Quote:
Originally Posted by bnorth
A big +1 for me also. Before he went to the Red Sox and discovered steroids he could not even make the everyday lineup in Minnesota.
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Have you read any of the books about him or the Sox at the time? The Twins were trying to make him into an opposite field singles hitter. Francona told him during the first spring training that he wasn't there to hit singles and to swing away.
Only two of his seasons are in the top 200 all time for ab/hr And his last season with Minnesota was a respectable 20Hr in 412 AB, so he was hitting pretty well even with them
http://www.baseball-reference.com/le...n_season.shtml
His two years in the top 200 for that stat were at ages 29 and 30. Which lines up reasonably well with the assumed "clean" players with better seasons. _ ones from the top 20 only.
Ruth 1920 8.48 ab/hr age 25 1921 9.15 age 26 1927 9.00 age 32 1928 9.93 age 33
Jim Thome 2002 9.23 age 31
Mantle 1961 9.52 age 29
Hank Greenberg 1928 9.59 age 27
Roger Maris 1961 9.67 age 26
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Ortiz 2006 10.33 age 30 (26th) 2005 12.79 age 29 (188th)
The entire rest of the top 20 seasons is all filled by Bonds McGwire and Sosa.
Sosa was in his late 20's early 30's but McGwire was mid -late 30's and bonds late 30's. All the assumed clean players except Ruth only had one or two years in the top 20 the three ped users had 3-5 years
So not really an age/performance profile that's all that unusual
Every team has their questionable guys, many that are decried as cheaters did it before MLB had any clear policy or testing program. The allegation against Ortiz is from the survey testing in 2003 before the actual program started in 2004. And there's some questions about the accuracy of the 2003 program.
http://www.boston.com/sports/basebal...statement.html
That report is apparently still sealed because of ongoing litigation, and neither MLB nor the players association were able to provide any details at the time or since.
The main points-
Positive in that report isn't necessarily positive for steroids.
Even a positive for steroids could be unintentional or even false given the lax rules at the time.
Opiates are a banned substance. And common food items can cause a positive test.
https://www.erowid.org/plants/poppy/poppy_testing.shtml
Nearly everything you can buy in GNC will probably cause a positive test as well.
And there's a load of stuff in the vitamin aisle at every Pharmacy and supermarket that could also cause a problem.
A few things I'm left with having looked up the stats.
1) What the heck was Ruth taking? Just kidding, but it just shows how far beyond everyone else he was.
2) I think I have a better appreciation for Mickey Mantle. In addition to the two top 20 ab/hr years he's also got the 24th best
3) Sosas three top 20 years were in the lower half of the top 20 and at younger ages maybe..........?
Steve B