Almost as annoying as Yankmee “fans” booing when he walked on 3-2 count after fouling a couple pitches off. After two previous ABs where he struck out and flied out to center. But they’re not pitching to him. Riiiiight.
I’m confused about something. Headlines across the east coast and east-coast leaning national sports universe keep bleating that “Judge is nearing Maris’ home run record”. What record does he hold? How is this news? His spectacular season is news but I’m missing the HR record thing.
Oh, that. What a useless stat. The line between the two leagues is so blurry and the play between the two so inter dispersed, it makes league record distinctions nearly irrelevant. But, now I know what they are bloviating about so thanks for the heads up.
Yankee fan and Yankee media are already talking asterisks and how all but the Yankees totals are tainted and 61 is the true number because those others shouldn’t count.
That is certainly one way to look at the single season home run record. Another way to look at it is to remember that steroids were not banned until after all the Sosa’s, McGwire’s, and Bonds’ 62 plus homer years, and since they weren’t banned at the time, the records are legit and need no asterisks. I don’t have a problem either way. But, I still hate the Yankees.
"In 1991, Commissioner Fay Vincent sent a memo to all teams stating that steroid use was against the rules, though there was no official rule change. Vincent has said that the memo was intended as a “moral statement” to the players, rather than a “legal one”, that “the only way a change could be made was through collective bargaining,” and “When I left baseball, there was no written policy on drug activity in baseball.”
The 1991 memo did not ban the use of steroids. Steroids were first banned from use in MLB in 2005, with HGH banned from use in 2011. Fay Vincent is actually on record stating that Congress has a list of illegal substances that include steroids that one must obtain via a prescription. He is on record of saying that he in no way banned steroids from MLB, but merely passed along the information that Congress considered the substances illegal without a prescription."
The 1991 memo is not a secret. It states explicitly:
“The possession sale or use of any illegal drug or controlled substance by major league players or personnel is strictly prohibited…this prohibition applies to any illegal drugs or controlled substances, including steroids or prescription drugs for which the individual in possession of the drug does not have a prescription.”
People can equivocate all day and say that Vincent didn’t mean to imply they were against the rules, but the intent was clear: the use of steroids without a prescription was strictly against MLB’s drug policy, even if there was no agreed upon testing policy.