Agreed. Those jokers who took steroids should be removed. Hank Aaron lifetime and Judge season.
Why Aaron Judge should be MLB’s rightful home run champ now
The verdict is in: Aaron Judge, who hit his historic 62nd home run Tuesday night, is now the rightful record-holder of the single-season record.nypost.com
Why Aaron Judge should be MLB’s rightful home run champ now
By Jon Heyman
The verdict is in, and not just from the Judge’s Chambers out at Yankee Stadium, either: Aaron Judge, who hit his historic 62nd home run Tuesday night, is now the rightful record-holder of the single-season record.
Move over, Roger Maris, whose 61 home runs in 1961 should have been viewed as the real record for the last 24 years as well as the previous 37. It surely would have been if not for three enhanced National League sluggers who decided to game the system by loading up on the best stuff Victor Conte and other assorted aiders, abettors, mad scientists and crooked trainers had to offer.
I get it. A lot of fans want to believe in their heroes. They either don’t want to think they wasted their time following the great home run chase in 1998 and ’01 or they love numbers so much they accept them as fact when some of them are quite obviously fugazy, as legit as a street corner three-card monte game.
Technically, MLB still recognizes Barry Bonds as the record-holder, and that’s not about to change. But we know better.
Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa changed the equation by loading up on the good stuff, transforming their bodies and tilting the game so far in their favor that they became superhuman almost overnight. Bonds, McGwire and Sosa get to keep their undeserved trophies and their ill-gotten extra loot. But anyone who truly believes they merit their records, too, must see Danny Almonte as a great Little Leaguer, Lance Armstrong as the best bicyclist and Tonya Harding as a deserving Olympian.
If ever a situation warranted an asterisk — at the very least — this is it. I understand it isn’t an easy call. The last time the dreaded asterisk was invoked, commissioner Ford Frick, the Babe Ruth buddy who decreed it to diminish Maris’ rightful record, became known as the biggest Frick in the game.
That asterisk idea was asinine, of course, which is why they eventually removed it. But here, it wasn’t just a matter of a few more games as it was with Maris. Bonds, McGwire and Sosa changed their physiology and cheated the game and all of us. No way this trio in infamy should be celebrated.
Roger Maris Jr., by all appearances a very honorable man, traveled around with McGwire in 1998, hoping against all appearances that the McGwire-Sosa homer pursuit was legit. We all naively accepted McGwire’s obvious transformation into a condo-sized terror to pitchers who reduced pitching friendly Busch Stadium to his personal Big Mac Land. But now we know it was all a big put-on, and when he was asked about it, Maris Jr. only stated the obvious that Judge was about to become the legit record-holder.
I do think Maris Jr. is probably wrong that that’s the majority opinion. If the 1990s were the era of don’t ask, don’t tell, this is a time of steroid fatigue. That was an era where cheaters knew not to admit what they were doing because they knew it would delegitimize what they were doing. Now we know. We have the goods on them. Yet sadly, we continue to look the other way.
MLB by all appearance is doing a good job of flushing steroids out of the game. Some skeptics will disagree, and maybe I’m still naïve, but no one’s head looks like a beach ball today, and only one player is setting records. MLB still tests frequently, but only one star was foolish enough to get caught this season — Fernando Tatis Jr., that amateur San Diego motorcyclist who later made the absurd claim he was trying to fight ringworm with accidental anabolic steroids. While that’s preposterous, it’s nice to see that steroids are so poorly regarded in some circles that you’d rather be known as a liar and/or a guy no one wants to go near.
Some will say McGwire and Sosa saved baseball, and if they contributed to the sport’s comeback, that’s great. But they and Bonds didn’t do it for the good of the game. They did it to earn more accolades, collect more hardware and make more moolah, which they did do.
The repo man isn’t about to come to remove their trophies. But some justice can still be served. An acknowledgment can be made about what we all know to be true — that they did not do it legitimately.
It’s much more complicated for the commissioner, who isn’t about to do what I recommend for many reasons. He doesn’t want to open many cans of worms when different eras were known for different indiscretions. He may also not want to shine a light on the worst of the baseball eras, and move the conversation from the great and unfailingly good Judge to a loosey-goosey time best forgotten.
Commissioner Rob Manfred understandably doesn’t want to be in the business of endlessly chasing justice, which will always be elusive and is sure to produce messy results. But if we are being completely honest, the record rightfully belongs to one Aaron James Judge.
ALL RISE!!!
- Thread starter SHU_Pirate1
- Start date
Judge is the man. He has the highest number of homers without an asterisk. Case closed.
That’s fine as to your beliefs. But they aren’t what really happened. Judge set the American League record. That’s great. That’s all it is.
Judging (no pun intended haha) a player based on appearance vs. what they put in their body is an unfortunate assumption by everyone including media.
Did Lance Armstrong look any bigger when he did EPO? Does Tatis Jr look any different right now? I can list quite a few enhancers that don’t add size to a physique.
You can feel whatever you want. I can feel that SHU won the 1989 NCAA’s.
But they didn’t.
And that's what it is about. Different fans will have different perspectives. Personally, I discount the records/performance of those that cheated to get to those records (Armstrong included). There's a list of players that will always invoke and "eye-roll" to me. Brady Anderson goes from 18 to 50 and back to 16 HR's....hmmm.
Talent, results AND character sometimes. But that's me.
To me not a big deal but.....
nypost.com
Maybe the Twins’ social media team should read the room.
Minnesota’s team took a cheeky shot at Yankees slugger Aaron Judge on Wednesday night after Twins infielder Luis Arraez edged him out for the AL batting title, finishing the season with a .316 average – five points ahead of Judge’s .311. Judge had aimed to be just the second Triple Crown winner since 1967, but was denied the third leg after leading the American League in home runs (62) and RBIs (131).
“ALL ARRAEZ!!!” the Twins posted on Twitter, a reference to Judge’s “all rise” catchphrase.
Yankees fans on the app were quick to point out that the Twins finished the season with a losing record (78-84) and will not make the playoffs, as well as the fact that the Yankees have thoroughly dominated Minnesota in recent history.
“Highlight of the Twins season. Finally beat the Yankees at something,” one fan wrote.
“If there’s ever been an example in pro sports of a team being completely and totally owned by another team, it’s the New York Yankees ownership of the Minnesota Twins. So for you to use this rare Twins accomplishment to mock the Yankees and the soon-to-be AL MVP is so cringe,” another wrote.
The Twins have made the playoffs eight times since 2003. On six of those occasions, they were sent home by the Yankees – five times in the Division Series and once in the AL Wild Card game. New York’s record against Minnesota in that span is 16-2.
So while Judge may not have won the Triple Crown, Yankees fans are surely satisfied with his season, in which he broke Roger Maris’ single-season American League home run record and helped New York to a 99-63 record – good for a first-round playoff bye.
Twins roasted for ‘cringe’ attempt to troll Aaron Judge after Luis Arraez wins batting title
Maybe the Twins’ social media team should read the room.
nypost.com
Twins roasted for ‘cringe’ attempt to troll Aaron Judge after Luis Arraez wins batting title
By Jeremy LaytonMaybe the Twins’ social media team should read the room.
Minnesota’s team took a cheeky shot at Yankees slugger Aaron Judge on Wednesday night after Twins infielder Luis Arraez edged him out for the AL batting title, finishing the season with a .316 average – five points ahead of Judge’s .311. Judge had aimed to be just the second Triple Crown winner since 1967, but was denied the third leg after leading the American League in home runs (62) and RBIs (131).
“ALL ARRAEZ!!!” the Twins posted on Twitter, a reference to Judge’s “all rise” catchphrase.
Yankees fans on the app were quick to point out that the Twins finished the season with a losing record (78-84) and will not make the playoffs, as well as the fact that the Yankees have thoroughly dominated Minnesota in recent history.
“Highlight of the Twins season. Finally beat the Yankees at something,” one fan wrote.
“If there’s ever been an example in pro sports of a team being completely and totally owned by another team, it’s the New York Yankees ownership of the Minnesota Twins. So for you to use this rare Twins accomplishment to mock the Yankees and the soon-to-be AL MVP is so cringe,” another wrote.
The Twins have made the playoffs eight times since 2003. On six of those occasions, they were sent home by the Yankees – five times in the Division Series and once in the AL Wild Card game. New York’s record against Minnesota in that span is 16-2.
So while Judge may not have won the Triple Crown, Yankees fans are surely satisfied with his season, in which he broke Roger Maris’ single-season American League home run record and helped New York to a 99-63 record – good for a first-round playoff bye.
The desire to play a professional sport at the highest level and excel whether it be the NBA , MLB or the Premiere Soccer League in the UK and the financial compensation that results from that will always lead to cheating by those who will do anything to achieve their goals . When caught and the cheating exposed the question then become do you negate any individual records from the players who cheated and do you punish their teams irrespective of whether they had knowledge of the cheating and didn’t take steps to stop it. I think the answer with respect to the teams is easier if there is proof they were an active participant in the scheme and to me that means stripping them of any championships they won. Absent that I don’t see any easy answer to the questions raised when it comes to cheating by teams or players.
Which is fine with me. But then you have to go board with it. So a team that had multiple cheaters that were confirmed cheaters should be held to the same standard. Halldan changed the narrative to suit his fandom.
Cheating has also taken on the context of degrees. For some reason, alcoholism and cocaine abuse were ok because people felt that dulling senses to just perform are ok. But something in which a lot of work is involved like working out and performance enhancers are not. I know a friend of mine that used cocaine sometimes and uppers other times back in the 80's in high school and said his explosiveness on the field was the best he ever felt.
And again--i'd like to highlight the fact that steroid use is all based on appearance and--this is not meant to be disrespectful or condensing--but that is a VERY ignorant take. I can tell you that there are personal friends of mine that have gained zero size and are strong as hell from PED's--resilient from injury. gaining strength, power and performance.
It's all about assumed guilt unfortunately. And that's also a fandom take and not the right one.
When you go the team route, it gets somewhat muddled (although I don't consider the Astro's WS title legitimate because of the extent of the cheating). Individual records (especially the HR record which is probably one of the most recognizable and important in sports) is on the individual.
I think steroids are much different than alcohol, pot or cocaine. I can't see how those enhance your strength to accomplish a HR title, even if you feel that it makes you better. I don't recall any coke addicts that set records of any kind.
Baseball as religion.
Certain numbers in baseball are iconic. 60, 61, 714 and 755 HR, a 56-game hitting streak, a .406 batting average, 511 wins and others. People don't know the NFL rushing or passing record or the NBA scoring record et al but they know baseball numbers.
Even 61, for years had an asterisk, it came in the first season of expansion with a 162-game season. Baseball history shows a notable bump in offense in the years immediately following expansion because of the time it takes for teams to absorb an additional 10 (now 13) pitchers per added team into the MLB ranks.
Also, we don't know if Maris drank from the leaded or unleaded coffee pot. MLB had an amphetamine problem for many years until they finally put that on the PED list sometime after they started testing for enhancers.
To my original point, The Athletic's Jayson Stark did a piece earlier this season on seven feats in MLB that would match Cal Ripken, Jr's consecutive game streak. One of the things he discusses is the effect of steroids on the baseball record book and how they ruined certain records. Bob Costas opined that 73 and 762 are statistics. Not only are all the numbers I listed in the first paragraph iconic, but they are associated, for the most part, with the legendary figures of the game. That last part mattered too.
Finally, the inconvenient truth. In 1998, Mark McGwire was everything Aaron Judge is. Quiet, unassuming, he hit the ball a long way and then put he head down and jogged around the bases. He conducted himself with class. The Maris family chased him around the country and McGwire let them in. He was, at the time, nearly universally revered. Until he wasn't.
One of my Facebook friends posed the question, how many home runs would Aaron Judge hit if he were on (PEDs)? MLB hopes the answer to that question isn't 62 -- and I'd wager big money that if that were the answer, MLB will never let that see the light of day.
Certain numbers in baseball are iconic. 60, 61, 714 and 755 HR, a 56-game hitting streak, a .406 batting average, 511 wins and others. People don't know the NFL rushing or passing record or the NBA scoring record et al but they know baseball numbers.
Even 61, for years had an asterisk, it came in the first season of expansion with a 162-game season. Baseball history shows a notable bump in offense in the years immediately following expansion because of the time it takes for teams to absorb an additional 10 (now 13) pitchers per added team into the MLB ranks.
Also, we don't know if Maris drank from the leaded or unleaded coffee pot. MLB had an amphetamine problem for many years until they finally put that on the PED list sometime after they started testing for enhancers.
To my original point, The Athletic's Jayson Stark did a piece earlier this season on seven feats in MLB that would match Cal Ripken, Jr's consecutive game streak. One of the things he discusses is the effect of steroids on the baseball record book and how they ruined certain records. Bob Costas opined that 73 and 762 are statistics. Not only are all the numbers I listed in the first paragraph iconic, but they are associated, for the most part, with the legendary figures of the game. That last part mattered too.
Finally, the inconvenient truth. In 1998, Mark McGwire was everything Aaron Judge is. Quiet, unassuming, he hit the ball a long way and then put he head down and jogged around the bases. He conducted himself with class. The Maris family chased him around the country and McGwire let them in. He was, at the time, nearly universally revered. Until he wasn't.
One of my Facebook friends posed the question, how many home runs would Aaron Judge hit if he were on (PEDs)? MLB hopes the answer to that question isn't 62 -- and I'd wager big money that if that were the answer, MLB will never let that see the light of day.
Yes, I think it does matter. There will be a time where the numbers will be the numbers and the context will either be lost or diminished.
Look at the HOF balloting in recent years and the change and increase in support for Bonds and Clemens, the so-called poster boys of PEDs. As the old guard of writers have died off or been removed from the voting rolls, the hard line has eroded.
The reality is nobody really knows who did what and for how long. You can't just erase an entire era of the sport. An increasing number of writers -- some who were not active during that era -- see the sport differently than previous generations. These writers really don't know a game where a decent percentage of players didn't use some sort of PED, legal or otherwise.
It would have been interesting to see what would happen if Bonds and Clemens were still eligible on the HOF ballot for another five years as it would have been under the old rules.
I think this is the legacy. This absence from the HOF alone is an exclamation point. People will know.
Must be a lot of Yankee fans on this thread, the bias is incredible. The MLB record is clearly 73. That isn't up for debate, no matter what you think of Bonds as a person or what he did. For the record, how do we know that Judge isn't juicing too? I would certainly hope not, but you never know.
I ran into one of the assistant football coaches of my old high school at a little league game in Newark a week or two after the HS football season started. I mentioned to him that I was an unhappy alum when I witnessed the players really strutting, pounding their chests and hamming it up for the cameras (it was an MSG HS game) after TDs in a romp. Disappointedly he said that there was nothing the coaches could do about it .... it simply was the culture. I didn't argue with him, but I just know that mindset is wrong. Dan's comments about the Mick and Roger and Aaron reminded me of that encounter I had with the coach. Humility is an often disparaged virtue. You don't see it mentioned much on resumes but people like the three Yankees wore humility in a very positive way and were / are great ambassadors and real role models.
Luckily we have Sha at the Hall who will bring that same tough and gritty coaching style and mold his players in his own tough, gritty and yes, humble image. Carino's article today brought that out in the interview with the Davis brothers. Don't want to hijack this baseball thread with talk of SHU BB.... but there is nexus there when considering what is a really wonderful aspect of sports.
i didnt read yournpost prior to saying the exact same thing. laughing at these guys. Bonds
is still the king.
Of course Bonds holds the record and that's how MLB recognizes it. Fandom is in the eye of the beholder though. If a fan has the opinion that Bonds, Sosa and McGuire's numbers are not legitimate because of juicing, so be it....they are entitled. To some, it's more than numbers. I look at the way DiMaggio, Ripken and yes Judge, have carried themselves while eclipsing the records that they broke and have and can appreciate them more than someone who cheated their way to get them.
In many cases it's the journey and not the destination that counts.
This has nothing to do with my Yankee fandom. I'll take a Mays (best player I ever saw), a Mantle (most talented player I ever saw), an Arron, a Judge over Sosa, Bonds or McGuire any day of the week.
This has nothing to do with my Yankee fandom. I'll take a Mays (best player I ever saw), a Mantle (most talented player I ever saw), an Arron, a Judge over Sosa, Bonds or McGuire any day of the week.
