Kuzul

The New York Giants were established in 1883. In 1958 the club moved out west, becoming who they are today – the San Francisco Giants.

Along the way, there have been many fun players, many great players. Some players we hated, and loved to boo and heckle. Many players stuck around for a season or two at best, while others played their entire career for the Giants.

Who is your favorite Giants player?

Giants’ fans everywhere have their own opinion about how they would rank their favorite players.

Who is number one? What about number 2? 3? This list can go on. How do you rank these players?

When you think of the all time great Giants, are you including the New York Giants?

In the pages to come we will discuss my list of The Top 100 Giants of All Time.

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The Steroid Era has officially left its mark in professional sports while tarnishing the reputation of America’s pastime.

With the recent indictment of legendary hurler Roger Clemens, the next generation will be very confused about which players to look up to.

Players like Roger Clemens have forced parents to lie to their Little Leaguers and young baseball stars by telling them their favorite players are stand-up citizens.

Steroids and PEDs (Performance-Enhancing Drugs) leave fans with a bitter taste in their mouths. Are there any true heroes left? What role models will our children have in the realm of professional sports?

Here are 10 of 10 of the saddest stories of the steroid era in professional baseball, and the destructive wake they have left behind. 

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The Steroid Era has been around pretty much since the early nineties, a span of about nearly 20 years. With a grueling 162 game regular season plus postseason play, it adds up to playing nearly 200 baseball games if you want to go ahead and count Spring Training. 

The contract status, fatigue and desire to stay on a big-league roster are all reasons why players, even the best ones, have used performance-enhancing drugs to stay on the field and perform at a high level. It has affected baseball’s “greats” and it certainly has tainted the game of baseball, their game, and their Hall of Fame status in Cooperstown, New York.

The big question is whether any suspected user or player linked to the steroid era will make it into the Hall of Fame. Is it fair to perhaps not vote in a borderline hall of famer like Chipper Jones than an Alex Rodriguez? Chipper Jones will make it because he was clean during a tainted era of baseball and players such as Jim Thome and Frank Thomas get a bonus for not going to the dark side of baseball and staying clean while achieving less than perfect Hall of Fame numbers. 

So what about the players such as Barry Bonds, Andy Pettitte, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, and of course Roger Clemens? What are their chances of getting in at all and when will they get in? Find out…

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Oh, Roger.

Love him or hate him, the news that Roger Clemens is being (it is hard to even type it out) indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs is down-right depressing.

There was a time when the baseball viewing public was being forced to ask themselves:

“Could Roger Clemens be ready to surpass Walter Johnson as the greatest pitcher of all time?”

As we watch Roger’s reputation and celebrity get flushed down the toilet, perhaps the biggest question surrounding Roger now is:

“Could Roger Clemens be ready to surpass Pete Rose as the greatest fall from grace in baseball history?”

Or perhaps even:

“Is Roger Clemens now officially the biggest star who has no chance of going into the Hall of Fame?”

Let’s have a look.

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Former pitching great Roger Clemens has been indicted by a grand jury for lying under oath and not admitting that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

But Clemens, if guilty, would certainly not be the only baseball player to present false truths to the public. The fact that it was done while under oath during grand jury testimony is what makes it so reprehensible and a potential crime, but still, that doesn’t make the other nine of these lies any less damaging.

Some of these are funny, some are ridiculous, and others just damning, but all are worth taking a look at. Which are your personal favorites? Do you have more to add that I may have missed?

So, strap it down, relax, and prepare to enter the land where truth is nowhere to be found. Really, that’s the truth, I am not lying.

Oh, but these guys are!

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The San Francisco Giants were in New York—not to face New York’s most beloved team, as they usually did, but to face the New York Yankees on the weekend of June 7, 2002.

The visit marked the first time in 40 years that the Giants had returned to Yankee Stadium, but it seemed as if time stood still when the Yankees won the Friday night game, 2-1, in front of 55,053 fans.

Barry Bonds changed that the next day when he faced Yankees left-hander Ted Lilly in the first inning.

At the team meeting before the Giants series, manager Joe Torre told Lilly not to allow Bonds to dominate the game, which was like telling a politician not to dominate the discussion.

David Bell led off the Giants’ first inning with a walk. Rich Aurilia followed with a ground-ball single to left field, moving Bell to second. Barry was the batter.

Lilly delivered the first pitch, which was a high fastball. Barry swung and missed. The crowd, in unison, screamed with delight.

Some older fans had an image of Mickey Mantle in their minds. Even older fans could see Babe Ruth.

Jorge Posada fired the ball back to Lilly, who toed the rubber, checked the runners, and delivered a pitch that was low and away to even the count at 1-1.

Bell took a short lead off second. Aurilia inched towards second base. Lilly fired, and Barry blasted.

The fastball that, much to Lilly’s chagrin, stayed too far inside landed about halfway up the third deck along the right field foul line. The ball was still rising when it crashed into the seats.

It was a shot that Mantle, Ruth, and even Albert Pujols would have been proud to claim.

Ted Lilly knew what he was up against. He told reporters that most left-handed power hitters would have pulled the pitch foul, but Barry Bonds was not most left-handed power hitters.

Lilly continued:

“There’s no shame in it, but when you’re facing the best in the game, you want to win a little bit more.”

Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle were always in the conversation when the subject was long home runs. When a player hits one high and far, the shot is often called “Ruthian.”

Barry hit them just as far.

It is easy to imagine what he would have done if he had played his entire career in Yankee Stadium, where the distance down the right field line was all of 314 feet and to straightaway right field was 344 feet.

It would likely have been Barry, not Mark McGwire, who topped Roger Maris’ single-season home run record, and Barry would have been considered the greatest player in the game during the late 1990s.

There would have been no reason for Barry to feel slighted by the media during the McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run chase. History would have been changed.

But Barry became a San Francisco Giant, and he will always be a Giant. He didn’t need Yankee Stadium to become the all-time career home run leader.

References

TYLER KEPNER. (2002, June 9). BASEBALL: Small Victories Equal a Defeat for the Yankees. New York Times (1923-Current file), p. g3. Retrieved August 17, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2006). (Document ID: 727161212).

Retrosheet

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In the aftermath of Alex Rodriguez’s 600th home run, many have downplayed his milestone because of his admitted usage of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), and have compared him to another user, the current home run king, Barry Bonds. 

For the most part, the players have been compared because Bonds currently has the most HRs, and A-Rod may at some point overtake him. Additionally, they are both are not (or were not) the best team players, as many viewed them as selfish in their own greed and personal success. And most importantly, they both took PEDs, and have had to endure a particularly negative backlash as a result. 

With that, we can assume that Bonds and A-Rod are two of the most hated players in baseball to come out of the Steroid Era. Not surprisingly, both players are/were loved in the city that they played in (SF for Bonds, NY for A-Rod), yet loathed everywhere else. It begs the question: who is the more hated of the two?

PEDs notwithstanding, Bonds is arguably one of the best players of all time, and A-Rod could be considered one of the best, as well, by the time his career is over. 

Bonds is a 7-time MVP, with 757 career HRs, and a ridiculous .444 career OBP. 

A-Rod currently sits at 600 HRs, is a 3-time MVP and World Series champion. 

Despite both of these players’ amazing career statistics, both are considered cheaters and many consider their records diminished. 

Bonds was also a pretty hated teammate—he got into arguments with other players (most notably with Jeff Kent), he didn’t fraternize with the team, and he was often quite isolated from the rest of the group.

A-Rod was most hated for chasing the money and signing with the Yankees—he opted out of his contract with the Rangers in 2004 (during the final game of the World Series) and signed the largest contract in sports history to play in New York. 

Many likened LeBron James’ “Decision” to play in Miami and leave his hometown to A-Rod’s decision to sign with the Yankees.

However, A-Rod seems to be on the up-and-up. He seems to be a better team player than he used to, and less concerned about personal statistics as he was previously accused of being. 

Yet, many still had a lot of hate to dish out when he hit 600, outside of New York. 

Now that you know why each is hated so much, what do you think?

Personally, I think the nod goes to Barry Bonds.

There was not as much of a taboo surrounding PEDs when Bonds was dominating as there is now. I think Bonds had more character flaws that made people hate him than A-Rod has. A-Rod more so than anything else is a player who admitted to using PEDs and has had to endure the backlash from that in the post-Steroid ERA. Bonds was just a jerk.

Nonetheless, both players are members of the 600 Home Run Club, and may be career home run leaders 1 and 2 by the time A-Rod is done playing. It should be interesting to see what the voters for the Hall of Fame do when Bonds is eligible to be voted into the Hall in a few years; and same thing for A-Rod whenever he retires.

For now, though, it’s only a matter of discussing their records and their shortfalls, and seeing who is the more hated of the PED Home Run Kings. Let the hating begin. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Since it’s been revealed that several Major League stars have used steroids, I’ve started to ponder what the difference is between players who have received bans for gambling and those who have received bans for steroid use.

The penalties for steroid use are:

• First offense: 50-game suspension
• Second offense: 100-game suspension
• Third Offense: Lifetime ban

The penalties for gambling are:

• First offensse: Ban for life (or whatever penalty the commissioner in office deems appropriate).

There are 27 players, coaches, and an umpire that have been banned for gambling or throwing games since 1865.

There are 117 players that have been implicated, admitted to, tested positive, or listed in the Mitchell Report for using steroids.

Here is a bit of irony for you. Steroid use and gambling have one common denominator: both have a direct affect on the game’s outcome.

There has been much talk about whether players such as Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, and Alex Rodriguez should be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Of these three players, only Rodriguez has admitted to steroid use while with the Texas Rangers. McGuire refuses to answer any questions regarding steroid use and Bonds is in a state of denial about the whole issue.

Personally, I feel that any user, whether he admits to it or tests positive at any time during his career, should not be eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Harsh you say?

Consider two players banned for throwing games or gambling, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and Pete Rose.

The lifetime ban handed down to by Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis to the 1918 White Sox was perhaps the harshest punishment ever. Despite the fact that all players were acquitted by a federal grand jury, Landis banned the eight White Sox players, stating:

“Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player who throws a ball game, no player who undertakes or promises to throw a ball game, no player who sits in confidence with a bunch of crooked ballplayers and gamblers, where the ways and means of throwing a game are discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball.”

Landis covered all contingencies, including players who overhear discussions about gambling or throwing a game.

However, there is evidence that casts some doubt about Jackson’s involvement. Jackson initially refused the $5,000, only to have Lefty Williams throw it on the floor. Jackson attempted to contact then Sox owner Charles Comiskey but Comiskey refused to meet with him.

Team attorney Alfred Austrian coached Jackson’s grand jury testimony, which might be considered illegal by current standards. He attempted to get Jackson to admit to the payoff by getting him drunk on whiskey. He also got Jackson, who was barely literate, to sign a waiver of immunity.

Years later, the other seven players implicated in the scandal confirmed that Jackson was never at any of the meetings to discuss throwing the games and said they included Jackson’s name to give their plot credibility.

And let’s not forget the most obvious claim to his innocence—his play during the 1918 World Series, batting almost .400 and committing no errors.

Here was a player that had the talent and capability to re-write the record books. If he had played as long as Ty Cobb, there could have been a very real chance that Pete Rose would have been chasing Jackson for the hit record instead of Cobb.

Pete Rose, three years after he retired as an active player, was placed on the permanent ineligibility list from baseball amid accusations that he gambled on games while he played and managed the Cincinnati Reds.

In 2004, Rose admitted to betting on baseball games but never against his own team.The Baseball Hall of Fame bans players on the “permanently ineligible” list from induction. Rose’s possible reinstatement and election to the Hall have been topics of many debates.

As to the players who have admitted to steroid use, why do they get the opportunity to “rehabilitate” themselves and still be allowed to earn millions of dollars to play a game?

Neither Jackson nor Rose had second or third chances offered to them.

The rules don’t allow players caught gambling to be suspended. And yet, the use of steroids has run rampant for years before someone finally cried, “enough!”

There had to be a reason why players all of a sudden were hitting 40-60 home runs a season instead of 20-35.

There had to be a reason why a player who for most of his career could never hit above .250 all of a sudden was leading the league in batting average at .345.

There had to be a reason why over one offseason, players who previously weighed in at 185-225 lbs. shot up to 230-250 lbs. and actually gained speed, bat speed, and strength.

Aren’t these players cheaters as well? Didn’t they change the outcome of games?

There has been a spate of no-hitters thrown this year. A lot of people seem to think that it’s the age of the pitchers again. I don’t think it’s ability of the pitchers, it’s just that now the players don’t have the bat speed and strength to hit it out of the park like they used to.

Both Jackson and Rose were phenomenal players who achieved their accomplishments without the use of chemicals.

Did they cheat?

For Jackson, I doubt that we’ll ever find out the truth, but I put him in the same light as Jim Thorpe who had his Olympic medals taken away because someone took advantage of him.

Jackson should have his ban lifted and be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

He was one of the best hitters of his time (a career .356 hitter over 12 years) and if he had played as long as Cobb did (23 years) he could have easily had almost 3,400 hits.

As for Rose, the majority of his accomplishments were achieved far before his gambling ever took place. His style of play got him the nickname “Charlie Hustle.” Would that indicate to anyone that he was throwing games? 

Remember, this was the guy that blasted Ray Fosse in an All-Star Game because he was so bent on winning.

Here’s a question for you: Why do steroid users get second and third chances and gamblers get none?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

I want you to ask yourself this, what Major League Baseball players deserve to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame? Does Pete Rose deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? How about Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, or Roger Clemens? Maybe even one day New York Yankess third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who is on the eve of hitting home run No. 600?

While watching Hall of Fame outfielder Andre Dawson give his speech after his induction into Cooperstown on Sunday, he said some things that struck a chord with me and became the inspiration for this article.

“Do not be lured by the dark side. It’s a stain on the game. A stain gradually being removed. But that’s the people, not the game. Nothing wrong with the game. There never has been,” Dawson said.

He then continued with, “Baseball will, from time to time like anything else in life, fall victim to the mistakes that people make. It’s not pleasant and it’s not right.”

However, the quote that made the most impact in my mind was, “Individuals have chosen the wrong road, and they’re choosing that as their legacy. Those mistakes have hurt the game and taken a toll on all of us.” 

Dawson was clearly taking a shot at all players who have been accused or have openly admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs while playing baseball.

Ironically, those comments were coming from a man who endured 12 knee surgeries over an impressive 21-year major league career; a man who was an eight-time All-Star, with 438 career home runs, 2,774 hits, 1,591 RBI, and 314 stolen bases.

Dawson also spoke highly of Pete Rose, but didn’t lobby for his induction to the Hall of Fame.

Rose has been permanently banned from baseball since 1989 and thus keeps him from being enshrined in the one place he deserves.

That’s right sports fans, Pete Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame!

Pete Rose, aka Charlie Hustle, was the definition of a baseball player. Over his 23-year career, Rose was a three-time World Champion, 17-time All-Star (at five different positions: 2B, LF, RF, 3B, and 1B), two-time Golden Glove Award winner, 1963 NL Rookie of the Year, and 1973 NL MVP. He also holds a record that in my mind may never be broken—4,256 career hits.

Rose, however, was deemed permanently ineligible by then-Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti for allegedly betting on baseball games. He would later admit in his 2004 autobiography My Prison Without Bars that he did bet on baseball and other sports while he played for and managed the Cincinnati Reds. He also admitted that he bet on the Reds, but never bet against them.

Though Pete Rose may have bet on baseball games, including games he managed, he never cheated, something many of the great baseball players over the last decade have done.

Players such as Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens all have been linked to using performance-enhancing drugs. Among those players, only Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGwire have come forward and admitted that used medications that improved their play.

Last time I checked, anytime you use a substance that helps you enhance your performance would be considered…CHEATING!

Pete Rose isn’t a cheater. He never did anything to enhance his physical performance. 

This article isn’t solely about who has cheated and who hasn’t.

A professional baseball player’s induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame shouldn’t be determined solely on what records a player has broken, or what feats that player has accomplished, but what that player has given to the game of baseball itself. It needs to be about what that player has given to the fans of baseball as well.

Below are three outstanding baseball players, who have done wonderful things for the game of baseball, but because of their poor lack of judgement (i.e. Pete Rose) they too may never see the Hall of Fame. 

Mark McGwire

Mark McGwire was first eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2007. He can be remembered as one of the famous Bash Brothers (along with Jose Canseco) of the Oakland Athletics, McGwire broke the single season home run record for rookies in 1987 with 48 home runs. He was a 12-time All-Star, 1990 Gold Glove Award winner, three-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and the 1987 AL Rookie of the Year.

Eleven years later, in 1998, McGwire would gain national notoriety along with Sammy Sosa as they pursued the single season home run record the same way that Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris did in the summer of 1961.

Mark McGwire would finish the 1998 season with 70 home runs, nine more than Roger Maris hit in 1961.

However, McGwire’s amazing feat, toppling a record that stood for 37 years, would be tarnished by revelations that he used androstenedione, an over-the-counter muscle enhancement supplement, in order to shorten the time needed to recover from the physical wear on his body.

Although he never admitted to using steroids during the 1998 season, McGwire would admit in 2010 that he had used steroids during his playing career.

Barry Bonds

Do Barry Bonds’s stats alone give him enough credibility to be voted in for the Hall of Fame? Yes. Will the BALCO scandal and steroids be his downfall? Absolutely!

During Barry Bonds’s 21-year career he was a 14-time All Star, eight-time Gold Glove Award winner, 12-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and seven-time Most Valuable Player. He is also the single-season home run leader with 73 home runs, and is the career home run leader with 763 round trippers.

Bonds also had 2,935 career hits, 1,996 RBI, and 514 stolen bases.

His accomplishments alone should make him worthy of a first ballot induction to the Hall of Fame in 2013, however his involvement in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) may have tainted that.

Bonds was accused and indicted by a grand jury about his involvement with BALCO around the time he was chasing the single season and career home run records. Reports had been leaked on Bonds’s grand jury testimony contend that he admitted to unknowingly using “the cream” and “the clear” both being anabolic steroid supplements.

Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens will also be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2013 and his accolades and feats match that of Barry Bonds and then some. In his 23-year career, Clemens was a 11-time All-Star selection, seven-time Cy Young Award winner (having won the award in both American and National leagues), and the 1986 AL MVP.

Clemens is a member of the 300 win club, 3,000 strikeout club, 4,000 strikeout club, 300 wins-3,000 strikeout club, and in 1997 and ’98 won the pitching Triple Crown (wins, ERA, and strikeouts).

But, Clemens’s accomplishments will be marred by his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens’s former personal strength coach, Brian McNamee, came forward an admitted that he had injected Clemens with steroids during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 seasons.

Clemens was also mentioned in former US Senator George Mitchell’s report on steroid use in baseball 82 times; however Clemens still denies that he had ever used steroids or performance-enhancing drugs.

In conclusion, I believe that if any one of these players, including Alex Rodriguez (who will probably hit 770 home runs, and openly admitted to use performance-enhancing drugs) should be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, that Pete Rose also be given a fair chance for reinstatement.

We all need to remember that baseball is a game a majority of us loved while growing up, and that all these youngsters who have dreams of one day making it to the Majors and maybe even the Hall of Fame will get there, with hard work and determination.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In the 2010 MLB All-Star Game, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier will be starting in his first ever All-Star Game. For Ethier, just being selected is, no doubt, a thrill, and being chosen as a starter probably doubles his excitement.

Perhaps Andre Ethier will one day be on this list of the players who have the most All-Star Game starts, by position, in National League history.

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