MLB 2010/11

[irul&ublo]

There are three guys to hit 500 hrs and have a .325 BA...Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Stan Musial. Pujols is only 45 from 500.

[Benny Profane]

There are four guys to hit 500 hrs and have a .325 BA...Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Stan Musial and Puljos.

I repeat in another way. You are comparing an active player on the cusp of his prime to complete career stats. Get back to me in ten years.

[iceman]

Whole lot harder to take career extending drugs these days, so no more Bonds and Clemens. That is the #1 reason HR numbers soared. Then again, if Selig ignores test results....

Well okay I guess but he's younger than Ruth or Aaron to hit 400 too, and with advances in sports medicine and training (and maybe some go-juice we never even heard of yet), who knows...

[The AD]

Yeah, but, those numbers will be so diluted in ten years. Re: Ortiz.

Maybe, maybe not. According to Baseball Reference the most similar player to Pujols through age 31 is Jimmie Foxx. Foxx basically went to shit around age 32 or 33. But then there's someone like Babe Ruth who had several monster seasons in his mid-30s and continued to be a valuable player offensively until when he almost 40. Same for Henry Aaron...and for that matter Ted Williams and Stan Musial. I don't see any reason to think Pujols can't be an effective player throughout the duration of this contract.

[irul&ublo]

I repeat in another way. You are comparing an active player on the cusp of his prime to complete career stats. Get back to me in ten years.

See my correct on HRs....point is this, if he gets to 500 w/ the a 325 average, he is in a select group. It is not necessarily a lifetime statistic, though it can be. Basically on the cusp of accomplishing something that hasn't occurred in about 50 years...Musial retired in 63 or so.

[Benny Profane]

Well okay I guess but he's younger than Ruth or Aaron to hit 400 too, and with advances in sports medicine and training (and maybe some go-juice we never even heard of yet), who knows...

Dude, he's big. How'd he get so big? Maybe SI or some LA reporter will find out, now that he's no longer hiding in SL.

[iceman]

Yeah, but, those numbers will be so diluted in ten years. Re: Ortiz.

.309, 29 and 96 isn't chopped liver man.

[The AD]

So your argument is that he's big so that must mean he juiced. That's a bullshit argument unless you've got one iota of proof.

[Benny Profane]

So your argument is that he's big so that must mean he juiced. That's a bullshit argument unless you've got one iota of proof.

I'm old enough to remember normal sized people playing baseball.

[systemoverblow'd]

You don't have to be hudge to be taking performance enhancement drugs.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/...enhancing-drug

[Benny Profane]

Well well well.

I guess that just took 30% off of Fielder's market value.

[ex-powderbroker]

That is insane news about Braun.

[Grange]

Tough news for a Brewers fan.

[Adamantium]

I'm old enough to remember normal sized people playing baseball.

like Babe Ruth?

[lionelhutz]

The Braun news is going to be very damaging to baseball. The prevailing theme was that MLB had cleaned up its act and now players were clean. Guess that's not true. Opps. Going to make people not trust stars for another 5-6 years.

[ex-powderbroker]

LH - Do you think it's going to be damaging if he sits half a season? I think it gives MLB more credibility to shut down a star... If they let him off people will really howl. Just the fact that he's a white guy and like the only white guy to get caught would be enough if he skated. It does suck for the Brewers though. It'll be funny what kind of "defense" he comes up with.

[lionelhutz]

LH - Do you think it's going to be damaging if he sits half a season? I think it gives MLB more credibility to shut down a star... If they let him off people will really howl. Just the fact that he's a white guy and like the only white guy to get caught would be enough if he skated. It does suck for the Brewers though. It'll be funny what kind of "defense" he comes up with.

It's damaging because it makes people throw up their hands and just walk down the-"they all juice" road. Which, while true, really hurts the baseball ideal that the numbers are a sacred part of the game.
Football isn't really about numbers so who cares how many guys juice. It's about wins. Baseball is about .300, 50hrs, .406, 56 games, 3000hits, 500 homers, 300k seasons....OPS, OPS+, UZR etc...so when you see a guy that "looked" clean and was just minted the MVP it's sorta a slap in the face.

[systemoverblow'd]

LH - Do you think it's going to be damaging if he sits half a season? I think it gives MLB more credibility to shut down a star... If they let him off people will really howl. Just the fact that he's a white guy and like the only white guy to get caught would be enough if he skated. It does suck for the Brewers though. It'll be funny what kind of "defense" he comes up with.

I completely disagree. It has nothing to do with his skin tone and that he is a star. Tha fact of the matter is he came in during the time MLB supposedly tested everyone to the hilt. Either he skated through the system, had his best season while juicing, or the whole MLB is corrupt. Take you pick because there are no other choices.

PS - He is fighting it and no one has successfully fought and won a positive testing in the MLB. He is automatically (in the eyes of baseball fans) guilty and that is negative on every single player of the league.

[The AD]

I really don't think this will be too damaging to baseball because it shows MLB is serious about testing and not afraid to hand down a suspension to one of the biggest stars in the game. Obviously if you juice these days you run a real risk of getting caught and you're not going to just get a slap on the wrist.

[Benny Profane]

Pffffft........some of you people should go through the agony of following bicycle racing over the last decade. And all of those bitches are white.

[Arty50]

If Kemp had gotten the MVP like he should have, Braun would be a non-story. Karma's a bitch, MLB.

[irul&ublo]

If Kemp had gotten the MVP like he should have, Braun would be a non-story. Karma's a bitch, MLB.

You're one of Steve Garvey's illegitimate children, aren't you?

[ex-powderbroker]

Valentine is talking about stretching Bard out to start. I wish the Yanks would do the same with Joba. He'd be a good bet to at least duplicate what Garcia would you give you, and the upside in the long run is way better.