What if Cal took steroids?

[jcroemer]

Exactly and at this point what is the benefit of rehashing this crap over and over again.

As of this point I would like to believe that the game is as close to clean as possible, anything prior to testing is suspect. Even, if we find out the names of the 103, are we then going to assume that the others were all 100% clean? Probably not, so there will still be suspicion about the other 1300ish players and the beat will go on.

The best thing that could happen to the game would be that those records would magically end up in an incinerator (Which is what should have happened in 2003).

So people don't have to pay for their transgressions?

[TinCup]

I offer the following to this thread, and pardon me for not scrolling back through all the prior posts in this thread to see if it has not already been noted, but here goes....

"What if Cal did not take steroids?"

That's it.

[RShack]

So people don't have to pay for their transgressions?

I'd be fine with that if all parties did, including the owners who went along with the whole thing. Look, everybody in MLB wanted to see dingers, and everybody went along with it. Nobody understood the complete story about it, and nobody wanted to deal with it. The players, the owners, and the FO-people all looked at roids like it was "greenies, only better". You think the Giants didn't know they were ordering bigger shoes and hats for Barry? You think the MFY's didn't know there was something a little bit non-standard in Clemens old-age success story? You think everybody thought the great McGwire-Sosa Maris-chase was just pure clean fun? Face it, everybody looked the other way, everybody thought what they wanted to think.

Then, over the period of a few years everybody learned more about it. Next thing you know, the story changed and suddenly some folks are looking for people to hang. Bud succeeded in getting the focus on the just-the-players, as if they were outlaws, when in reality they were playing by the unofficial rules of the era, unofficial rules in which the owners and FO-people were as complicit as anybody. Which is one of the reasons why the owners like him so much. The truth is that it was MLB in general, it was the whole baseball business, from top to bottom.

[Maverick2143]

So people don't have to pay for their transgressions?

No people that fail tests now under the new policy need to pay (A policy that includes a private appeals policy and backup tests to prevent false positives). The individuals that failed in 2003, failed a single test that was represented to them as a census or survey, It was supposed to anonymous and secretive and the results were to be destroyed. Allowing, those results to be made public would be inappropriate.

Again, if those names are distributed what does that prove? How would that help the game move on?

[WV O's]

(la la la la la la la la la la la la)

Some things should just never even be discussed.

[Bemore]

That's absurd. Needless to say, I don't believe Ripken said this.

Do you believe it now?

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-manny-ramirez8-2009may08,0,6324894.story

[Dr. FLK]

I'd view him as a fraud.

[sbauer]

Do you believe it now?

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-manny-ramirez8-2009may08,0,6324894.story

Wow. I'm not surprised that he took them, but that he got caught by a test.

[bird watcher]

Maybe I am in the minority here but I would be shocked if Cal didn't use them. Maybe I am a pessimist in this matter but why should I think he didn't?

As for Manny, does this affect his future HOF considerations? He was obviously a first ballot guy before this. Arguably one of the best hitters to ever play the game.

[The Wedge]

Maybe I am in the minority here but I would be shocked if Cal didn't use them. Maybe I am a pessimist in this matter but why should I think he didn't?

As for Manny, does this affect his future HOF considerations? He was obviously a first ballot guy before this. Arguably one of the best hitters to ever play the game.

Mainly because while it helps get people recover faster from injury, it also makes them more prone to injury. His streak alone suggests he wasn't on steroids. I'm sure he was on stuff like creatine and such.

[ShaneDawg85]

I don't believe he ever did steroids, for many of the reasons that have been stated. Being objective here, Cal might not have been the very best player I ever saw, but when I think of what a baseball player should represent, based on work ethic, dedication, the way he interacts with the fans, the respect he pays the fans, and the respect he has for the game, Cal Ripken Jr. is the embodiment of what I hope a baseball player would be. If it ever came out that he did steroids in his career then there is absolutely nothing sacred in the game.

[wickedwitch]

Maybe I am in the minority here but I would be shocked if Cal didn't use them. Maybe I am a pessimist in this matter but why should I think he didn't?

I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't use them, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

If 85% of the players at minimum used, then the odds are that any one given player - even Cal - used.

Frankly, I'm not that confident that no current Oriole is using PEDs either. The tests don't detect everything and there are ways to mask the drugs.

[murrayfan420]

The real thing to take away from this is that anyone who played in the MLB over the last 20 years has to be viewed in the "Steroids Era". NO ONE is above suspicion and it's a shame. There is just no way to prove exactly who did, or did not, take PEDs.

[bird watcher]

Mainly because while it helps get people recover faster from injury, it also makes them more prone to injury. His streak alone suggests he wasn't on steroids. I'm sure he was on stuff like creatine and such.

I don't know that you can prove that because of the many ways to use steroids and because of the many types of steroids. He may not have been a regular cycler of roids looking to bulk up. I think chronic use of steroids is different than sporadic supplemental steroid use.

[The Wedge]

I don't believe he ever did steroids, for many of the reasons that have been stated. Being objective here, Cal might not have been the very best player I ever saw, but when I think of what a baseball player should represent, based on work ethic, dedication, the way he interacts with the fans, the respect he pays the fans, and the respect he has for the game, Cal Ripken Jr. is the embodiment of what I hope a baseball player would be. If it ever came out that he did steroids in his career then there is absolutely nothing sacred in the game.

Absolutely nothing is sacred in the game already, unfortunately.