Clemens
Smokinjoe- I'm preparing to head to the Midwest Monster card show in
Indy, so I thought I'd check net54 to see if there were threads about it.
Couldn't find any mention, so I read your comment on PEDs/Clemens and
will weigh in.
My first thought is that I recall Bonds/Clemens being wonderful players pre
rampant cheating. I was a "fan" of neither, but man they could play. So, I
don't have a 'fan" based dog in this fight. That being said, your remarks left
me scratching my head a bit...
1) PEDs are indeed relevant, their proliferation changed the way observers
perceived the game while clearly influencing statistical/performance results
of those who abused. By the way, there is no "may or may not" in regard to
PED use by these 2 players specifically- they did it, period.
2) Speaking only for myself, I'm not a "canceler". I recall their play well.
This thread calls for opinion (which is judgment) on where Clemens ranks
on a scale. His "ranking" suffers due to PED abuse. (That's not just me,
but a bunch of folks). Someone mentioned that there are 84 pitchers in
HOF, thus putting him somewhere around 85-90. Sounds about right.
3) I would argue that these PED guys (specifically) hardly built better
mousetraps. Their abuse became obvious and permanently intertwined
with their achievements, it was not "clever".
4) Don't feel too bad for these 2! The Google machine reveals Clemens
was paid between 150-170 million in his career, absent endorsements.
Bonds was slightly higher at 188 million. They are laughing all the way to
the bank, compensated exponentially more than the greats who came
before them. They still have plenty of fans too! I can't imagine they lose
sleep over what they did.
I'm not qualified to determine the ultimate resting place for their eternal
souls, but they've earned those asterisks in baseball history. I hope they
always stay by their names.
Trent King
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