Comments on: Breaking: Melky will be ineligible for the batting title

By: theskinsman

theskinsman — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 19:35:25 +0000

Like Baroid Bonds? Roidger ?A-fraud?Rafael Palmero? Most of these guys deny away,until the next player gets busted,or they get Andy HGH Pettitt to “miss-remember” to get them off in court. Celebrities, if anything go to insane extremes to try and get away with cheating.

By: lostsok

lostsok — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 05:28:11 +0000

Ah. “…baseball’s rules state that a non-qualifying player will have as many hitless at-bats added to his total as it takes to get him to the qualifying number.”

What a dumb rule.

By: lostsok

lostsok — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 05:21:27 +0000

I thought you have to have 502 PA to qualify, and Melky has 459 at bats, 36 walks, and no HBP. He’s short anyway…

By: pjmarn6

pjmarn6 — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 02:41:12 +0000

The reason he got this far is with the chemicals he used. In NASCAR they inspect the cars before and after the races. In golf if you don’t sign the score card, you are out of luck. Everyone knows he wouldn’t have gotten this far if he didn’t use the drugs. Seems fair to me. Write him off. But 50 days is too lenient. Throw the cheater out and don’t let him back in. NOW THAT WOULD AFFECT THE MINDS OF ALL BASEBALL PLAYERS THINKING ABOUT USING DRUGS. They know it is illegal, why give them a second chance?
Try and get out of a jail term for robbing a bank!

By: pjmarn6

pjmarn6 — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 02:36:34 +0000

A pitcher can cut or use an illegal substance very few times. A player who uses chemicals to make him stronger or more fit to play superbaseball every day is a bit different.
Hell catchers have been known to cut a ball on their shin pads and other tricks. Cabrera will still get his millions but a bit less, just like Rodriquez.

By: joelgold

joelgold — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 02:27:18 +0000

Love all the exclamation marks!!! Problem is, Bonds didn’t have a positive test even though most believe he was juicing. Plus, Melky isn’t being punished, he is removing himself from consideration. Big difference.

By: mrfloydpink

mrfloydpink — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 23:17:20 +0000

Well God damn it. It’s a God damn shame that the God damned Common Man used a God damned phrase that God damn offends you. I’m sure God damn everyone God damn well extends their God damnedest apologies.

By: rooney24

rooney24 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 23:04:20 +0000

Will the players union be trying to talk Bonds into opting out of the all time home run “title”?

By: rooney24

rooney24 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 23:00:46 +0000

Do you really think that will help him get offers? I’m not sure that will help.

By: johngaltx

johngaltx — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 22:55:18 +0000

Wrong, Cabrera does will not have enough plate appearances to qualify and requested that MLB not add the one extra appearance that he would have needed to qualify. He will have a higher average than the possible winner, but will also not have enough plate appearances to be the batting champion.

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 22:00:44 +0000

Seriously. Galarraga needs his perfecto now. There’s precedent!

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 21:55:11 +0000

What’s next? Give Pujols all of Barry Bonds’ MVP awards? Give Ted Williams the MVP award for the year in which a sleazeball Yankee-fan writer left him off the ballot? Throw out Norm Cash’s 1961 batting title because he used a corked bat? Invalidate Phil Niekro’s entire career? Give the Yankees a few more WS titles because hey, why not?

The list is endless. MLB killed the league with this move.

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 21:50:05 +0000

Bud can’t prevent Melky from winning the batting title.

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 21:48:28 +0000

MLB just undermined all of their rules. This might be the worst thing the league has ever done. The rules are no longer sacrosanct. Any MLB employee can now lobby to ignore rules, and the league might listen.

Frankly, this is at least as bad as Rose betting on baseball. Both undermine the game fundamentally.

By: sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo

sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 21:27:30 +0000

I’m Bobby Valentine, and I approve this message.

By: sailbum7

sailbum7 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 21:04:01 +0000

If they are going to do things like this are they gong to go back and revise all of Barry Bond’s statistics and take away all his titles. Why not take away his home run record since he hit the majority of them while on steroids!!! Why not take all those players who used PEDs out of the Hall of Fame!!! This seems like a very deliberate move to penalize one single player for something that many have done before and still received their awards. Either he meets the eligibility for the title under the rules or he doesn’t, that should be the end of it!!!

By: cur68

cur68 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:57:38 +0000

There’s no prize. No award. There’s nothing to win.

By: cur68

cur68 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:55:19 +0000

Meh. That SHOULD have read “Galaragga’s accomplishment’s being rendered null”. Edit function please?

By: cur68

cur68 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:54:03 +0000

There! I KNEW someone remembered that! Galaragga’s accomplishment was through admitted error of an official. That one deserved the re-do. No dangerous precedent set, only a correction of a mistake. THIS bullshit does not require ANY rule change whatsoever. THE MOST MLB should have done was asterixed it in the records. Just at a public reminder to all players why they shouldn’t cheat. By doing what he’s done, Selig demonstrates how much contempt he has for baseball and the rules that govern it. Christ, what a joke.

By: largebill

largebill — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:52:02 +0000

He broke a rule (which isn’t in the rule book BTW). So, now we are supposed to applaud his decision to ignore another rule (which actually is in the rule book). Huh?

By: bravefan4life

bravefan4life — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:44:36 +0000

I agree that the precedent being set is dangerous, but I also have some admiration for Melky in his move (if in fact he did this out of regret). Assuming that, I think he did the morally right thing since he knew he cheated by breaking arguably the worst rule you can break in baseball. If I put myself in his position I would have done the same thing. 1. he didn’t deserve the title and 2. whoever comes in second doesn’t deserve to lose it because the winner cheated. That would put a hell of a lot of guilt on me having to live with those two things. Maybe he’s just trying to fix (as best he can) a wrong he did. We all screw up from time to time.

By: danandcasey

danandcasey — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:26:10 +0000

According to Rule 10.22(a), it is the number of games scheduled, not the number of games played – “The individual batting, slugging or on-base percentage champion shall be the player with the highest batting average, slugging percentage or on-base percentage, as the case may be, provided the player is credited with as many or more total appearances at the plate in league championship games as the number of games SCHEDULED for each club in his clubs league that season, multiplied by 3.1 in the case of a Major League player and by 2.7 in the case of a National Association player.” (emphasis added).

Of course, with games in SF, SD, and LA, the Giants weren’t having any rain-outs anyway.

By: alang3131982

alang3131982 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:17:07 +0000

I’m with you. I dont understand how we can say he cant win the batting title but a pitcher who scoffs the ball can win the relief award or ERA title.

What about the pitchers ERAs? the win-loss records? This is just silly, how is it that Melky’s cheating really on affected his ability to qualify the batting title? Or are we saying that since it’s meaningless we can tinker with the rules, but when it means something (such as wins and loses) we cant?

By: nategearhart

nategearhart — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:15:31 +0000

Huh, it’s the damnedest thing. I go to mlb.com and look up who has the highest batting average in the NL, and it still says Melky Cabrera.
http://tinyurl.com/9gh35jx

By: dannythebisforbeast

dannythebisforbeast — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:12:11 +0000

Baseball records and history are officially trash and meaningless.

By: braddavery

braddavery — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:11:53 +0000

I don’t like this at ALL. Awful move.

By: mungman69

mungman69 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:11:19 +0000

How did Common Man insult anyone? If your skin is that thin then…

By: number42is1

number42is1 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:11:06 +0000

WOOHOO! Recognition!

now… what about us braindead slobs?

By: shawndc04

shawndc04 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:10:21 +0000

Melky can’t win the batting title, Giants and A’s can’t be resolved, one game “playin” with better team opening on the road, Nationals can’t get tv fees resolved. To quote Vince Lombardi, “What the hell is going on out there?”

By: DJ MC

DJ MC — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:06:33 +0000

No, because you aren’t “winning” anything, just finishing with the highest total.