Yes, major league baseball would no longer be played if not for steroids.

Christ Almighty, what a ####### idiot.

THANK GOD FOR GEORGE W BUSH, MR PRESIDENT

“Thank God for steroids,”

So now we know. Repoz is Steve Phillips.

Dumb, but it's nice to hear a different opinion after so much self-satisfied sermonizing.

The first 4 comments have perfectly encapsulated the spirit of BTF.

So Steve, tell us who were the players that saved baseball? Which players did you have on your roster that were actively saving the game of baseball?

As we know, Cal Ripken singlehandedly saved baseball in 1995. Cal Ripken is mortal. Ergo, Cal Ripken's ass was chock full of steroids. Q.E.D., which is also how Steve Phillips spells "RBI."

Remember when "The Terminator" got yelled at by his landlord? 4 answers popped up and he had to choose the most appropriate. Well, the one he chose is what always pops up when Steve Phillips says anything.

All poppycock, it was the return to greatness of the mighty New York Yankees, America's most beloved sports franchise, that restored our faith in the Great Game. McGwire? Ripken? Bonds? All gone, but the Yankees continue to carry the sport on the franchise's broad and pinstriped shoulders.

I thought the Angels small ball World Series re-ignited America's passion for baseball.

@10. Thanks for the laugh. But even Maddux knows the chicks dig the long ball.

Steve Phillips sounds dumber then the "expert" my school hired to teach about assessment. Steve Phillips must have an EdD.

9. Jews For Jesus Montero (Y_R) Posted: April 04, 2011 at 10:39 PM (#3786229)
All poppycock, it was the return to greatness of the mighty New York Yankees, America's most beloved sports franchise, that restored our faith in the Great Game. McGwire? Ripken? Bonds? All gone, but the Yankees continue to carry the sport on the franchise's broad and pinstriped shoulders.

Now I can really say that some of my best friends are Jews.

Has anyone actually looked at attendance and TV ratings to determine if the power era of the 1990-2000's actually saved baseball from the 1994 strike? I see a lot of people dismissing Phillips outright but it's a common theory that hasn't really been discussed because of snap judgments.

Hyperbole from Steve Phillips. Film at 11.

I thought the Angels small ball World Series re-ignited America's passion for baseball.

Yeah, this is quite the myth. The 2002 team had a ton of power when compared to other Halo teams under Scioscia. 2002 had three guys slug .500 or better (Salmon, Fullmer and G. Anderson) and three more slugging over .436, including Glaus, Spiezio and Adam Kennedy. That team could hit. They scored 850 runs and were fifth in the AL in OPS.

The Team still had 50-ish sacrifice bunts, so Scioscia still likes to play that game, but he had guys that could slug then - just like 2011: izturis, Aybar, Borjous, Mathis, Callaspo and rookie Mark Trumbo...

Oh, wait! 2011 is gonna blow.

But seriously, 2002 was about hitting. The out-hit the Giants and had a shut-down bullpen. Donnelly, K-Rod and Percy were lights out. That and Lackey.

Also worth noting, the Angels didn't exactly small-ball their way through the playoffs that year: .310/.370/.465 in the WS, the key homer of game 6 was a Moneyball-esque 3-run shot; .287/.330/.480 in the ALCS, including Adam Kennedy's 3-HR game; and .376/.406/.624 in the ALDS, with 9 homers in 4 games. They scored 6.3 R/G in playoffs. The Angels are a sworn enemy, but man that team could *hit*.

#14 Yes. I've looked at the revenue and attendance from that period. It's actually pretty simple. I started in the mid 80s. There's a pretty clear trend line. Steady increase in revenue and attendance. Strike comes and lops ~20% and the same trend line starts again from the lower base.

Has anyone actually looked at attendance and TV ratings to determine if the power era of the 1990-2000's actually saved baseball from the 1994 strike? I see a lot of people dismissing Phillips outright but it's a common theory that hasn't really been discussed because of snap judgments.

Well, the Chicago Cubs attendance was pretty much the same pre and post strike. 1998 was when the Cubs saw a big boost. They then started winning and got another boost and they no longer have the big steroid hitter and yet attendance has never been higher. Steroids may have helped their attendance but it certainly didn't save them.

Yankee attendance dipped and then quickly rose and then surpassed anything that came before. Who among the Yankees was the steroid player that saved them?

The Pittsburgh Pirates were back at pre strike attendance by 1997. Was it Pat Mears or Kevin Young that saved baseball in Pittsburgh.

Baseball didn't need saving and it wasn't saved. Babe Ruth didn't save baseball, Cal Ripken didn't save baseball, and the steroid players didn't save baseball.

In 1998 during the annual owners meeting MLB is reported to have had some doctors put on a presentation for MLB owners on the benefits of steroids.

Furthermore, there is clear evidence if you examine the numbers that the sudden jump in HR rates could not be do only to steroids. Smaller parks, smaller strike zone and a juiced ball were the likely culprits. You had guys who struggled to hit 10 HR a year all of a sudden becomeing 15-20 HR guys, and 20 HR guys were hitting 30 HR.

But seriously, 2002 was about hitting. The out-hit the Giants and had a shut-down bullpen. Donnelly, K-Rod and Percy were lights out. That and Lackey.

But seriously, Robb Nen had a blown rotator cuff, and the AL got the THIS TIME IT COUNTS home field advantage. Otherwise, yeah, I'm with you.

EDIT: Snark aside, anyone who doubts the chicks-dig-the-long-ball effect of the "steroids era" baseball needs their head examined.

But seriously, Robb Nen had a blown rotator cuff, and the AL got the THIS TIME IT COUNTS home field advantage. Otherwise, yeah, I'm with you.

No, the Angels got the THIS TIME IT GOES TO THE TEAM FROM THE LEAGUE THAT DIDN'T HAVE IT LAST YEAR home field advantage. And that, frankly, is too Tolaxorian for my tastes, so I'm glad they switched.

Ah, you are correct. I've always felt that given how similar the two clubs were, should the G's have had home field that year, the end result would have been reversed. And the Nen rotator cuff thing still pertains. Guess it's too easy to blame Selig for all things annoying in baseball.

But it's all good. We got ours. Happy baseball!

EDIT: There can never be such a thing as "too TOLAXARIAN." IMHO.

Reminiscent of when Mark Cuban talked about how Kobe Bryant's possible rape trial would increase the NBA's popularity.

In 1998 during the annual owners meeting MLB is reported to have had some doctors put on a presentation for MLB owners on the benefits of steroids.

"Reported" by whom, and where?

Reminiscent of when Mark Cuban talked about how Kobe Bryant's possible rape trial would increase the NBA's popularity.

All the world loves a rapist.

Steroids/Bonds/McGwire-Sosa may not have saved baseball, but I think some combination of new parks/the Yankee dynasty/and the wild card did the trick. There was also the post-9/11 re-entrenchment in the game (remember Dubya's first pitch at the World Series?) The Yankees-Red Sox feud, and the Red Sox finally breaking the curse are what probably finally did the trick in moving baseball totally past the stigma of the Strike. Naturally, the Steroid Era scandal showed up just in time to sully the name of the game just as the strike was cast off.

Ken Burns on Morning Joe right now: Joe Scarborough just referred to the 7 slot as possibly being a more natural position for Carl Crawford. He's also hedging towards endorsing the Ryan plan. I don't think the two are unrelated.

Unrelated: There's a particularly blithe econ blogger who TOLAXOR always reminds me of. A coke to whoever knows who I'm talking about. IIRC, he's saltwater, and affiliated with UPenn somehow.

The Angels had a lot of big innings in the 2002 ALCS and WS, IIRC.
They seemed to have a lot of 11 hit games where they'd get like 9 of them in one frame.

Who among the Yankees was the steroid player that saved them?

Chad Curtis, of course. And Orlando Hernandez, that guy was like 80.

And Orlando Hernandez

Are you implying that steroids are Fidel Castro's fault?