the big hurt, and others

[west coast orange and black]

there have been threads that asked for names of suspected cheaters. the usual suspects have been players with bigger numbers or bigger size.

recently, frank thomas was given a pass by an oakland tribune staff writer, who flatly declared that thomas has not ever used performance enhancers, banned substances, or illegal drugs, adding that thomas is a "good guy".

supply current or recently retired players whom you believe above reproach when it comes to this topic.

[west coast orange and black]

here is my list:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

you get my drift.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

here is my list:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

you get my drift.

Above reproach, and above even being mentioned?

Don't you get the feeling that if we were to truly know about everyone, there wouldn't be a league anymore

[digglahhh]

There is nobody who could surface as a user who would shock me, though there are those who's guilt I would find more or less surprising.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Not even a guy that perhaps went by the name of Cecil? :atthepc

[wamby]

here is my list:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

you get my drift.

You stole my list.

[RuthMayBond]

here is my list:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

you get my drift.

C'mon I would without a doubt bet your life that Rafael Belliard never used PEDs.
At least not much.
At least not so's it mattered.

[Mike D.]

C'mon I would without a doubt bet your life that Rafael Belliard never used PEDs.
At least not much.
At least not so's it mattered.

Personally, I think a lot more 24/25/26th guy on the roster guys use than people seem to think. Everyone sees the HR guys...but I'd guess that users are split about 1/3 sluggers, 1/3 guys trying to hang on, and 1/3 pitchers.

[digglahhh]

C'mon I would without a doubt bet your life that Rafael Belliard never used PEDs.
At least not much.
At least not so's it mattered.

I'm assuming you had Alex Sanchez on your radar.

Perehaps that's why you are betting my life and not your own.

[Boston Boxer]

I say just let people use whatever they want. If they get caught (by the police) then they go to jail. Baseball stays out of it. problem solved.

[RuthMayBond]

I'm assuming you had Alex Sanchez on your radar.

Perehaps that's why you are betting my life and not your own.

And because I knew you could take a joke

[RuthMayBond]

I say just let people use whatever they want. If they get caught (by the police) then they go to jail. Baseball stays out of it. problem solved.

Sure, who needs any integrity, pro rasslin' don't

[Bench 5]

WCOB - In Frank's defense he was adamantly against steroid use as far back as the early 90's. Frank was without a doubt the most popular player in Chicago in the early to mid 90s. When Sammy Sosa, his former teammate, got huge during the late 90s with the Cubbies and stole his thunder, Thomas was very upset. Frank took a lot of heat for hitting only 30 homers a year while Sammy was jacking 60+.

Frank admitted that he experimented with steroids in high school for a short period of time. So he was open about that.

He was a big guy even when he came up to the Sox as a rookie. Anything's possible but I think what separates Frank from many other players is that he was vociferous in his anger at steroid users. He was naturally big while others were able to close the gap by illegal means.

He along with other members of the White Sox tried to purposely rig the steroid testing system in spring training 2003 so that the team would register a large number of failed tests. If they refused to take the test it would register as a fail. The reason Frank et al wanted to do this was because if the total % of steroid fails was below a certain threshhold, mandatory testing would not take affect the next year. So they figured that if they could inflate the numbers, steroid testing would become mandatory. They felt that it was a problem and they wanted baseball to do something about it. Baseball didn't allow them to do this.

Anyway, I would say Dave Eckstein is not on steroids!!

[trosmok]

Hall of Fame first ballot

supply current or recently retired players whom you believe above reproach when it comes to this topic.

1. Tony Gwynn
2. Ichiro
3. Zach Duke (testing in the minors has been more strict)

[RuthMayBond]

1. Tony Gwynn

He put on weight, and look at his HR totals 95-96 then 97-98