Baseball's Garbage Collection
by South Side Rob
This article has been a longtime coming. With all the negatives that are swirling around the great game of baseball, its sometimes hard to find out the one person who truly is a piece of garbage. I have many and while I will suggest our top candidates, write in votes are always allowed. Here would be my ballot:
- Pete Rose (Known and now admitted to betting on baseball)
- Barry Bonds (Steroid denial)
- Roger Clemens (Steroid denial)
- Mark McGuire (Steroid denial)
- Jose Canseco (Admitted Steroid User and Rat or Weasel)
- Ken Caminiti (Suicide stemming from alleged roid rage)
Anyway, I just read that Jose Canseco has decided to attempt to extort money from Magglio Ordonez in return for Canseco's silence in his upcoming book that nobody wants to touch. Jose Canseco gets my vote as a piece of garbage. I'm convinced that Jose Canseco would have never reached the major leagues without steroids.
Since when is it okay to tell stories about other players that will cause them personal embarrassment. Some of what was said in his book turned out to be true. As such, that should not mean that all of it is true. Canseco found out how to get paid and that was to tell tales about teammates without regard to the human condition.
I did not buy Canseco's first book and I never will. I heard that in his first book, he calls out many former major leaguers as players he did steroids with, also he mentions players who were unfaithful to their wives, etc... This behavior is so wrong that I could not believe he found a publisher the first time around.
I was impressed in 1988 by his 40-40 season (homers and steals). I believe, at that time, he was the first player to do this. Turns out it was all fake. How can anybody feel sorry for someone who has cheated their entire career and now spends his free time attempting to ruin the reputation of other baseball players both past and present.
Out of all the negatives in baseball, Jose Canseco (In My Opinion) is the number one piece of garbage with Barry Bonds as a close runner-up...
Great post! However, I don't believe Ken Caminiti should be on that top tier list. I could be mistaken (it is after I closed my bar) but I don't believe he commited suicide. He died as a result of past steroid abuse and cocaine abuse. He was a great teamate and did some some bad things. "garbage" is not what I'd put on his name. "garbage" is guys like Jim Edmunds and Jeff Kent who are not teamates but spoiled athletes who are only out for #1. Barry Bonds is the KING of that list. Pete Rose is on a list all by himself. As far as that goes, what do you think about A-Rod Since he's all about stats and really can't win if his life depended on it(although he's the biggest winner on a financial veiwpoint). I'm done venting and the coffe will be great in the morning....
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Can we start the list with 1. Barry Bonds and 1a. Jose Canseco? I am not sure which one is worse. Both of them cheated, and one of them holds two of the greatest records in major league history. Bonds is arrogant and a blatant cheater. The other one proclaims himself as the savior of baseball by dropping the dime on former teammates and tons of steroid allegations.
While I believe most of the people he has named in his book did take steroids,(Otherwise there would have been a lot of law suits against Canseco) the only reason he actually published the book is because he was broke.
And I can't add A-Rod to that list. Maybe it is because he carried my fantasy team to a championship last season, but I think he receives way too much criticism because he plays in New York.
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Good point about A-rod, Matt. How about Daryl Strawberry? He wasted his talent and how much better would his teams had been if he wasn't messed up?
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Garbage-- Albert Belle, Reggie Jackson.......
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Since one man's garbage is another man's treasure, I'd say Belle and Jackson are two for the scrap book of great memories...Reggie emerged onto the baseball scene along side the Black Panther movememnt and Muhammad Ali's draft dodging. It was the fist time mainstream media got wind of black power....confidence....say whatever they want...sort of thing. Albert Belle carried on the legacy. I'm not justifying some of their actions, but from an entertainment angle and a not being afraid of what other people think angle, I give them a thumbs up. Everybody wants Barry Bonds to be a Hank Aaron prince...dignified, diplomatic, great with the media, appreciator of his place...blah blah....but Barry Bonds was born into baseball with an alcoholic father and scrutiny to succeed that Aaron never experienced.
Again, I'm not justifying Bonds taking steroids and lyeing, but there are some crazy expectations attached to him. He is aloof and comes across as arrogant, but that's who he is. The Hall of Fame does have a criteria for contributions to the team and to baseball...integrity....and stuff like that....
Judging him on personality seems to be beyond the scope of criteria.
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