LA Angels Tuesday News Crash: Personal Services

Bud Selig never wanted to acknowledge the asterisk next to PED users because that would be admitting that he was aware of cheating and after the 2 seasons spanning over the strike seasons, he welcomed the fans returning. It took the fans and writers a few seasons to figure it out the deception though. For me I had two former MLB players informing me about what was happening and one current non-user feeling that Selig would do something about the PED use in the game, sadly he did not. In retrospect it was all about the money. Baseball records used to hold my attention, I even purchased new Baseball Encyclopedias every other year and now the records are meh.

In the 1940’s Kiner and Mize hit over 50 HR’s in a season. In the ’50’s it was Mantle and Mays and again in the ’60’s it was Mantle, Mays and Maris. In the 1970’s only Foster with the Reds. No one in the 1980’s and then Ka-Boom over 40 different 50 plus HR seasons.
Writers and fans seem even to this day to not want to accept that ‘Roids wrecked the records books on what was allowed by Bud to take place. Following Bud’s lead was the Player’s Union wanting but very little punishment for cheating.

I admit to being swayed by those in the game when I came to the conclusion that Steroids were cheating and should have been seen as such by one and all. Banned for life from all aspects of the game would have cleaned it up and allowed the game to be even more respected and trusted. Same with the cheating on sign stealing, but too much money was involved to want to stop the PED’s use and sign stealing. Acknowledgements followed by punishments handed out that barred Player’s from the game and Owners made to sell would have gone a long way to gaining the deserved respect for the game by fans and the players both, while cleaning the game up.

Commissioners of the game prior to Selig had back bones to insist that MLB be perceived to be clean and honest of cheating and they stuck to their morals by banning greats such as Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose. Selig was the most spineless leader of any sports league maybe ever. Manfred is just clueless.

Now MLB and NFL have allowed sports gaming to enter into their leagues because of the money. Watch and see that the regret will be major league when the shit hits the fan down the road. In California alone are two propositions on the ballot with hundreds of millions of dollars backing either side of either one of the propositions that has to do with Sports Gaming. How soon do you think the bribes will take to be offered to players? If the two biggest sports leagues in the country, if not the world, have been swayed to accept the money in the open it won’t be long before it will stain both sports.

Cheating has changed the Major League Sports World in even their Hall of Fames by allowing writers to vote in players even when the numbers they put up were ridiculously out of proportion. Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez were known within the sport to be using PEDS. Seattle Mariners for years had multiple players using PEDS and set the record for most wins in a season on year. I am of the belief that 7 MLB players that used PEDs are currently in the Hall of Shame Fame.

By not removing the Home Run records of Bonds, ARod, McGwire, Manny, Sosa, Palmeiro, and others has really weakened the sport and invited in future cheating. Even Manfred manipulates the baseballs used in the game to travel different distances in different seasons, legal cheating? Oxymoron no?

While I dislike Manfred as a commissioner, at least he listens and tries to fix things. Problem is he listens to the sometimes a fan types and not the true die-hard fans who know the game better than he does.

Doom and Gloom for the future? That will be up to the leagues and how they react to when the “Shit hits the Fan”.

Thank you reading through my diatribe.

So some including Roger Maris Jr. are calling for 2 different sets of All-Time Home Run Hitters. That’s the same Roger Maris camp that didn’t like the asterisk, right?*