Comments on: Glanville: "too many players made a different choice than McGwire did"

By: vimax

vimax — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:00:12 +0000

i love your blog, keep up that good work,

By: Sports headlines

Sports headlines — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:58:20 +0000

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By: cheaters justice

cheaters justice — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:21:15 +0000

You got a point but I beleive most if not all those players you mentioned served MLB suspensions and time in the CRIMINAL justice system. Those guys knew exactly what they were. They didn’t try to hide from it per say. Those guys paid the price in more ways than one.
I don’t think McGwire has paid the price yet.

By: Thomas Magnum

Thomas Magnum — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:45:43 +0000

I agree with Al B – it’s time we all move on. MLB knew full well guys were juiced and turned a blind eye, silently invoking “the best interests of the game” clause. The sport had to address the fallout from the strike, build fan interest in the four expansion cities, and grab marketshare from the NFL and Michael Jordan’s NBA reign. Ballplayers the size of linebackers hitting 450 foot homers brought sensationalism to the sport.
It’s time we all move on from the Steroid/Morality soapbox. If we had the chance at a $50,000,000 contract, we’d have done the same thing. Instead, we buy lottery tickets. Ballplayers are kinesthetic geniuses, not experts in communication or logic-based thinking (except for Doug Glanville). These guys played a sport that has no bearing on our life or bank account. Time to move on.

By: MarkF

MarkF — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:05:28 +0000

It is almost as if people are suggesting that MLB players felt pressure to “repay” fans over the ill-feelings created by the 1994/95 strike. Those players who took on this challenge decided that using PEDs would be worth the risk to their collective consciences and while this is difficult to stomach, it does not come as a surprise to me. Professional athletes are known for their egos and hearing that the McGwire’s of the world used this perceived pressure to “save” the game to justify PED use is just another example of how some professional athlestes have lost touch with reality.
Matt C is right to talk about AAA players who never got a chance, but in the process he should be careful not to discourage one of the few ex-MLB players who makes sense when he writes about baseball – thanks Mr Glanville.

By: MarkF

MarkF — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:21:14 +0000

By: Matt C

Matt C — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:18:54 +0000

I loved watching Doug Glanville play, and I love reading his insightful columns now. But he made close to $12,000,000 in his “short” career – about the same amount that I could make if I worked 24/7 from now until 2079.
My point is, when will we hear from someone who was truly a victim of a decision to not use PED’s? Someone with decent Triple-A numbers in the late ’90′s who never got the call?

By: Bernie Wasmund

Bernie Wasmund — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:17:56 +0000

You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.

By: rdb

rdb — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:06:02 +0000

Then don’t, Adam. In the meantime, stop trying to make this about you. It’s not.

By: Al B.

Al B. — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:11:41 +0000

What is all the commotion for. You wanted the man to come clean and he did and now you want to bash him for that. I for one was caught up with the homerun chase and thought it was what baseball needed steroids or no steriods. It was not banned from baseball at the time so move on. You mean to tell me that these guys were the only ones taking any kind of enhancement drugs, come on people be real. Besides the commissoner had to know that these guys were on something, but what would you like him to do when all the stadiums were filled during this era and baseball was thriving. Everybody please move on allready. Thank you

By: BG in Bama

BG in Bama — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:06:55 +0000

It’s interesting that Fergie Jenkins, a coke-head, would throw stones at someone when he lives in a glass house.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:54:22 +0000

I believe the NFL is far from clean as witnessed by those monster sized lineman. I don’t know how much testing is done by colleges or high schools so athletes might still be bulking up before they make the pros. And young baseball players from the Dominican may be taking all kinds of PEDs before they start playing in the U.S. And I don’t know how long these drugs stay in the bloodstream. Athletes might start taking them again as soon as the off season starts and be clean by spring training. Or they may have found some new performance enhancers that are neither illegal or hard to get. There are a lot of drugs and supplements that can be gotten over the counter at your friendly neighborhood drug store. The team Doctor and trainers are still well stocked with everything from iceyhot, pain killers, cortisone shots, etc.

By: MarkM

MarkM — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:32:14 +0000

If you are keeping up with things, doing a little research; you might come to the conclusion that several players didn’t use PEDs near as much or as often as other players. And some players probably didn’t take PEDs at all. There is a difference between being on a steady diet of PEDs and maybe using them a few times in your career. But your right, who knows who took what and how much. It’s just a guess.

By: chris

chris — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:24:29 +0000

Jenkins didn’t mention that pitchers have been caught to & i don’t understand the CHEATING statements? Spitballs, Scuffedballs, Nail files, stealing signs. All forms of cheating in the rulebook for decades. Not until 2003 was this the case for steroids. Baseball wanted those HR’S. For those that say they were against the law, so was alchol during prohibition and the media looks back on players of that era and celebrate them? These stories sell, magazines and tickets just the same. I know it made for more HR’S, but that is what baseball needed and now what do those players get?

By: Darryl

Darryl — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:23:52 +0000

Oh, c’mon. And yet you probably believe that the NFL is legit, right? I remember watching college and pro football back in the 70′s, when, if you had a lineman at 6’3″ or 6’4″ weighing 260 or so, that was considered huge. Now, every single pro team (or just about) has an entire offensive line of 300 pounders, who run as fast as Carl Crawford. But there’s no steroid problem in the NFL, right, Adam??? The NFL’s clean??? Really???

By: Simon DelMonte

Simon DelMonte — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:02:38 +0000

I have been waiting to say this. And I know I will get no support. But here goes.
I don’t think using steroids is wrong. I don’t think it should be illegal. I don’t understand why a legitimate scientific advance is treated as cheating if you take it in a pill or a shot but not if you use it as a sneaker or a training method. I don’t have any problem with any athlete over 21 using steroids or HGH or blood doping. And I don’t think that baseball was hurt at all by the steroid era. I would even suggest that it was helped immensely. We all loved that home run chase, didn’t we?
There. I said it. I’ve been waiting to say this for years. But it’s how I feel. I want steroids legalized and regulated. They aren’t any different than any other drug humans use to improve themselves in some way. And at least with steroids, as opposed to recreational drugs, you take them to make yourself better.

By: willmose

willmose — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:49:15 +0000

Did other players make different choices? How the heck to you or we know that? Grow a pair and grow up.

By: moreflagsmorefun

moreflagsmorefun — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:20:55 +0000

NEW YORK – Ferguson Jenkins says Mark McGwire owes an apology to all those pitchers who gave up his home runs. The Hall of Fame ace sent an open letter to The Associated Press this week, telling the former home-run king: “You have not even begun to apologize to those you have harmed.”
“How many pitchers do you think he ended their careers by hitting numbers of home runs off them?” Jenkins said during a telephone interview Wednesday.
YOU CAN FIND THIS AT MSNBC BASEBALL SECTION.

By: Ron

Ron — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:19:44 +0000

Bye.

By: moreflagsmorefun

moreflagsmorefun — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:16:03 +0000

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:37:08 +0000

I’m outraged because, ultimately, I’m supposed to just ‘move on’ from this mess?
I’ve spent quite enough of my hard-earned money to support a sport that condoned artificially-enhanced competition, lying, and enough bullsh*t to coat every ballfield in the MLB. Sorry. I can’t do it anymore.
Mac, I’m sure your tearful confession just happened to take place after five years of silence and right before you are to emerge from the sidelines to work in the sport again. Total coincidence.
Barry, I’m sure your head grew by five or six pounds by pure happenstance. Of course you didn’t know what someone was injecting in you. Not your fault!
Selig, I know you did all you could to help the game. Thank you for making sure your sport’s drug testing looks clownish next to Olympic standards.
To the rest, I’m sorry I can’t continue to fund your league.
I just can’t do it anymore.

By: GiantsFan

GiantsFan — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:29:15 +0000

I agree….Glanville is a class act unlike others who seem bitter and judgemental(Clark, Fisk, Jenkings and others)…..all of us, want to suceed and some at a higher cost than others..so it goes. I wonder if it who you root for as an affect on are feelings about Mac and other roid era players.( my team didn’t have any)

By: GiantsFan

GiantsFan — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:14:09 +0000

Great post! Great atitude and no judgement unlike Clark,Fisk and others…I wonder if who we root for has an effect on our individual beliefs on the subject…?

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:12:03 +0000

The hypocracy starts wherethe media and public forgive the dopers like Howe, Gooden, and Strawberry. Give them chance after chance, but players like McGwire are to be crusified? Now i guess you nonathletes don’t think so bad about Rose?

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:27:48 +0000

Craig, I couldn’t agree more. McGwire and others deserve criticism, but not lynching. Glanville is right too. The pressures Big Mac faced were real, but others had the gumption to resist them. I hope more baseball writers come around to your position and place this issue in its proper perspective.

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:55:03 +0000

A measured, honest, intellegent response. No surprise here. As a lifelong Phils fan, I’m more than aware that Doug Glanville, in his time in Philly as with other cities, was class and intelligence personified. I’ve always wondered why he hasn’t been called to a more public office for MLB – they sure could use him!

By: Motherscratcher

Motherscratcher — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:52:13 +0000

This is an excellent post.

By: Jonny5

Jonny5 — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:39:13 +0000

You’re redeemed! Now let it die!!! LOL!!