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8/16/23

Reese Kaplan -- Sometimes Reality Bites You in the Ass, Mark


Every now and then something happens in real life to make you forget about baseball entirely.  Maybe it's a natural disaster.  Maybe it is some kind of political scandal.  Maybe it's the  way in which a blatant lie is not only revealed but maintained despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Well, this is not a social commentary nor political monologue.  It's a few hundred words about the game we love but then there are times when it's the game itself or actions of its players that fall into the exact same categories.  Such is today's topic and you surely find yourself shaking your head, saying, "Wow!" at the sheer temerity and unconscionable gall at what was uttered.

Recently the now retired Mark McGwire made news headlines not for hitting a prodigious amount of home runs over the wall, not over the migration from Oakland to St. Louis and not over the controversial aspect of his career over the confession of him using Performance Enhancing Drugs to inflate his numbers to a lofty total of 582 home runs.  No, this "He said what?????????????????" moment was his assertion, "I didn’t need to do it and I apologize for it. But there was a lot of fucking hard work that went behind all the shit people want to give me.”

Uh...wait..hmmm...WHAT???????????????????????????

Yes, apparently we give the PED abusers too much grief over what they did and there was really nothing wrong with it.  So what if McGwire cheated with injectable medications?  It's what you're supposed to do to set records, right?


Why are we jonesing over what Sammy Sosa did to his formerly slim and sleek body?  And then there's Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez and a whole slew of others.  Yes, we're supposed to appreciate the magnitude of what they accomplished with their bats and arms, never once holding them accountable for the concept that you're supposed to live and play by the rules.  It's all our fault, right?

Wrong!


The road to Cooperstown was earned by players like Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, Gary Carter, Nolan Ryan and many other deserving and admirable ballplayers.  They put in the time in the weight room, in the batting cage, on the pitching mound, out in the field doing countless amounts of stretching, calisthenics, running and preparatory drills to ensure that they used their natural talents to the maximum ability possible.

But that's not what the people really want, right Mark?  Instead the players should treat baseball as they would the WWE, knowing full well that results are scripted, drugs are used to bulk up artificially, personalities are developed as acting roles and all that matters are the headlines generated, not the sport itself.  Why, if Daniel Vogelbach body slammed Jose Altuve, now that's the kind of spectacle and story that people really want.  Isn't it????

Let's just write off McGwire's ego and ignorance as a sign of a man getting older who feels he isn't getting the perks and accolades legitimate stars receive for the remainder of their out-of-baseball lives.  Well, Mark, you and your syringe stablemates are getting what they chose with their method of removing reality from the game.  You all deserve it.

18 comments:

  1. Any article with a picture of Butterbean is an instant favorite of mine.

    The way Mets rookies hit, perhaps steroids might help.

    Baty is 6 for 20 in Syracuse with 3 HR, 10 RBI since demotion. He want to come back, no steroids needed.

    McGuire? I still remember those forearms that looked like ham hocks.

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  2. Of course, the Mets were not immune from some suspect players during that era, though in HoJo's case it was superballs in his bat and not PEDs injected into his butt.

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  3. Would like to see Vogey body slam Buck for bringing in Hartwig last night when Butto still seemed like he had plenty left in the tank. Too many pitching changes at the slightest hint of adversity is not a good idea when the bullpen is so thin.

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  4. Lottery pick update

    Things tightened up last night

    Detroit now has the 1.5 pick while the Mets are tied with STL and PITT at 1.6

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  5. For me, cocaine abusers and even illegal sign stealers fall into the same category as McGuire.

    Labeled BAD FOR THE GAME

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  6. I spent 2 days touting Blade Tidwell as the only SP 1 and SP 2 prospects in the chain

    And of course that was the kiss of death

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    Replies
    1. This is the only race that matters
      And to me the most important decision… so at this point no Mauricio or any one we consider possibly future pieces should be called up. Those player should be placed in the best possible situation to succeed and that not the priority right now.
      No Edwin Diaz and run a six man rotation for senga to reduce his appearances and expose more of our worse…
      Losing is winning right now and any other thought process is foolish…
      Cubs won this way (k Bryant)
      Astros (Correa and Bergman)
      National (soto was international but equal to a top 3 pick)

      You find TOP talent and build around them
      Lindor will be old soon. So we need to have players around him when he is our Miguel Cabrera

      Delete
    2. I fully expect Yamamoto to be ours, and better than any 1st round pick.

      Delete
  7. Mack: Paul Skenes allowed one hit and struck out two in a scoreless frame for the Marauders. This year's No. 1 Draft pick threw 11 of 16 pitches for strikes, hitting 100 mph with a four-seamer for his first Single-A K.

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    Replies
    1. Skenes dominated throughout high school and his first college Notre Dame

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  8. Butto is Butto, Buck is a butthead.

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    Replies
    1. Disagree on this issue

      Mets out of starters and Buck is giving everyone one more shot.

      Joey next

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  9. Joey was good the other day after an IL stint. He deserves a chance. Peterson walked 6 in under 4 innings last night? Come on. Max 3-0 as a Ranger. First place team, highest scoring in baseball, maybe he’ll go 10-0.

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  10. Excellent article, Reese. One of those where I agree with you 100%.

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  11. McGwire and Sosa are clowns. Absolutely no sympathy for them. They made a choice, now live with it. You're cheaters

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  12. Sosa has it backwards

    No one is trying to be white anymore

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  13. My wife loves the beach. I do everything I can to stay white, after several little basal cell cancers. I cover up better than a politician.

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