As usual…it’s the Galloway or the highway.
Having said all of the above, however, it would not be right to skip over the single Pudge smudge on his stellar career and stellar reputation.
Do we believe Canseco? Not normally. Not on anything, frankly. Jose is wacko. But many names, beyond any of his former Rangers teammates, Canseco mentioned in the book later turned out to be proven users. The book was primarily intended to bring down Mark McGwire, but the book also wrecked so many baseball reputations.
Let it be noted, however, Canseco’s book is the only place you will find Pudge linked to PEDs.
...I repeat: The only link for Pudge and steroids is Canseco, and even Jose says only he and Pudge knew what was going on. Do you believe Canseco?
But while torn over how to vote every December on Hall of Fame candidates from the ‘roids era, my personal rule of thumb, right or wrong, is to simply use the Mitchell Report or a published failed test.
If your name is listed with either, no Hall of Fame vote.
I’m not saying I’m right. I’m not saying I can’t change my mind later. I’m just saying that’s the only way I know to do it for now.
To me, Pudge is a local baseball treasure, the likes of which we may never see again in Arlington. I don’t think there’s a smudge on Pudge.
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1. dejarouehg Posted: April 22, 2012 at 09:18 AM (#4112888)- On Thursday Pudge Rodriguez confirmed he will officially announce his retirement Monday at a special on-field ceremony thrown by his first team, the Texas Rangers. Immediately, the usual sycophants for Scott Boras (Rodriguez’s longtime agent) ordained him a no-brainer first-ballot Hall of Famer. In their glowing blogs, they recited Rodriguez’s 2,844 hits, most ever by a catcher, his 13 Gold Gloves, his 10 straight All-Star Games and 1999 AL MVP, but curiously omitted any mention of the fact that, other than Barry Bonds, Rodriguez was a poster boy for steroids — his ever-lasting image being the incredible shrinking man after MLB started testing for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. Rodriguez’s defenders will undoubtedly maintain that this was not proof he was a steroids cheat, any more than Jose Canseco writing in his book that he personally injected Rodriguez with steroids (along with Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro on the Rangers) was proof. None of them ever sued Canseco, however, and when Rodriguez was asked if he was on the list of players who allegedly tested positive for steroids in MLB’s 2003 survey, he replied lamely: “Only God knows.”
I never thought of his as the "poster boy" but did think it was pretty much a given.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/jon-heyman/18658555/pudge-one-of-the-greatest-ever-wanted-to-play-forever
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jon_heyman/05/18/hall.voting/index.html
But if jose says he personally shot up ivan rodriguez, well, who can trust HIM?
Jeff Bagwell has been judged guilty for having ken caminiti as a friend BEFORE ken started shooting up, but rodriguez has other known/convicted users on HIS team and that doesn't count because he was so good.
okayyyyyyy
Fanboys--and fangirls--come in all shapes and sizes.
i don't think players should be convicted of steroid use based on "opinion" or hearsay
and actually, i don't think that using steroids was cheating BEFORE they were banned and that it should keep anyone out of the hall. i can't be convinced that using steroids turns manny alexnader into manny ramirez
srul
dingdingding!!!!
Yeah. Crazy thing about that. It's almost like people considered mass doping to be an affront to the game, and are leery of honoring dopers.
I intended just to give an example of what the Scott-Boras-sycophant writes about Pudge.
Personally I disagree with the use of the word "convicted" as shorthand for "denied entry into the Hall of Fame on proof or suspicion of steroids;" it's just too strong IMO. These suspected players don't have an asterisk on their BB-REF pages.
Ultimately, election is an honor, not a right for any player, and there may not yet be enough distance from the steroid era for most writers/voters to put events in the proper perspective, whatever that may be, in part because most of them who covered the sport at that time are complicit in part by having been silent.
I suspect the dearth of players from this era will reinforce the need for a viable Veterans' Committee.
A-->B <> B-->A
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