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 by PARAM
6 years 2 months ago
 Total posts:   12185  
 Joined:  Jul 15 2015
Barbados   Just far enough North of Philadelphia
Hall of Fame

From the "no shit!" department.......

McCovey

San Francisco Giants legend Willie McCovey said a letter sent out by fellow Hall of Fame member Joe Morgan imploring that users of performance-enhancing drugs be kept out of Cooperstown was a shot at Barry Bonds.

"You're naïve if you don't think it was aimed at Barry," McCovey told the San Francisco Chronicle.

In the letter sent last month to voting members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, Morgan -- who serves as the Hall's vice chairman and a member of its board of directors -- wrote "steroid users don't belong there."

"We hope the day never comes when known steroid users are voted into the Hall of Fame. They cheated," Morgan's letter stated.

No former players were mentioned in the letter.

Bonds played 22 seasons for the Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a seven-time National League MVP and finished his career with 755 career home runs. In 2001, he hit 73 home runs in a single season. All are MLB records.

"I just think it's a sin [Bonds] is not in there," McCovey said. "If anybody deserved to be in the Hall of Fame, it's Barry."

The names of Bonds, Roger Clemens and Gary Sheffield -- who are on the 33-man ballot released on Nov. 21 -- appeared in the Mitchell report, a 409-page investigation into MLB steroid use overseen by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell in 2007. Manny Ramirez, a 12-time All-Star and member of baseball's 500-home run club, retired in April 2011 after failing two drug tests in a span of three years.

"That letter Morgan wrote sure is not going to help Barry," McCovey said. "But I'm glad to hear a lot of the writers say the letter is not going to influence their vote, because I know a lot of it is aimed at him. I wasn't too happy about it."

As far as performance-enhancing drugs, McCovey added, "Guys took things ever since baseball existed."

"It may not have been steroids, but guys took things like those greenies and stuff so they could play the next day. You're telling me everybody is clean as a whistle? You played against guys who were doing the same thing he was doing, so what the heck?" McCovey added.

Bonds finished with 53.8 percent of the vote for the 2017 class, which was up from 44.3 percent in 2016. Players need 75 percent of the vote to be enshrined in Cooperstown.


The sad thing about Bonds beyond his cheating is he was a legit first ballot HOFer to begin with. By age 34 he had 435 homers. Around that time he started doping and he hit 327 from age 35 through the end of his career. Come on man!!!! Even if he stayed clean and averaged what he had his first 14 seasons (31) he would have ended up with 585 at age 39. But that's probably unlikely. Look at the power hitters like Eddie Murray or even Bonds' godfather and they just start losing it after 34 or 35. With the advanced training and such he may have averaged 29 or 30 and ended up with 585. That's no doubt HOF. But we'll never know because he doped and gave us plastic numbers. So let him suffer.

As far as Willie's opinion everybody took greenies in the 50's and 60's that's been acknowledged by many players turned writers. But "greenies" don't build muscles or turn a 39 year old body into a 25 year old like steroids do. They're a short term energy enhancer, not a long term performance enhancer and they can have a negative effect. Do them too many times in a short period and your eyes start going a little buggy. Try to hit a 95 mph fastball under those conditions. It's extremely difficult if not impossible. I know. Pitchers could get away with that every 5th day but everyday players? Not.

I'm actually quite disappointed in Willie McCovey. I always liked watching him play.

 by BobCarl
6 years 1 month ago
 Total posts:   4283  
 Joined:  Mar 08 2017
United States of America   LA Coliseum
Superstar

Bonds or no bonds i've lost respect for Hof ...

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2 posts Mar 28 2024