EVIL~! alkeiper

Draft chat is up. Invite yourself to TSMBaseball, or IM me for an invite.

I haven't created the chat yet. I will use TSMbaseball for it to make it easy.

Bored, nogoodnick, and the Man In Blak are next.

JHawk sent me his list earlier, so I'll go ahead and give him OF Kirk Gibson.

It's been 24 hours, so Bravesfan autopicks OF Sam Crawford.

The stats are simply copied from the database with no immediate era adjustment. I will make adjustments to dead-ball era stars, raising their power stats and lowering their speed ratings, where applicable.

So we should kick Babe Ruth out of the Hall for using a corked bat?

What Rose did was worse. Rose associated with gamblers, and gambled on baseball games. This undermines the integrity of the game. Cheating is discouraged, but McGwire did not break baseball's rules, and at the core, he was still trying to win. Are you shitting me? Integrity of the game? That's hilarious. MLB has no room to bitch: They've known about the steroid abuse for years (or, at BEST, they've had a "don't ask, don't tell" policy going on) - they just don't fucking care. That was the best part about the hearings of the past week, it helped to really emphasize the point that MLB baseball did absolutely NOTHING to combat steroids in the game until the pressure on them to do so was astronomical, and even then they managed to fuck that up by giving the most pussy punishments they could conceive. And as a result of all of their bullshit, they've turned the entire sport into a fucking joke. You cannot sit there and tell me that what Pete Rose did in any way, shape or form has hurt the industry more than what the industry itself has done to itself by not giving a flying fuck that a sizable number of their players (possibly even a MAJORITY) have been juicing over the years. Man. If Rose had some REAL balls, the next time a reporter asked him about being in the Hall of Fame, he should calmly point out the incredible hubris of MLB keeping him out of the HoF while being completely unable - and unwilling - to get their own shit together. Pete Rose did not hurt baseball, because baseball nipped it in the bud, before it could become a serious problem. The survival of baseball is dependant on the concept that what the fans are watching is a legitimate athletic contest. When a player or manager gambles on baseball, he compromises his position inside the game. Think about it. A player or manager falls into deep debt with a bookie. What is the easiest way to pull his ass out of the fire? Now you have a serious problem. Steroid use, while a problem, is not the eath-shattering dillema that the media pretends it is. In all the outrage I have heard over the last month, 90% of it deals with baseball's sacred records, while the other 10% deals with various "think of the children" arguments. No one I have heard has suggested that championships have been stolen due to steroid use. That is the real integrity of the game, and apparently, no one thinks that is a big deal. And baseball first developed a steroid policy in 2002, before the pressure became astronomical.

Someone wrote a month or two ago, jokingly, that we should just take our own copies of our reference books, take a marker, and denote asteriks wherever we please. I am taking that advice, and I have some groundshaking news. Joe Carter was on steroids when he hit his World Series winning home run in 1993. So with that in mind, I am proud to announce that the Phillies are now the 1993 World Champions!

What Rose did was worse. Rose associated with gamblers, and gambled on baseball games. This undermines the integrity of the game. Cheating is discouraged, but McGwire did not break baseball's rules, and at the core, he was still trying to win.

Just a reminder that we are going to run this live tomorrow night at 9pm ET. If you can not make it, either PM me your picks, or I will run auto-picks.

I think Gwynn and Ripken are more qualified myself. But the voters get ten spots on their ballots, and I don't see the presence of two more qualified candidates affecting McGwire's candidacy. We are still two years away, and alot can change over this time period.

What was the right thing to do? If he admits to taking steroids, then he vindicates your opinion that he is a cheater.

The Pocono Poison selects SP Paul Byrd.

He does have a black mark if New York writers have their say Heard a writer this morning say his last three years have caused him to rethink his qualifications Steve I swear, some writers think that a player is only a Hall of Famer if he hit 600 home runs, pissed in a cup daily to prove his innocence, and cured cancer all in one career.

The argument that McGwire did nothing but hit home runs is quite silly. McGwire was an extremely disciplined hitter with a high OBP. Besides hitting home runs, he was a very tough out. His OPS is 11th All-Time. I do not know to what extent steroids affected McGwire's performance, if in fact he did take them. In the absense of any proof, I cannot see any overwhelming reason to keep McGwire out of the Hall. Even assuming McGwire took steroids, I would still vote him in.

Two walks actually, although with no home runs allowed. Those are very good marks, and it IS possible that I am wrong, and that Cabrera will become a very good pitcher. Eric Bedard's spring training line also looks encouraging. 12 Ks and 3 BBs in 15 IP. I note that Tony Saunders got battered for two runs on three hits in his appearance. I still hope he can manage a comeback.

Best line about the trade... "Zambrano and Ishii in the same rotation? To see four balls more often, you'll have to go rent a gay porno." Three of the Mets' starters have K/BB ratios of less than two. I can't see the Mets getting anywhere with that rotation. I would rather take the Athletics' three rookies than a back-end of Kris Benson, Victor Zambrano, and Ishii.

Al picks 3B/1B Dick Allen.

I select C Gabby Hartnett. Tom's next for two.

I'll use Braves Field, but I'm moving the fences in. Its 1942 dimensions were 334 to left, 365 to left center, 375 to dead center, 401 to the deepest part of center, 362 to right center, and 350 to right. Capacity of 37,746. Center field once stood 550 feet from home plate, and that just plays havoc on everything. The South End Grounds have seats 250 feet from home plate. That's just cutting it too close.

The spitting incident is a black mark against Alomar, no doubt. But it hardly personifies his entire career, as he had no similar black marks in his career. He was a fine gentleman who made a bad mistake. I don't think it is the kind of thing that pushes him across the HOF line.

Autopick time. JHawk selects SS Luke Appling. Bravesfan, Cena's Writer, and Vern Gagne are up next.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/al...ar-future_x.htm Alomar's resume includes 2,724 hits, a .300 lifetime batting average, 474 stolen bases, 210 home runs, a .374 OBP, a .313/.381/.448 line in 230 postseason at bats (along with 20 steals in 22 attempts), 12 All-Star selections, and ten Gold Glove awards. Alomar is clearly a Hall of Famer. The class of 2010 is beginning to look good, with Alomar and Larkin.

Something I posted at NMB... There were times I wanted to bang my head against the wall. Jim Bunning was his embarassment, and highlighted the worst sentiments regarding the issues. There are people who don't really care about the steroids. They just feel in their hearts that THEIR players represented wholesome, pure baseball, and that today's players are just a bunch of overpaid, whining crybabies. Let me share a few passages from Bill James' Historical Abstract... Hooks Dauss, 1937 Bill Joyce, 1916 You get the picture. In my opinion, Congress wasted alot of time yesterday. We can spent time on a futile search to find who used steroids in the past, but we can never prove anything, we do not know exactly what they used, we do not know how steroids affected their performance, and most importantly, we can not perform a fair review by fingering EVERYONE who took steroids. Steroids are a problem in baseball. They became a problem for two reasons. One, because of large monetary rewards to improving performance, and two, because of a lack of any kind of mechanism preventing steroid use. A few players start using steroids, and see positive gains from their use. Other players see this and pick up on it. Soon, players are forced to use steroids not to enhance their performance, but merely to ensure their survival in a competitive sport. These players would prefer not to take steroids, but have no choice if they wish to remain in baseball. From this point, the solution is simple. Introduce testing and mechanisms in order to catch steroid abusers. The goal is not to punish steroid users, but to STOP the use of steroids. Congressmen spent many hours harping on the "weak" consequences of steroid violations. They are missing the point. Repeated violations induce harsher penalities. Either the player will continue to abuse steroids and face harsher penalties, or he will stop. If the player ceases to use steroids, I am satisfied. Finally, the parents trotted out were disgusting. To imply that baseball players using steroids contributed to their deaths is as spurious as parents suing Judas Priest for their lyrics. The macho-bullshit competitive atmosphere of high school sports is more responsible. High school kids are grilled religiously about the dangers of alcohol, smoking, and unprotected sex. Yet they continue to engage in drinking, smoking and unprotected sex. They do not engage in steroid use because their "heroes" do so. They engage in steroid use because there are performance rewards for doing so, and no enforcement mechanisms in place to prevent it (and in this case, the parents are not doing their job).