The Hot Stove League

How can we have a sports league with two different sets of rules? I admit NL is more about strategy without the DH.

the DH issue is tied up in union rhetoric -- if they get rid of it, 30 DH's will hypothetically lose their jobs...

Agreed re the DH. From this fan's point of view, comparing games in the two leagues is like comparing fast food and a gourmet meal. In the NL, the strategies are more complex--and interesting!

But less simple...baseball is the most complex game.

The Caribbean Series is almost over. Mexico, with 5-1, won. Venezuela was 3-3, Dominican Republic is 2-3 and Puerto Rico is 1-4 (they have a 1-12 record on their last 13 games). Dominicans and Puertoricans will play the last game.

As for players, both Castilla and Durazo looked awesome. So did (Baltimore's SS) Tejeda at bat. Tavares lost two games; José Lima lost one. Ronnie Belliard needs some fielding practice ASAP. Venezuela lacked opportunity batting... perhaps with Abreu it would have been a different story.

On another subject: It looks as though Jose Canseco has written a tell-all book on steroids. Claims that he helped McGwire shoot up and he also fingers Jason Giambi and Ivan Rodriguez.

Jose isn't exactly the most reliable source, but who knows....

I'll hammer this point until it's a dead horse: a LOT of major leaguers are on steroids, not just a select few. If you(not you personally, D'artagan) had any clue about roids, it's so obvious McGwire juiced it's not even funny. I've mentioned this before, I have a friend in the minors, and when I went out to see him play a couple summers ago, there weren't a lot of "big" guys on his team, but only a handful weren't openly on roids.

It's not just the big power hitters. It's pitchers, the "smaller" guys, ect. Even other sports you may not think of, guys are juicing for faster recovery and more strenght. For chrissake's, look how much bigger the guys in the NBA are? Lot of them are starting to look like bodybuilders. People, fitness/diets/workout programs haven't really changed over the past 10-15 years all that much, and it sure the hell isn't evolution.

Canseco is such a clown though. Gotta love it. He was probably one of the steroid pioneers in baseball. He should be proud.

You may be right, Slappy, I have no way of knowing. Though it's hard to imagine many pitchers do it, because they don't look that much bigger than they used to.

But in any case, I think they're screwing up the game (and other games, too) and it's time for a crack down!

Pitchers rely on their legs to push off the mound for velocity, and certain steroids lubricate the joints, so a pitcher could take them for strength and recovery. One fairly obvious pitcher is Kevin Brown. A guy doesn't have to go on cycles as heavy as Sosa or Canseco have(plus they're genetically bigger than other guys), there's a lot of different steroids that do different things and have different degrees of effect. Some are very mild, some are heavy. They don't automatically make someone a monster, there's a lot more that goes into getting very big.

Slappy is right. Steroids are used widely, and not only by the big guys.

For the PanAmerican Games, Mexico decided to send a team of Mexican League (Triple A) players. Before the trip, the National Olympic Comittee decided to scan them, since doping tests are tough in those events. Mexico had to travel with a 13 player team in baseball... 12 players tested positive.

my question -- were giambi's health problems last year a direct result of his having stopped taking 'roids?

with stricter testing this year, will we see more players break down like that??

My friend, a nurse, predicted that Giambi's health problems were 'roids-related as soon as she heard of his problems. It's not her area of expertise, per se, but she was highly suspicious.

And, yes, I do believe more players will break down in the future...

I don't know what Giambi's actual problem was, so I have no idea if it was steroid related. A lot of people automatically become suspicious of any health problem if they hear someone's on steroids.

Steroids have been around and abused for a long time, and if one or two cycles were making people "break down," you'd hear about that happening to a lot more people, and pro bodybuilders would be dropping like flies, because they ABUSE them to the max.

Like any prescription drug, they can cause some nasty side effects, and at the same time they can be used pretty safely. Depends on what drugs are involved, what dose, how they're cycled, ect. That being said, I've researched them and never found one drug I thought was worth taking personally, that had a good balance of gains vs. side effects(and not having to stick a needle in my ass), considering I'm not a pro athlete. If I was, I'd take 'em in a second.

Slappy, I assume you've heard what they do to a man's testicles. It's not a pretty picture, amigo...

Yes, they shrivel because your body shuts down it's natural production of testosterone...that side effect is reversable, though.

Even worse, is what happens to women...their clit can grow to the size of a grown man's thumb.

I think he had a parasite, as well as a benign tumor.

The news that Roger Maris' son wants the HR records of McGuire and Bonds and Sosa asterisked is pretty interesting. I don't agree with that.

Look, I've Jose's book on pre-order at Amazon. He's going to really sling a lot of **** on a lot of people, including the President of the United States (who again demonstrates, if Canseco can be believed, an astonishing predisposition for hypocrisy -- surprise).

I think that it's mostly going to wind up a tempest in a teapot.

Which probably surprises those of you who expected another slam on Dubya.

In other baseball news, pitchers and catchers report shortly. Looking forward to my annual Florida trek for some grapefruit league action next month.

Don't forget to check in with me. I've got the Mets, Dodgers and Marlins within an hours drive.

Ah, you're over there on the west -- oops, east (that's the edit) coast.

I fly into Tampa and take the causeway over to Clearwater, where my mother keeps a condo. (My sister lives in Tarpon Springs, but she's not a baseball fan, so I usually don't see her when I make this trip.)

As you probably know, there's about a dozen teams right there. I always go see the Phillies -- they're just ten minutes away (I loved that old Jack Russell Stadium) and sometimes the Devil Rays. I miss the Cardinals now that they vacated Al Lang (that's the best stadium in all of Florida, though), and I usually try to get down to Bradenton to see the Pirates. That's a great old field; the first time I went there the players sat on a bench close enough to the fence you could almost touch them -- no dugouts. I read they have renovated that place, so I'm sure it's probably lost that Pee Wee park feel. And I should go see the Tigers in Lakeland, since they seem to have put a team together this year. That's about all I can do in 3-4 days (I went to the see the Yankees once, at Legends, a few years ago. That doesn't even feel like spring training.)

But the closest I'll get to you, panz, is if I drive to Kissimmee for a 'Stros game, and sometimes I just don't feel like that I-4 war. It's brutal driving there around Disney World during spring break. I get to see the Astros a lot anyway...

This is the best site around for anyone who's jonesing for some Grapefruit League info (not the teams or the players but the parks and the games). And once the games get going next month, the St. Pete Times will have the best wrap-ups and box scores for the teams playing there around T-SP -- for anyone who happens to be a fantasy player. :wink:

Yeah, I'm the East Coast kid. The Mets stadium is bland, just a miniature Shea. But I like the Dodgertown digs. They hark back to the 50's when it was built.
I forgot, the Cardinals are nearby in Jupiter in a brand new Roger Dean stadium. Interesting sidelight. A local high school fireballer was drafted straight from HS and ended up setting a record for most wild pitches in a playoff game. I think he was 19.

Rick Ankiel?