A More Definitive Steroid Take; Bartering
From me is available, if you’re interested (and has been for a few days over at AOL Sports). Here’s the money shot, if you will:
Brady Anderson, Javy Lopez and Luis Gonzalez have all been the subject of steroid speculation. Anderson hit 50 homers in 1996 and never hit more than 24 in any other season. Lopez hit 43 homers in 2003 and hit more than 30 in a season only one other time in his career. Gonzalez hit 57 homers in 2001 and also hit more than 30 in a season only one other time. None of them were named in the Mitchell Report, yet many fans chalk their career years up to nefarious chemistry.
On the one hand, who can blame them when the use of performance-enhancing drugs has been so pervasive for more than a decade? There’s something to be said for being suspicious of everyone. On the other hand, that trio of players is hardly the only trio to ever have one season so disproportionate to the rest of the career.
Davey Johnson hit 43 homers in 1973 and never hit more than 18 in any other season. Bob Cerv hit 38 homers for the Kansas City Athletics in 1958. He never hit more than 20 in any other season and finished his career with just 105 round-trippers. Rico Petrocelli hit 40 homers in 1969 for the Red Sox and never hit more than 29 in any other season. Cy Williams hit 41 homers for the Phillies in 1923. He was 35 at the time. He hit more than 20 homers in a season only three other times in his 19-year career.
As you can tell, I’m pretty blase about the entire “steroid era.” I’d prefer that the players didn’t cheat, but causation is such a tricky thing, especially when you’re talking about hitting or throwing a baseball. In fact, since reading the Mitchell Report and writing this column, I’ve given it very little thought.
Instead, I’ve been devoting myself to bartering — by that I mean trying to figure out what I’d trade for Maryland to stop losing to teams for the first time in 80 years, for Greivis Vasquez to stop woofing at players from lousy schools when you’re trailing by 10 at home and for Newcastle United to play with some pace against the worst mothereffin’ side in the Premier League.
FTR, I’d probably trade the Patriots’ Super Bowl win over Carolina, at least that’s as far as I’ve gotten.