Dumb Opinion of the Day - Fergie Jenkins

by BuckyB on Jan 21, 2010 5:38 PM CST

Mark McGwire ended Orel Hershiser's career, apparently, because of his steroid use .

“You altered pitchers’ lives. You may have shortened pitchers careers because of the advantage you forced over them while juiced. Have you thought about what happened when they couldn’t get you out and lost the confidence of their managers and general managers? You even managed to alter the place some athletes have achieved in record books by making your steroid-fueled run to the season home run record.”

Dumb stat of the day then becomes:

Fifty-one pitchers gave up a total of 57 homers to McGwire in what turned out to be their final major league seasons, according to STATS LLC, among them Bert Blyleven, Orel Hershiser, Dennis Martinez, Charlie Leibrandt and Donnie Moore.

That's right. At age 43, in 1998, Dennis Martinez was forced to cut his career short because of the crucial home run he allowed to Mark McGwire on August 30, 1998, a blown save by Fergie Jenkins because of McGwire's 55th home run of the year. Out of genorisity, the Braves allowed Martinez to finish the season before they forced him into retirement.

I'm tired of retired players commenting on the steroid era and acting like they did it "the right way."

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Comments

Umm...

in that box score you liked to, McGwire hit his HR off of Kevin Millwood.

by Inkara1 on Jan 21, 2010 6:08 PM CST reply actions

lol

by BuckyB on Jan 21, 2010 6:08 PM CST up reply actions

I'm going to stay on my soapbox if you don't mind, but I'll change the post

by BuckyB on Jan 21, 2010 6:10 PM CST up reply actions

Worth noting the new game was another Millwood start and he had a game score of 35.

by Inkara1 on Jan 21, 2010 9:37 PM CST up reply actions

x

this makes my head hurt

by Fireal20 on Jan 21, 2010 7:44 PM CST reply actions

because ofcourse

NONE of the pitchers did steroids. it was all hitters.

by selppuc on Jan 21, 2010 7:54 PM CST reply actions

This is exactly what Jenkins is missing with his opinion.

Plus a little of what BuckyB said.

PITCHf/x Database
Searching for a way to predict injuries - TexasLeaguers.com
Texas Rangers Top 25 Prospects - Baseball Time in Arlington

by NoNameOnCard on Jan 21, 2010 9:29 PM CST up reply actions

Definitely

I would argue that the right cycle provides more immediate dividends to a pitcher than a hitter. A guy that i knew went from 84 to 91 after 4 months and two good 6 weeks on, 2 weeks off cycles.

"JD gets complete blame or credit for what happens in 2010 and I think Nolan wants it that way. JD is paid to be a real GM and needs to start performing like one." - Josey Wales

by Michael Cave on Jan 21, 2010 10:08 PM CST up reply actions

Plus, who knows whether McGwire would have walked, singled, etc.

and he would have hit at least 40 of those dongs without the roids

the difference his at-bats made on those pitchers’ careers was RIDICULOUSLY marginal

by BuckyB on Jan 21, 2010 11:06 PM CST up reply actions

Well the biggest thing

IMO with roids is the stamina it provides. For example, lets say as a “clean” player i can go into the cage and do 100 quality cuts before my mechanics start breaking down and i get arm weary. Well, if you are on the sauce then you can probably take 200 cuts quality cuts before getting that same arm weariness. That is HUGE especially if you are in the cages everyday. You can translate that example to weight training and working in general as well.

There is no doubt that those on steroids had an immense amount of natural talent and, in most cases, a special work ethic however those roids enhanced everything they did and allowed them to do more of it.

"JD gets complete blame or credit for what happens in 2010 and I think Nolan wants it that way. JD is paid to be a real GM and needs to start performing like one." - Josey Wales

by Michael Cave on Jan 22, 2010 8:32 AM CST up reply actions

Buck O'Neill still has the best take ever on the "old player" issue

I forget the exact quote but basically he told Joe Pos one time that players always look for an edge and if steroids had been around back in the old days they’d have been just as prevalent then, and people who argue with that are just kidding themselves.

"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217

Internet greatness http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/11/10/1125340/will-carroll-calls-out-josey-wales

by WestTxAg06 on Jan 21, 2010 9:25 PM CST via mobile reply actions

Buck O'Neill

That man just oozed greatness.

And he’s right, by the way

What's the rumpus?

by Hypo-Luxa on Jan 21, 2010 10:15 PM CST up reply actions

Exactly

Fergie, I suspect, threw just as many spit balls as the rest of em

by BuckyB on Jan 21, 2010 11:03 PM CST up reply actions

Also,

the thought that players weren’t doing steroids in the 70s is just silly. They weren’t as widespread, but they were available, and its a sure bet some players were using them.

"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland

by DJCahill on Jan 22, 2010 6:10 AM CST up reply actions

Somewhat on this topic

Beau Vaughan has a blog post up about Ped’s and minor league baseball , it’s a good read.

http://rangersprospect.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/01/random-off-season-stuff.html

"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg

by rentz on Jan 22, 2010 7:10 AM CST reply actions

Always pure greatness

"JD gets complete blame or credit for what happens in 2010 and I think Nolan wants it that way. JD is paid to be a real GM and needs to start performing like one." - Josey Wales

by Michael Cave on Jan 22, 2010 8:36 AM CST up reply actions