Nov 21 Ken Griffey Jr. and Stan Musial I'm sure we can find other birthdates which belong to more than one great player- but it'll be interesting to see if it has two players as great as those two. wow!
I still don't get why everyone just assumes that Griffey was clean. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying he wasn't, maybe he was but I just don't understand how he gets a free pass when he was right in the thick with all the other guys. Having back to back 56 HR seasons & averaged 50 HRs a season between 1996-2000. Like I said right in the middle with your Sosa's, McGwire, Bonds, Palmeiro etc. Just saying.
You're making an assumption of guilt based on his ability to hit home runs. Innocent until proven guilty. This is the kind of witch hunt I've been railing about Rick. Just becausevyou weren't aware of the existence of steroids prior to the 90s, they have in fact been around and in use since post WWII. How do you know that drugs given to pilots in the Korean War didnt aid Ted Williams performance? How about the widespread delicacy's in NY in the 20s featuring livestock testicles. Those were jam packed with testosterone, an anabolic steroid. It goes on and on. Unless someone has been proven and/or admitted to have violated the rules of baseball regarding foreign substances, we don't use the term "cheater", let's reserve that distinction for thosectgat deserve it. And those substances needed to be banned or criminally illegal to the time they were being used. Because that shows intent to gain an unfair advantage. Now if you want to suspect guys like Griffey, go right ahead. Happy to consider your argument if it is based on more than the number of HRs hit. I think we've seen enough statistical analysis that dispelled that false assumption to be anecdotal.
You may have misunderstood my post, I didn't say whether Griffey did or didn't do steroids, I just find it kinda funny that he gets a free pass when he was right in the middle of things & his HR totals for the most part matched there's. Okay not 60+but he was up there. And Tom I'm not so naive that I don't think PEDs haven't been around before the 90s. Hell Remember Davey Johnson's 1973 season. Or the eye brows Kirby Puckett raised in 1986 when he hit 31 home runs after only hitting 4 the previous year in the same amount of games? Hell even the great Carl Yazstremski had an amazing turn around season in 1967 when he hit 44 HRs after only hitting 16 the previous year in the same amount of game. Now I'm not implying that these guys had a little help but in defending your argument maybe other factors went into there increased totals also, or maybe not. Like I said, its a slippery slope. I only bring these numbers up because I find it funny when ever I hear some one say, "How the hell can you go from 10 HRs to 40 HRs? he must be on something" when increases like I just mentioned have been going on for a long time. But I digress, I still think that during that 10 year period (say 95-04) that PEDs were a huge part of the game.
...I thought there was already a dedicated thread for "PEDs" ...??? ...anywho, since the OP brought us Musial, I thought I'd point out that he is rumored to have been a "cheat".