[BobC]

.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth View Post
To Bob's point, I think there's just a different emotional reaction to different types of "cheating," whether one can rationalize it or not. Taking banned substances or stealing signs are just flash points for most people, whereas getting away with a spitball somehow seems (to most) just part of the inherent fabric of the game.

Exactly right, and also the point is that at first, these PEDs were not banned, just like spitballs and maybe other things, like how much pine tar you can have on a bat. LOL

But to claim that the McGwire and Sosa specifically ruined baseball because people now argue that certain records they like and look up to were somehow compromised as a result of PED users, seems a little crazy. Does it make for discussions points about who people think are the best and/or should hold certain records, yes of course. But to then go further and claim that raises things to the level of actually ruining the game of baseball itself......really?!?!?

My usual mistake is expecting people to have open minds and actually think and use logic to start looking at things they say or believe, and maybe start thinking about and looking at such things from different contextual and/or historic points of view or circumstances they may not have previously considered. They usually don't like that though, and just want "yes" people to agree with everything they say. LOL

So when someone tells me something like they don't view cheating using a banned PED substance the same as using say corked bats or throwing spitballs, I just have to ask why and how they can make such a differentiation. Cheating is cheating.....period, right? So how can one form of cheating be so terrible and ruin the game, whereas the same person(s) thinks and feels another form of cheating isn't that bad at all, and don't really care about it?

What is also somewhat confounding is how it seems when one form of cheating is maybe used/practiced by only a few players, at most, they are oftentimes thought of even more highly in some cases because of their attempts at cheating. Like spit ballers and those that have used cork bats. It is like they're even more highly liked and revered specifically because of their attempts to get away with cheating, in that sort of infamous, "bad boy" image or complex if you will. What's the old saying, "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying!" But then switch to a different form of perceived cheating that becomes more accepted and practiced throughout the entirety of a sport, like the upwards of half or more of all MLB players supposedly on PEDs at one point in time, and suddenly all of fandom comes to hate them all, but specifically lays the blame at the more noted, dominant players. Meanwhile, think about this, if pretty much everyone really is doing the same thing, then is it really cheating since they are pretty much all trying to get the same advantage, so it ends up that no one really does have any advantage, they're all just trying to stay equal. LOL Think about it, it's like the whole cheating concept is really bass-ackwards for many people.