Take me out to the ballgame!

[Sassafras]

I'm at the point now where I question Roger and his "retirements" and half seasons. Cycle on, cycle off?

Probably.

See, one of the problems I have with McNamee is that he alleges that he injected Roger 4 times over several weeks. If that's all. then Roger a) was wasting his money and b) doesn't know how to use anabolics. 4 shots of winstrol (water based, in and out of the bloodstream, and therefore the muscle tissue) within a few days is completely useless for either strength, muscle-building or injury repair. Winstrol is used for cutting, not for adding muscle tissue.

If Rocket was on a cycle he's be using testosterone ethanate or sustanon 250 or some equally androgenic oil based anabolic. And he'd be using at a minimum 1cc per week.

There are several inconsistencies in the report on drug usage. McNamee said that after Roger used his pitching immediately improved markedly. That's not how steroids work! It takes time .... at least a month or two before increased strength is discernible. And besides, steroids do not improve hand/eye co-ordination .... the drugs will not make your pitches more accurate .... what they will do is enable faster recovery (by increasing red blood cells = more oxygen) so that you can endure even more intense workouts.

Okay. I'd better stop.

[axordil]

Eru--

Thanks for reminding me how much I LOVE THAT SHOW!

[Holbytla]

No you are right Sass. I never understood the the argument about steroids not making you a better hitter. That was never their intent. It was always about endurance and recovery.
Surely there was a reason steroids were popular with ballplayers. Can you say 162 games?
They were never going to make a player out of someone. Just enhance what they already had by allowing for recovery.

McNamee says he injected him however many times over however long a period, but that doesn't mean Roger didn't have another helper as well.
And this was before testing, so there was no worries about getting caught.

Having used creatine in the past, I can say that even that over the counter stuff has some amazing benefits. I can only imagine the benefits from steroids. I no longer marvel at players getting better beyond age 40.
Hell learning how to eat and use supplements made even me more fit at 40 something than 20 something.

[Griffon64]

There are several inconsistencies in the report on drug usage. McNamee said that after Roger used his pitching immediately improved markedly. That's not how steroids work! It takes time .... at least a month or two before increased strength is discernible.

Placebo effect maybe? Which could be either from imagining more strength or being more fearless about going all out ( "Makes me heal faster, right?" )

I dunno, that just bubbled to the top of my brain

[Holbytla]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2866221

[Sassafras]

Interesting article.

There's an entire other subculture going on in the clubhouse.

On a somewhat related issue .... I wish G38 would just shut up about Clemens.

http://38pitches.com/

He thinks that Rocket should be stripped of 4 of his 7 Cy Young awards!

An excerpt from a Yankee Blog which pretty much sums up my sentiments:

http://www.waswatching.com/

The Mitchell report fingered Clemens for using PEDs. Clemens has strongly denied that it’s true. Personally, I suspect that the Mitchell report is true. But, regardless of what you believe – and even regardless of what is true (about Clemens) – the 2001 report from the Associated Press and Schilling’s entry from yesterday, tell you all you need to know about Curt Schilling.

If Schilling is, indeed, grateful for what Clemens did for him in 1991, then why not (if you’re Schilling) just keep your mouth shut about Roger now – despite how you feel about the use of PEDs – and not bring any more attention to his situation today? Would have that been so hard?

Don’t mistake this as me supporting Clemens in some fashion. I’m not saying that Clemens is clean here – and, if he is not, I’m not saying that I agree with his actions.

This is all about a guy, Schilling, who owes Clemens (big time) for helping him (Curt) get his career (and, to an extent, his life) on a positive track. Curt openly admits to this as truth. And, then, when he (Schilling) gets a chance to grab the spotlight at the expense of the man who did him this huge favor, he grabs it without hesitation – and ignores the high-road of just not saying anything on the matter (regardless of his beliefs).

[Holbytla]

Getting Curt to shut up would be like getting PJ to not overdo an action scene. Never going to happen. He has an opinion about everything and will say what is on his mind. That is definitely a two edged sword. Mostly I could care less what he blabs about, but at least there are times he isn't giving the standard cliche or throw away line.

His does trip over his ego quite a bit, and tends to try and keep the spotlight on him. Comes with the package I guess. There have been plenty of times when I've said,m "Just shut up and pitch", but that isn't Curt. Heck the blog in itself tells me a lot about him.

What I would like to see him do is learn to be brief and or concise. I mean 3200 words is a major blabfest.

As for him and Clemens, well Curt is loyal to Curt. If you screw up, he is going to say just that. No standing by friends for him.
Though I suspect he and Roger were never really great friends anyway.

They aren't going to strip anyone of anything, but I get what he is trying to say. He wants baseball to be run like the Olympics. He wants baseball to clean up its act, and for that I can't fault him.

[Holbytla]

I hope to God that once baseball is finished cleaning up the steroid issue, they will address the Hall of Fame issue.

Goose Gossage was eligible the same year as Carlton Fisk, yet he had to wait all of this time to get elected. Why? Did he get better with age or something?

I understand that voters can change their mind, but it is well known that some people will not vote for certain players on the first ballot because they feel there is some kind of distinction. That is pure crappola.
They either belong in the Hall or they don't.
Others will only vote for certain players if the field is weak and there are no shoo-ins. More crappola.

What does Jim Rice have to do to get elected? This was his 14th year on the ballot and if I am not mistaken this was his highest vote total to date.
Next year is his last chance to gain another 16 votes.
Guess he should have kissed up to the media way back when instead of refusing interviews.

This is the one award that shouldn't have these issues.

"A self defining institution that has failed to define itself."

Another thing that angers me is the influence MLB has on this.
It is the baseball Hall of Fame, not the MLB Hall of Fame. There are lots of people and artifacts in there that have nothing to do with MLB, and they in turn had no say over their admission.

Just grrrrr.

[Sassafras]

Pitchers and Catchers Report in 21 days 13 hours and 21 minutes.

Just sayin'

[Sassafras]

Hot Stove stuff:



The Johan Santana watch is over and we can all breath a sigh of relief.

Yankee fans are happy. I suspect most Red Sox fans are happy. The only fans who are miserable are Twins fans.

I mean, look, Santana is in the NL where, one assumes, he will dominate; and both Yanks and Sox keep their prospects.



I do sorta, kinda, maybe, feel the pain of Twins fans who must collectively be either crying, cursing or composing nasty letters to the Twinkies F.O.

Bill Smith has traded (arguably) the best pitcher in MLB for a bag of balls and some chalk He could have had major league ready Phil Hughes or Jon Lester or that Ellsbury kid. Instead he overplayed his hand, laboriously dragging out negotiations, thinking he could leverage the Yankees and Red Sox against each other. A foolish tactic that smacked of greed;one doesn’t really need a great deal of percipience to realize that the longer the delay, the more games Smith played (IMO he was outranked by Cash and by Theo) the greater the chance of dooming the opportunity to reel in top echelon players in exchange. Ultimately (as most of us suspected when Hughes was said to be pulled off the table and Boston withdrew Lester) Smith’s machinations proved to be self-defeating because there is absolutely no way in hell the Mets package of 4 grade B prospects trumps the Yanks offer of Hughes/Cabrera/ Marquez or either of the Sox packages centered around Lester or Ellsbury.


From Steve Goldman of Baseball Prospectus:

Outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra, and Kevin Mulvey are strictly Grade B, No Big Deal prospects. Gomez is both very fast and very young (22), but with little power or patience he's going to have to hit .300 to be useful, and he's not going to do that.

Guerra, 19 in April, might be something someday and he also might be the guy listed as "minors" in the trade index. His offspeed stuff is supposedly better than his fastball, which is a bit backwards for a teen. I like Mulvey as a blue collar pitcher, but his strikeout rates are uninspiring and at 23 he's not going to add five mph to his fastball. Phil Humber was once someone to watch, but Tommy John surgery seems to have wrecked not his fastball, but his signature curve.
In short, the Twins gave up one a perennial Cy Young contender and got back zero star potential. Zilch. Nada. Nothing.

I’m ecstatic that we get to keep the kids and watch them pitch this year. A rotation of Pettitte, Wang Hughes, Chamberlain and Kennedy makes me drool with anticipation.



File under idle speculation:
One wonders if heads will roll in the Twins organization.

I guess the Twinkies will be fighting the Royals for last place in AL central this year.

[Holbytla]

Can someone explain to me why Congress sees the need to assert its influence on major sports moreso than other businesses?
Why limit this to sports? Why not Hollywood and plastic surgery as well?
I know they claim to be looking ot for the best interests of the fans, but I fail to see why they need to be involved at this level.

Link to story about the 4 major sports and hearings ---> LINK

[yovargas]

Dear national news media,

Only baseball fans give a damn about whether Roger Clemens used steroids or not.
So please be kindly shutting the @#$% up about it already.

Sincerely,
me

[Faramond]

Dear valued consumer,

We thank you for your interest in this matter. We regret that we cannot respond to each communication personally, but please be assured that we are working as hard as possible to replace Roger Clemens stories with Britney Spears stories as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
national news media

[Holbytla]

Dear Constituent;

Given the popularity of baseball, we deemed our involvement in the game's issues a far more prudent way of spending your tax dollars, than the old repetitive game of pork barrel politics.

[Holbytla]

NEW YORK (AP) - Alex Rodriguez makes more this year than his hometown Florida Marlins.

Boosted by his new deal with the New York Yankees, A-Rod tops the major league baseball salary list at $28 million, according to a study of contract terms by The Associated Press. The 33 players on the Marlins' opening-day roster and disabled list total $21.8 million.
"The Marlins? It's amazing," Rodriguez said. "And they still seem to find a way to be very competitive. They have a great pool of talent; they made some unbelievable trades, so they have great personnel people. To win two championships in 11 years, that's really admirable, and I'm very proud of that organization, being from Miami."

For the first time in baseball history, the average salary topped the $3 million mark. The 855 players on opening-day rosters and the DL averaged $3.15 million, up 7.1 percent from last year's starting average of $2.94 million.

Florida's highest earner doesn't even make the average. Pitcher Kevin Gregg tops the Marlins at $2.5 million.

"My best friend came into town, and he mentioned something about Johan Santana making $15 million more than our five starters combined," Marlins catcher Matt Treanor said. "It's something to laugh at, but at the same time, it is what it is. Those guys put on the uniform like us. When it comes time to start the game, it doesn't matter how much money the Yankees or whoever make."

Treanor's friend was exaggerating a bit - Santana makes $12 million more than Florida's rotation. Still, the Marlins' payroll was less than half that of the No. 29 team, Tampa Bay ($43.8 million).

"They've won a championship more recently than we have as an organization. So there's many different ways to skin a cat," said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, whose team lost to Florida in the 2003 World Series. "Alex earned that contract in the negotiation. Right now, the Marlins are in a different place. But they've got a stadium coming on board and they're going in the right direction, and I think they've already proven they know how to build something."

The Yankees, not surprisingly, topped the payroll list at $209.1 million, and A-Rod was No. 1 in the majors for the eighth straight year. New York first baseman Jason Giambi was second at $23.4 million (big lol from me), followed by Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter ($21.6 million) and Boston left fielder Manny Ramirez ($18.9 million).

Boosted by the acquisition of Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, Detroit shot up to second in the major leagues at $138.7 million. The Tigers' payroll at the end of last season was 12th at $98.5 million.

"This isn't one of those teams, 'I can't believe we didn't pick up this player, or this guy.' We've got no excuses," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "It's all about us, because the main man has done everything and more that you could ask."

The New York Mets were third at $138.3 million, up from $121 million at the end of 2007, and the World Series champion Boston Red Sox were fourth at $133.4 million.

Bunched together after that were the Chicago White Sox ($121.2 million), Los Angeles Angels ($119.2 million), Chicago Cubs ($118.6 million), Los Angeles Dodgers ($118.5 million) and Seattle Mariners ($118 million).

Although the average increased, the median salary - the point at which an equal amount of players fall above and below - remained at a record $1 million for the third straight opening day.

There were a record 434 making $1 million or more, breaking the record set in 2001 and matched last year. And there was a big boost at the top with 85 players reaching $10 million - up from 66 last year.

Payroll figures don't include cash transactions between clubs. Figures included salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income, and for some players, deferred money was discounted to present-day value.

The average salary usually declines during the season as veterans get released and are replaced by young players. The final 2007 average, as calculated by the players' association, was $2.82 million.

bolding and comment mine

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Just got back from a trip to the Oakland Coliseum. It was supposed to rain today, but it held off, and turned out to be a great day for a game. Beth is an old-time Red Sox fan and wanted to get a chance to see the champs in person. They did not disappoint, winning 5-0. At the beginning of the seventh inning (when it was still a scoreless tie), I turned to Beth and said "either Ortiz or Ramiriz is going to hit a home run this inning". Sure enough, after Youkalis doubled to open the inning, Big Pappi hit one out. To top it off, Ramiriz followed with a 400 foot drive that was just barely caught at the wall.

The most bizarre thing was that the crowd was at least 2/3 Red Sox fans. I knew there would be some, but I was really surprised at just how many. The cheers were many times louder for the Sox then for the A's. I felt a little bit bad for the locals, I must say. But it was great fun for Beth, and that is the most important thing.

[Holbytla]

The most bizarre thing was that the crowd was at least 2/3 Red Sox fans.

Fairly common thing. There are lots of Boston transplants throughout the country, especially CA. Even the Bronx has its share of Sox fans.

The Sox are of course of late one of the biggest road draws. Florida, California, Baltimore, and formerly Montreal are the biggest. When they come to those areas, the local Sox fans help fill out what are sopmetimes light selling venues.

Also take into account they changed the start time of today's game. They would have had more people if it were a later time.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Yes, I expected that there would be a sizeable number of Sox fans, just not a huge majority of the crowd. It was literally like being at a home game for the Sox (except without the Green Monster, of course). But you are right that the time change (which was a major pain in the butt for us) made a big difference, because A's fans could just go to any games, whereas the Bay Area Red Sox fans only have one more opportunity to see their team in the area this year (and yes, we are going to one of those games in May, too).

[Holbytla]

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/pgStory?co ... to=7986456

[Sassafras]

Let the games begin. And let the bugs bite the #%*$ out of Joba.

Hello Holby!

Ready for another season?

Our pitching will really be quite good this year, or haven't you heard?