I agree 100%. If they had listened to Rick Helling, much of this could have been nipped in the bud a long time ago.

Instead, they took the shortsighted route and resisted as long as they possibly could. Now, even the clean guys who play well will always raise some level of suspicion. That's unfortunate, but they have only themselves to blame.

Raul's anger should be towards the other players that have used or use.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate...we can not consecrate...we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

I drink you're milkshake.

I gotta go to the bathroom.
You gotta go, you gotta go.

No. No. Uh, that's OK, Raul, thanks...Keep up the good work.

Are you sure? He's already got it all bagged up for you. In fact, I hear he hands them out to trick-or-treaters.

Of course, most of Burrell's and Ibanez's performance can be explained by the massive superiority of the AL over the NL, as Bill Simmons explains.

If they had listened to Rick Helling, much of this could have been nipped in the bud a long time ago.

That and going from one of the worst parks for hitting homers to one of the best.

“You can have my urine, my hair, my blood, my bar, my stool, my dinette"

Not accusatory in the least. You hear this — “the speculation is inevitable in this era” — almost ad nauseam on ESPN when they have their pseudo-intellectual debates between such noted scholars as Skip Bayless, Jemele Hill, Woody Paige, and Jay Mariotti. It’s okay when the MSM does it, but not a friggin’ blogger. No, not those nerds who live with mom and don’t wear pants and have level 80 World of Warcraft characters and wore a Jedi suit to prom.

[...]

In science, you never eliminate any possible explanations unless you can prove them wrong repeatedly. What the blogger is practicing here is good science. He stated his hypothesis, did his research, and came to a conclusion that he had no conclusion and that the many possible explanations are all still valid as far as he can see. There is nothing wrong with that.

He did not say, “Raul is on the ‘roids.” He essentially said, “Based on the evidence at hand, I cannot rule out the possibility that he is not on ‘roids.”

[...]

If Woody Paige said this on ESPN’s Around the Horn, nobody would have batted an eyebrow. Somehow, a blogger does it, and he’s betraying law and ethics; he’s liable to be sued; he represents everything that’s wrong with blogging, etc.

What this is, really, is the MSM seeing a door slightly ajar and busting it wide open — one of few opportunities they have ever had to really criticize bloggers for what they do (and oftentimes do better than their paid counterparts). This is the mainstream media fighting over territory it’s already lost and will continue to lose. It is not about wrongfully accusing Ibanez of any wrongdoing.

...it’s time for me to begrudgingly acknowledge the elephant in the room: any aging hitter who puts up numbers this much better than his career averages is going to immediately generate suspicion that the numbers are not natural, that perhaps he is under the influence of some sort of performance enhancer. And since I was not able to draw any absolute parallels between his prodigously [sic] improved HR rate and his new ballpark’s hitter-friendliness, it would be foolish to dismiss the possibility that "other" performance enhancers could be part of the equation.
...
It will be a wonderful day when we can see a great start by a veteran like Ibanez and not immediately jump to speculating about whether steroids or PEDs are involved. We certainly are not at that point yet, however.

Lookout Landing's Jeff Sullivan's take.

even IF we didn't have kids running around (and no it is NOT cool for a grown man to be prancing about in his undies around kids) i wouldn't like him runnin around the house in tighty whitys.

Raul's anger should be towards the other players that have used or use. It's because of them that anyone that looks pumped up or slams homers is going to be questioned. So point your anger at the players union and ask your fellow players to give urine, hair and whatever else that you say you would do. Fan's have a good right to point fingers at any player they want until all players put an end to this bull.

Of course, most of Burrell's and Ibanez's performance can be explained by the massive superiority of the AL over the NL, as Bill Simmons explains.

The AL also gets significantly more home games each year in interleague play, which probably makes a difference. Around 40, IIRC.

Raul Ibenez... maybe the mets should have signed him. Nah, he isn't as good as Daniel Murphy.

The one with the clip of Ibanez getting angry at the bottom? Gee, I wonder why that was placed there. Not that it was intended to imply, I dunno, "roid rage" or anything. Naaah, couldn't be.


(And IIRC, Ibanez was very mellow during his time in Seattle.)

I set out trying to disprove that there was reason to speculate, but the past 15 or so years has made it hard to do so. I always defended Manny Ramirez and he made me and a lot of other people look like a fool; and honestly, that re-opened the floodgates to me erring on the side guilty until proven innocent, as opposed to the other way around — as it should be.

Too lazy to search for the threads, but what was the promised production out of Murphy this year? Something like .325/.400/.500?

If Woody Paige said this on ESPN’s Around the Horn, nobody would have batted an eyebrow. Somehow, a blogger does it, and he’s betraying law and ethics; he’s liable to be sued; he represents everything that’s wrong with blogging, etc.

What this is, really, is the MSM seeing a door slightly ajar and busting it wide open — one of few opportunities they have ever had to really criticize bloggers for what they do (and oftentimes do better than their paid counterparts). This is the mainstream media fighting over territory it’s already lost and will continue to lose. It is not about wrongfully accusing Ibanez of any wrongdoing.

Daniel Murphy is the anti-Frenchy. He is left-handed, patient, works the count, maintains his swing (which is compact and classic). Pitchers have yet to find a hole.

What this is, really, is the MSM seeing a door slightly ajar and busting it wide open — one of few opportunities they have ever had to really criticize bloggers for what they do (and oftentimes do better than their paid counterparts). This is the mainstream media fighting over territory it’s already lost and will continue to lose. It is not about wrongfully accusing Ibanez of any wrongdoing.

Thirdly, it’s time for me to begrudgingly acknowledge the elephant in the room: any aging hitter who puts up numbers this much better than his career averages is going to immediately generate suspicion that the numbers are not natural, that perhaps he is under the influence of some sort of performance enhancer. And since I was not able to draw any absolute parallels between his prodigously improved HR rate and his new ballpark’s hitter-friendliness, it would be foolish to dismiss the possibility that “other” performance enhancers could be part of the equation.

Sorry Raul Ibanez and Major League Baseball, that’s just the era that we are in — testing or no testing.

Blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah suspicion blah blah blah blah not natural, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah performance enhancer. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah HR blah blah blah blah blah blah-blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah “blah” performance enhancers blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Blah Raul Ibanez and Major League Baseball, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah — blah blah no testing.

I set out trying to disprove that there was reason to speculate, but the past 15 or so years has made it hard to do so. I always defended Manny Ramirez and he made me and a lot of other people look like a fool; and honestly, that re-opened the floodgates to me erring on the side guilty until proven innocent, as opposed to the other way around — as it should be.