Naturally I don’t condone what those guys did, but in a small way I definitely appreciate McGwire admitting it and wanting to move on.  All of which reminded me of the 1987 season, and specifically when a young Mets pitcher named Dwight Gooden failed a drug test and shed light on what many of us suspected–that something had affected his performance in 1986.  He began that season 5-0 with a 1.04 ERA before the wheels began to fall off and he finished the campaign a more pedestrian 17-6 with a 2.84 ERA.  Gooden was even more pedestrian in the postseason, including Game 5 of the World Series when he was visibly sweating in frigid Boston, while giving up four runs on nine hits in four innings. I had gone to almost every home game Gooden pitched from 1984 to 1986, so I knew something with him was not right.

Then he failed that whiz quiz in April of 1987, and while it was shocking and disappointing, we as fans were a bit relieved that Gooden’s recent shortcomings were now easier to explain.  He probably wouldn’t have admitted guilt on his own, but before being admitted to the Smithers Clinic he at least showed remorse, and seemed relieved to be able to rehab from cocaine addiction and get on with his life and career, and I respected that.

Gooden didn’t pitch again until June 5, 1987, a Friday night game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Shea.  Dick Young of the New York Daily News, who was never afraid to stir up controversy, offered this advice to fans: “Stand Up and Boo!” Well I was there, and that’s not what happened….we all gave Doc a standing ovation for like five minutes, and had chills when he struck out Bonds to start the game.  He then went on to beat the Pirates in what was, despite four walks, vintage Gooden.

Gooden’s career would have plenty more ups and downs, and he’s still battling the demons that caused him to use drugs in the first place.  But I remember June 5, 1987, and I remember it because, after accepting Gooden’s shortcomings, I and many others forgave him and welcomed him back with open arms.

Mark McGwire and Fred McGriff were the two highest vote getters among first basemen in last week’s Hall of Fame election, with McGwire receiving 128 votes (23.7%) and McGriff receiving 116 votes (21.5%).  Carlos Delgado is still active, having last played for the Mets in 2009.  Let’s first compare the career numbers of McGwire and McGriff before we talk about Delgado.

Mark McGwire finished his career with a .263 batting average, .394 OBP and .982 OPS.  He hit 583 HR from his late season call-up in 1986 until his retirement in 2001 (currently tying him with Alex Rodriguez for eighth on the all-time career home run list). He also scored 1,167 runs and drove in 1,414 runs.  He won the 1987 AL Rookie of The Year Award and the 1990 AL Gold Glove Award.  During his 15-year career, he was selected to participate in 12 All-Star Games.  He also helped his Oakland Athletics team to three consecutive American League pennants from 1988-1990, winning the World Series in 1989.

Despite all his power, he only won three Silver Slugger Awards (1992, 1996, 1998).  Furthermore, he never won an MVP Award and only finished in the top ten in the MVP voting on five occasions.  He also never hit more than 28 doubles in a season.  Also, he only scored 584 runs over his career when he DIDN’T drive himself in with a home run.  He finished his career with 1,596 strikeouts, which was only thirty fewer than his lifetime hit total of 1,626.

Fred McGriff retired in 2004 with a .284 lifetime batting average, .377 OBP and .886 OPS.  He hit 493 HR over his 18-year career.  McGriff finished with a lifetime total of 2,490 hits, 1,349 runs scored and 1,550 RBI.  He was selected to five All-Star teams and helped the Atlanta Braves win two National League pennants, including their only World Series title in Atlanta when they won it all in 1995.

Like Mark McGwire, McGriff’s prodigious power only won him three Silver Slugger Awards, but he did finish in the top ten in the MVP voting six times.  He never hit 40 HR in a season (his career high was 37 when he split his 1993 season between the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves), scored over 100 runs in a season only once and never collected more than 107 RBI in a single season.  Consistency from season to season, not gaudy numbers, was the trademark of Fred McGriff.  This was similar to the approach taken by Hall of Famer Eddie Murray, who hit 504 HR over his career, but never hit more than 33 in any individual season.

So when we compare McGwire and McGriff, it appears that McGwire was far more of a one-dimensional player than McGriff was.  It was all or nothing for Big Mac, whereas McGriff could beat you with a home run as well as with a two-run single.  McGwire hit 90 more home runs than McGriff, yet the Crime Dog scored 182 more runs and had 136 more RBI than McGwire.  McGwire had slightly over 1,000 hits that weren’t home runs, while McGriff had almost 2,000 hits that weren’t homers.

Now let’s look at Carlos Delgado.  Remember that his cumulative numbers will continue to go up as he continues to play in the major leagues.

Going into the 2010 season, Delgado’s career batting average stands at .280.  He also has a .383 OBP and .929 OPS.  He has hit 473 HR since making his debut for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993 and has racked up 2,038 hits.  Delgado has scored 1,241 runs and has driven in 1,512 runs.

Unfortunately, Delgado has only appeared in the postseason once, with the 2006 Mets (Toronto won the World Series in 1993, but Delgado was not on their postseason roster).  He has four top ten finishes in the MVP voting, but only has three Silver Slugger Awards (a recurring theme in this blog) and two All-Star Game appearances to show for it.

Another negative about Delgado is his lofty strikeout total.  He has struck out 1,745 times in his career (first full season was 1996), including a stretch of 13 consecutive seasons in which he fanned over 100 times; a streak that only came to an end last year when he spent over four months on the disabled list for the Mets.

So who gets into the Hall of Fame first between McGwire, McGriff and Delgado?  Do any of them make it?  I think Delgado has the best chance of the three.  Here are some more stats that might help his cause.

Harold Baines has the most RBI for any player eligible for the Hall of Fame who has not been elected.  Over his career, Baines collected 1,626 RBI.  Delgado needs 114 RBI to tie Baines.  It might be difficult for Delgado to do it in one season because of the uncertainty due to his hip injury, but if he doesn’t spend another four months on the DL, he should easily surpass 1,626 RBI before he retires.  Even two half-seasons should give him enough time to surpass Baines.

Al Oliver has the most doubles for any Hall of Fame eligible player who has not yet entered its hallowed halls.  He hit 529 doubles over his career.  Delgado has 483 doubles entering the 2010 season.  With 46 doubles, he will tie Oliver on the all-time doubles list.  This can be achieved in approximately two seasons, especially considering that Delgado has hit at least 26 doubles in every full season he has played.

Every 500 HR hitter who is eligible for the Hall of Fame has been enshrined except for Mark McGwire, who has the steroid cloud raining down upon him.  Delgado is only 27 HR short of the coveted 500 HR plateau.

Only ten players in major league history have hit at least 500 doubles and 500 HR.  Those players are Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Robinson, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, Ted Williams and Eddie Murray.  Of those ten, six are in the Hall of Fame, two are not yet eligible (Bonds and Palmeiro) and two are still playing (Griffey and Ramirez).  Carlos Delgado needs only 17 doubles and 27 HR to become the 11th member of this esteemed club.

Delgado has hit at least 30 HR in a season 11 times and has driven in 100 or more runs in a season nine times (plus three additional seasons where he drove in at least 90 runs).  These figures may still go up before he retires.

Mark McGwire was too one-dimensional and has too much controversy surrounding him.  Fred McGriff was consistently good, but never consistently great.  Carlos Delgado, however, has been putting up numbers that have been great for over a decade.  When you put Delgado’s stats against those of power hitters currently in the Hall of Fame, it should be clear that not only does Delgado get into the Hall of Fame before McGwire and McGriff, but he should go in on the first ballot.  With good health (certainly a question after the events of 2009), Delgado might put up numbers that put him among the best offensive first basemen of all-time.

Historians point to the Black Sox Scandal as the worst thing to ever happen to Baseball. Although it was tragic and unthinkable that gamblers could bribe players to throw the World Series, fixing games was not as rare as we think. Players accepted money from gamblers long before 1919 and continued well after. Some of the greatest players such as Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker and Smokey Joe Wood had been implicated in fixing games. But it was never proven. What made The Black Sox situation so grand was that involved so many players at one time and was committed in the Holy Land itself, The World Series. But lets be honest. Do any of us see that ever happening again? Players make way too much money to even be tempted.

Collusion in the 1980’s was another black eye for Baseball. When talented free agents do not get offered contracts it is quite obvious that somethin’ aint right. Like the Black Sox Scandal, the effects of collusion were short lived. Steroids, however, is a different ballgame completely.

Ask a hundred fans what they love about the game and you’ll get a hundred different responses. One theme that is constant, however, is the statistic. No game, no sport in the history of man, pays more attention to detail. Everything that happens on the field is recorded, kept track of for all eternity. With the exception of a minor tweak here and there the game has remained unchanged for well over a century. This simple fact is what allows us to compare today’s All-Stars with the greats of yesterday. The numbers signify a level of achievement, of greatness. 200 strikeouts is 200 strikeouts no matter if the pitchers name is Lincecum, Seaver or Hubbell. A 300 hitter means something, be it Horsnby, Rose or Ichiro. A Stolen Base by Rickey Henderson carries the same impact as one by Jose Reyes. But nothing, NOTHING, is more majestic than the Home Run. There is no event  that can simultaneously cause a crowd of 50,000 fans to rise to their collective feet in unison as the sound of a batter connecting and seeing an outfielder turn and race back to the wall.

I was only 7 years old when I learned the game. As I read about and studied photographs of Ruth, Mathewson, Gehrig and other larger then life mythical Baseball Gods, I also memorized their stats. At 7 years old if someone asked me, “Who holds the record for most career Home Runs?,” I could proudly cry out, ’Babe Ruth, 714!” Had someone asked me, “Who holds the record for most HR’s in a season?” I could reply confidently, “Roger Maris. 61!” I am a lot older now and I’d like to think I’m wiser. However, ask me that same question today and I’m not sure how to answer.

I find it sad that for many years a dark cloud has been hovering over our game and there’s no end in sight. The old theory was that 500 HR’s meant you were a lock for Cooperstown. Not any more. Hell, 700 HR’s no longer means you’re a lock for Cooperstown.

As we watched it all unfold we knew something was amiss in our game. We turned a blind eye. We tried to pretend it was smaller parks, depleted pitching, weight training. But in our heart we knew something was not right. Players were suddenly doing things on the field that had never been done before. Performing at levels never seen before. It cant all be due to reluctance to pitch inside. But yet, we loved it, didn’t we?  It’s not just ‘chicks who dig the long ball.’

Babe Ruth’s unbreakable record of 60 HR’s stood for 34 years, from 1927 to 1961. Roger Maris’ mark of 61 stood from 1961 to 1998. However, after holding that record for 37 years, Maris’ mark of 61 was surpassed 6 times in just 4 years! In the long illustrious history of baseball, the mark of 50 HR’s in a single season has been reached 41 times: 24 of those times, it was reached between 1990 and 2007.

We are a cynical society and we have more doubt in these uncertain times we live then ever before. The negative effect of steroids make us wonder, second guess. It opens up more questions then it answers. The most feared hitter in the game today is Albert Pujols. There have never been any rumors of him doing anything illegal and I am in no way implying that. But the fact that he is putting up such incredible numbers since he first walked onto a field is an attention getter. Is he truly that gifted? Probably. Lets all hope so, but still don’t we all wonder about it? Lets say a ‘clean cut’ guy like our own David Wright rebounds in 2010 and hits 62 Home Runs (Don’t we all wish?) Is that the new record? Will people wonder?

In Mark McGwire’s first 4 years he averaged 38 HR’s, including 49 in his rookie year. But still, 49 to 70 is quite a stretch. Or take someone different for example: This must be proof of Performance Enhancing Drugs. In his first 7 years in the majors this particular player hit 7,10, 9, 7, 10, 18 and 5 HR’s for an average of just over 9 HR’s. Then suddenly he walloped 43 in one season!!! Almost a 500% increase??? It’s gotta be steroids, right? Well, this was back in 1973 and this player is 2nd basemen and former Mets manager, Davey Johnson.

I am not condemning Mark McGwire. Nor am I condoning his actions. He is one of many. It’s easy for us to throw stones but he does at least deserve credit for having the courage to come clean. Even in our personal lives, none of us like to admit when we are wrong. But sometimes we do, to a loved one, friend or family member. But at least we don’t have to go on national TV and confess our sins to Bob Costas. Big Mac at least deserves credit for doing that.

I was 13 when my dad took me to the Hall of Fame for the first time. The memorabilia, the artifacts left a mark on me. Seeing Babe Ruth’s uniform, Ty Cobb’s shoes and Honus Wagner’s glove were something I will never forget.  But the highlight for me that day was walking into the actual Hall itself, the hallowed ground where the best of all-time had their names, their stats and their accomplishments displayed on a plaque for us mere mortals to gaze upon. I was thrilled to actually see the plaques of guys I only read about: Cy Young, Nap Lajoie, Christy Mathewson, etc…But the most moving moment for me was looking up at my father as he also relished the moment. I listened to personal stories he shared about players that he actually saw play with his own eyes! Many of the stories were related to his boyhood team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and his idols like Snider, Campanella, Robinson. But now I wonder how this will be played out years from now. Kids not even born yet will go to the Hall of Fame with their fathers or grandfathers and the greatest hitters of an entire generation are nowhere to be found.

Jose Canseco – Mark McGwire was the lead character in the tell-all blockbuster that shockingly revealed the widespread and rampant use of steroids and PED’s in Major League Baseball. Initially, Canseco was labeled a fraud and an opportunist with an ax to grind. Time has certainly vindicated him, as one by one all the marquis players he named ranging from Rafael Palmeiro to Alex Rodriguez to Mark McGwire collapsed under the weight of hard evidence against them. The truth is that if not for Jose Canseco, the game would have never cleaned up it’s act. 

61 – When I first heard about McGwire’s admission and apology, the first thing that crossed my mind after I got past the initial shock, was Roger Maris. His family has already spoken out and forgave McGwire, but not without saying that in their minds Maris was still the single season homerun record holder. Maybe it’s time to place another asterisk next to Roger Maris’ name, not to tear down his remarkable achievement, but instead to distinguish it as the one “true and unblemished” single season homerun mark. Sadly, baseball has twice mistreated the Maris homerun record; once because of sheer ignorance, and a second time because of money and greed. Baseball MUST make some amends to this remarkable player who never got his richly deserved due. They can start by creating the Roger Maris trophy to be given to each season’s homerun leaders. 

Cooperstown – Steroids users like McGwire, Sosa, Clemens and Bonds will eventually find their way to Cooperstown as the taint and stigma of the steroids era subsides. We have always been a forgiving society, and that’s a good thing, but something must be done to distinguish this era from all the untainted eras. Especially in those cases where illegal drug use was acknowledged and uncontested. The argument that performance enhancers were not officially banned in baseball is an ignorant one when you consider that most of these substances were in fact illegal or obtained illegally. Do we need to officially ban rape and murder in baseball as well? Buck Weaver and Shoeless Joe Jackson were banned for life because their actions affected the outcome of a series for personal gain. Mark McGwire’s actions ripped through the fabric of the game. He completely undermined, distorted and soiled all the hallowed homerun records of our national pastime. Additionally, he did it for personal gain and he raked in tens of millions of promotional dollars for it. I accept his apology and I’ll forgive him, but in no way do I allow him to pass “Go” and collect $200 dollars. Does anybody really want to watch these guys give a Hall of Fame induction speech? If they get in, it should be without the Pomp and Circumstance. No celebrations, no speeches and no fanfare. Find the darkest corner in Cooperstown and let their plaques gather dust… far away from the magnificence of all the other plaques.  

Bud Selig – Once a used car salesman, always a used car salesman. I have grown tired of all of Bud’s shady and underhanded sales gimmicks. I’m not buying the fact that he never knew there was such rampant steroid use during his watch until Canseco and Congress sounded the alarm. He turned a blind eye to the McGwire/Sosa homerun chase that saw baseball regain it’s fading popularity, and reap in hundreds of millions of dollars in never-before seen profits. Attendance was soaring and he didn’t care if Roger Maris was bloodied in the process. Instead of protecting the legacy of the game, he helped tear it down and in fact… he handed out the axes and jack hammers to do it.

According to Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, Mark McGwire finally came clean, admitting he used steroids when he broke baseball’s home run record in 1998.

McGwire said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday that he used steroids on and off for nearly a decade. During a 20-minute telephone interview shortly afterward, his voice repeatedly cracked.

“It’s very emotional, it’s telling family members, friends and coaches, you know, it’s former teammates to try to get a hold of, you know, that I’m coming clean and being honest,” he said. “It’s the first time they’ve ever heard me, you know, talk about this. I hid it from everybody.”

It’s good to see McGwire come clean, and I hope it will lead to more admissions from other players named in the Mitchell Report or who tested positive.

McGwire sounded very remorseful and expressed regret a few times during his interview for making what he called some “foolish” decisions.

In 1998, McGwire captured the hearts of baseball fans when he hit his historic 70 homers, topping the previous high by Roger Maris.

According to McGwire, his decision to come clean was prompted by his new job as hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals.

“I’m sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids,” McGwire said. “I had good years when I didn’t take any, and I had bad years when I didn’t take any. I had good years when I took steroids, and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn’t have done it and for that I’m truly sorry.”

It will be interesting to see how the BBWAA will react to this news and if it will pave the way for his eventual Hall of Fame induction, perhaps as soon as next season.

Do you think he should be elected to the HOF now that he has come clean?

The St. Louis Cardinals have announced that Mark McGwire will be their hitting coach next season, replacing Hal McRae.

Mark McGwire is back in baseball, reunited with Tony La Russa as the St. Louis Cardinals’ hitting coach. McGwire was not at the news conference at Busch Stadium, but La Russa and general manager John Mozeliak said there will be no effort to shield McGwire from questions about steroids. The team anticipated a telephone news conference with McGwire.

“By no means is he trying to hide, and by no means are we trying to hide him,” Mozeliak said.

He didn’t even show up for his own press conference…

It seems like odd timing for McGwire to finally return from oblivion.

The last time we heard from McGwire was during the 2005 congressional hearings regarding PEDS in baseball. At that time McGwire said he wasn’t there to talk about the past. Pretty shady testimony if you ask me.

The Cardinals have always been one of baseball’s more classy organizations, so why would they bring back McGwire now?

If McGwire did not use PEDS, why didn’t he admit it at the congressional hearings in 2005?

Instead he danced around the question and faded into darkness for four years without so much as a peep.

In the late 1970′s Charles Finley owned the Oakland A’s. Finley knew he had no chance of re-signing a bunch of his stars, so he traded them away for cash. Bowie Kuhn, who was the baseball commissioner at the time, voided the trades. He claimed that the trades “were not in the best interest of baseball”.

That’s exactly what commissioner Bud Selig needs to do now.

He needs to tell the Cardinals that hiring McGwire as a coach, is not in the best interest of a game that is still suffering from the the stigma and aftereffects of the steroid scandal which isn’t even completely dead yet.