Mac Gets Screwed

[Tom In VA]

That Billy Ripkin pic is COMPLETE BULLSHIT.

The Greatest Man In Human History, Cal Ripkin Jr, would NEVER use profanity. That pic was wytched to sully the image of the GREAT CAL RIPKIN JR., THE GREATEST HUMAN TO EVER LIVE!!!!!!!!


Besides, common sense would dictate that Cal would never take time out of his busy schedule to scribble on a bat, since he was much too busy curing cancer at the time.

Personally I think Billy was the "Good Son" and that Cal scribbled that on the bat AND hid his coke in Billy's shoes.


At least that's what all the barflies and malcontents around here used to say. They don't lie.

[Shoalzie]

I never understood why the guy who catches his wife goes after the dude? Your wife is the one who is being dishonest. Go put her head through the wall first.

Let's see...would you rather be a guy who fights other guys or would you rather be a guy that hits women? The old rule applies...unless she's threatening your life or about to cause you grave bodily harm...never strike a woman. You want to be the bigger person in the matter so either dump her or kick the other guy's ass.

[Dinsdale]

You want to be the bigger person in the matter so either dump her or kick the other guy's ass.

In Schotzie's case, either way, he keeps it in the family.

[bbqjones]

i have at least 15 fuckface cards for trade. maybe twenty. they book for 10 or fifteen bucks.

cal is hof first ballot. numbers speak even without the streak.

gwynn same jism. .338 is nice. .394 for the shortened season. fuck , dude could have hit .409 or .370 that year. hof'er.

mcgwire, bonds and sam horn are all hof'ers*

*my baseball card collection

[BSmack]

And this all just goes to show what an absolutely incredible PR machine that Cal had working for him.

Bumping the weed intake upward again eh? Only in your fantasy world could a lack of information backing your claim be spun into just another part of the "pro-Cal conspiracy". What makes you think that the same media that has no qualms exposing well... EVERYBODY else on the planet earth would have had any hesitation going after Ripken? Try to avoid using any tin foil from your hat in your response.

[Nishlord]

Seriously, steroids don't help anyone's hand/eye coordination. It was still McGwire/Bonds measuring those pitches and hitting them. I've never seen anyone hit the ball on a line with such consistency than Bonds and injections of bull testosterone or whatever don't aid in that.

No, but they do rather cut down on the fly-outs.

I remember tuning in to Channel 5 (which was a brand-new terrestrial channel at the time, and the first one to treat MLB as a serious sport) at 3am on a nightly basis at the end of that season, and jumping up and dowm like a bastard when McGwire beat Maris. The only other times American sports made me feel like that was when the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl(for personal reasons), when Tyson bit Holyfield's ear (for fucking-hell-did-you see-that reasons) and when Ali beat Foreman (for I-know-I'm-only-6-and-I'm-dead-excited-to-be-allowed-to-stay-up-but-even-I-know-I'm-watching-history reasons).

[BSmack]

I don't know anything about the coke deal, but the "pro-Cal conspiracy" exists. It has since 1984 when Cal wasn't even the best player on his infield that year.

Well I guess that explains why Cal got his MVP award in 1983 and not 1984.

It was intensified after giving baseball it's first feel-good moment after the strike and his willingness to be accessable to as many fans as possible.

Cal was like that long before the strike. I personally witnessed Cal Ripken's dedication to the fans when he was a "can't miss" minor leaguer here in Rochester. Even then, when not too many people gave a damn, he was willing to go the extra mile.

Either from a carefully crafted image or the media's unwillingness to tear down his folk hero aura, you can't deny they have treated Ripken differently than they would any other high profile athlete.

Well, I suppose that's what happens when you ACT differently than other high profile athletes.

[Diego in Seattle]

Baseball players seem to think that steroids just came on the scene. Most of the public has known about their use in sport since the 1976 Olympics. And they have felt that they use of them constitutes an unfair attempt at getting ahead.

Most americans believe that athletes should get better based on hard work or study (like how Gwynn studied hitting). They don't believe that athletes should win simply because they found a better (or sneakier) pharmacist.

So let the players live in their deluded world & believe that fans won't care about their use of substances that are illegal to even possess. They might win HR races or records, but they'll never win the hearts of most americans in doing so.

[ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2]

Baseball players seem to think that steroids just came on the scene. Most of the public has known about their use in sport since the 1976 Olympics. And they have felt that they use of them constitutes an unfair attempt at getting ahead.

Most americans believe that athletes should get better based on hard work or study (like how Gwynn studied hitting). They don't believe that athletes should win simply because they found a better (or sneakier) pharmacist.

So let the players live in their deluded world & believe that fans won't care about their use of substances that are illegal to even possess. They might win HR races or records, but they'll never win the hearts of most americans in doing so.

Since when are you an authority of what "baseball players seem to think" or what "most of the public" or "most americans" believe and/or know?


You are quite possibly... the dumbest motherfucker to ever log-on to the internet.

[quacker backer]

I never understood why the guy who catches his wife goes after the dude? Your wife is the one who is being dishonest. Go put her head through the wall first.

Actually just cut both of their heads off. That is, if I did it.

Sincerely,
Orenthal

RACK!!!!
OJ resets are never a bad idea!!


As for the Dinsie backpedalling....
really really weak...

[BSmack]

So let the players live in their deluded world & believe that fans won't care about their use of substances that are illegal to even possess. They might win HR races or records, but they'll never win the hearts of most americans in doing so.

This is what McGwire won with the help of Vitamin S.

1986 Oakland Athletics $60,000
1987 Oakland Athletics $72,500
1988 Oakland Athletics $250,000
1989 Oakland Athletics $510,500
1990 Oakland Athletics $1,500,000
1991 Oakland Athletics $2,850,000
1992 Oakland Athletics $2,700,000
1993 Oakland Athletics $4,000,000
1994 Oakland Athletics $3,000,000
1995 Oakland Athletics $6,925,000
1996 Oakland Athletics $7,050,000
1997 Oakland Athletics $7,150,000
1998 St. Louis Cardinals $8,928,354
1999 St. Louis Cardinals $9,358,667
2000 St. Louis Cardinals $9,333,333
2001 St. Louis Cardinals $11,000,000
Career (may be incomplete) $74,688,354

http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcgwima01.shtml

[Mike Backer]

Saw T. Gwynn for the first time in a long time on Letterman last night. I always knew dude was a skilled fat guy, but he is officially morbidly obese. If he isn't over 4 bills, he's gotta be just a biscuit or two away.

[Nishlord]

If you want to see baseball at it's best, Nish, you should watch any post season play from the 80's, with the exception being '87 and '89{except for the quake}.


Particularly, you'll want to catch the '85 and '86 post seasons. Watch every game you can. Bitter memories for some, liberating for others. But most definetly, it'll show you baseball at its emotional zenith.

The first World Series I ever followed was highlights of the '86 one, so I know what you're saying.

[Smackie Chan]

Don't get me wrong...I'm all about TG going to his rightfully-earned place in the hall...next year.

I didn't mean to imply he wasn't a great player...he clearly was. Just not first-ballot material, imo. Close, but not quite.

Bullshit. Are you saying that a voter's mindset should be something like, "Well, dude's numbers do warrant induction, and his place in the Hall was rightfully earned, but since he wasn't a once-in-a-generation player, I'll vote "no" this year and save my "yes" vote for later."

If you believe he deserves induction, you vote "yes." Plain and simple. If enough voters do that the first year a player is eligible, he's a first-ballot inductee. Sin, MA.

And aren't most pitchers "one-tool" players? Yeah, I know pitching is different, and isn't among the five tools commonly cited by scouts when assessing position players. But if we're going to establish a threshold for the number of tools a player must have for enshrinement, what should it be? Two? Three? Four? In Gwynn's case, he was great with one tool - contact hitting. In his prime, he was above average in fielding, and possibly foot speed. His throwing arm was average, and he was a below-average power hitter. But ultimately, his greatness in the one area in which he excelled is what got him into the Hall. It wasn't his combination of fielding prowess, foot speed, and hitting. It was HITTING! If there was a way to meaningfully quantify the other tools and come up with an aggregate score for all of them, many players who were above average in all of them, but not great in any of them, would outscore Gwynn. But they wouldn't necessarily get inducted.

The Hall is for greatness, and just as it is rare to come across a true five-tool player, it is about equally as rare to find players who are truly great in any one area. And fair or not, the tools are not given equal weight by the voters. Hitting for average and power hitting factor in more heavily than the other three. Lou Brock is in primarily for his stolen bases (foot speed), which will also be Rickey's ticket in, but speed contributes to higher batting averages and better fielding (greater range), and Rickey also had leadoff power. Very few players are inducted based solely on defensive ability, whereas a high lifetime BA or 500+ HRs is almost always redeemable for a punched ticket.

And, like it or not, character counts, too. Gwynn spent his whole career with one (usually crappy) team in a medium-sized market, never bitched about money, and didn't find himself on the police blotter. He was cordial with fans and the press. While none of this has anything to do with his ability to play the game, it does factor into HoF balloting. Everyone knew during the final years of his career that he was bound for Cooperstown. No one said anything about him being a second or third ballot inductee. When he became eligible, he was voted in.

Case closed.

[Atomic Punk]

pffffft

Since when are you an authority of what "baseball players seem to think" or what "most of the public" or "most americans" believe and/or know?


You are quite possibly... the dumbest motherfucker to ever log-on to the internet.

Agreed.