Category: MLB (Page 265 of 448)

      Roy Oswalt: Erase A-Rod’s numbers

      February 13, 2009 /

      If Astros’ pitcher Roy Oswalt had things his way, any player who admits or is caught using performance-enhancing drugs would have all of his numbers erased from baseball’s record books.

      Alex RodriguezThat includes Alex Rodriguez, who on Monday admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs after a Sports Illustrated report revealed he had failed a drug test in 2003.

      “A-Rod’s numbers shouldn’t count for anything,” Oswalt said in a phone interview with MLB.com. “I feel like he cheated me out of the game.”

      “It does bother me,” Oswalt said. “Especially for the guys that went out there and did it on talent. We’re always going to have a cloud on us, and that’s not fair at all.

      “The ones that have come out and admitted it, and are proven guilty, [their numbers] should not count. I’ve been cheated out of the game,” Oswalt continued. “This is my ninth year, and I’ve done nothing to enhance my performance, other than work my butt off to get guys out. These guys [who took PEDs] have all the talent in the world. All-Star talent. And they put times two on it.

      “I’m going out there with the ability God gave me. They have that ability, too, and they’re putting something on top of it.”

      Oswalt said he considers Henry Aaron to be the all-time home run leader, despite Barry Bonds’ official place at the top of the record books in that category.

      I think you speak for all baseball fans, Roy. Viva la Oswalt!

      If I’ve said it once this week, I’ve said it a million times – the sad part is that A-Rod didn’t even need the riods. He’s always been better than any player in the league and the fact that he sought the aid of performance-enhancers is what is most disturbing regarding this situation. Instead of going down as one of the best players to ever play the game, he’ll be remembered for cheating. Well done, Alex.

      MLB

      Selig to reinstate Hank Aaron as home run king?

      February 13, 2009 /

      Baseball commissioner Bud Selig apparently isn’t ruling out the idea of stripping Barry Bonds of the home run record and giving it back to Hank Aaron.

      For the first time Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has said he would consider a move to strip Barry Bonds of his record for all-time home runs, according to a report.

      Christine Brennan of USA Today called on Selig to alter baseball’s record book and reinstate Aaron as the official record-holder for the most career home runs. Aaron hit 755 in 23 seasons. Bonds broke Aaron’s record in 2007, and with his career seemingly over, he has 762 in 22 seasons.

      In a telephone interview with Brennan on Wednesday, Selig said of altering the record book: “Once you start tinkering, you can create more problems. But I’m not dismissing it. I’m concerned. I’d like to get more evidence.”

      Attempts to reach Selig and Aaron on Thursday evening were unsuccessful.

      Not to rain on anyone’s parade here because there’s nothing I’d love to see more than the home run title go back to its rightful owner, but Selig can’t do anything to the record with Bonds never officially being tied to steroids. We can speculate all we want, but Bonds has never officially tested positive for any performance-enhancing drug and even if he did, there was no penalty against players using steroids until 2004. (We can all thank the previously mentioned Bud Selig for that.)

      That said, if Selig were able to reinstate Hammerin’ Hank as the rightful owner of the home run record, then maybe it would be a small step in bringing purity back to the game of baseball, which has been dragged through the mud over the past decade. Then again, with this seemingly daunting task left in Selig’s hands, we can probably forget about the record ever going back under Aaron’s name.

      MLB

      Ken Griffey Jr. heading back to Seattle

      February 12, 2009 /

      According to MLB.com, Ken Griffey Jr. is nearing an agreement on a one-year contract to return to the Mainers.

      Ken Griffey Jr.A little more than nine years after being traded to the Reds for four players, Griffey and the Mariners are nearing agreement on a one-year contract.

      Griffey, who is playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament this week, could join the Mariners in Spring Training as early as Wednesday — the day of the first full-squad workout.

      Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik would neither confirm or deny that a deal is imminent, saying, “I do not comment on free agents.”

      The deal would not be finalized until Griffey passes a physical, which is expected to occur in the Phoenix area.

      Griffey had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in October to repair a partially torn meniscus and cartilage and the tending physician said the 39-year-old outfielder has completely recovered.

      Griffey has always been one of the best on and off the field. Injuries derailed his career or else maybe we could have been talking about Junior being the home run champ, instead of riodbag Barry Bonds.

      MLB

      Dunn and Abreu are off the market – is Manny next?

      February 12, 2009 /

      With Bobby Abreu set to sign a one-year deal with the Angels and Adam Dunn set on a two-year contract with the Nationals, one would assume that Manny Ramirez’s name will be the next to come off the free agent market.

      Rumor has it that Abreu and Dunn were the Dodgers’ backup plan if they couldn’t work out a deal with Ramirez, although according to L.A. GM Ned Colletti, that has never been the case.

      Manny RamirezRamirez stands alone among available sluggers now. Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu are off the market, Dunn gone to the Washington Nationals and Abreu to the Angels, two signings greeted with a shrug at Chavez Ravine.

      “I don’t expect them to impact us,” Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti said.

      It’s Manny or nothing for the Dodgers. They never said anything different. There appears to be Manny money in the budget, reserved for him, not intended to be spent otherwise.

      I think everybody is going to need a hard drink after this situation is over. I don’t even know what to write anymore. This is like watching two chip leaders at a poker game and neither of them wants to put the other one in. Somebody (the Giants) should just walk up to the table and flip the whole damn thing over and end this charade.

      MLB

      Suspension coming for A-Rod?

      February 12, 2009 /

      According to USA Today, baseball commissioner Bud Selig hasn’t ruled out suspending Yankees’ third basemen Alex Rodriguez after he admitted to using steroids from 2001 to 2003.

      Alex RodriguezSelig and Major League Baseball officials realize any attempt to suspend Rodriguez would be challenged by the players union since the penalty phase of the testing policy was not implemented until 2004. Yet Selig said he sent a memo banning steroids around 1997 and that it was illegal to possess them without a prescription.

      “It was against the law, so I would have to think about that,” Selig told USA TODAY’s Christine Brennan in his first comments since Rodriguez’s admission. “It’s very hard. I’ve got to think about all that kind of stuff.”

      Rodriguez would be the first to serve a suspension without testing positive during the penalty years.

      “I don’t want to create any false hope,” he said, “but I am saddened. This is breaking my heart, I don’t mind telling you that.”

      Sorry, Bud, but you can’t start punishing players now for rules you never had in place to begin with. If you didn’t want to enforce a steroid policy at the time A-Rod took performance-enhancers, then you can’t turn around six years later and punish him.

      This is just another situation that shows Selig’s utter incompetence. And it’s a joke to hear that Selig is “saddened” by all of this. Please. You’re telling me Selig didn’t know all of this was going on? He’s turned a blind eye to all the steroid talk and allowed the union to get away with whatever it wanted because the dollars were pouring in again after the ’93 strike. Selig’s reaction to all of this is laughable.

      MLB

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