Random cards. Jason Giambi.

Jason seemed liked just another player in the minors. Obviously he devoted himself to a difficult but ultimately rewarding weight training regimen. Oh yeah, and a whole freaking bunch of steroids.

I don't think his career drop off can totally be blamed on stopping the steroids. I think that like a lot of players, he hit the early 30's and his eyesight naturally got worse.

At age 30 he had 129 BB's and only 83 K's, while hitting .342. At age 32 he also had 129 BB's, but 140 K's while hitting only .250.

He had a nice signature in the minors.

Jeff Bagwell belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Ok, so if some writers are to be believed, Jeff Bagwell must have done steroids or other performance enhancing drugs. The reasons they give are:

1: he has muscles.
2: he never had power in the minor leagues
3: he's made some statements about not caring if other guys were doing PED's.

There's no proof that he was ever involved with steroids. The guy was a workout machine, and built his body through lifting. Heck, if he was doing steroids he probably wouldn't have had to retire from his shoulder problems. As for not caring about other players? So what? He's got his own career to worry about, and I'm sure he knew that he was naturally just as strong, or stronger than anyone doing PED's.

Let's look at the whole "no power in the minors".

It's true he didn't hit a lot of home runs in the minors. He was drafted in June 1989, and played some games in the rookie league and A ball that year. He hit for a high average, not much power. (14 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs in 229 at bats). As a team, Winter Haven (where Bags spent most of his time) hit 69 home runs in 139 games.

Moving onto 1990. Playing in AA for New Britain, Bags hit .333 with 34 doubles, 7 triples and 4 home runs in 481 at bats. Again, seemingly not much power. Except for those 34 doubles.
I wonder. Is it possible that the was playing in a pitcher's park?

New Britain played 139 games that season. The entire team hit 31 home runs. They went 72-67, so it's not as if they were a bad team. Eric Wedge lead the team with 5 home runs.

A tiny amount of research find the information that the team played in a park called Beehive Field. An article from the Boston Globe in 1994 states the following:

"New Britain's Beehive Field is where long balls and some sluggers' careers go to die"

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- Just a night earlier, New Britain Red Sox slugger Jose Malave had boomed a three-run homer against the Portland Sea Dogs, so all was no longer clear. Perhaps Death Valley really did harbor some life.
And when Malave said Beehive Field "is a great place to hit," and not really the Grand Canyon, perhaps the myth was dead. Some 2,062 fans could say they saw a homer at Beehive Field, when for so long it had been thought that more eyes had seen the Loch Ness Monster than such a feat in New Britain, Conn.
"You know," said Gerry Berthiaume, the BritSox general manager, "the Red Sox never let Mike Greenwell and Phil Plantier play here....

So clearly the suggestion is that Beehive Field was a pitcher's park.

I think Jeff Bagwell was developing his power before he hit the majors, he just wasn't in the right place to show it. Fortunately for the Houston Astros, they saw it.

And as far as the muscles go, looking at this card, I'd say Mr. Bagwell was already looking pretty buff back in 1990.

So, I guess the point I'm trying to make here is this. You can't just look at someone, or just look at their stats without understanding the context. So for all the lazy baseball writers out there who assume that Bagwell did steroids, give your heads a shake. If every player who was fit and had muscles was left out of the hall of fame, no one will ever get in.

Steroids, cheating & Cooperstown

In my opinion, baseball has always rewarded cheaters. Whether it's stealing signs, corking bats, throwing the spitter, the phantom tag at 2nd, emery boards, sandpaper, leaving a tiny bit early from 3rd on a sac fly, framing the pitch, whatever. If it gets you an advantage, and you can get away with it, do it.

So, when all these holier than thou types talk about players like Bonds and Clemens and how they shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame, I have to shake my head. If steroids had been around 80 years ago, players would have used them. It's not like there's never been drug use in baseball before steroids. Bennies, booze, marijuana, LSD even. As far as I'm concerned, if a player is doing it to try and perform better, let them ruin their health.

Face it, players used steroids to try and get better, and by getting better they could make more money. And money is what it all comes down to. That's why the owners turned a blind eye, that's why the league turned a blind eye, and that's why it would be a complete joke to keep players out of the HOF that belong there based on the stats they put up.

Which brings us to Pete Rose. Yeah, let's go there. Pete Rose was banned from baseball for gambling on baseball. He denied that for years and years. He flat out lied, and claimed he didn't bet on baseball. And then he admitted that he had in fact bet on baseball, but that he'd never bet on his own team. Sorry Pete, but after years of lies, no one can believe you.

Pete Rose bet on baseball, and lied about it. He cheated on his taxes, and did time for it. He does not belong in the HOF.