K-Town

1) I am not discussing the 2 threads you are participating in at this moment. I am referring to the vast majority of threads you participate in. You seem to take a contrarian position more times than not. I don't believe I am the only one who has noticed. 2) Your "point" was not related to the post of mine you quoted. Big Fergie J gave McGwire props for walking away. I am not so willing to do so because his extreme drop-off in production was the catalyst. Barry is not walking away, right or wrong, because he believes he can still compete at a high level. Whether you like him or not, you have to admit that he can. Then comes you with your completely tangential coaching statement. If that isolated rant means you have a point and nobody else does, then so be it. 1) "Contrary" position? There are typically two sides to every story. I tend to take one of those. So what? It would be a pretty boring board if everybody took the same position on everything, wouldn't it? 2) Your comment wasn't related to the context of the discussion. Yes, Bonds is highly productive. And apparently his desire to prove to everyone how productive he is is stronger than his desire to avoid the scrutiny. Thus....... the conclusion that his ego is keeping him in the game.

Just can't resist, can you? Very original. It's about as shocking as seeing McGwire attacks on a Cub board, wouldn't you say?

McGwire was done. Barry is still productive. McGwire has been offered coaching jobs, but has declined, because he doesn't want to deal with the hounds. So yeah....... he COULD be in baseball, if he chose to be. He chooses not to (thus, Bonds' ego keeps him in the game, while McGwire's doesn't). Were you put on this planet to argue everything? You don't know squat about McGwire more than any of the rest of us do. How can you say with such conviction that McGwire's ego, or lack thereof, is the reason he's not in the game right now? How do you know that there possibly weren't any coaching jobs available that he deemed worthy of his presence? You don't. McGwire walked away from playing the game because he couldn't compete at this level anymore, Barry still can. Nobody said anything about coaching. Argue "everything"? I'm participating in what.......... two threads....... maybe? What the heck are you talking about. You're being every bit as contrary about this as I am. It just SEEMS like I'm arguing, because I actually have a point, while you probably don't. Look at the context of the conversation. The point being made was that McGwire was avoiding putting himself in the public eye, while Bonds isn't. Whether as a player or a coach, that's the case. Furthermore, I wasn't the one who originally made the "ego" argument, so you're confronting the wrong guy.

McGwire was done. Barry is still productive. McGwire has been offered coaching jobs, but has declined, because he doesn't want to deal with the hounds. So yeah....... he COULD be in baseball, if he chose to be. He chooses not to (thus, Bonds' ego keeps him in the game, while McGwire's doesn't).

I don't buy the '98 thing anymore than I buy anything else. Why should any of us believe ANYTHING, at this point? McGwire has been severely scrutinized. During the Andro thing, he was the ONLY one being scrutinized, and it hadn't even been shown that he had done anything wrong. Had he stayed in the game, I'm guessing that he'd be catching ALOT of heat right now. It wasn't worth it to him. Apparently it IS worth it to Bonds, because he chooses to keep himself in the spotlight.

McGwire left the game, and was STILL scurinized by a Congressional lynch mob and the general public. Leave the guy alone. He's retired. So if Bonds retires they should just leave him alone? McGwire didn't perjure himself, that I'm aware of. He (McGwire) has, however, been scrutinized plenty. I have to respectfully disagree w/ you on McGwire. IMHO, he was giving a huge free pass by the media until just recently...ie. since the Congressional hearings. I believe McGwire is an even bigger fraud than Bonds. He was a one-dimensional ballplayer. As much as one can hate Bonds he did win 3 MVP's prior to '98 when he allegedly started juicing. "Allegedly"? What the heck does that mean? Nobody knows when he started using, anymore than they know when (if) McGwire started using. It's all your imagination. As for McGwire not being scrutinized until after the Congressional hearings, I don't recall ANYBODY being scrutinized, do you? Slow down a minute and read your own post. You wrote that McGwire has been "scrutinized plenty". And I'm not imagining anything but "allegedly" is what it is. Bonds has allegedly used steriods. I know what I posted. McGwire HAS been scrutinized. Heck....... he was scrutinized for things that didn't even BREAK the rules (Andro). You've completely forgotten that? Then he was scrutinized ruthlessly (and still is) about the Congressional hearings. Who is "Alleging" that Bonds just starting using steroids in '98, and why would you buy into anything that's "alleged" at this point?

Tell me how ANY agenda was met by the "spirit" displayed by Canseco, Palemeiro, Sosa, or Schilling. Do you HONESTLY think that Congress went into that hearing wondering if a tougher policy was needed, and then after hearing Schilling, Palmeiro, and Sosa deny knowing anything about a steroid problem in baseball, Congress decided that a tougher policy WAS needed?? I'm having a little trouble following your logic about McGwire's "spirit" being anymore detrimental to the hearings than anyone else's. McGwire basically said that he didn't want to talk about it. The others basically denied having any knowledge of any steroid problem that exists. What's the difference? None of them shed any light. McGwire didn't defy a congressional subpoena, that I know of. Do you know specifically what the subpoena required?

McGwire left the game, and was STILL scurinized by a Congressional lynch mob and the general public. Leave the guy alone. He's retired. So if Bonds retires they should just leave him alone? McGwire didn't perjure himself, that I'm aware of. He (McGwire) has, however, been scrutinized plenty. I have to respectfully disagree w/ you on McGwire. IMHO, he was giving a huge free pass by the media until just recently...ie. since the Congressional hearings. I believe McGwire is an even bigger fraud than Bonds. He was a one-dimensional ballplayer. As much as one can hate Bonds he did win 3 MVP's prior to '98 when he allegedly started juicing. "Allegedly"? What the heck does that mean? Nobody knows when he started using, anymore than they know when (if) McGwire started using. It's all your imagination. As for McGwire not being scrutinized until after the Congressional hearings, I don't recall ANYBODY being scrutinized, do you?

That's fine. Then they should have done the exact same thing to the other 5,000 players who have played in the last decade. It was a hearing, not a court case. McGwire wasn't being accused of breaking any laws, for crying out loud. It's BASEBALL. Keep it in perspective. I'm no expert, but I'm not sure that Congress could have "forced" him to plead the 5th, under those circumstances. Furthermore, you'll have to explain to me what the "spirit" of the hearings was, and how that was accomplished by what Schilling said....... what Palmeiro said.......... what Sosa said........ what Canseco said........ etc. Congress didn't need McGwire's "spirit" (or anyone else's, for that matter) in order to force MLB to implement a tougher steroid policy. It was a propoganda stunt....... plain & simple. Anyone who sees it for anything other than that was watching it with blinders.

McGwire left the game, and was STILL scurinized by a Congressional lynch mob and the general public. Leave the guy alone. He's retired. So if Bonds retires they should just leave him alone? McGwire didn't perjure himself, that I'm aware of. He (McGwire) has, however, been scrutinized plenty.

McGwire left the game, and was STILL scurinized by a Congressional lynch mob and the general public. Leave the guy alone. He's retired.

Delution of pitchers? Care to elaborate? Expansion There's been some expansion, but that has been more than made up for by the inclusion of Latin players in the last couple of decades. There are scouts for every team looking for the very best pitchers in the entire world, not just North America. I think that there's as much pitching depth available now as there's ever been.

Delution of pitchers? Care to elaborate?

Wouldn't all of the training, conditioning, analysis and supplements also apply to the pitchers as well? Of course it would. Personally, I think that the pitching today is better than it's ever been. However, hitters have advanced at the same rate, and when they make contact with a pitch, the fact that they're more well-conditioned and have more refined swings will likely result in the ball going further. Maybe..........

Who do you mean by "they"? Surely some Ordinary Joe could round up a ball from last year and a ball from this year, do some testing, and confirm or put to rest the "juiced ball theory". They was referring to the media there. A little misleading, my apologies. Doesn't it strike anyone as amusing that the media is chattering on endlessly about something they could confirm or debunk in less than a day? Grab two balls(heh) and check them out. Case closed. Instead of interviewing all these wrinkly baseball men about how fast the ball is getting through the infield, ball trajectory of homeruns (All these popups are going out!!!), and all the other silly subjective evidence people are using to try to prove the balls are juiced, just check the balls. Why would MLB make all these juiced balls when tons of them end up in the stands every day and could easily be tested? I think they'd be found out pretty quickly. I agree with you. Doesn't seem to add up.

Who do you mean by "they"? Surely some Ordinary Joe could round up a ball from last year and a ball from this year, do some testing, and confirm or put to rest the "juiced ball theory".

I'm not going to go so far as to say that there's no such things a "juiced ball" and that there are no players using steroids. However, I do believe that there are other reasons that balls fly further. Personally, I think that athletes today are better conditioned and more prepared than athletes of the past (steroids or not). There are more perfectly legal "enhancers", better fitness technology, better equipment, video equipment for analyzing what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong, etc., kids learning the intricacies of hitting at younger and younger ages...... and so on. I think it's just a more advanced game than it used to be.

His declining skills have certainly affected MY confidence!! :lol:

Absolutely. The same thing happened last year and Ramirez ended up close to Lee's numbers in HR and RBI before he was shut down, so he'll be fine. Actually AR had a 1.033 OPS after the first week of last season. He started out a little slower than that in 2004, though. So there's no real trend for him. Near the end of May last year, Ramirez had an OPS below .730. And near the end of May in 2004, he was over .900. This year remains to be seen. So again, no trend to note, which is what I was responding to.

Absolutely. The same thing happened last year and Ramirez ended up close to Lee's numbers in HR and RBI before he was shut down, so he'll be fine. Actually AR had a 1.033 OPS after the first week of last season. He started out a little slower than that in 2004, though. So there's no real trend for him.

Too soon to tell, but the sun is a MAJOR factor for day games. It's brutal.

Hopefully, this will end the mock cross examination garbage. How does it end it? For one, it references "speculation outside of Shea Stadium offices". What the heck does that mean? Furthermore, an article posted by CubinNY (dated later than the one that you posted) says that those thoughts (of moving him to first base) were "quickly dismissed". The article that you posted was from July of last year. He played excellent defense the 2nd half of last year, and has yet to commit an error this year. He's not moving. That's my only point.

So would I. Is your memory infalable or something? No, but your memory of obscure articles re David Wright apparently is. What is this? Pick on CubinNY day? Now what are you talking about? The article was not obscure it was a spring training article on the Mets. IIRC, you have criticized posters in the past when they fail to support their positions with "hard evidence". I thought it was interesting that you were arguing that you shouldn't have to do so to please other posters. Did you read the entire thread? Paste the "hard evidence" that say that Wright will be (or even MIGHT BE) moving to first base. Also paste the "hard evidence" that any scouts think that Wright can't hack it defensively at third base. That's all.

A-rod? :wink:

Rolen's previous injury was a result of a collision with baserunner Alex Cintron. So yeah....... it's not like he's suffered from alot of "aches & pains" that he refuses to play through. He's simply had some bad luck. Hopefully, it's behind him.