Now that Piazza has signed with the San Diego Padres and Frank Thomas has signed with the A’s, that leaves former teammates Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro on the big-name sluggers list yet to be signed for 2006.  My prediction – neither will play professional baseball in America in 2006.  Palmeiro cannot possibly be welcome in any Major League clubhouse after revealing himself for the liar, cheat, and backstabber he is. 

Sosa has proven he simply cannot play without cheating.  With a body last season more resembling his stature he had in the early 90s with the White Sox, his stats returned to his pre-Cubs mediocrity.  His numbers considerably increased as his body inflated, then dropped off the map as his body deflated accordingly.  A trend too blatant to ignore.  It proves nothing, but he was caught with a corked bat.  No reason to think he wouldn’t chemically enhance himself.  After all, Sammy is all about Sammy, his numbers, his stature, his ego… in short, HIM.  He got an invitation by the Nationals, but no guaranteed contract which he demands.  He can always go to Japan.  But he doesn’t want to.  Not looking good for the incredible shrinking man…

With the signing of Frank Thomas by the A’s yesterday, it begs the question of what will become of the remaining sluggers in the free agent market – namely Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, and Mike Piazza.  Raffy will almost certainly be nowhere except at home counting his money and avoiding unnecessary Vitamin B-12 injections by aliens.  Sammy may play for the Nationals… in the Major or Minor leagues has yet to be determined.  He could play in Japan, but wants to stay in America. Amazing his career has come to this, just two years removed from a 35-homer season with the Cubs – play in the minors, or play in Japan.  Has an erosion of skills ever looked so peculiar and suspicious?  He has perfected the incredible shrinking man act along with others in 2005.

Piazza?  He would be a great right-handed bat to have in any lineup, but might be a better fit for an American League team where he could DH.  It will be interesting to see what becomes of these once A-list players, who now struggle to find work in the twilight of their great careers.  Sammy believes he deserves to be paid a guaranteed contract with good money because of his "status" in the game and what he did in the late 90s.  What exactly did he and the weepy McGuire accomplish?  They smiled for the cameras, put their burly arms around each other and captured the imaginations of casual, fringe spectators in need of more excitement, even if it wasn’t baseball, but a freak show. 

It is true I am hard on Sammy and Raffy.  That’s because they don’t respect the game.  They thought they were bigger than the game, that they could cheat the fans and get away with it.  They also thought they could continue to play dumb, and perpetuate their lies to the fans.  Their unemployment and questionable Hall of Fame credentials is the price they pay.  They lost because they never were and never will be bigger than the game.  They are cheaters, and I don’t respect cheaters… especially cheaters who are liars too.  Then again, the two cannot be separated, can they?

I’m happy for Frank Thomas.  Happy he is getting another chance to prove himself after two injury-plagued seasons with the Chicago White Sox.  His one-year deal with the A’s may turn into more.  We’ll have to see what happens. 

Unlike McGuire, Palmeiro, and Sosa, Thomas is one of the few guys involved in the Congressional hearings to consistently not be assiciated with likely steroids users.  All those I have heard say Thomas did it clean, without cheating.  The weight he has gained in recent years looks typical of a man reaching middle age, not a steroid-inflated blow up doll like Sosa looked in 2003 and before. 

Thomas has always been a big, strong man.  He came up with the White Sox in ’91 as a big guy who was quick to earn his nickname, "The Big Hurt."  I think if Thomas was and is clean, his numbers need to be reviewed alongside those of proven cheaters Pameiro and corked-bat user Sosa.  Thomas has not once been caught with cork in his bat, nor has he ever come up positive on a steroid test, nor has he ever been suspected to be a user.  Everyone knows this guy has not had the dramatic body changes of Sosa, McGuire, Palmeiro, and Bonds. 

When it comes time for Hall of Fame consideration, I hope Thomas’ way of going about his business will be respected and taken into consideration.  It is far more impressive to hit 1465 career RBI, 448 home runs, and a lifetime .307 average without the benefit of drugs than it is to hit over 500 homers as Palmeiro did with chemical help. 

Agustin Montero, Rafael Betancourt, and Juan Rincon are all professional baseball players who tested positive for steroids in 2005.  What’s interesting is that these men are not hitters, but pitchers.  With the reality that at least three of those players who tested positive were pitchers, it begs the question of how exactly steroids help pitchers.  It seems obvious how they help hitters, but pitchers?

At this point, it becomes speculation for me.  Anabolic steroids certainly help with recovery, and high-repetition, high-endurance activities such as pitching could possibly benefit from chemical assistance with recovery.  Obviously these pitchers must find some benefit since they took the risk to take them.  Also, it could not have been to assist them with their hitting because none of them had to swing the bat since they were all American League pitchers in 2005.  Perhaps steroids help pitchers thrown faster, snap off breaking balls harder, etc.  The fact that three pitchers were caught gives a clue they just might. 

When I hear the absurd lies, the lame Congressional hearing testimony, the tearful yet elusive Mark McGuire and the "I forgot how to speak English" Sammy Sosa, I have to shake my head and ask myself… "To whom does this great game of baseball belong?  Does it not belong to the fans?  The way these guys talk, you would think it’s all about them and their mini soap operas.

Fortunately, there are still a lot of guys who play the game the right way, and who play it clean.  I’m sure with the tougher penalties for drug violations and the embarassment and stigma attatched to getting caught, this game will continue to get cleaned up.  Still, as I’ve stated  before, there need to be the next step of testing blood to test for human growth hormone. 

Mr. Alzedo said he used human growth hormone in an interview before he died.  Caminetti is dead.  Let us hope there are no more casualties in any sport from drug abuse.  Sad to build a career, make a ton of money, but not be around too long to enjoy it.  That’s pretty depressing…

As more and more ballclubs realize if they have not already that pitching and defense wins championships, and puts their focus on this instead of offense, it will be interesting to watch how the game might change in time.  In a way it already has.  Offensive numbers are down a bit, yet the game remains as exciting as ever. 

Offense is fun, but pitching and defense wins.  In truth, you need both, but the offense-heavy era might be coming to a close.  Rare commodities such as genuine leadoff hitters, good bunters, and base stealers might become just as valuable if not more so than a top-notch slugger.  If so much value is placed on pitching, then should it not also be placed on offensive speed, which barring injury, does not slump?  If you can just push a run or two across while keeping your defense and pitching airtight, you will be pretty tough to beat.  That formula worked pretty well for the White Sox last year. 

Changes in the game will not automatically eliminate problems with drug use in baseball, but a shift in values might alter the way offenses are put together and how much value is placed on sheer power.  Power alone will not win.  Balance wins. 

The sad thing about steroids in baseball is that when a player cheats, he cheats not only himself, but the fans and the game.  Even if a player is not caught, it doesn’t change the fact he cheated and the fans are still cheated from true competition.  Fans might ooh and aah over long ball after long ball, but the fact is, if these feats are from chemical alteration, we’re not even seeing something truly special, or at least, not nearly as special as what it would be if players accomplished these feats without chemical enhancements. 

Fans do want to see special players accomplish special feats, but not because they take unfair advantages.  Not all fans feel this way, of course.  Many do.  When I watch a game, I want to see athletes accomplish feats because they are highly skilled at what they do.  I want to watch the best in the world without alteration because I want to see honest competition and a level playing field. 

Whenever I hear the words "scientific proof" as some people describe what it is they want to prove facts, I grow a tad weary sometimes.  It’s not that I think we shouldn’t test things scientifically.  We should.  But if we are truly interested in getting to the bottom of things, then we need to use every means necessary to discover the truth – including blood testing, which the Player’s Union is not likely to allow.  Sure, the new drug testing policy and stiffer penalties is a step in the right direction, but  much work still needs to be done.

The simple reason for this is because some things, such as HGH, or "human growth hormone" are not detectable in the body without a blood test.  A player could literally "come up clean" on a standard blood test, but still be chemically altered.  This simple fact makes cheating without getting caught sound pretty easy.

There may be other non-detectable substances on standard drug tests, but I’m not certain as to what they are.  The whole point is, we need to test for both urine and blood if we are really committed to finding the truth of this matter…

Sweeping statements are blanket statements made to apply to everyone, and imply factual correctness.  I am careful to state my suspicions of ballplayers as just that – suspicions based on common sense observations.  As I stated in one of my posts – I have absolutely no scientific evidence I can state in terms of a case study or the like that prove steroids help athletes and ballplayers play at a higher level than they would without their help. 

I have never said any of my observations prove anything, because they do not, but I am convinced "scientific proof" means little to people when common sense observations tell them something else – regardless what "scientific proof" has to say about it.  We all know players are adept to masking drugs in their system.  Does that mean that if a player successfully masks the presence of drugs in their system they are therefore clean?  That makes no sense, does it?  Of course not.

Let’s face it.  Players have been caught already.  That is a matter of fact.  Combine that with bloated and inflated ballplayers in 2004 suddenly pulling off the incredible shrinking man act in 2005, and we shouldn’t be surprised when fans draw their own common sense conclusions about what is going on.  Unlike Canseco and Palmeiro, I will not name names.  We know who they are already. 

I’ve been pondering this question a while, and it is a question I will likely not be able to answer because the effect of steroids on a player’s performance is probably impossible to quantify. 

Canseco offers some interesting yet contradictory views on this. On the one hand he has said he could not have played baseball at the Major League level without steroids, and on the other, he has also said that Rafael Palmeiro should be allowed entry to the Hall of Fame because there is no way to know how much or how little steroids helped him achieve his Hall of Fame numbers.   

When speaking of himself, it would seem Canseco gives steroids virtually all the credit, and in the Palmeiro case, he claims the quantification of steroids’ effect on Palmeiro is impossible, therefore his numbers should be taken as legit.  I can remember Palmeiro as skinny, little Cub.  His numbers improved pretty quickly, especially during his third year with Texas.  Canseco was one of his teammates.  It does not prove anything, but it is hard to believe in light of recent news that Palmeiro tells the truth and that Canseco is a complete liar.