End of steroids era in baseball.

[castletonsnob]

Do you think that the Steroid Era of baseball has ended? There aren't nearly as many home runs as there were 1989-2007, and the sport is now more defense-oriented.

[Burst]

I'd say it pretty much has, but honestly baseball tends to go in cycles in terms of the game favoring certain playing cycles, so I don't see the lack of home runs as a bad thing. The counter-argument is that it's hard to get anyone but diehards to come see pitching duels, but honestly the "Why aren't people coming to watch live sports?" is a whole can of worms in itself.

I will say, though, that looking back at people like Jose Canseco, it's completely ridiculous how they looked and yet it didn't seem out of the ordinary at the time.

[Father Dougal McGuire]

Probably not. Eventually there will be some new PED that won't show up in test for a while.

[Spider2024]

I mean there are people still using here and there, but yeah it is now less about power and THE Home Run.

[Jedi-El of Tomorrow]

The PED Era is still going, and it's been going on for a lot longer than since the late 80s.

[thetower52]

I wish it was still going on.
Juiced up pitchers vs juiced up batters

[Push R Truth]

Begun, the HGH Era has

[Reflecto]

Steroids can make you hit the ball further or throw the ball faster, but those are minor things.

The real issue's always been amphetamine usage- which can make you concentrate harder to hit a baseball or have better control of that ball, especially during the dog days...but because Jim Bouton called them "greenies" in Ball Four everyone thinks it's a cute baseball story and not "every baseball player is a closet speed freak!"

The PED side could be lessened, but as long as a player can find someone willing to swear they have ADHD so they can get an Adderall prescription, there's still a PED problem and always will be.

[ThereIsNoAbsurdistOnlyZuul]

Apr 3, 2016 23:01:11 GMT -5 Jedi-El of Tomorrow said:

The PED Era is still going, and it's been going on for a lot longer than since the late 80s.

Oh yeah.

Meet Pud Galvin, The Monkey Testicle-Drinking Rebuttal To The Argument That PED Users Shouldn't Be In The Hall Of Fame

[Toilet Paper Roll]

Yeah the product is dull right now.

[ICBM]

MLB let these guys get away with it, the players hit more home runs, ratings, merch sales and attendance went up. All of that followed two work stoppages within a five yr span. Baseball was on the ropes and lost ground to basketball and football. So if MLB wants to act high and mighty when they are complicit in PED use, than MLB needs to face the music and remove its name from the HOF. Bonds, Palermo, McGuire, Clemmons, Sosa etc did wonders and inspired me as a young ball player. I was hurt by Palermo being exposed bc he was a Ranger (my team), he played 1st base (so did I) and he was an all around player. Hard nosed. But I have forgiven Raffy for his sin. Bonds has never NEVER been proven, penalized or convicted of PED use and yet was tried in the media and convicted of steroid use. I'm not saying he didn't but the burden of proof is on the accuser. Palermo pissed hot=guilty
Bonds was an asshole to the media=guilty?

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

There was a very interesting talk about this on my local ESPN Radio station in St. Louis about a month ago or so. Saying it not that the players are not as strong or unable to hit them, it had a lot to do with the strike zone. They said the zone as expanded a lot from back then that is calling more strike outs because balls that would be normally a ball back then are not called strikes lessing the chances. Now I don't have those numbers but that was what said.

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

I remember Bret Boone looking like someone inflated him with a tire pump

[pegasuswarrior]

Apr 8, 2016 11:51:58 GMT -5 Can you afford to pay me, Gah said:

There was a very interesting talk about this on my local ESPN Radio station in St. Louis about a month ago or so. Saying it not that the players are not as strong or unable to hit them, it had a lot to do with the strike zone. They said the zone as expanded a lot from back then that is calling more strike outs because balls that would be normally a ball back then are not called strikes lessing the chances. Now I don't have those numbers but that was what said.

Still not expanded as much as it should be. There are a TON of strikes that are not called that the umpires conveniently miss. I'm a huge proponent of letting the technology call strikes and balls.

[RadcapRadsley]

Apr 3, 2016 18:02:09 GMT -5 Burst said:

I'd say it pretty much has, but honestly baseball tends to go in cycles in terms of the game favoring certain playing cycles, so I don't see the lack of home runs as a bad thing. The counter-argument is that it's hard to get anyone but diehards to come see pitching duels, but honestly the "Why aren't people coming to watch live sports?" is a whole can of worms in itself.

The live attendance gates for baseball are doing real well. The problem though is when you look at national tv ratings they are anemic for people under 50 outside of the WS. It's a lot like wrestling in that on paper it looks good because they are making a shitload of money but for every 80ish year old who dies they are not being replaced by as many new younger ones.


The one long term effect of the steroid era is when MLB basically scapegoated and turned on their star players corporate America took notice and that's why you will never see a baseball star with as much name recognition as a Jeter,Bonds or Ichiro ever again as Nike,Gatorade etc will never throw the kind of endorsements they do at Football and Basketball players knowing it could be useless at the drop of a hat. Clayton Kershaw could win 8 Cy Young's and still be a WHO is he national figure.

[ICBM]

Apr 8, 2016 13:53:48 GMT -5 pegasuswarrior said:

Apr 8, 2016 11:51:58 GMT -5 Can you afford to pay me, Gah said:

There was a very interesting talk about this on my local ESPN Radio station in St. Louis about a month ago or so. Saying it not that the players are not as strong or unable to hit them, it had a lot to do with the strike zone. They said the zone as expanded a lot from back then that is calling more strike outs because balls that would be normally a ball back then are not called strikes lessing the chances. Now I don't have those numbers but that was what said.

Still not expanded as much as it should be. There are a TON of strikes that are not called that the umpires conveniently miss. I'm a huge proponent of letting the technology call strikes and balls.

Technology gave us college football's worst championship system. It Made College football huge. Bigger than it's ever been. But the division and confrontation about who rally deserved to be there went on far too long. So no, I am not always in favor of technology in sports. Replay is fine because a human with eye balls is judging using the tech

[pegasuswarrior]

Apr 8, 2016 19:25:03 GMT -5 ICBM said:

Apr 8, 2016 13:53:48 GMT -5 pegasuswarrior said:

Still not expanded as much as it should be. There are a TON of strikes that are not called that the umpires conveniently miss. I'm a huge proponent of letting the technology call strikes and balls.

Technology gave us college football's worst championship system. It Made College football huge. Bigger than it's ever been. But the division and confrontation about who rally deserved to be there went on far too long. So no, I am not always in favor of technology in sports. Replay is fine because a human with eye balls is judging using the tech

I am talking about human-programmed planes in which the ball must stay within in order for it to be a strike. It's either in the rectangular plane or it is not. Not dismissing your stance on it; just clarifying what may have been a misunderstanding of what I was proposing.

[ICBM]

I appreciate the explanation. I was a ball player for a long time. My dad was a local hero of a ball player where I'm from. Not pro, HS all state multi time blah blah. He pushed me into it but I get to love it when he became disabled and it was on my terms. So I developed the core mechanics thru solo drill literally year round until the seasons started and in TD once you got into pony ball there were leagues almost all yr. so I just appreciate the old school style and work it takes. I hated getting screwed by a bad look from an ump but I understand and love that part of it. It's pure. That's another reason I never minded the PED deal. I know that strength does not matter as much as people think it does. You cannot just juice up and be able to hit the ball. The hand eye coordination and the quickness of your mind are what makes a hitter just as it makes you an near acrobat (reflex-wise) as an infielder. It is work that produces that. PED helps you train harder. That's all. You still have to put in the work. Hell some of the stuff guys use for weight lifting today (legal stuff) outpaces or evens out compared to the cocktails of steroids in the 80's and early 90's (I dunno much about HGH so I'm not talking about that. McGuire did androstenedione which is now on the federal drug schedule. But I used it when it was legal. McGuire used it, wrestlers used it, body huoders etc. I'm sorry I got off track with my response. You made a good point but I just don't like the idea of a computer (man made math driven or not) calling balls and strikes.

[ICBM]

*in TX