Why do you have to rehash the same nonsense about Cardinals players and steroid allegations? We know all this stuff already and it’s getting old. I look forward to your blog updates from spring training… I check them religiously. However, what we look for in those updates is news about spring training (as you’ve been doing every day). So unless there is another blog update forthcoming that details today’s activities, I will be very disaapointed.

I think it is of no consequence the Cardinals have more than other teams. Just because there were some players named does not mean that all who used them were named. The sources were limited who were known to the Mitchell people. Other players may have used sources which were not discovered by the Mitchell people. Therefore, let’s put a lid on it and concentrate on the upcoming season. By the way, the Cardinals are going to be much better than the merchants of doom keep projecting. At least, we will not be suffering through Jimmy striking out or Rolen popping up killing rally after rally. If one of the young guys do that, they will at least have an upside.

dg:

I had the opportunity to be in Washington, D.C. a few weeks back when
Roger Clemens was testifying before Congress. I think a local commentator said it best:
“Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, the War on Terror, Global Warming, Budget Deficits, the viability of Social Security and Medicare, and what is the most pressingly important question before the Congress? What Roger Clemens may or may not have done TEN YEARS AGO.”

I think that puts it in perspective much better than I could.

DG,

Despite the above comments, I think it is of consequence that the Cardinals\’ have a significant number of these individuals. I think it points to an organizational decision. The Cardinals\’ ownership has been consistent on the topic, to date. I have read a significant amount of the Mitchell Report pertaining to the players, and I believe that it is severally lacking in factual evidence. As has been too often the case with the PED issue, it is filled with conjecture, hear-say, and circumstantial evidence. In this country, despite what certain local radio personalities say, you cannot judge an individual guilty based solely on this type of evidence. Consequently, you cannot take away that individual\’s right to make a living (pursuit of happiness, and all) without convictable evidence. The players currently at Spring Training for the Cardinals have either been punished (Franklin), exonorated based on lack of evidence (Glaus and Ankiel), not directly implicated (Gonzalez), or not fully investigated (Villone). If MLB wishes to actually take issue with individual players cited in the Mitchell Report, then let the process take place. Until then, the Cardinals organization has nothing for which to apologize.

Due process is the most important right we have, and even millionaire baseball players are entitled to it.

Thanks.

I also think this Cardinals team can be better than many project. Most of the roster can improve over last season’s performances, when virtually everything went wrong and they still finished just 6 games under. Let’s be patient with the young guys.

As for the PED issue, I’d like to see some real scientific evidence of what difference they really make. I’ve seen one story about a study with amateur athletes and its findings were negligible. It’s fairly clear that anabolic steroids can help build muscle tissue, supposedly allowing you to weightlift more often or something. But HGH benefits are fuzzier. Some say it really only helps the body to heal and may not really be a performance enhancer. As for amphetamines, didn’t Pete Rose in his book admit to using them when they were part of the culture in the ’60s-’80s? Seems like a high-energy guy like Rose would get more benefit from that than steroids/HGH.

We’ve made such a huge deal out of this being the steroid era, but every era has had quirks, particulary with regard to homerun records. At some point you have to factor in that all stadiums have different dimensions. Yankee Stadium was tailor-made for Ruth, and Atlanta moved in the fences during Aaron’s final years, creating the Launching Pad (remember Aaron, Davey Johnson and Darrell Evans all hit 40 homers one year?).

We should stop obsessing over some records that were probably meaningless anyway, and just make sure the playing field is level with PED testing (for whatever it’s worth), so we can just enjoy the game again.

it is so hard to differentiate between those that did and those that didn’t and those who say they did not but maybe did. the reasonable thing to do is go forward from here with random testing with proven methods. everyone deserves the benefit of doubt. if they can prove a player cheated, he should be punished but an accusation without proof should not figure into the decision making. it is time to move on.