Letters to the Editor
sansho1
Published Letters: 212 Editor's Choice: 34
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To I'm Just Sayin
[Read the article: When Barry passes Hank]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You wrote:
"HOW IS IT CHEATING IF IT ISN'T AGAINST THE RULES??"
I'll take a shot at addressing this, since you posted it twice and are looking for a response.
Baseball doesn't exist in a legal vacuum -- if possessing steroids without a prescription is a crime, then most people would agree that it is by definition against the rules of a game that's played by people subject to the laws of the land. MLB finally codified it within the rules of the game because it was outrageous that an illegal activity was tolerated behind closed doors. Within the rules of the society at large (read: laws), taking steroids was always cheating.
Bonds hasn't been caught, I believe, in part because he has connections at the highest levels of the illegal steroids industry, people like Greg Anderson who are willing to go to jail without ratting him out, and the most immediate access to any resource to help him avoid being detected.
These minor league relief pitchers and such who get caught have none of that -- nobody is going to stick his neck out to save them from detection. They weren't getting treatment and advice at the BALCO lab, they were probably given something third-hand and told "here, you'll play better, and everyone is doing it". A disproportionate number of those who have been caught are Latin and not greatly educated, with the attendant language barrier and lack of knowledge of repurcussions. They cheated too, just not as well as Bonds can afford to.
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Variables
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There is a constant churning of environmental factors which affect the likelihood of another 300-game winner.
Five-man rotations make it less likely.
Improved surgical techniques make it more likely.
Hitters parks make it less likely.
The money being paid to age-40+ pitchers makes it more likely.
Pitch counts (in the majors) makes it less likely.
Inning counts (in the minors) make it more likely.
Taken as a group, it certainly looks like "less likely" carries the day. But never again?
Here are the years in which the last 10 pitchers who surpassed the total won #300:
1961 - Spahn
1963 - Wynn
1982 - Perry
1983 - Carlton
1985 - Niekro, Seaver
1986 - Sutton
2003 - Clemens
2004 - Maddux
2007 - Glavine
In the years between Wynn and Perry, only Robin Roberts and Juan Marichal had even a ghost of a chance. Surely the death of the 300-game winner was foretold. Suddenly it was happening every year (and that doesn't include exact contemporaries Jenkins, Kaat, Palmer, and John). Another long dry spell, now another spate of pitchers in the last few years.
It'll probably be another 15 years before it happens again, if not longer. But Bonderman and Sabathia in particular might have what it takes. No chance it happens again after them, though. I mean, it would have to be someone I've never heard of!
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Also
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The one MLB record that won't be broken. Categorically.
...Johnny van der Meer's back-to-back no-hitters.
Also in that category is Fernando Tatis' two grand slams in a single inning.
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FYI
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ted Williams hit 248 HR at Fenway and 273 on the road.
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Schlabach's methodology
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not convinced that this study means much. It seems inevitable -- teams ranked highly at the beginning of the season has a lot more room to fall than rise, and vice versa for the lower-ranked teams.
This mathematical truism could extend to the conferences as well. Adding up the numbers from the six BCS conferences, the total is -120 1/2, meaning teams from those conferences were overrated by that many ranking slots. And so, atop the list of underrateds, with a score double that of the PAC-10, is all other conferences.
This jibes with a phenomenon you see every year -- a few teams, playing weaker competition, will rise disproportionately when the big boys beat each other up. Wazzu and Boise have done it more than most -- that's pretty much all I see here.
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asdf
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've always harbored the notion that Griffey is overrated as a fielder -- he's been a damned good fielder who happens to wield a HOF bat. Andruw Jones, until the last couple of years, has seemed to be better. Edmonds -- spectacular, but purposefully so. It's long been contended that he would slow up a step in order to have to dive.
And Clemente had the legendary arm, but was he really a great fielder? I'm too young, I don't know. I've heard he was. My vote would have been Mays, Jones, and Garry Maddox.
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Ohio State vs. Georgia
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"...call me crazy, but I'd rather see something like Ohio State-Georgia, a game that has never once been scheduled, though they were forced to play each other in the 1992-season Citrus Bowl."
Good luck with that one, particularly assuming that it would have to be a home-and-home arrangement. My Bulldogs haven't scheduled a non-conference game north of the Mason-Dixon line (or west of the Mississippi River, for that matter) since 1967.
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asdf
[Read the article: "The Nine"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Interesting article about a book I plan to read. However, I thought the term "rock ribbed" as applied to conservatives/Republicans went out with George Allen. Would that it had.
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Check into your small local bank...
[Read the article: The Bank of America's ATM heist]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...if you have one. My local bank, because they do not have ATM machines of their own, pick up the tab on all my ATM fees, no matter what ATM I visit, anywhere in the country, period. Beat that!
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Sorry,
[Read the article: Credit check]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]but to me they all pale in comparison to the bass line from the theme to Barney Miller:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAh5SJrIEwY
Bet you can't listen just once!
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kicking unis
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Dead Horse Flogging" being the runner-up name of Easterbrook's column....
I agree with King on the drab unis -- my Falcons were always the sharpest-looking (if not always sharpest-playing) team on the field back in the '70s and early '80s:
http://origin.atlantafalcons.com/People/Alumni/Uniform_History.aspx
I tried to find a pic of their predominantly white unis from that era, which looked even better (coming out of the tunnel, anyway). Does anyone know where to find such a pic?