Steroid allegations - Who would make you the most upset?

[CROM]

this isnt a witch hunt thread.. ive thought about this a alot.. ive had these conversations with various friends of mine.. who (if any) would upset and surprise you the most?

my favorite player is Chipper Jones so obviously that would hurt me the most..

Ken Griffey Jr. would hurt as well...

Greg Maddux... i might stop watching baseball for good..

who (other than the obvious) would hurt you the most?

[Captain Cold Nose]

this isnt a witch hunt thread.. ive thought about this a alot.. ive had these conversations with various friends of mine.. who (if any) would upset and surprise you the most?

my favorite player is Chipper Jones so obviously that would hurt me the most..

Ken Griffey Jr. would hurt as well...

Greg Maddux... i might stop watching baseball for good..

who (other than the obvious) would hurt you the most?

I think we've visited this topic before. In this day and age, I wouldn't be upset by anyone's admittance/getting caught. Maddux would surprise me a little bit.

When Wally Joyner admitted to it a few years back, it surprised me. But it also made me realize it is likely far more widespread than many will allow themselves to admit. So, after Joyner, no real surprises.

[whoisonit]

I understand what you mean about no surprises. I suppose disillusionment , disappointment and cynicism would be more apt. I don't think any player would surprise me anymore. Frankly, everyone who played in this tainted era is open to speculation.

The one player that really gnaws at me, because of his record, is Cal Ripkin. I only wish there was some way for him to prove he didn't.
( I know he doesn't have to prove anything, there's never been a hint of anything, bla, bla, bla - just answering the post's question).

[bob]

If maddux was found to have taken steroids i think id loose all faith in humanity. Well at least all pitchers.
Pujols would be another devastating blow.

[EdTarbusz]

At this point in time, all players are suspect, in my opinion.

[Seattle1]

I would eat my hat if Ichiro was using steroids.

[Urbanshocker13]

I would eat my hat if Ichiro was using steroids.

Are you from the 1920's? 'Great Caesar's Ghost'!:D

[Seattle1]

Ichiro is the cat's pajamas!

[John Shoemaker]

I would be upset if Jeff Kent was found to use steroids - IMO he is the most under rated player in the last 15 years.

[Gregory Pratt]

Ichiro. Hamilton. Maddux. Pedro. Thome.

That's about it.

[Gregory Pratt]

Well, Frank Thomas, too.

[Old Sweater]

Juan Pierre

Rumor has it his cap size has went up from a 6&1/2 to 6&5/8 so I'm starting to get worried about the Mighty "Juan"

Li'll "O"

Omar the Great is still beating kids out of a starting SS job at age 41 so I'm a little worried there also.

[Tyrus4189Cobb]

Manny Ramirez, Jake Peavy, and especially Albert Pujols

[hellborn]

Jennie Finch.


Actually, Big Papi would bother me even more.

[steve rogers]

Arod, Jeter and Mariano.

Arod because everyone wants him to make the home run record clean again, and he's one of my two favorite players.

Jeter because it would just devestate Yankees fans, and provide fodder for Yankee haters forever.

Mariano because he's Mariano. He's the one guy I'm 100% sure has never used. I would be absolutly stunned if he was named.

Scott

[whoisonit]

Mariano because he's Mariano. He's the one guy I'm 100% sure has never used.


How is that possible ?

[digglahhh]

Full disclosure: few are more adamant than I when it comes to presuming any individual player clean, barring tangible evidence to the contrary.

With that said, at the same time, my estimate of how many players - raw number-wise, no individual finger pointing - is probably higher than most.

Now, if you build a glass house on the battlefield of a stone fight, should you be angry at anybody other than yourself if the house happens get destroyed?

Nobody's a criminal, everybody's a suspect. Any other way of thinking about it and the blame lies mostly in your own naivete.

Just my opinion.

[CROM]

personally i dont even care about PEDs.. i have had that mindset throughout the duration of this "scandal".. BUT i think most have that guy of theirs whod they be dissapointed with if they were to get caught up in an allegation..
from a realistic approach i think most have dabbled at least a bit.. they are competitve athletes after all..
nobody wants to see thier guy go through what others are going through.. nobody wants to be embarassed that 'so and so' is their favorite player or make up excuses on thier behalf ect...
you have your obvious candidates who are only obvious due to power numbers and you have your 'not in a millions years guys'.. its all quite hypocritical in my opinion considering that steroids dont just help with the long ball and 100 mph strikes..
i dont even know how it can be considered cheating really.. to me its the equivalent to an athlete smoking weed before a game to help with migrains or something.. i know not everyone takes that stance and im not even prepared to defend my arguement.. i just cant see myself bashing a guy for doing something that most of his peers were doing at the time and also doing something that i probably would have done if i were in the same situation.
wow.. did i get carried away or what....

[wardawg]

I would not be upset about anybody being named a sterioid users. I feel that the whole steroid issue is out of control. All this has turned into is a witch hunt. First of all, I could take all the steroids in the world and still not be able to compete at a minor league level, let alone a major league level. Second, I beleive that as many pitchers as hitters were users so this makes it a pretty level playing field.

[John Shoemaker]

I would not be upset about anybody being named a sterioid users. I feel that the whole steroid issue is out of control. All this has turned into is a witch hunt. First of all, I could take all the steroids in the world and still not be able to compete at a minor league level, let alone a major league level. Second, I beleive that as many pitchers as hitters were users so this makes it a pretty level playing field.

I completely agree with everything you said - you summed up my feelings exactly.

[STLCards2]

I would not be upset about anybody being named a sterioid users. I feel that the whole steroid issue is out of control. All this has turned into is a witch hunt. First of all, I could take all the steroids in the world and still not be able to compete at a minor league level, let alone a major league level. Second, I beleive that as many pitchers as hitters were users so this makes it a pretty level playing field.

I agree with the overall meaasge of your post, but with two exceptions:

1. All of the steroids in the world will not make me ever come close to a MLB talent, true- but in a game of inches, over the period of 600 plate appearances a year, small increases in power/velocity, etc. can and do (most likely) have noticable impacts on the results of play. How much? We don't know, but you can look at players who were "caught" and compare pre-roid or post-roid numbers with roid numbers and tell it does have an impact.

2. The hitter vs. pitcher playing field does even out - if you are are a roider hitting agaianst another roider, or a non-roider hitting against a non-roider. the field is certainly not even if you are not a roider facing a roider.

The issue is that we will never know who did roids, how much impact it had, and the players, owners, agents, and smart fans (who knew it was happening) did nothing about it when it was happening for years, but are now whining an acting all hurt- not that steroids doesn't have a meaning ful impact.

I hate the witch hunt too, but one should not the dismiss steroids as being a non-factor either. I wish there was a commong ground we could all agree on.

[west coast orange and black]

baseball is still fun -- no matter what -- crom, bob, pratt, tyrus4189cobb and steve rogers.

[Los Bravos]

When Wally Joyner admitted to it a few years back, it surprised me. But it also made me realize it is likely far more widespread than many will allow themselves to admit. So, after Joyner, no real surprises.I tend to take Wally at his word, namely that his use was a brief episode, brought on by his wishing to restore some of his time-eroded skils, that he sincerely regretted. (In other words, the same story as Pettite, although I have far less regard for his veracity.)

It's still not good, but I would consider that a different matter, morally, than long term use and abuse.

[StanTheMan]

Are you from the 1920's? 'Great Caesar's Ghost'!:D

And How! Good post there, fella.

[Old Sweater]

If any player has ever recieved a shot of cortisone they have used steroids.

[Gregory Pratt]

I'd be devastated if Old Sweater were on steroids.

[abolishthedh]

Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux.

The effect of peer pressure is stronger than most of us want to admit, and I also believe that the primary benefit of steroid use is the boost in confidence. This, IMHO, means any user will experience quick results after using the stuff. This also means that steroids testing has extreme limitations, because a player could pass his test, then use and within days see significant improvement. Its just a hunch, but I believe the psychological benefit will be greater for a player who did not have sufficient faith in his abilities in the first place. Its also assumed that a user didn't have much faith in his abilities in order to be a user in the first place. This rant will hopefully summarize why I wouldn't be surprised at most of the names which crop up.

And yet, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux don't fit these profiles and so I would be surprised, and highly disappointed if they end up busted.

[BenHertz]

Darryl Strawberry.