I was reading the latest issue of ESPN: The Magazine and there was an interesting artivle by Zev Chafets, who is writing a book called Cooperstown Confidential.
With all the talk about people like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, A-Rod, Mark McGuire and more having their stats taken away and being ineligible for the Hall of Fame because of inhancements, he brought up some interesting points I did not know about.
- Mickey Mantle was forced out of part of the '61 pennant race by an infection he got from the needle of a doctor who shot him up with a concotion of steroids and amphetamine
- Sandy Koufax took so many nonanabolic steroids for his sore arm that he was sometimes "half high" on the field
- Hank Aaron admitted to taking amphetamines during games
- All the way back to 1889, pitcher Pud Galvin drank monkey testosterone
I just am curious why Bonds should be shunned (when he "never failed a drug test") but Aaron, who admitted to it, is still revered?
The thought of not allowing them in the Hall is that using the steroids (before they were illigal) hurts the integrity of the Hall, which is one of the requirements. Juiced hitters were hitting the home runs off juiced pitchers. Does it hurt the integrity more than Rogers Hornsby being a member of the Ku Klux Klan? Or Ty Cobb bragging of committing murder? Or Joe DiMaggio and his mob connections?
What about Grover Cleveland Alexander pitching drunk when alcohol was a federally banned substance?
Just some random thoughts I thought I'd throw out there.
With all the talk about people like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, A-Rod, Mark McGuire and more having their stats taken away and being ineligible for the Hall of Fame because of inhancements, he brought up some interesting points I did not know about.
- Mickey Mantle was forced out of part of the '61 pennant race by an infection he got from the needle of a doctor who shot him up with a concotion of steroids and amphetamine
- Sandy Koufax took so many nonanabolic steroids for his sore arm that he was sometimes "half high" on the field
- Hank Aaron admitted to taking amphetamines during games
- All the way back to 1889, pitcher Pud Galvin drank monkey testosterone
I just am curious why Bonds should be shunned (when he "never failed a drug test") but Aaron, who admitted to it, is still revered?
The thought of not allowing them in the Hall is that using the steroids (before they were illigal) hurts the integrity of the Hall, which is one of the requirements. Juiced hitters were hitting the home runs off juiced pitchers. Does it hurt the integrity more than Rogers Hornsby being a member of the Ku Klux Klan? Or Ty Cobb bragging of committing murder? Or Joe DiMaggio and his mob connections?
What about Grover Cleveland Alexander pitching drunk when alcohol was a federally banned substance?
Just some random thoughts I thought I'd throw out there.
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