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The reason I picked Hank Aaron and Roger Maris is that their accomplishments were tied in with the most important baseball figure of their time, or as far as that goes, anyone's time, Babe Ruth. When Ruth hit his 60 home runs in 1927 several clubs couldn't reach that figure in 1927. Several years later Hank Greenberg came along and came close, ending with 58. For 34 years that record stood. Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961 and had the advantage of having 8 more games to do it in. To my knowledge Roger Maris was not an alcoholic whatsoever; but I don't know that for a fact. Mickey Mantle, on the other hand definitely was. It was Mantle who stayed pace with Maris until a hip injury forced him out, finishing with 54 home runs. The reason I brought Maris and Aaron in this discussion is because of the steroid situation. IMHO, the home run record is the biggest sports record there is. In the 60's and early 70's in their day everyone in sports looked at 60 home runs as basically hitting the lottery. Would anyone know off the top of their head Johnny Unitas' passing stats in the 1958 NFL Championship game? No. Back then Baseball was the number 1 sport of the land. Fast forward to Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa. It was a great story, the home run chase was. The 1994 baseball strike almost sunk the sport. You're point is well taken in regards to the bubble you are in regarding being a celebrity. I just believe you have the wrong guy. But Mickey Mantle himself sat in front of interviewer Bob Costas, the NBC cameras, and national television audience and let it all hang out. He talked about his drinking, his behavior, stepping out on his wife, and other personal issues. He was my hero as a kid growing up in the 50's, and remains my hero for that interview. It took a lot of guts to tell the world that quote "If you want a role model, here's a role model for you, don't be like me." I thought a lot more of him than I did before because he might have helped a few, a few dozen, a few hundred, a few thousand get control of their life before you go in the tank. Roger Maris didn't have nearly the natural ability that Mantle had. As far as that goes, in his era, few did. Do the present players care about their image? You bet they do. But the money is so big in sports everyone has agents. In Maris' day, most players had off season jobs. That's a fact. Mantle didn't pull $100,000 until halfway through his career. The money has gotten completely out of hand, and the pressure to perform has as well. IMHO, this is one of the reasons steroids is so rampant. To break those records. The best left handed pitcher I ever saw was Sandy Koufax, who said it best. "When I played, all we carried about was the game."
It will be interesting when 60 minutes on CBS does its 20 minute interview with Roger Clemens this Sunday evening. I doubt that Mike Wallace will throw any changeups at him but Clemens definitely should state his case in the court of public opinion. He at least should be accorded that. And actually I hope he is telling the truth. The ballplayer who is sitting in front of his TV watching this is Curt Schilling, I hope. Why? He had an interesting little holier than thou speech regarding late career booms. In his early years, he was at 52-52. And since he turned 30, his record became 164-94.Hmm.
Clemens career seemed to be over in the mid to late 90's- then magically he packs on the same 'Roid' look as Bonds and has a 'revival' in his career- something is amiss here.
The same holds true for the rest from journeymen to superstar- these guys are all losers-
Clemens, Bonds, -all of them deserve an asterisk after their names forever.
Incorrect. Roger Clemens has not physically changed since he started playing baseball. He's always been 6'4" and a little more fat than muscle, especially now that's he's over 40. His weight has maintained between 220-240 lbs and he's never had a whole lot of definition to him. Steroids tend to give a distinct look to some and Roger has never, I mean never had that. An example of a body like Roger's would be Nolan Ryan, another big guy who started his career definitely leaner and ended it heavier. Isn't that kinda how men age? I mean, kinda normal, right? Barry Bonds, OTOH, looks like he's got the body of a 25 year old wrestler. That's clearly NOT normal.
I was skeptical of Roger until today's press conference. He hasn't sat well with me since he walked away from the Astros (I'm an Astros fan). It is pretty obvious to me he is pissed off and defensive, and for what seems to be good reason. I can't imagine being in his shoes. The question he posed is a good one: how do you defend negative? It is impossible. For Roger, he is guilty until proven innocent.
I'm also glad he had the cojones to stand up there and say what he did to some of those nasty backstabbing reporters who really don't care whose lives they ruin with their keyboard. They deserve everything they get, IMHO.
I think Brian McNamee is a little sh*t, but that's just my personal opinion.
All of these ballplayers from Clemens to Bonds are greedy self absorbed, egotistical cheating bums IMHO.
For all the baseball players who did not cheat from today and the past, these jerks put a dark cloud of uncertainty over the game.
Clemens career seemed to be over in the mid to late 90's- then magically he packs on the same 'Roid' look as Bonds and has a 'revival' in his career- something is amiss here.
The same holds true for the rest from journeymen to superstar- these guys are all losers-
Clemens, Bonds, -all of them deserve an asterisk after their names forever.
not true, roger clemens had some of his best years with the jays from 97-98. and bonds was a GREAT player before anyone accused him of steroids.
Last edited by dxiweodwo; 01-11-2008 at 11:32 PM..
Reason: incorrect fact
i will admit though, roger clemens had some of his worst years with the yanks in the early 2000's and came out of nowhere in 04-05 and started dominating again.
This thread has been a little quiet lately but the Senate hearings that have been taking place sure were interesting today. Don't know which side is lying, but one thing is for sure. Perjury is the end result of all this posturing and it is a five year term from what I understand. This ordeal is gonna get real ugly; it's ugly right now.
Incorrect. Roger Clemens has not physically changed since he started playing baseball. He's always been 6'4" and a little more fat than muscle, especially now that's he's over 40. His weight has maintained between 220-240 lbs and he's never had a whole lot of definition to him. Steroids tend to give a distinct look to some and Roger has never, I mean never had that. An example of a body like Roger's would be Nolan Ryan, another big guy who started his career definitely leaner and ended it heavier. Isn't that kinda how men age? I mean, kinda normal, right? Barry Bonds, OTOH, looks like he's got the body of a 25 year old wrestler. That's clearly NOT normal.
I was skeptical of Roger until today's press conference. He hasn't sat well with me since he walked away from the Astros (I'm an Astros fan). It is pretty obvious to me he is pissed off and defensive, and for what seems to be good reason. I can't imagine being in his shoes. The question he posed is a good one: how do you defend negative? It is impossible. For Roger, he is guilty until proven innocent.
I'm also glad he had the cojones to stand up there and say what he did to some of those nasty backstabbing reporters who really don't care whose lives they ruin with their keyboard. They deserve everything they get, IMHO.
I think Brian McNamee is a little sh*t, but that's just my personal opinion.
clemens looked a lot different when he was with the red sox than he looks now,are you kidding me?he looks like a bull right now.i'm not saying i knew he was on roids i thought it was through excercise but he's guilty.it's a shame to he could of made it to the hall without that s$%t.
Roger Rocket is one of my favorite pitchers, but I have to wonder if he's lying. Seems odd that his wife would be injected but he never was. I don't know, he may be hiding something.
I don't know much about steroids, but what is the big deal, doesn't everyone just expect steroid use by athletes.
While watching the 2000 World Series, when Clemens threw the bat at Piazza, I thought to myself, "Is he on drugs?"
Well ... looks like we might now have that answer.
If McNamee says Pettite did it, and Pettite admits it ... and McNamee says Knoblouch did it, and Knoblouch admits it, and McNamee says Clemens did it ... Clemens did it.
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