A Tale of Two Milestone

When Derek Jeter was staring down 3000 hits, it was practically impossible to avoid coverage of his quest. Whenever one turned on ESPN, looked at a sports website, or listened to a baseball game, there was Jeter. It got to a point where it almost seemed as though it was a part of his contract that he needed to be mentioned everywhere. Of course, if it was, Alex Rodriguez would have negotiated a clause in his contract where he needed to be mentioned more than Jeter.

Meanwhile, there was another player marching towards a milestone. In fact, the milestone that he was chasing was more exclusive than getting to 3000 hits. While Jeter became the 28th player to get 3000 hits, only seven people had gotten to this other feat. Yet, due to the low profile approach to the game the player has, very little attention was paid to his quest. The player? Jim Thome. The milestone? 600 home runs.
With a two home run game last night, Thome became the eighth player to get to 600 home runs for a career. His name now joins players like Mays, Ruth, Aaron, Griffey, Bonds, A-Rod, and Sosa. Yet, it seems as though no one cares. Why is this?

There are a number of reasons for this. First, Thome never really captured the imagination of America. He has only been an All-Star five times over his twenty year career. He has never finished higher than fourth in the MVP vote. He has played for teams that aren’t exactly constantly on television with the Indians, Phillies, White Sox, Dodgers, and Twins. His peak was during the height of the steroid era, where he was being overshadowed by players like Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, and A-Rod. He just isn’t an exciting player.

Secondly, there is the entire steroid era. Thome has never been linked to PEDs, but he played during that era. Baseballs were leaving the yard with amazing frequency. In fact, three of the players he joins in the 600 home run club have been linked to steroids, and one is an admitted user. Yet Thome was never hauled in front of Congress, was never the focus of a smear campaign headed by Major League Baseball, and just destroyed the ol’ horsehide with regularity.

This actually leads to the third reason. Due to the steroid era, people are jaded with home run hitters. Remember the old baseball ad stating ‘Chicks dig the long ball’? Maybe they did back in the day, but now people just expect them to happen. Over the past decade, five players joined the 600 home run club. Meanwhile, only three players have joined the 3000 hit club in the same time frame. The oversaturation of the home run in baseball has led people to think that 3000 hits are a more difficult accomplishment to get to, when that is simply not the case.

When Derek Jeter got to 3000 hits, you could not escape the coverage. Meanwhile, Jim Thome got to 600 home runs to a collective yawn. It’s unfortunate that a player who did things the right way is not getting the due he deserves.

Time To Let It Go

Well, that was anticlimactic.

Two days into the Roger Clemens perjury trial, the judge declared a mistrial as the prosecution showed a videotape that had been previously ruled inadmissible as evidence. Now, Clemens gets to walk free until at least September 2, when another court date is scheduled to determine whether or not the federal government will attempt to try him again.

Now, the total cost of this two day waste of time? Millions of dollars and several years of the government's time. Yeah, that was worth it. The United States is $14,500,619,727,103 in debt as of right now, and climbing. The government is having problems agreeing on putting together a budget that will attempt to curb federal spending, yet they can waste all that time and money on this?

And do not believe the garbage that Congress is spewing about how this is about showing that no one is able to get away with lying to them. Back in 1994 in a hearing chaired by the same Harry Waxman that was chairing the steroids hearing, the CEOs of seven tobacco companies all declared - under oath - that they believed that nicotine was not addictive. Seventeen years later, none of them have been brought up for perjury. Guess their summons got lost in the mail. Or maybe it isn't glamorous to prosecute the CEOs of companies that spend so much money on Capitol Hill, making sure that their lobbyists get the bribes to the right people.

This was never about steroids or trying to 'clean up the game', as these people claim. This was about face time. This was about being able to make pithy comments that would get replayed over and over again, as they claimed 'moral outrage'. This was never about protecting the youth of America, and making sure that their heroes remain untarnished. This was about hypocrisy, since everyone in Congress lies to one another on a continual basis. If lying to Congress is such a big deal, then every single Congressman should be prosecuted. These people are basically getting free advertising while wasting the taxpayers money.

In the end, nothing got resolved. Clemens walks free due to a legal error, and no one aside from him knows if he lied to Congress or not. And at this point, no one really cares either.

In Defense of Uncle Bud

When people think of Bud Selig, they immediately have the image of an older man with an expression of complete and utter bewilderment. They think of someone who inherently seems as trustworthy as a used car salesman, which is ironic since Selig made his money through running an automotive leasing company. In general, they think of incompetence.

Part of that thought process is due to several situations that occurred during his tenure as acting commissioner and when he officially became the commissioner of baseball. First was the strike of 1994, and the cancellation of the World Series. That work stoppage effectively ruined baseball in Montreal, and it took years before the sport was able to get back to the level of popularity it had been at previously. This has been a huge black mark for Selig; yet since that point in time, baseball has had unprecedented labor peace. In fact, while the NFL and NBA are staging lockouts, the collective bargaining agreement for baseball is also up after this year, and there has been no talks of strikes or lockouts there. They are already working on the new CBA, which they hope to have done by the end of the year.

Selig also presided over the tied All-Star Game in 2002, which he takes an undo amount of flak for. While he could have created a way to determine the winner with some contest (home run hitting derby, skills competition, whatever), the managers were the ones that ran out all of the pitchers. Not Selig. This definitely could have been handled better, but that is not entirely his fault, as a lot of people seem to think.

Then there was the steroid era. Technically, steroids were being used in baseball as far back as the mid to late 1980's, when he was not even commissioner. In fact, the steroid era taints the reigns of at least four commissioners - Peter Ueberroth, A. Bartlett Giamatti, Fay Vincent, and Selig. Selig catches the most heat for the steroid era because he was the commissioner when it all came to a head in 2005. However, steroids helped the game of baseball get back into the national consciousness with the McGwire-Sosa home run chase. Also, other sports, notably football, have a far greater issue with steroids and PEDs, but no one cares. Selig is the victim of a double standard here.

Now, lets look at some of the positives of his tenure. First, baseball has had labor peace for almost 20 years at this point. The union and the owners, while not exactly friends, are no longer as adversarial has they had been in the past. Selig has a large part in this, as the face of the owners at the negotiating table. Also, the sport has had tremendous financial growth during his tenure, outpacing the United States GDP by almost 150%. From 2007 to 2008, baseball had an increase in revenue of over $400Million, despite selling 800,000 fewer tickets. This is partially due to the revenue sharing plan Selig instituted, which is helping smaller market teams invest money into their product, and also due to MLB embracing the internet and new media.

Selig also brought about radical realignment after the 1994 strike, and added the wild card. More teams now have a better chance to make the playoffs, which keeps fans interested. Without the wild card, the Florida Marlins would not have won either of their championships. It would have been 2007 until the Red Sox won a World Series. In total, nine wild card teams made the World Series, with four of them winning it. In fact, in 2002, both teams (the Giants and Angels) were wild cards.

Interleague play was another creation of Bud Selig. While there are issues in terms of the interleague schedule, there is no doubt that fans want to see it. Ticket sales increase during these games, and it creates fun situations where the Cubs played at Fenway for the first time since the 1918 World Series. Yes, people may want to see it eliminated, but it still draws attention to the game.

Selig has also made it where the American and National Leagues are controlled by the same office, the umpires are no longer split according to league, brought about the World Baseball Classic, helped create a stricter PED testing policy (and got the union to agree to it), and created Jackie Robinson Day. Is Selig perfect? Hell no. But everything he does is due to his true love of baseball, and his desire to help improve the sport. In the end, the good far outweighs the bad.

Bud Selig has been a good commissioner, and has been good for the game of baseball. He deserves a lot more credit than he gets.

Tiger Woods Did PEDs

The evidence is circumstantial at best, but where there is smoke, there is usually fire. Let's connect the dots here.

We have here a person the likes of which his sport had never seen before. A person who could, seemingly without exerting any effort, could drive a ball to incredible distances. A person who would seemingly win an event that he showed up for, just based off of his intimidation presence alone. A golfer who was built more like a linebacker. A golfer that actually lifted weights, as opposed to being the out of shape hobbyists that the rest of the PGA Tour consisted of. An actual athlete that happened to play golf. That person was Tiger Woods.

Fast forward to October of 2009. Dr. Anthony Galea, who just so happened to be the personal doctor of Tiger Woods, was charged in federal court for bringing Human Growth Hormone and similar substances into the United States, as well as lying to border guards to avoid being caught. Now Dr. Galea, who plead guilty in court on Wednesday, admitted that he brought these substances in to treat athletes.

Woods claims that HGH and steroids were never a part of any treatments that he received from Dr. Galea. So, we are to believe a guy who is a known liar and cheat when he claims that he never took or received any of these drugs from this person, who is an admitted that such things were a part of his healing medicine? Or is it just coincidence that the other athlete from the list of 20 golfers, baseball players , and football players that he treated just so happened to be Alex Rodriguez? Oh, and by the way, A-Rod is an admitted PED user, only he claimed his cousin got them for him. Sure, cousin. That cousin wouldn't have happened to be a disgraced Canadian doctor now, would it? Wait, we understand you won't answer honestly - don't want to blow up your golden goose now.

Now, let's look at the Tiger Woods timeline here. The last tournament he won was back on September 13, 2009, at the BMW Championship, were he defeated the field by eight shots. Now, on Thanksgiving of that same year, he crashed his SUV into a shrubbery (the Knights Who So Formerly Said Ni! were not pleased with this development), a fire hydrant, and finally a tree. He then conveniently removed himself from any other tournaments for 2009.

Now, let's look at 2010. Zero victories. In fact, he even failed to make the Ryder Cup team, an event for which his name had previously been penned in. He would skip events. He would claim his equipment was hindering his performance. Meanwhile, the rest of the tour was mysteriously starting to catch up to him, to the point where he finally relinquished control of the top ranking in the world of golf, dropping to second. Did the effects of all of those golf courses 'Tiger Proofing' themselves finally start to work all of a sudden? Or was it that Woods no longer had the PED advantage he previously had, now that his doctor was busted?

So, we move forward to 2011. Once again, Woods has not won an event. In fact, he has barely been able to finish an event he appeared in, leaving twice due to 'injuries'. Recently, he announced that he would not return until he felt right. Now, HGH and other PEDs can not only help one accumulate muscle mass and strength, but they also help decrease recovery time from various injuries and surgeries. Suddenly, Woods seems to have a lot of 'minor injuries' and other ailments that he never had before. He has been having issues with his Achilles tendon and his left anterior cruciate ligament, which is ironic since steroids have suggested to increase the risk of tendon tears and injuries in athletes.

With everything added up, and with his sudden fall from the pinnacle of his 'sport', there is plenty of evidence suggesting that Tiger Woods has done PEDs. Just because no one has actually seen him get injected means absolutely nothing. Now, the PGA Tour does have a PED testing policy, and a player was caught under the system. However, the PGA Tour is run by THE PLAYERS, and since it is, how serious are they about actually testing for such things? They are smart enough to know that if one of their cash cows got caught, it would ruin golf's image. So, point to the fact that Tiger Woods has never tested positive for PEDs all you want. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Andy Pettitte never tested positive for them either.

Tiger Woods did PEDs. It is just that no one wants to admit it.

The Bonds Verdict

Well, that was a waste of time.

Out of the four charges facing Barry Bonds, he was found only guilty of one - obstruction of justice. Yet, this verdict is confusing as there was a deadlock on the other three charges of perjury. Essentially, what the jury was saying is that they could not determine if Bonds lied to a federal grand jury, but he somehow managed to impede the federal investigation into the steroid scandal. Not sure how that would be mutually exclusive to lying to the grand jury.

In the end, this is a victory for Barry Bonds. Not only does he get some semblance of vindication when he stated that he 'never knowingly used steroids,' but he can now claim that the allegations against him were fabricated by those who were trying to get revenge against him. As if to punctuate this, Bonds flashed a victory symbol as he exited the courthouse yesterday, as he now can rest easy knowing that the federal government really has nothing on him.

It is still possible that the obstruction conviction could be thrown out, should the defense successfully argue that the conviction does not make sense in light of the deadlock on the perjury charges. Either way, Bonds has managed to win yet again in the steroid era.

The Different Eras of Baseball

With Manny Ramirez failing a second drug test, and subsequently retiring from baseball, there has been a lot of discussion as to how this will affect his Hall of Fame candidacy. In all likelihood, the BBWAA will climb upon their moral high ground, and refuse to vote him in, claiming that his admission would somehow cheapen and demean the Hall itself. Ramirez, and Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and others, will fall into the same purgatory that Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro find themselves in - not enough votes to get in, and too many to fall off the ballot.

This stance is entirely hypocritical. Because the manner of cheating was an injectable substance, this is considered to be taboo and enough to immediately dismiss the candidate from the Hall? Gaylord Perry and Don Sutton made their careers off of cheating with the spitball and scuff ball respectively. In fact, Perry wrote a book called 'Me and the Spitter', which came out in 1974 - during the middle of his playing career! Yet, both pitchers managed to gain entry into the Hall. Why the double standard?

The steroid era was nothing more than another age in the history of baseball. Until Jackie Robinson broke into the Major Leagues in 1947, there had not been a black major league player since the 1880's. Does this mean that Cy Young, Ty Cobb, and Babe Ruth were not as great as they are considered to be? They did not have to face Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, and the other stars of the Negro Leagues. But that does not matter - they were amongst the best of their era and competition.

During World War 2, quite a number of major league players were fighting in the war overseas. As such, a number of players had their career years during that time frame due to an overall decrease in the talent on the field. Hal Newhouser, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992, had his best three years from 1944 to 1946, when the players were just starting to come back to baseball. Yet, he made the Hall of Fame. The lack of talent then was not held against him.

In the 1960's through the 1980's, quite a number of players were hopped up on 'greenies', cocaine, and other various substances. In fact, baseball lore has it where Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter while on acid. The voters have not held the drugs of that era against those playing during that time frame. In fact, prior to their ban in 2006, it was estimated that between 50% to 80% of baseball players were using greenies, yet it was an open secret in Major League Baseball. No one cared. The use of amphetamines has not affected anyone from reaching the Hall either.

So why the uproar over steroids when the other eras had their own issues? Yes, steroids can give an advantage to players, but how much of an advantage is it when roughly 50% of the league is on them? At this point, everyone that played during the mid to late 1990's through present is under a cloud of suspicion, even if there is absolutely nothing tying them to steroid use. Look at Jeff Bagwell, who should have been a first ballot Hall of Famer. However, since quite a number of writers think he was on steroids, despite a lack of any proof or any rumors that he was, he only received 41.7% of the vote.

The steroid era is simply another stage in the evolution of the game, and should be treated as such. Players like Ramirez, Bonds, McGwire, Clemens, and Palmeiro should be judged based on what they accomplished DURING THE ERA THEY PLAYED IN. After all, Manny Alexander was busted for steroids, and they obviously did not turn him into a Hall of Fame caliber player.

These players should be looked at in context of when they played. Aside from their statistics, there should be no other criteria.

Ohhhhh Manny!

Some people have a gift in life. For Anton Chekhov, his writing was his gift. For Grant Wood, painting was his gift. Johnny Cash gave us the gift of music. Manny Ramirez has the gift of being able to hit a baseball. And it's a good thing he has that gift, because he is too stupid to do anything otherwise. To prove that he is truly an idiot savant with a bat, he has become the first player in the major leagues to face suspension twice under the Major League Baseball drug testing system.

Rather than deal with the 100 game suspension that he faces, Ramirez has decided to retire from baseball. In a statement from the MLB, "Major League Baseball recently notified Manny Ramirez of an issue under Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Rather than continue with the process under the Program, Ramirez has informed MLB that he is retiring as an active player. If Ramirez seeks reinstatement in the future, the process under the Drug Program will be completed." Way to walk away from taking responsibility, Manny! You have done the athletic equivalent of quitting before you could be fired for either gross negligence or a serious ethics violation.

Now that Manny will have all this free time, maybe he will now be able to deal with other personal problems. After all, his first suspension under the MLB substance abuse policy was for hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin, a women's fertility drug. So, now that he's no longer subject to testing for 'performance enhancers' Manny should be able to use Viagra. Remember how Rafael Palmeiro used to be the spokesperson for that drug? Remember for Palmeiro got busted for 'performance enhancers'? I see the connection there.

Or, perhaps the reason why he was using a women's fertility drug had a deeper meaning. Maybe Manny secretly wanted to be a woman. Maybe Manny had dreams of dressing like RuPaul when going to bat. Maybe this latest violation is simply due to increased levels of estrogen in his system, which is being used to kickstart his transformation. But then again, this would require Manny to be able to concentrate on something for longer than ten seconds. After all, he does have the attention span of a four year old on coke at a petting zoo. Or it would require Manny to think. He continues to prove that breathing is a natural reaction.

It takes a special kind of stupid to be caught under any sports PED testing guidelines. It takes a truly epic lack of intellect to be caught twice. Or, perhaps it was an amazing amount of apathy. Maybe Manny just didn't care if he got caught or not, and continued to do what he felt like. Either way, it's too bad. Ramirez had one of the classic swings in baseball, and may have been a Hall of Fame caliber player without the PED's. Now, his legacy is tarnished, and the Hall of Fame is probably as far away from Manny as a textbook on quantum physics.

So, farewell Manny. Yours should be a cautionary tale for other major leaguers on why it's important to be able to do something other than hit a baseball. It's also important to be able to think.

The Barry Bonds Witch Hunt

Finally, after nine years of investigation, the trial against Barry Bonds for lying to a grand jury in regards to his usage of steroids has begun. This witch hunt, perpetuated in part due to his standing on the all time home run list, has been going on for far too long.

Bud Selig, in sanctioning the Mitchell Report and subsequent steroid investigations, did so with the possibility of keeping Bonds from surpassing Hank Aaron as the all time home run leader. Aaron is an ambassador for the game of baseball, likable and affable. Bonds, meanwhile, is rather unlikeable, surly, and arrogant. Yet, for all of the effort put into the report, nothing specifically stated that Bonds knowingly took steroids. In fact, Harvey Shields, Bonds personal trainer from 2000 to 2004, stated that "Greg Anderson provided Bonds with a cream to use on his elbow, which Shields said he believed was an over-the-counter 'arthritis cream.'" In addition, in regards to a clear liquid that Bonds was ingesting which he believed was flaxseed oil, Shields said "(I) believed the clear liquid was flaxseed oil. (Shields) claimed to have taken the clear liquid himself, and he said that it tasted like flaxseed oil he had obtained from health food stores in the past."

The crux of the indictment is that Bonds intentionally lied to the grand jury when he said that he never knowingly took steroids. Greg Anderson, the man who the government is claiming provided him with the steroids, refuses to testify against Bonds, to the point of being imprisoned four times for his refusal to co-operate. Yes, Anderson has been friends with Bonds since childhood, but keep in mind that this works both ways. If your trainer that you have known since childhood provided you with substances that he stated were flaxseed oil and arthritis cream, would you have any cause to doubt him? People can claim that Bonds should know everything that he ingested or took, but where is the rationale for this?

The main witnesses for the prosecution have major character flaws as well. Kimberly Bell, Bonds' ex-mistress, used her fifteen minutes of fame to pose naked for Playboy. Steve Hoskins, a former partner of Bonds in the autographed memorabilia business, was fired by Bonds after Hoskins stole money from the business and forged his signature to several items. In fact, Bonds assisted the government in 2003 in their prosecution of Hoskins for forgery. The third witness is Kathy Hoskins, Bonds former personal shopper, who just so happens to be the sister of Steve Hoskins. Not exactly the most credible of witnesses.

In the end, Bonds will end up being vindicated, despite all of the circumstantial evidence supporting steroid use. Yes, his dome may have increased in size to be of Sputnik proportions, but that is not evidence enough to convict him. Bonds may just become the first athlete officially found to be not guilty of steroid use.

Things really aren't so bad.

These days, in the realm of sensationalization in the media, there is a tendency to regard any potentially controversal story as a scandal. Yes, PEDs, the NFL concussion problem, and the Mitchell Report were all valid news items, and should have been brought to the attention of the fans. However, that does not mean that, years later, they are still relevant. One should not crucify, or doubt the accomplishments of, someone who is not responcible for these events, and did not cause any of the problems. These are in the past, and until they become relevant to the present, should be left there.

When one looks at some of the people and incidents that have occurred in the past, these things seem minor. Yes, the Black Sox scandal and the NCAA point shaving situations deserve the publicity that they received, but that does not mean that everything else is on par with thosse situations. Below are five random events that transpired that are relatively unknown, and would provide fodder for the press for months if they occurred now.

1. Marty Bergen.
Marty Bergen was a catcher for the Boston Beaneaters (now the Atlanta Braves) from 1896 until 1899. Known for his strong throwing arm and hustling play, he was a fan favorite. However, Bergen also had a lot of personal demons. During a team dinner, he slapped ace pitcher Vic Willis for no reason while he was eating breakfast. He had hallucinations that people were trying to poison him, and refused to take his medication for it because assassins discovered who his doctor was. He would sit in peculiar positions and walk sideways, so as to spot these assassins. During a road trip in mid-1899, he walked off the train and vanished, leaving the team with just the backup catcher. He then reappeared several games later, only to disappear again in September. This time, he reappeared just before first pitch, put on his gear, and went behind the plate without speaking to anyone. On October 9, 1899, he had to be removed from a game when he dodged pitches as opposed to catching them, because he was too busy trying to avoid knife thrusts from an invisble assassin.
Bergen's tale ended tragically, as in January of 1900, he murdered his wife and two kids with an axe, then killed himself by slitting his throat with a straight razor. He used enough force in committing suicide that he almost decapitated himself. A snippet of an article from the New York Times gives a description of the scene: "The little boy (Bergen's 3-year-old son) was lying on the floor with a large wound in the head. Mrs. Bergen's skull was terribly crushed, having evidently been struck more than one blow by the infuriated husband. The appearance of the little girl (his 6-year-old daughter found on the kitchen floor next to Bergen) also showed that a number of savage blows had been rained upon the top and side of her head. Bergen's throat had been cut with a razor, and the head was nearly severed."

2. Charlie Sweeney and Old Hoss Radbourn
Sweeney was another player from the 1800's (I notice a theme here). He, along with Old Hoss Radbourn, pitched for the Providence Greys in 1884. Both pitchers legitimately hated one another, with tensions reaching their boiling point when they got into a fight in the clubhouse. Radbourn left the team, leaving Sweeney as their only pitcher. However, Sweeney eventually missed a morning practice after an exibition game (during which it was reported that he was drinking heavily), and showed up tot he park completely drunk. He pitched for five innings, after which the manager tried to remove him from the mound, but Sweeney refused. He pitched two more innings, then, when the manager attempted to remove him from the game again (and threatened a $50 fine if he did not leave the mound), Sweeney walked off the field, changed into street clothes, and watched the remainder of the game in the stands while in the company of two known prostitutes. At that point, Sweeney's career was practically over, although he did pitch in the California League for a while. In 1894, he killed a person in a saloon, and died in prison in 1902 after being convicted of homicide.

3. Paul Hornung and Alex Karras
Gambling is considered to be the ultimate sin in sports. The Black Sox and Pete Rose are still banned for their involvement in gambling. However, back in 1963, both Hornung and Karras were suspended indefinately by then-commissioner Pete Rozelle for betting on football games and their own teams. Five other members of the Detroit Lions were fined $2000 each for placing a wager on a game that they did not play in. However, since both Hornung and Karras were considered to be forthright in their guilt and showed what was felt to be legitimate remorse, Rozelle re-evaluted them before the 1964 season, and reinstated them both to the NFL.

4. Ugueth Urbina
This story occurred in 2005, but somehow did not receive a lot of attention. On October 16, 2005, Urbina and several other men attacked farm workers at his family ranch in a dispute over a gun that was alledgely stolen. The farm workers were attacked with machetes, and had gasoline poured over them as Urbina and the people he was with attempted to light them on fire. On March 28, 2007, Urbina was sentanced to 14 years and 7 months in prison in Venezuela for attempted murder, illegal deprivation of liberty, and for violating a prohibition against vigilante justice. Despite his continual insistance that he was asleep during the confrontation, no appeals were ever filed on his behalf.

5. Rube Waddell
Rube Waddell was someone that would not be permitted to exist as he did back then. A strikeout pitcher on the Louisville Colonels, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Orphans (Cubs),Philadelhia Athletics, and the St. Louis Browns, Waddell was an extremely unpredictable being. He would leave the ballpark to chase fire trucks if they passed by. Fans of opposing teams would hold up shiny objects and puppies when he pitched, since they put him in a trance like state. He constantly fought with teammates that he felt were 'ill-tempered'. He performed as an alligator wrestler during one offseason. During exhibition games, he would wave his team off the field, then proceed to strikeout the side.
To best sum up the life of Rube Waddell, here is an account of what happened during 1903 by Cooperstown historian Lee Allen: "He began that year (1903) sleeping in a firehouse in Camden, New Jersey, and ended it tending bar in a saloon in Wheeling, West Virginia. In between those events he won 22 games for the Philadelphia Athletics, played left end for the Business Men's Rugby Football Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, toured the nation in a melodrama called The Stain of Guilt, courted, married and became separated from May Wynne Skinner of Lynn, Massachusetts, saved a woman from drowning, accidentally shot a friend through the hand, and was bitten by a lion." Waddell died in 1914 on April Fool's Day from tuberculosis, which he caught while helping to save the city of Hickman, Kentucky from a flood in 1912.

These five people and incidents, if the events were to have happened today, would be considered far worse than anything that has happened recently. Sometimes, perspective is needed when looking at the 'scandals' in sports.

Mark McGwire and the Hall of Fame

For the fifth season, Mark McGwire's name appears on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. In the previous four years, he has received between 21.9 and 23.7% of the vote. In order to gain induction, one needs 75%, so McGwire has been significantly below that threshold for the entirety of his candidacy.

On the surface, it would appear that the reason for his lack of support is due to his being linked to steroids. His pathetic performance in front of Congress when he stated that he was 'not there to talk about the past' certainly did not help his case. In an effort to attempt to help his chances for enshrinement, he apologized for 'mistakes' he made during his playing days, and has returned to baseball in the form of a hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. In doing so, he became reunited with his biggest enabler, Tony LaRussa.

However, there is more to McGwire not being inducted than just the steroid issue. Quite simply, when looking at his statistics, he does not deserve to be enshrined. McGwire did one thing well, and that was hit home runs. In fact, his 583 home runs currently ranks tenth all time. Over his career, he hit a home run for every 10.6 at bats, which is the top rate of all time. Solid numbers, yes.

Yet, McGwire only had a grand total of 1626 hits over his 16 year career, which ranks 463rd all time. He is behind such notable names as Mark Kotsay, Shannon Stewart, Alfredo Griffin, and Tony Taylor. His batting average stands at a very underwhelming .263. While he was relatively valuable with the bat, mainly for his power numbers, his fielding at a fairly critical position was lacking. His defensive wins about replacement over his career was a -3.6. The last full season that he played where he was not a liability in the field was in 1992.

Furthering the argument against McGwire, http://www.baseballreference.com/ provides a list of the top ten players who McGwire compares favorably to. Only two are Hall of Famers, Harmon Killebrew and Willie McCovey. The list is as follows: 1. Jose Canseco (ironic), 2. Jason Giambi, 3. Killebrew, 4. Carlos Delgado, 5. McCovey, 6. Jim Thome, 7. Norm Cash, 8. Jaun Gonzalez, 9. Dave Kingman, and 10. Gil Hodges. Of the eight not presently in the hall, a case can be made only for Thome. Also, three of the top ten have been linked to steroids in Canseco (who broke the story), Giambi, and Gonzalez.

McGwire was simply a player who could hit for tremendous power, but was essentially useless otherwise. Steroids or not, he simply does not deserve to be in the Hall of Fame - not in 2010 or any other year.