also quite often speak the truth for their beer money.
Make no mistake, Jose ain't no paragon of virtue but Boswell is walking out into a blizzard and trying to tell the reader to not believe it is snowing on the basis of the weather report coming from Canseco, claiming...it's snowing.
Baseball was all messed up in what, 1994? So steriods were OK. Home runs went up, attendence came back and we had hero's to capture the national interest; McGuire, Canseco, Bonds, Sosa, Palmiero, Anderson and so on.
Anderson? Yes, Brady Anderson. Remember when he came out of nowhere, hit 50 and went back to nowhere? The guy had hair growing on his teeth that season.
Mickey Mantle fell apart from booze. McGuire fell apart from weightlifing injuries. Probably not national security concerns, either one, but don't try to tell me Sosa and Bonds and McGuire and all these other Atlas's look like they do and hit it so far so often because they take their vitamins and work that much harder than Pete Rose or Hank Aaron or Jackie Robinson.
Or Cal Ripken if you'd like a modern comparison. No one worked harder than he, ever, but he aged, lost a step and lost some pop because that's what happens...unless you do something rather drastic about it.
There is no, ZERO, doubt that some of the bigger names in the game, sluggers, were and/or are juicing up with steriods. The players turned a blind eye, as did the union, as did the trainers, as did the coaches, as did the writers, as did the player personel people as did the owners. The fans didn't turn a blind eye. They rushed back with eyes wide open and mind nailed shut.
Fans came back to watch the freak show and now the piper is coming to get his due and everyone, including writers, want to minimize the sin.
I'm an ex-fan from that strike year and I'll never go back because what I fell in love with is GONE. Baseball to me was Bellanger, Rich Dauer, The Crow, Ken Singleton, Rick Dempsey, Boog and the Martinez's. Move the runner over. Play smart and maybe pick up a 3 run homer late. From your big guys. Not from EVERYONE.
Not a stud in the bunch. Good pitching and .250 hitters with great gloves who knew the game.
So go ahead Tom, tells us Jose is a liar so you all can go back to watching the WWF with sticks. Shoot the messenger and pretend you don't know him. Allow the Union to introduce their pathetic little anti steriod plan and tells us it is getting better.
You all collectively wrought Jose and now your hands feel dirty.
They should.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6271-2005Feb7.html
Basically, he just denounces Cansecos self serving, selfish and untrustworthy nature, essentially dismissing Joses claims of knowing and naming steriod users in the game on the basis of Jose's charcter. Snitches usually are pretty low characters. Snitches also quite often speak the truth for their beer money.
Make no mistake, Jose ain't no paragon of virtue but Boswell is walking out into a blizzard and trying to tell the reader to not believe it is snowing on the basis of the weather report coming from Canseco, claiming...it's snowing.
Baseball was all messed up in what, 1994? So steriods were OK. Home runs went up, attendence came back and we had hero's to capture the national interest; McGuire, Canseco, Bonds, Sosa, Palmiero, Anderson and so on.
Anderson? Yes, Brady Anderson. Remember when he came out of nowhere, hit 50 and went back to nowhere? The guy had hair growing on his teeth that season.
Mickey Mantle fell apart from booze. McGuire fell apart from weightlifing injuries. Probably not national security concerns, either one, but don't try to tell me Sosa and Bonds and McGuire and all these other Atlas's look like they do and hit it so far so often because they take their vitamins and work that much harder than Pete Rose or Hank Aaron or Jackie Robinson.
Or Cal Ripken if you'd like a modern comparison. No one worked harder than he, ever, but he aged, lost a step and lost some pop because that's what happens...unless you do something rather drastic about it.
There is no, ZERO, doubt that some of the bigger names in the game, sluggers, were and/or are juicing up with steriods. The players turned a blind eye, as did the union, as did the trainers, as did the coaches, as did the writers, as did the player personel people as did the owners. The fans didn't turn a blind eye. They rushed back with eyes wide open and mind nailed shut.
Fans came back to watch the freak show and now the piper is coming to get his due and everyone, including writers, want to minimize the sin.
I'm an ex-fan from that strike year and I'll never go back because what I fell in love with is GONE. Baseball to me was Bellanger, Rich Dauer, The Crow, Ken Singleton, Rick Dempsey, Boog and the Martinez's. Move the runner over. Play smart and maybe pick up a 3 run homer late. From your big guys. Not from EVERYONE.
Not a stud in the bunch. Good pitching and .250 hitters with great gloves who knew the game.
So go ahead Tom, tells us Jose is a liar so you all can go back to watching the WWF with sticks. Shoot the messenger and pretend you don't know him. Allow the Union to introduce their pathetic little anti steriod plan and tells us it is getting better.
You all collectively wrought Jose and now your hands feel dirty.
They should.
Except my heros were Dave Concepcion, Jose Rijo, Buddy Bell, Rose, Zane Smith, Eckersly, Tony Perez, Lee Smith, Andre Dawson, Ryne Sandberg...
