Round-table: Part Six
I’ve asked a few friends of mine to weigh in on five questions that I think are on the minds of Oakland fans this season. I’ve also asked them to respond to one question about the current state of the game as we know it.
Their responses were nothing short of fascinating, and I can’t thank them enough for agreeing to participate.
I’ll be posting the questions and responses in a six-part series. Here’s part six.
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Today’s panel consists of:
Jeff Sackmann, the creator of Minor League Splits, the master of Brew Crew Ball, the captain of Beyond the Boxscore, and a contributer to The Hardball Times and Heater Magazine.
SwizStick, of Condition Oakland, one of the top few Oakland sites out there. It’s also one of the longest-running ones, dating back to 2004.
HollywoodOz, who runs Notes from the Nat, a simply outstanding blog about the Vancouver Canadiens, the short-season class A club affiliated with Oakland.
baseballgirl, from Athletics Nation. I have to confess, I consistently enjoy reading her front page stories more than any other author of AN. Sorry, Blez, Nico and louismg…
Becca the Bullpen Baker, who runs the light-hearted and delicious Bullpen Baker MLBlog. It’s one of the only baseball websites that actually makes my mouth water.
Sal Baxamusa, a well-tenured member of Athletics Nation and an author of The Hardball Times. He also happens to be a chemical engineering graduate student at MIT.
Marc Normandin, the founder of Beyond the Boxscore, a contributer to Heater Magazine, and a regular author of Baseball Prospectus.
Tyler “Blez” Bleszinski, the founder of Athletics Nation, and the guy behind all of those wonderful SBnation blogs.
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Are we at the end of the steroids era, or just the dawn of the HGH era in baseball?
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Jeff Sackmann: Eh, who cares? I know a lot of people do, but I just can’t get worked up about it. MLB sets some rules, it tries its best to enforce them, and the cheaters probably stay one step ahead.
We can fret about that (and waste away arguing over Mark McGwire’s Hall of Fame candidacy, among other things) or let the experts analyze urine samples and just enjoy the great game of baseball.
SwizStick: I hate to say it but I don’t have much faith in the professional athlete when it comes to abusing performance substances. There will always be a few - probably more than few - who will find a substance or some method of taking a substance that they believe will improve their performance and avoid detection.
No matter what a player says, it is always about the money, and big numbers mean big money, so certain players will be willing to take a risk on their health and careers for large monetary gain.
HollywoodOz: We’re not even at the halfway stage of the steroids era. Anyone who thinks you won’t get more positives this season hasn’t been paying attention to how dumb/overpaid baseball players can be.
HGH will keep the big boys secure for at least a few more seasons, but even without positive tests, is there anyone amongst us who doesn’t say “Pujols hit another three dingers today… he must have found some of McGwire’s old stash in the back of his locker”?
Ryan Howard may well be the best young power hitter since Babe Ruth, but I’m betting he has a good chemist - and that’s why, even if the roids aren’t out there, they’ll be out there for a looooong time in our minds.
Bullpen Baker: Until certain players fess up to their actions and everyone as a whole takes a step forward towards proactive change, I think we’re always going to wonder what era we’re in.
Sal Baxamusa: Both. And I don’t care.
Marc Normandin: Those using will most likely always stay a step ahead of those testing. There are other issues in play besides PEDs though; if you haven’t read The Juice by Will Carroll ( coming in tradeback form soon), you should.
baseballgirl: It doesn’t matter to me. I’m going to let the league sort it out, and I’m going to enjoy some baseball.
Blez: I don’t think you can say that we’re at the end of the steroids era. Remember, steroids is a game where the test is always one step behind the advances. So there might not even be a test for the current set of steroids out there. And HGH is alive and well, I’m sure of it.
The game won’t be viewed as cleaned up completely until they ban HGH as well. That will require blood testing and we know how much the union is against that. I’d like to think the sport is pure, but it’d be naive to think it’s completely cleaned up.
February 4th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Ryan Howard is not on drugs!
February 7th, 2007 at 10:08 am
The Ryan Howard statement is ridiculous. The cynical bashing of a player that has performed (power hitting wise) at all levels of the game (and tested) is getting SOOOO freakin’ tiresome. Watch Real Sports on HBO and you will see clearly that his physique is genetic, and NOTHING else. Unless his other 2 brothers,Chris and Corey, are on growth hormone also (considering BOTH are taller and weigh more)
February 7th, 2007 at 10:10 am
The show aires on FEB 12 (Real Sports)
February 7th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
I agree about Ryan Howard. While we can’t be certain of any player’s “cleanliness”, I think we can be very confidant that he’s not on anything. It’s sad that in this day and age he’d come under suspicion, though.
May 7th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
[…] Part VI can be found here and covers the question: Are we at the end of the steroids era, or just the dawn of the HGH era in baseball? […]