"Cheating started when they threw out first ball in the first game ever played and it's been going on ever since." - Rogers Hornsby
The recent scandal at Biogenesis has once again raised the question of integrity in baseball. Are there any truly clean players? How can you ever really know if a player is clean and if their records are legitimate? Most importantly, why do teams and fans continue to reward cheating players with big contracts and constant praise for their tainted performance? This year highlights the issue even more, when arguably the greatest pitcher since Walter Johnson and greatest hitter since Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron both missed induction into the Hall of Fame, entirely due to their connection with illegal performance enhancing drugs. As can be seen in a hundred columns and a thousand comment threads across the internet, the familiar refrain is that 'cheaters have no place in the game of baseball'.
That was great, should be required reading for all baseball/sports fans.
"We do not play baseball. We play professional baseball. Amateurs play games. We are paid to win games. There are rules and there are consequences if you break them. If you are a pro, then you often don't decide whether to cheat based on if it's 'right or wrong'. You base it on whether or not you can get away with it, and what the penalty might be. A guy who cheats in a friendly game of cards is a cheater. A pro who throws a spitball to support his family is a competitor." - George Bamberger
It's hard to believe that there are still people that carry on about 'pure' and 'fair' in any professional sport.
food is medicine. that's why i'm drinking dr. pepper.
Great article. I loved the stuff about Bob Gibson, one of my all time favorite pitchers. Funny story I heard was Bob one time knocked down a batter in the warm-up, batter's circle trying to time his pitches. the NFL'S Goodell would fine him today. Also read that Ed Delahanty, old time power hitter was tied to blood doping or using bull testosterone around 1900. Can't find story right now.
A guy I worked with 10 years ago was a referee at high school football and basketball games, and he said about the same thing - if you aren't cheating (or at least bending the rules as far as you can get away with), you don't really want to win. He considered it his job to enforce the limits to which the rules could be bent.
"I also think training like a Navy S.E.A.L. is stupid for the average person. I would say PT like an infantry unit, run, body weight stuff, hump a little, a little weights and enjoy life if you are not training for specifics." -tough old man
