This year marked the first year since 1996 that no Major League Baseball player was inducted into the Hall of Fame. The 1996 class featured six future hall of famers' such as Ron Santo, Phil Niekro, Bruce Sutter, Tony Perez, Don Sutton and Jim Rice. This year some of baseball's most recognizable and notorious names were denied the chance to enter the Hall of Fame. Craig Biggio, a 3,000 hit machine, along with 250 game winner Jack Morris and two time world series champion and 6 time all-star Curt Schilling did not receive the 75% support needed to make the Hall. More notable than the denial of those three, was the lack of respect (and deserved) given to suspected steroid users Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, and Mark McGwire. McGwire and Palmeiro had previously been on the ballots and their percentage received of 16.9 and 8.8 respectively, had been a drop. Bonds and Clemens each received less than 40% while Sosa won over only 12.5% of the writers. Bagwell and Piazza's names' have flirted with steroids for years now, but the evidence against them is not nearly as strong as it is for the other five mentioned. Because of this, Piazza, arguably the best hitting catcher of all-time and Bagwell, one of the best pure hitters of our generation eclipsed just under 60% of the vote.
What may be even more bizarre and confusing about this voting is the lack of respect that is given for non-steroid users. Seven of the twenty-five members of the 500-home run club, a benchmark that has been used as an automatic entry for Hall of Fame admission, are suspected or admitted steroid users. All of these members, barring A-Rod who is still playing, are not close to admittance. With this statistic, it is strange why first-baseman Fred McGriff received less than 20% of writers' approval. McGriff has 493 career home runs, was a 5-time all-star, a world series champion and in an era that reeked of steriods, no one has ever sniffed anything suspicious around McGriff. If the writers are going to dismiss all steroid users, why not give more credit to those that put up great numbers with out the usage of performance enhancing drugs. Unfortunately most of the players of this past generation that would have been first-ballot hall of famers, are linked to steroids. Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Mike Piazza, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, and Roger Clemens are all linked to steroids and thus there hall of fame chances are slim.
So what does this mean about the other great hitters of our generation who are not linked to steroids. First, since Jim Thome, Frank Thomas, and Ken Griffey Jr.'s names' have not been linked to steroids, these home run legends will be Hall of Famers. Those are only three sure-fire hitting Hall of Famers in the next five voting years. Obviously pitchers such as Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez and possibly John Smoltz and Mike Mussina will be admitted over the next five years. Still though, what will the writers' policy be of incredible hitters of our generation who were lost among the steroid users. Carlos Delgado has 473 career home runs, Jim Edmonds is an eight-time gold glove winner with 393 home runs and Vladimir Guerrero has 449 home runs, 8 all star selections and an MVP. Along with Fred McGriff, these are players of our generation who were not the sexy super stars like Bonds, A-Rod or Sosa, but their numbers are great and they were clean. Obviously you should not be awarded for cleanliness, but wouldn't have these players gotten more recognition if these other players weren't putting up great numbers while juicing.
The writers' voting habits over the last few years are incredibly perplexing. They have shown that they have no sympathy for steroid users, but they're also not going to give the benefit of the doubt to non-steroid users who are fringe- hall of famers. Craig Biggio is one of 28 players in MLB history with 3,000 hits and besides Pete Rose and Rafael Palmeiro he is the only retired 3,000 hit player not in the Hall of Fame. Furthermore, an overwhelming percentage of the 3,000 hit players were first ballot hall of famers. The dismissal of Biggio, but the high percentage that Bagwell and Piazza got, even with steroid rumors, shows that these writers want to get these former superstars in the hall, as long as there is not overwhelming evidence of them as steroid users. Biggio's numbers are more similar to hall of fame inductees than Piazza or Bagwell, without even the steroid rumors, so why is that their percentages were not far off? It seems that the writers still have a love-hate relationship with the past superstars of the steroid era.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
X Factor in Steroids: The MLB Players Union
As Major League Baseball enters the second half of its season, steroids are once again the front page story. Yesterday, Ryan Braun was suspended for the remainder of the 2013 season for his performance enhancing drug use. For over a year, Braun has been linked to a biogenesis clinic in Florida that was selling performance enhancing drugs to players. After denying P.E.D. usage for over two years, Braun struck a deal with Major League Baseball, when the evidence surrounding his steroid-past was overwhelming. The fall of Braun is just the latest hiccup in what has become the largest scandal in Major League Baseball history. Major League Baseball was hoping steroids were finished following the demise of Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and Mark Mcgwire. Since the testimony given by those four players back in 2005, steroids have not left the baseball scene. More and more players were reported in the Mitchell Report in 2007, including Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada and Eric Gagne. 2007 also featured the admission to steroid usage by Yankee Alex Rodriguez. Even after Rodriguez's monumental interview, steroids plagued Major League Baseball in 2009 and 2011 when left-fielder Manny Ramirez violated the league's substance abuse twice. Now we're in 2013 and another MVP left-fielder is going to be suspended for steroid usage.
The "steroid era" was thought to be over. Major League Baseball thought it could forget about the era which featured all-star games of Bonds, Sosa, Palmeiro, Mcgwire, Ramirez, Rodriguez, Ortiz, Clemens, Tejada, Giambi, Sheffield, Boone, Piazza, Magglio Ordonez, Glaus, Mo Vaugh, David Justice, Juan Gonzalez, Jose Canseco, Ivan Rodriguez and more. Some of these mentioned have not been confirmed users, but there is high suspicion. The Braun scandal though shows that steroids are still infiltrating the league. The only problem worse than the actual drugs, is the fact that the punishments are clearly not tough enough. Moreover, the punishments do not outweigh the benefits. With the contracts given out in baseball, such as A-Rod's 10 year 300 million dollar deal, or Ryan Braun's 8 year 51 million dollar deal after only a year and a half of playing, money does outweigh the punishments for getting caught, if you value finances over legacy. Unlike the NFL, contracts in baseball are guaranteed. Now, if you get suspended for steroid usage, you do not make money during your suspension, but when you come back you still receive your annual salary.
Thus, baseball needs to make a change; contracts given out need to have a clause that if you are found to be a steroid user, your contract can be void or you should lose a certain percentage of your salary. Obviously these ramifications need to be tinkered with, but the way to get steroids out of baseball is to take the money out of the players' pockets. If you do not pay your taxes, you get charged higher interest and you eventually will get arrested if the trend continues. These players are motivated primarily by money, whether that be through salary with their team or through endorsement money. These suspensions are clearly not enough to drive baseball players out of the steroid market. A large percentage of players are willing to risk the chance of being suspended for 50 games, in order to have an MVP-type year and receive a new contract and new endorsement deals.
What's worse is that steroids are working for the young players. In Jon Wertheim's book, "Scorecasting, The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won", it is revealed that minor league baseball players who took steroids had a 70% increase to making the major leagues over those who didn't. If you're just trying to get a shot in the league, why not take a boost.
The problem with this contract proposal is that the MLB players union would never agree to it. Unlike the NBA players union or the poor NFL players union, the MLB players union is a strong union. The players are paid an exorbitant amount (Angel Pagan 4years-40 million) and a lot of these teams have the extra money to spend due to the ridiculous TV deals that are given out and the absence of a salary cap. The one way to conquer the strong MLB players union, is by having the culture of the players change from within. Fortunately, we are seeing this shift today. Former and current MLB all-stars such as C.C. Sabathia, C.J. Wilson, Jason Bay, and Torii Hunter were interviewed about Braun's admission yesterday and were both disheartened and disgusted. The first step in getting steroids out of baseball, is changing the once prevalent steroid culture. This is important for two reasons: Number one and most importantly, if players look down on steroids than they will be more willing to allow a clause such as the one that was proposed earlier in this article. Secondly, if steroid users are looked down upon, they will be less likely to do it. No one wants to be Ryan Braun or Alex Rodriguez, completely hated and not given an ounce of respect.
Still, it is not a surprise though that steroids were prevalent in the late 1990's and early 2000's when you hear quotes from ex-steroid users such as John Rocker and Jose Canseco who have not apologized for their actions, but rather have said they believe it is better for the game. We will see how this new crop of MLB players reacts to steroid usage.
The "steroid era" was thought to be over. Major League Baseball thought it could forget about the era which featured all-star games of Bonds, Sosa, Palmeiro, Mcgwire, Ramirez, Rodriguez, Ortiz, Clemens, Tejada, Giambi, Sheffield, Boone, Piazza, Magglio Ordonez, Glaus, Mo Vaugh, David Justice, Juan Gonzalez, Jose Canseco, Ivan Rodriguez and more. Some of these mentioned have not been confirmed users, but there is high suspicion. The Braun scandal though shows that steroids are still infiltrating the league. The only problem worse than the actual drugs, is the fact that the punishments are clearly not tough enough. Moreover, the punishments do not outweigh the benefits. With the contracts given out in baseball, such as A-Rod's 10 year 300 million dollar deal, or Ryan Braun's 8 year 51 million dollar deal after only a year and a half of playing, money does outweigh the punishments for getting caught, if you value finances over legacy. Unlike the NFL, contracts in baseball are guaranteed. Now, if you get suspended for steroid usage, you do not make money during your suspension, but when you come back you still receive your annual salary.
Thus, baseball needs to make a change; contracts given out need to have a clause that if you are found to be a steroid user, your contract can be void or you should lose a certain percentage of your salary. Obviously these ramifications need to be tinkered with, but the way to get steroids out of baseball is to take the money out of the players' pockets. If you do not pay your taxes, you get charged higher interest and you eventually will get arrested if the trend continues. These players are motivated primarily by money, whether that be through salary with their team or through endorsement money. These suspensions are clearly not enough to drive baseball players out of the steroid market. A large percentage of players are willing to risk the chance of being suspended for 50 games, in order to have an MVP-type year and receive a new contract and new endorsement deals.
What's worse is that steroids are working for the young players. In Jon Wertheim's book, "Scorecasting, The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won", it is revealed that minor league baseball players who took steroids had a 70% increase to making the major leagues over those who didn't. If you're just trying to get a shot in the league, why not take a boost.
The problem with this contract proposal is that the MLB players union would never agree to it. Unlike the NBA players union or the poor NFL players union, the MLB players union is a strong union. The players are paid an exorbitant amount (Angel Pagan 4years-40 million) and a lot of these teams have the extra money to spend due to the ridiculous TV deals that are given out and the absence of a salary cap. The one way to conquer the strong MLB players union, is by having the culture of the players change from within. Fortunately, we are seeing this shift today. Former and current MLB all-stars such as C.C. Sabathia, C.J. Wilson, Jason Bay, and Torii Hunter were interviewed about Braun's admission yesterday and were both disheartened and disgusted. The first step in getting steroids out of baseball, is changing the once prevalent steroid culture. This is important for two reasons: Number one and most importantly, if players look down on steroids than they will be more willing to allow a clause such as the one that was proposed earlier in this article. Secondly, if steroid users are looked down upon, they will be less likely to do it. No one wants to be Ryan Braun or Alex Rodriguez, completely hated and not given an ounce of respect.
Still, it is not a surprise though that steroids were prevalent in the late 1990's and early 2000's when you hear quotes from ex-steroid users such as John Rocker and Jose Canseco who have not apologized for their actions, but rather have said they believe it is better for the game. We will see how this new crop of MLB players reacts to steroid usage.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Slimy? Sneaky? Corrupt? Maybe, but Mikhail Provorhov is the Ideal Owner
It's official! The Brooklyn Nets, formerly of New Jersey, will be adding future hall of fame players Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to their roster, as well as sharpshooter Jason Terry. Coupled with free agent signings that include Andray Blatche, Shaun Livingston, and most notably and most recently Andrei Kirilienko, the Nets may have had the NBA's best offseason. These transactions though did not come without a price; assuming that Kirilenko is added to the roster the Nets will have a salary of about 101 million dollars, the highest in the NBA. Due to recent changes in the CBA (collective bargaining agreement) the Nets will also pay close to 83 million dollars in the luxury tax. The man who will be paying the bills for this team, is Russian billionaire Mikhail Provorhov.
When Prokorhov bought the Nets back in 2010, all we knew was that he was a Russian billionaire who stands at about 6'8'' and has a passion for women, basketball, and winning. To Prokorhov's dismay, the Nets were bad for the Provorhov's first two seasons. At the end of the 2011-2012 season, also Prokorhov's second full season as an owner, Prokorhov's young super star, Deron Williams faced a free agent dilemma, does he stay with the Nets or go to the hometown Dallas Mavericks. The Nets were on the verge of moving to Brooklyn while the Mavericks also had a strong owner in Mark Cuban and a seasoned superstar in Dirk Nowitzki. The two most important contributing factors to Williams' decision to stay with the Nets was the team's willingness to spend and it's arrival in the classic New York borough. Prior to Williams' decision, general manager Billy King traded for small forward Gerald Wallace of the Portland Trailblazers along with shooting guard Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks. Both of these pricey players arrival were requested by Deron Williams. While the Dwight Howard saga was ending with his departure to the Lakers, the Nets also gave center Brook Lopez a multi year deal worth around 60 million dollars. King was told from day one as general manager from Prokorhov, do what you have to do to win. The move to Brooklyn and the spending spree led to an exciting year in Brooklyn and the Nets first playoff birth since 2007.
Unfortunately as the season progressed, one thing was clear; the Nets lacked heart. With a dismal playoff performance against a beat-up Chicago Bulls team, the Nets went into the Summer of 2013 wondering how they could improve their roster. They had few valuable assets, (Kris Humphries, Marshon Brooks) and unappealing draft picks due to their presumed future playoff appearances. Furthermore they had little cap flexibility due to a payroll that was already top three in the association. All of these possible roadblocks did not stop Billy King or Prokorhov's consistent plan of doing what was necessary to win. By the draft, the Nets were already trying to figure out what they needed to do. Clearly Brooks and Humphries were not part of the future so who could you get for them, Andrea Bargnani, David Lee, Ryan Anderson? Suddenly, as the first round progressed, the Nets struck a monumental deal. They were able to acquire Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry. The Nets lost picks and inconsequential role players, but received two hall of fame players, a 6th man, heart and toughness. The Nets picked up more salary and filled two positions that were lacking during the 2012-2013 season. One of the reasons why the Nets lost the series against the Chicago Bulls was because their starting lineup featured two ineffective offensive starters, in Gerald Wallace and Reggie Evans. The Bulls were basically able to play 5 on 3 during the series and double team both Johnson and Williams. Pierce and Garnett will be able to fill these positions perfectly. With this deal though, comes a rising tax bill. With additions also of Blatche, Livingston and Kirilenko the argument can be made that the Nets have the best roster in basketball as well as the most expensive. The truth is that none of this could have been done without their owner, Mikhail Prokorhov.
More owners need to be willing to spend the way that Prokorhov spends. With increasing ticket sales, jersey prices, and even food prices, fans should get what they pay for. Now, not all owners are going to be multi-billionaires, but if you are going to consider buying a team, you should do it the Steinbrenner way, the Prokorhov way. You don't need to be paying 80 million in the luxury tax, but more owners need to be spending. Sports are expensive for the fans, they should also be expensive for the owners. You gotta give the people what they want. There is nothing more fun, as a fan of the Nets to know that any move is possible, because financial restrictions are not an issue. Thankfully we are starting to see cheaper owners spend more and more money. Look at the Clippers; once deemed the cheapest owner in sports, Donald Sterling has multiple max players on his roster as well as the most expensive coach in the league. Sports are a growing industry and the owners and players should not be the only winners of this shift. The fans deserve to see a squad that is not made up of a bunch of scrubs. Obviously there will always be bad teams and good teams and believe it or not the common fan understands this. What they cannot bare, is to watch their teams not spend money when there are glaring needs in the roster. You can hate him or be disgusted by him, but Mikhail Prokorhov is the ideal owner.
When Prokorhov bought the Nets back in 2010, all we knew was that he was a Russian billionaire who stands at about 6'8'' and has a passion for women, basketball, and winning. To Prokorhov's dismay, the Nets were bad for the Provorhov's first two seasons. At the end of the 2011-2012 season, also Prokorhov's second full season as an owner, Prokorhov's young super star, Deron Williams faced a free agent dilemma, does he stay with the Nets or go to the hometown Dallas Mavericks. The Nets were on the verge of moving to Brooklyn while the Mavericks also had a strong owner in Mark Cuban and a seasoned superstar in Dirk Nowitzki. The two most important contributing factors to Williams' decision to stay with the Nets was the team's willingness to spend and it's arrival in the classic New York borough. Prior to Williams' decision, general manager Billy King traded for small forward Gerald Wallace of the Portland Trailblazers along with shooting guard Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks. Both of these pricey players arrival were requested by Deron Williams. While the Dwight Howard saga was ending with his departure to the Lakers, the Nets also gave center Brook Lopez a multi year deal worth around 60 million dollars. King was told from day one as general manager from Prokorhov, do what you have to do to win. The move to Brooklyn and the spending spree led to an exciting year in Brooklyn and the Nets first playoff birth since 2007.
Unfortunately as the season progressed, one thing was clear; the Nets lacked heart. With a dismal playoff performance against a beat-up Chicago Bulls team, the Nets went into the Summer of 2013 wondering how they could improve their roster. They had few valuable assets, (Kris Humphries, Marshon Brooks) and unappealing draft picks due to their presumed future playoff appearances. Furthermore they had little cap flexibility due to a payroll that was already top three in the association. All of these possible roadblocks did not stop Billy King or Prokorhov's consistent plan of doing what was necessary to win. By the draft, the Nets were already trying to figure out what they needed to do. Clearly Brooks and Humphries were not part of the future so who could you get for them, Andrea Bargnani, David Lee, Ryan Anderson? Suddenly, as the first round progressed, the Nets struck a monumental deal. They were able to acquire Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry. The Nets lost picks and inconsequential role players, but received two hall of fame players, a 6th man, heart and toughness. The Nets picked up more salary and filled two positions that were lacking during the 2012-2013 season. One of the reasons why the Nets lost the series against the Chicago Bulls was because their starting lineup featured two ineffective offensive starters, in Gerald Wallace and Reggie Evans. The Bulls were basically able to play 5 on 3 during the series and double team both Johnson and Williams. Pierce and Garnett will be able to fill these positions perfectly. With this deal though, comes a rising tax bill. With additions also of Blatche, Livingston and Kirilenko the argument can be made that the Nets have the best roster in basketball as well as the most expensive. The truth is that none of this could have been done without their owner, Mikhail Prokorhov.
More owners need to be willing to spend the way that Prokorhov spends. With increasing ticket sales, jersey prices, and even food prices, fans should get what they pay for. Now, not all owners are going to be multi-billionaires, but if you are going to consider buying a team, you should do it the Steinbrenner way, the Prokorhov way. You don't need to be paying 80 million in the luxury tax, but more owners need to be spending. Sports are expensive for the fans, they should also be expensive for the owners. You gotta give the people what they want. There is nothing more fun, as a fan of the Nets to know that any move is possible, because financial restrictions are not an issue. Thankfully we are starting to see cheaper owners spend more and more money. Look at the Clippers; once deemed the cheapest owner in sports, Donald Sterling has multiple max players on his roster as well as the most expensive coach in the league. Sports are a growing industry and the owners and players should not be the only winners of this shift. The fans deserve to see a squad that is not made up of a bunch of scrubs. Obviously there will always be bad teams and good teams and believe it or not the common fan understands this. What they cannot bare, is to watch their teams not spend money when there are glaring needs in the roster. You can hate him or be disgusted by him, but Mikhail Prokorhov is the ideal owner.
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