Major League Baseball and steroids. What ever happened to apple pie? What are we teaching our children?
352031
There are many points of view to this question. Some people, like Charles Barkley (NBA analyst for TNT), would tell you that it is NOT the responsibility of athletes and sports franchises to raise your children or teach them what kind of person to be. They claim that's the parent's responsibility. And that is true... to a degree.\n\nHowever, the parent's job of teaching a child the difference between right and wrong becomes much more difficult when a child can watch a professional athlete reach the pinnacle of his profession by flaunting the laws of a country and the ethics of the sport. How do you explain that cheating is wrong when the child can clearly to point an example that shows how a person benefits from it and is allowed to get away with it?\n\nThe only answer I see is to talk plainly with a child and explain that life isn't always fair, that those who do wrong aren't always caught, and that sometimes, even when they are caught, they aren't punished. Truth is the best way to make a child understand something. And it might also help to make sure they fully understand that, in the end, it's just a game and doesn't have any lasting impact on the real world.
1037712
Yes he should be banned.  Although technically he was not cheating, we was breaking the law.  In case some of you forgot, steroids are ILLEGAL! Bonds is my favorite all-time player, but if he has been found to use steriods he broke the law and should be punished for it.  Rose broke the law and the rules of baseball and paid the price for doing so. I hope that it comes out that he did not use, but all indications point to that he did use and that is unfortunate because I think he was well on his way to becoming the best player in baseball history without using steriods.  Too bad.
1162048
My hero   - Jim Thome -   we sat next to the dugout at cleveland indians spring training game in 1996  -  he cracked his bat and gave it to us\n\nAddition\nReply to answerer regarding Jim Thome snubbing youth- wow -  well-  when Jim Thome walked off the field he had my husband (now ex) bring my youngest son (2 1/2 years old) over so he could hand it to him .  He had posed with a great big smile for a picture  for my other son - almost 6 at the time right before he batted -  and Manager Mike Hargrove chatted with me and gave me two baseballs for my sons  -  so all I saw was the fact that they were  extremely nice to kids.
420861
Red Sox! The Evil Empire is finished! :)
325343
The strike of 1994 really hurt MLB and it's attendance. In 1998 when McGwire and Sosa were chasing Maris's single season HR record,  it brought fans back to the game. MLB commissioner Bud "The DUD" Selig didn't want to upset the flow of $$$$$ generated by the long ball, therefore, even though he knew what was happening, he decided to do nothing. It's only because of recent publications of books like "Juiced" and "Game of Shadows" Selig was forced to finally take a stand.
1171100
There isn't that large of a fan base for the pros.  We used to go to the games and virtually no one was there in the stands.  I think that they should have left softball in the olympics.  Softball has always been a hot topic of the olympics.  Since I have graduated from college, I had to hang up my glove.  Damn, it hurt so bad.  Now all I have to look forward to is the NCAA championships to watch each May.  I tried coaching varsity high school softball, but the girls didn't have the heart that I had for the sport and it was just too frustrating.  The problem is that people like watching men play sports more so than women.  What's sad is that I have to listen to my boyfriend say that MLB is much harder than Fastpitch softball.  It really pisses me off.  I think that ESPN has noticed that they get great ratings during NCAA championships, so now they might play the National games.  I have a couple of friends that played pro in Akron, but they didn't get paid good and the fan base was not great.
343038
YO YO listen up...this is revolutionary.\n\nBaseball pretty much sucked in the early parts on the 1900's. Then scientists got smart and figured out what it was good for.\n\nInsomniatic patients finally had a way to get sleep! Simply turn on a Cubs game and presto! A deep sweet sleep in no time. People don't watch baseball for the game, just for the hot dogs, the drinks, and sleep.
323730
NO  I do not think Barry has ever been suspended nor found guilty of any illegal substances in his body. I will guarantee you he has to pee in the bottle at regular intervals. The steroid use is only rumor and has never been proven as fact. By the way, why is it only star hitters are being accused. Did both Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens find the fountain of youth in their 40"s or was it in a needle?
517195
I am sorry, but if they wanted to play baseball then they should play it without taking steroids. They wanted to play the sport then be a man and play the sport without steroids. They need to work out and start lifting weights to get stronger and practice more to get better. Steroids are uncalled for.
1171428
Hmm  I don't think anyone has yet hit the newly built box adjacent of the batter.  And I think the construction included special tempered glass/plastic?  I am not sure.  Did hear something about it on the news, but got distracted by the kids fighting.  However, I hope that the player would not be responsible.  At least I am hoping.  He has no control of where he hits the ball.  And you are talking about the the home field of the Cubs.  And they definitely have no control this year.  However, I am sure the ball club would consider taking care of it.  Would you offer to pay for the broken window that you hit a ball into?
1020517
In an article Jay Marriorti commented on an interaction with Guillen and a rookie pitcher.  After two of his players got hit he put a rookie in the game with orders to hit the batter.  The pitcher got the batter out but did not hit him.  He was pulled out of the game and Guillen was seen yelling at him in the dugout.  The pitcher started crying and was demonted to the minor leagues the next day.  When asked O. Guillen claimed due to a trade the picture was demonted the next day to the minors and that he was yelling at the whole team and not just the rookie pitcher.  The reporter Jay Mariotti stated that rookie pitchers shouldn't be used as "goons on demand" and critziced Guillens coaching style.  He later in an interview with 20 reporters reffered to Mariotti as a "peice of s**t and "a f*****g f*****t".  When confronted on that he claimed his english wasn't that good after being in the United States for a quater of a century.  Went on to claim that he would not be attending sensitivity training.  The Socks, Guillen and Mariotti have had a fued going for some time.  With the reporter getting threats and in this incident Guillen refuses to apologize to Mariotti but did apologize to the gay community.  This is not O. Guillen's first episode with poor word choices.  I'll post the link for you.
494509
http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=7774
235854
I feel that the whole MLB is tainted and that it doesn't matter anymore what Barry does because steroids are everywhere. Major League Baseball is "trying" to fix the problem while all they are doing is just looking the other way while a player is juicing.\n\nPlayers are probably juicing right now as we speak without any consequences because Major League Baseball doesn't care. The MLB is a business. People come to watch, buy merchandise (jerseys), and want to see the players that can hit the long ball. MLB turns the other cheek to players that do steroids because the ones that are hitting the long ball use them.\n\nSteroids is tarnishing the history of the game, but is what will keep Major League Baseball alive in the future. People today love controversy and the long ball (both can be acquired by steroid use.) If Bonds starts hitting home runs again I'm sure people won't hate him as much as they do now.
578718
I have to say that I agree with the allegations that he did use steroids. ESPN the Magazine just had a story about him with a picture of him in '93 and one of him recently. Same pose (stretching before going to bat with the bat over his head). He didn't even look like the same person. However, I'm still undecided on whether or not he was aware that he was using steroids. But, it seems to me that'd be kind of hard not to realize that you're getting that much bigger that fast. On the other hand, you still have to have some talent and hand-eye coordination to make contact with the ball. So, it's not like steroids were the only thing that have propelled him to third all-time in HRs. There's talent there, too. But, I love the Giants and I love watching Barry play. I'm glad he's so close to the HR second place record and I hope he breaks Ruth's second place record and comes back again next year. His agent said that he expects him to return next year, just not sure for what team...be a DH in the AL or continue to play for the Giants? I think everyone should just lay off him, though, and let the man play baseball...for goodness sakes' it's just a sport...and, Ruth and Mantle, etc. weren't all exactly saints either...
1018935
When the book first came out, I bought it out of morbid curiosity. As you are reading it, you come away with the sense that Canseco is full of himself, acting as this "Steroid Messiah", and stating that all performance enhancing drugs are the way of the future and, if used in moderation, is the wonder drug of the new Millennium. In retrospect, as more and more dirt is getting exposed, while Canseco is a jerk, etc., he was actually on the pulse of the hgh/steroid issue long before anyone was aware of the problem. When the book first came out, I don't think anyone believed him and his statements about the seriousness of the problem. Now it looks like he was only scratching the surface. While his "outing" of his teammates may be looked down upon as backstabbing, in the long run, I feel it will help the game get back to being on a level playing field for all players. Sad that it took this scandal and book, but the end will justify the means I feel.
613335
Athletes are getting better and better but their cheating the game. It has gotten to the point that any time someone has done something great, people in the back of their heads are saying" Are they on steriods?" People/Fans are always going to wonder, this was never like this 10 years ago, but now, its a main stay in all sports. Unfortunitly it has really hindered sports, esp baseball, with the whole Barry Bonds thing.
227073
It's very possible that ALL pro sports are "fixed", but highly unlikely.  There is just too much media scrutiny and someone always talks, just look at the steroids thing in baseball.