Baseball Miscellany

TalkZone
4263

I believe he was signed for under $50K

That just boggles my mind.

4264

Here it is:

2 Likes
4265

Interesting comment from my “friend”.

He was talking about Yainer Diaz’s potential to hit 40+ HR and how so few catchers have, and 2 of those were in the steroid era.

I worked for the Astros during the steroids period - and what I will tell you is that the OVERWHELMING majority of big leaguers were doing two things - taking steroids, HGH and uppers and second, cheating on their wives. If I had to guess, it was 90%.

As for Javy Lopez, he was open about it around other players
including a number of Braves and Astros starting pitchers doing it too
 if you want proof, here is one of the quotes he has made on the topic


"The AJC’s Dave O’Brien points us to an extended podcast interview of Former Braves catcher Javy Lopez on Atlanta Baseball Talk last weekend, in which the topic turned to steroids. While the hosts did not explicitly ask Lopez if he personally did steroids, he was pretty candid all the same:

“Well, everybody seen players getting big, hitting the ball harder, home runs and stuff. All of a sudden - boom – they got the big contract and everybody’s like, ‘You know what, did that, it worked for him, why not do it?’ . . . I mean, how can I explain this? It’s like if you’re going to race cars, if you’re going to race a car and some people are using nitro in the fuel [Lopez laughed], and you see them winning all the time, and you’re using regular gas - you know what? If they’re using nitro and they’ve been winning, well, I’d be stupid enough not to use nitro, too.”

FWIW uppers were even more common - they were illegal, they were speed and Lopez admitted using them in the past. Just about every baseball player used them and knew they were drugs and illegally obtained but it did not matter. Craig Biggio was a huge user, as was Brad Ausmus.

The biggest user of them that I have heard about was Dykstra and Barry Larkin, who thought they were candy.

4266

Jim Bouton outlined most of this in Ball Four, 53 years ago. Nothing really changes.

1 Like
4267

Plus La change

1 Like
4268

Just something I read today
not a single manager has been fired so far this season. I’m not sure if that’s surprising or not.

4269

I don’t like Boone’s chances when the calendar flips to October.

4270

Greenies were legal for a long time and were openly available in bowls in the clubhouses.

4271

I stopped reading here.

4272

Big difference there between the 60s and 80s

4273

Bouton’s book gave the impression of mischievous menchildren pushing limits of appropriate behavior. The more recent era was an overt nod to career advancement and preservation

4274

Make no mistake
the reason players took amphetamines in the 60s was to advance their career and fatten their wallet. The reasons for cheating on their wives hasn’t changed either.

2 Likes
4275

Bouton’s masterstroke was not the expose premise of the book, which was probably inevitable given the tenor of the times. It was placing the Yankees and particularly Mickey Mantle at the center of the mythological edifice busting which gave his book iconic status. It was no longer Grantland Rice’s world.

3 Likes
4276
4277

Only reason not to tase these yahoos is the risk of hitting the player.

3 Likes
4278

https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1696632481099755613?s=20

BREAKING: The Los Angeles Angels have placed starter Lucas Giolito, relievers Matt Moore and Reynaldo LĂłpez, and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on waivers, sources tell ESPN. Huge potential playoff implications: All can be claimed by teams for free on Thursday.

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4279

Those are all the players they obtained at the trade deadline (plus Renfroe who’s been playing pretty well, I think).

1 Like
4280

Is that a handgun in your fat fold or are you happy to watch the whitesox?


the shooting at Guaranteed Rate Field during a #WhiteSox game was indeed an accidental discharge by one of the women “grazed” by the bullet. She reportedly snuck the gun in past metal detectors hiding it in the folds of her belly fat.

1 Like
4281

Grichuk is .323/.388/.559 vs lefties this year. Tell me that wouldn’t be a better use of a roster spot than Singleton.

1 Like
4282

That’s
unexpected

I have no idea if any of the pitchers would be of interest to the Stros