Regarding MLB "juicing": What should be done about the guy with the .242 batting average?

[Blue-Jay]

I know that many people would like to see "Barry Bonds *" appear in the record books, but what should happen to Average Joe Ballplayer who never came close to any record of any kind? Should there be some sort of stats-deduction matrix, whereby his career statistics are lessened by a particular percentage? Banned from baseball, ala Pete Rose (who never juiced)? Should an asterisk only be appended to record-breakers?

How should this be handled?

NOTE: This post is in no way supportive of athletes who use steroids and/or other performance-enhancing supplements, and should not be construed as so.

[JVS]

1. Pete Rose should have been executed by the baseball commissioner years ago

Keep him banned forever

[Blue-Jay]

2. This isn't about The Hit King.

I apologize that I used him as an example.

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. If a guy hits .242 with 'help'

he oughta be sent back to the beer leagues.



But, to answer your question, yeah — I think if there's no question that a ballplayer juiced, it oughta be noted in the Baseball Register, even if he's destined to be one of those "Oh, yeah, didn't he play for...?" guys. Then we'll get to point and laugh at him for needing artificial assistance to get over the Mendoza Line.

[taterguy]

4. Since we'll never know the names of everyone who juiced I think things should stay the same

Suppose a non-juicer is competing against pitchers and fielders that juiced. Should their batting average be raised?

[Occam Bandage]

5. Banned. Those players are, in my eyes, the worst offenders.

Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds both managed to pad their careers by a few extra years and a few extra million dollars. The .250 hitter on steroids stole a major-league career from a clean player. I find the second more offensive.

[Blue-Jay]

6. How does a ban affect an easily-forgotten, below-average player?

Hell, it might even increase the value of his rookie card...

[Occam Bandage]

17. Keeps them from showing up to work.

The ones who got away with it, got away with it. The ones still there? Out.

[Blue-Jay]

18. What if they've already retired?

How should that affect their stats?

-3% maybe?

4?

[Occam Bandage]

20. As I said,

The ones who got away with it, got away with it.

Nobody's suggesting statistical readjustment. That would be impossible.

[HamstersFromHell]

21. Now that's an idea....

Topps MLB Juiced card set? :P

[MonkeyFunk]

7. We should take their balls away...

if the steroids already haven't.

[Blue-Jay]

8. Noooooo!

[flvegan]

9. I think every player is tainted at this point.

Not that every player has used, that would be unfair. But I think that any player from "The Juice Generation" is automatically going to get the mental asterisk from folks anyway.

[Blue-Jay]

10. *you're* a taint.

[CreekDog]

11. .242? he's probly not taking anything illegal

unless he's a pitcher.

[Blue-Jay]

12. Maybe he'd have only hit .210 without them.

How should we discipline him?

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. If he's currently playing

make him hit the spitter. :D

[Blue-Jay]

14. Hell yes!

[Oeditpus Rex]

16. In Rollie's case, the 'waxer'

[CreekDog]

15. 1 year suspension if caught, 3 strikes and out

otherwise the pressure will be on players who don't take the drugs to take them in order to be competitive.

[Magrittes Pipe]

19. Nothing.

The owners encouraged it all along. Big power numbers put asses in seats. I am sickened by this fucking bullshit hypocrisy -- no, the juicers didn't do the "right" thing, but they were doing their jobs, AS THEY WERE EXPECTED TO DO.

I say it's time to put the blame where it belongs, where the blame for 90% of baseball's ills for the past decade and a half has belonged: squarely on the shoulders of Allen H. Selig, possibly the biggest crock of shit my city has ever produced.

[Occam Bandage]

22. Would you also blame Bud Selig for

baseball experiencing unprecedented levels of popularity (in profits, attendance, and television ratings), the creation of the phenomenally successful wild-card format, and the renaissance of parity (in which 18 different teams made the postseason in the past three years, and in which seven different teams have won the World Series in the past eight years) unmatched in the sport's history?

[HamstersFromHell]

23. In a way, yes...

Look at NASCAR and what has happened there.

They took a sport and worried more about how to make it a show.

Now they have their show, but the purists who remember the sport are not amused.

Unfortunately, most sports are now nothing more than businesses anyway.

[Occam Bandage]

24. Baseball exists on three levels. In the first, it is a business.

In that regard, Bud Selig has been a phenomenal success; baseball's never been more profitable. In the second, it is a sport, dedicated to providing millions of fans with entertainment. In that regard, Bud Selig has been a phenomenal success; baseball's never been more popular. He took a sport that many thought moribund, and revitalized it. He deserves credit for that.

In the third, it is a nigh-mystical institution, full of myth, history, grandeur and splendor. In that regard, Bud Selig has been something of a failure; his tacit approval of steroids has damaged the sport's reputation. Further damage may begin to affect the first two levels, and Selig's legacy will require adjustment as that occurs.

[Magrittes Pipe]

26. Yes.

The wild card format ruins meaningful pennant races, and there's a special place in hell reserved for Selig for his introduction of that abomination called "interleague play" -- but yes, some of the things he's done have made a lot of money for MLB.

Of course, it's Selig who claims (with great audacity) that baseball is losing money.

[Radical Activist]

25. So it takes more than drugs to be a great player?

Interesting implications.

Babe Ruth could have been snorting cocaine before every game for all we know.