rusty

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

...Personally, I would love to see MLB go under. ... I know there are others who are equally tired of hearing the owners and players whine and cry about everything including not making enough money and want more while the overall skill level of the players decline.

Almost like dealing with SP players.

So, by extension, you would like to see slow pitch go under, too?

"Overall skill levels" declining? Depends on what you mean by "overall". Certainly, with the large number of teams, the average MLB player is less skilled than the average player would be with fewer teams, but, the top players are just as highly skilled as the top players were decades ago.

My objection to the steriods is not legal; it is more that they are a violation of the game. Let me explain. Baseball, whether accidentally or by brilliant design, is probably the most well-balanced game ever invented. The balance between offense and defense, the layout of the infield relative to human athletic ability, etc., means that it may well be the only sport where statistics can be meaningfully compared across the decades. Steriods disrupted the balance especially in the home run statistics. None of the home run records from the McGuire / Sosa season forward can be put in the same record book as those from Maris / Aaron backward.

While it is true that the final roadblock to incorporating any drug testing into MLB was the players, certainly management was keen to turn a blind eye while the McGuire / Sosa race restored interest in the game.

Some baseball commentators have stated that just as there is a "modern" era in baseball records (when the more lively ball was introduced), there will now be a drug-enhanced era to divide the record books. That may end up being the way it is dealt with, but if I had my way, the record books on power hitting would be expunged from ~1997 through to ~2005, including single season records and career record contributions during that time. IOW, the Bonds ilk would have forfeited their accomplishements' official recognition by using the drugs, legal or not, banned or not.