So, Ivan Rodriguez has made the Hall of Fame. While he never failed a PED test, there were always rumors and his body size shrank about 30% late in his career. He was clearly deserving based on the stats, as I-Rod was considered the best at his position for a number of years.
It’s clear that the voters are going to now drop their resistance to suspected PED users like Bonds, Sosa, and Clemens. Although he’s not mentioned very often, Mark McGwire should also be included in the conversation. All of these players were at the top of the game for many years and have the stats to back it up. And if that’s the case, then SU says there is no reason to not allow A-Rod in as well. They all used to varying degrees and it’s impossible to start playing some fine line of who did, who didn’t and who maybe did. We won’t know for a few years for A-Rod but SU believes once the others get the votes, it will be difficult to keep him out despite the suspension and all the rest.
Nice Knicks win last night. SU turned it on in the 2nd half and while there was one 3rd quarter stretch where Melo shot every time, it was great to see a balanced attack. The Knicks are now 5-0 when Noah doesn’t play. Rose had a great offensive game but it’s becoming very clear that he has no interest in passing. Some of his passes on his drives are literally to no-one on the perimeter. But he is a great finisher around the basket. I know, it’s only one game but if KP moves to the 5-position and maybe, just maybe, Carmelo starts to pass a little more, this team can score a lot of points and be a tough out come playoff time in a weak Eastern Conference.
SU fave, Novak Djokovic, was ousted last night in the 2nd round of the Australian Open in 5 sets to a journeyman player. Since winning last year’s French Open, he has not been the same player. As he nears 3o, Djokovic is much more philosophical and you can see he has lost the edge. SU believes that for the top, top players, winning and losing against the best comes down to a few points and being bold on those few points. Federer lost that about 5 years ago and while his game looks the same, he tends to lose matches because he has lost the nerve. SU would now put Djokovic in that category – he’s just not going for shots at those times anymore and is playing for his opponent to miss. This is a great time for Andy Murray to dominate but SU says keep an eye on Milos Raonic who I think is ready to take the next step. I am still hopeful Djokovic will find his way back but I am not feeling it at the moment.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
I’ve left a number of comments on this topic over the years. A Rod should get in. So should Bonds and Clemens and Sosa and McGuire. And now we have Bagwell and I Rodriguez joining Piazza and who knows which other players who carry suspicions of PED use. We will never know exactly who used what. What we do know is that a hall of fame that includes Bagwell but not Bonds is a hall of fame that is completely blind to the games as they were played on the field.
I’m generally fine with the guys who got in. Ivan Rodriguez is the best all around catcher that I ever saw and it’s not close. Raines was a dominant force for about a decade and then spent the rest of a long career compiling numbers. That’s fine with me. There are players in the hall who were dominant briefly or long-term compilers. He was both. Good enough for me. Bagwell is fine with me although I would have left him out. I find his career good, yet forgettable. But maybe that’s because of where he played.
What I don’t like is the cherry picking of stats to justify induction. It seems that they are able to find a stat for every player on the ballot where the player compares favorably to some baseball immortal. I don’t want to hear how Mike Mussina has some statistic that compares favorably to Christy Mathewson. It’s insulting. I know what I saw with a player like Mussina. He is a borderline hall of famer. Let’s not start comparing him to the best that ever lived.
I’m surprised that Trevor Hoffman didn’t get in. You could make the case for his career being better than any closer in the Hall (at least until Rivera gets in). He was more than a compiler. He was among the league leaders in saves every season. His teams weren’t great but there really aren’t many players who have been among the league’s best closers for half as long as Hoffman was.
Yes, I had seen that Trevor Hoffman still doesn’t have the votes to get in. He was the dominant reliever of his era. He is more deserving than Raines or Bagwell. Some writers like to make players wait. I will never feel that Mike Mussina is deserving. He was never at that elite level – very steady. Also, apparently Jorge Posada’s numbers compare pretty favorably with Pudge but he won’t make it.
Hey… don’t be too quick to put Djokovic in the beginning of the end section. No one is 100% floor-less. The mental aspect of tennis is probably greater than any other motion sport simply because its only you out there. No coaching during the match. No one to communicate with besides the ball boys, linemen and referee. Besides “good shot’ not even a conversation with your opponent. 3-5 hours long is a very long time to be focused on anything… even your wedding.
While i am not a big fan of any player, especially since Americans are not even in the top 15 I do take my hat off to him in winning 12 majors… and counting. I’m sure he has a few more left that’s coming to him.
The Knicks win…. please… even the Browns won a game… or was it 2
U Conn women at #92. Get ready for #100 at home against the Gamecocks of South Carolina….. Gamecocks at a women’s game? Sounds like a Law & Order SVU episode in the making. .
The selection of Bud Selig to the HOF by the Today’s Era Committee has opened the door for the suspected PED users who would otherwise be highly likely and deserving candidates based on their performance alone. However, there is a big difference between those who have suspicions surrounding their PED use and those that have definitive evidence against them. There is also a big difference between those who used substances that were not illegal or against the current rules of MLB at the time and those that blatantly broke the law, violated MLB rules, lied and purposely tried to deceive and hinder MLB and government investigations.
Alex Rodriguez is one of the greatest players of all time but he does not belong in the HOF. He repeatedly lied and cheated in clear violation of the rules in order to enhance his performance and gain an advantage over fellow major league players. Let’s not equate his behavior to Mark McGwire, who was not hiding his use of supplements that were not illegal at the time. There was a large grey area during the ’90s when PED use was widespread and condoned by MLB at the highest levels. Team owners and the commissioner were complicit with this behavior. And the fans loved it! I will always remember seeing McGwire hitting two long home runs at Shea stadium in the summer of ’98. The crowd gave him a standing ovation. It was an awesome display of power.
All this changed at the turn of the century as the dangers of steroids became more well known and MLB finally decided to crack down on there use. Rules and testing regimes were initiated in 2003 and the Mitchell report followed in 2006. From this point on things were pretty black and white. If you used PEDs you were cheating.
ARod is a cheater and liar who compromised the integrity of the game for his own benefit. I applaud his newfound maturity and humbleness but can not overlook his sins of the past. He and the others that continued to cheat should never be admitted to the HOF!
Jeff