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Originally Posted by ozzy6900
One of the problems with this whole report is what do we do with?
Many of the names on the list are only known to avid baseball fanatics, not fans. Just taking a shot in the butt will not make you a better hitter. You need the talent and the eye, the drug will not give you that. To throw a splitter requires dexterity of the hand and control of the ball. The drug give you none of that, only hard work and talent.
The real problem is that it is not the drug that makes the player, the drug allows the player to work harder. Hard work makes the player better. It's a catch 22.
So if we strip Clemens (for example) of his awards, do we negate all the pitches? This will raise all the batting averages for the batters that he faced. But what if they also took steroids?
Don't get me wrong, I do not advocate the use of steroids unless directed by a doctor for a medical problem. But in reality, this whole report is a farce. The "accused" cannot defend themselves nor can they challenge their "accuser". I tend to agree with the thinking of Rush Limbaugh on this in that Baseball cannot and will not strip any awards. What's done is done. The future is what has to be changed.
Just my opinion.
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I agree with most of what you have here, Ozzy. Performance enhancing drugs do just that, they enhance performance. Some of those at the lower levels of performance, took them to enhance their performance to just stay in the game, while others at the upper levels used them to get just a bit better.
I disagree, however, that the "accused" cannot defend themselves. They were given, and will again be given that opportunity if Selig decides to ignore Mitchell and take action.
The Mitchell report, despite the handwringing and illogical charges of McCarthyism, did not convict anyone. It was similar to an indictment, many of which are handed down daily, and which contain the names of and outline the evidence against the accused. There is nothing sinister or unAmerican about the process so far. It is quite normal.
What will happen from this point? God only knows. Selig has been a weak sister of a Commissioner in the past and just might try to make himself appear tough by taking some kind of action. I'm with Mitchell: get our heads our of the sand, stop the silly denial, turthfully acknowledge where we are, how we got here and agree on a procedure to begin getting everyone clean.
The record of the Steroid Era, with or without an asterisk, will always be a little tainted. We'll learn to live with it, and, hopefully, move on.
P.S.
Dear Roger:
"And the truth shall set you free."