PUTTING "*" IN THE SEATS

It was all about the owners and MLB putting AS"*"S back in the seats! 

Yes my friends that's what this is all about...MONEY!!!

Here's my story and I'm sticking to it...

In 1994 MLB went on a strike. It was the 8th work stoppage in baseball history, 4th "in-season" work stoppage in 23 years. It was a 232-day strike from Aug 12, 1994 - April 2nd, 1995. The cancellation of regular season games including the entire 1994 postseason and World Series. 

The cancellation of the 1994 World Series was the 1st since 1904. 

MLB became the 1st professional sport to lose its entire postseason due to a labor dispute.

...(never happened)

So here's some of the "downfall" from that strike:

- The Montreal Expos had their best season in their history. Best record in baseball 74-40 and 6 gms ahead of the Braves in the NL East.

- Frank Thomas (White Sox) won the AL & MVP awards, a career year which he was unable to complete. 

- Tony Gwynn had a chance to finish the season with a .400 batting avg (ended .394) 

- Matt Williams (Giants) had a chance to beat Maris' HR record of 61 (had 43) Steroids???

- Carlos Baerga (Indians) was unable to extend his record 2-yr streak of 20 HR's, 200 hits, and 100 RBI's by a 2nd baseman

- Griffey Jr (Mariners) led the AL with 40 HR's

- Donnie Baseball (Yankees) lost out on any hope to play in the post season for the 1st time in his 13 yr career.

What does this all mean?

It had an effect on all the FANS of baseball. They were upset, disappointed, outraged, but most of all WE were HURT! If you recall, the fans pretty much were boycotting baseball.

They refused to go to games. We were "locked out"!

Baseball needed something! They needed an "injection". 

Something to get the *'s back in the seats.

They needed to generate revenue somehow, someway. They needed us "the fans" to spend our money so they (the owners, the union, the players) can make their money. 

We pay for them to earn and entertain us. And that's exactly what happened.

1995: Enter BALCO, HGH, Steroids, performance enhancers, and whatever else was needed to bring the fans back. Get the game back on the map.

Some highlights from each year 1995-2005 (testing and strict punishment for banned substance usage began in 2005).

1995:

- Ripken breaks Gehrig's consecutive games played record

- Red Sox win 1st place AL East (Yanks end 2nd place 7 gms behind but are the wild card)

- Indians win the AL, Braves win the NL

- Braves are the CHAMPS

1996:

- Mattingly retires, Torre becomes Manager, Yankees dynasty begins

- MVP's AL Juan Gonzalez (Rangers), Ken Caminiti (Padres)- both on Mitchell Report for performance enhancing drugs

- Alex Rodriguez (Mariners) best batting avg AL .358

- McGwire (A's) led AL with 52 HR's and Galarraga (Rockies) NL with 47

- Albert Belle (Indians) 148 RBI's

- Andy Pettitte (Yanks) AL wins 21, John Smoltz (Braves) NL with 24

- Roger Clemens (Red Sox) SO's 257

1997:

- Marlins defeat the Indians in the WS (google some of the players on these rosters, you will not be surprised) 

1998:

- Yankees defeat the Padres in the WS (google these rosters too)

- Expansion- welcome Arizona and Tampa Bay (30 teams)

- MVP's AL J Gonzalez (Rangers) and NL Sammy Sosa (Cubs)

1999:

- Yankees sweep Braves

- MVP's Pudge Rodriguez (Rangers) and Chipper Jones (Braves)

- McGwire ends with 65 HR's, Sosa with 63

2000:

-The year of the LONG BALL (Enough said)

- Subway Series!!! Yanks beat Mets

- MVP's Giambi (A's) and Kent (Giants)

- Rangers sign A-Rod to a record $252 mil 10 yr contract

2001:

- Sept 11th (We will never forget)

- The BalcoBacks beat the Balckees in the 7th game of WS (on a bloop base hit)

- Mariners win 116 gms

- Bonds hits 73 (seventy three) HR's IN THE REGULAR SEASON

2002:

- Angels beat the Giants in Game 7 of WS

- WS MVP Troy Glaus and NLCS MVP Benito Santiago (both on Mitchell Report)

-Giambi (Yankees) wins HR Derby

- All- Star game ends in a tie (another black eye for baseball)

- A-Rod(Rangers) 57 HR's, Sosa 49

- MVPs Bonds (Giants) and Tejada (A's)...(now their answering to Congress about steroid use)

2003: (MLB's 100th season)

- The Balco Marlins beat the Balco Yankees in 6 gms WS

- A-Rod (Rangers) 47 HR's, Thome (Phillies) 47

- NLCS MVP Pudge Rodriguez

2004:

- The curse of the Bambino ends with the Red Sox winning the WS sweeping the Cards. They beat the Yankees in the process. (I'm not going to remind you how)

- Griffey Jr 500 HR Club

- Maddux 300 Wins Club

-Playoff MVP's Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Albert Pujols (all 3 are probably on the "104 list")

2005:

- Steroid Policy in effect!!!

- Players who said they were innocent got caught. Most notably...Palmeiro

- HR's A-Rod (Yankees) 48 (swears he was clean), and Andruw Jones (Braves) 51

- MVP's A-Rod and Pujols

So there you go...

From 1995-2005 all records should include an *

This to me is the Steroid Era.

MLB had no choice, they needed the fans.

They needed our money!

Turns out that NOT only the "chicks love the long ball"!!!

Blog out...

Highlander 30 

A-Rod, A-Fraud, A-Roid, A-MESS

That's how I sum this whole thing up!

My friends, the "shit" has officially hit the fan.

This SHOULD NOT go down as a surprise or a shock to any of us.

Alex Rodriguez and all of those MLB players are people they are not machines.

The emotional aspect comes into play. They have feelings. They hurt. They bleed red. 

They are HUMAN!

What else did we expect???

In order to compete they had no choice but to "juice".

Steroids was out of control in baseball dating back BEFORE "1997"* but that's the year it came to light...

* Yankees- BEST TEAM EVER 125 wins..

* McGwire & Sosa- the race for MOST HR's in a season...

Let me do some simple arithmetic for you...

because that's one thing that's always legit THE MATH, the numbers don't lie.

It always, "ADDS UP".

Here we go...

I will parallel the Major League Baseball careers of Jose Canseco (Steroid user) and Jason Grimsley (Steroid provider) and will point out "key" players from this Steroid Era:

Canseco:

92 (A's): Canseco, McGwire, Ruben Sierra (played with Yankees), Scott Brosius (p/w Yankees)

92-94 (Rangers): Ivan Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, Ruben Sierra, Julio Franco, Canseco (pitched in a game in 94), Kevin Brown, Nolan Ryan, Kenny Rogers, Rick Helling (who told the MLB union that steroids was running rampant in baseball- he was ignored)

95-96 (Red Sox): Mo Vaughn, Canseco, Chris Donnels (played with Mets), Roger Clemens, Mike Stanton, Kevin Mitchell (also played with the Mets)

97 (A's): McGwire, Canseco, Brosius, Jason Giambi, Matt Stairs, Dave Magadan (played with Mets), Miguel Tejada

98 (Blue Jays): Carlos Delgado, Canseco, Mike Stanley (former Yankee), Clemens

99-2000 (D-Rays): John Flaherty (p/w Yanks), Canseco, Julio Franco, Wade Boggs

2000 (YANKEES): Brosius, David Justice, Glenallen Hill, Canseco, Clemens, GRIMSLEY, Stanton, Dwight Gooden

2001 (White Sox): Canseco (end of MLB career)

Grimsley:

93-95 (Indians): Glenallen Hill, Grimsley, and a pool of great young talent (Thome, Ramirez, Baerga, etc)

96 (Angels): Randy Velarde (former Yankee), Grimsley

1999-2000 (YANKEES): Brosius, Knoblauch, Pettitte, Clemens, Stanton, Grimsley, Justice, Hill, Canseco, Gooden, Stanton

2001-2004 (Royals): Carlos Beltran, Endy Chavez, Grimsley, Knoblauch, Graem Llyod (former Yankee), Matt Stairs, Juan Gonzalez

2004-2005 (O's): Palmeiro, Grimsley, Tejada

2006 (D-Backs): Grimsley (end of MLB career)

Talk about, "Six Degrees of Separation"!!

It is no coincidence that somehow someway these guys played on the same teams during their careers. Or better yet, that they didn't know what was going on in that club house.

It was Rick Helling...

who made it a point to notify MLB that there was a problem, they ignored him. Canseco went public and broke the steroid wall of silence. Now we have the Mitchell Report, the trainer's (Rodomski/McNamee) "tell all" books, the Bonds stories, and everything else...but NOW, NOW we have the big fish, the face of baseball, the poster child, the future of MLB...

Alex Rodriguez failing a steroid test in 2003. 

This was suppose to be kept confidential. Nothing is ever kept a secret. It always comes out. Stories always leak because people love controversy. 

If this is in fact true (which reports claim that they are), this makes him a cheater just like all the rest. There is no difference. Although it wasn't considered an illegal substance in baseball, it's still "cheating"!

He used a substance to improve his abilities and gain a competitive advantage on everyone else.

This is sad for baseball!!!

Blog out...

Highlander #30