2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

Not steroid related but speaking of golfers cheating, didn't Tom Watson accuse Gary Player of cheating during the first Skins Game? IIRC, Ken Venturi claims Arnold Palmer cheated in the 1958 Masters. Vijay Singh has also been accused of cheating by altering a scorecard so he could make the cut early in his career.

 

Fan dies of a heart attack at the Blue Jays game last night:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8276436/fan-dies-following-cardiac-arrest-chicago-white-sox-toronto-blue-jays-game

I turned this game on right as they were carting the guy away, through the field with the game stopped. I couldn't believe the White Sox broadcast essentially showed the whole thing. You could see them furiously pumping his chest as they frantically pulled away and exited through the left field wall. It was pretty jarring, honestly. Not sure it was the right decision by the broadcast producers/directors.

 

Blue Jays broadcast showed none of it, only Youkilis - who seemed pretty rattled - going to the umpire to ask for the game to be stopped. Other than that they just showed the players watching.

 

For a brief time, I have loved BABIP. I am really starting to hate it. In addition to the absurdity of Keith Law leaving Weaver entirely off his Cy-so-far ballot because hitters should be getting on base more often, we have a clown from Deadspin arguing that PEDs haven't actually helped Melky Cabrera in his two career years because he has a very high BABIP so it's just a coincidence that it's happening while he is on PEDs.

http://deadspin.com/5935216/did-performance+enhancing-drugs-actually-help-melky-cabrera

 

You have to realize that saber-heads love PEDs. LOOOOOOOVE them. You can't get through a Baseball Prospectus book without a chapter that provides PROOF!!! that PEDs don't boost home runs or offense. And the message boards at those sites flip the fuck out any time a mainstream writer leaves Mark McGwire or Rafael Palmeiro off his or her HOF ballot. I've never, ever understood why that segment of fandom has taken up that particular cause with such zeal, but it most definitely has.

 

Really? I woulda thought saber-heads would be much more economics-inclined and would answer predictably the following question: Why would a professional baseball player take a non-recreational drug that is known to be harmful to his health?

 

Matt Kemp gets ejected last night. Roid Rage? ;D

 

Wow, that's interesting. I can't say I follow the super-saber crowd well enough to know that. And the massive drop in runs and home runs since testing started, this is considered just another coincidence?

 

RickStain is one of my favorite posters here, but I think the odds are better than even that he'll check in here to defend PED users within 48 hours.

 

One other thing on Melky: He just might win the batting title. He is 13 points behind McCutchen, who has himself lost 14 points off his average since the start of August and looks to be fading. Melky has 501 PAs, one short of the minimum number, but the rule is if they give him an 0-for-1 to bring him to 502 PAs and he still wins, he's the champ.

 

I have no problem with PED users. It is ridiculous to say it does not help. Recovery time alone makes a huge difference.

 

I am rooting very hard for this just to listing to people cry about it.