angryrat Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 Well, I was just sitting back reading some threads on this site and EAmods, and I have been getting quite sick of hearing about steriods and their effect on the game in the last decade, and it made me start to wonder.... In past decades of the sport, was there any controversies similar to that of the steroid/HGH/BALCO thing that is taking over the sport now? I'm not really sure what I am looking for in terms of answers, but I just want to know if you guys were apart of any other "dark eras" in the game... involving substance abuses that gave players big advantages, etc. Im sick of steroids, and I just want them to play ball.... fairly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medric822 Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 I dont care. I get to watch great sports and keep my huge (BAD WORD)'s. Quoted from Mind of Mencia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankee4Life Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 Good thread, I will try to answer this when I have more time because I am not home right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroEric Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 Check this interview out: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/questions/bouton.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJEagles Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 This isn't in the same league as the steroids mess...but the whole 1994 strike, and the following spring training with SCAB players cast a dark shadow on the game. It took a few years for fans to return in earnest to the game, and even now you can still feel the effects of the strike in some MLB cities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medric822 Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 This isn't in the same league as the steroids mess...but the whole 1994 strike, and the following spring training with SCAB players cast a dark shadow on the game. It took a few years for fans to return in earnest to the game, and even now you can still feel the effects of the strike in some MLB cities. Forgive me, but which cities. I've been only to Yankee Stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckdodger215 Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 Forgive me, but which cities. I've been only to Yankee Stadium. Braves baseball has never been the same. I know they don't play at Fulton Co. anymore, but every fan used to do the chop and get into the game. Rare to see this anymore there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwentySeven Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 1919 Black Sox... Nearly killed the game for good, but Babe Ruth saved it with his home runs... Which of course led to, 80 years later, steroids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankee4Life Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 In past decades of the sport, was there any controversies similar to that of the steroid/HGH/BALCO thing that is taking over the sport now? I'm not really sure what I am looking for in terms of answers, but I just want to know if you guys were apart of any other "dark eras" in the game... involving substance abuses that gave players big advantages, etc. Well, back in the 1980's there was another scandal going around baseball. A lot of players were caught using drugs. I'm saying CAUGHT, not suspected. In fact, three or four of them were from the Kansas City Royals. Keith Hernandez and Willie Wilson are two players that I remember being involved with this. I am going to take a break right now and search the net to see if I can find something for you to refer to. Ok, I am back. I got lucky and I found one. (I use a program called Copernic Agent that helps me do searches better.) Anyways, I found an article from Time magazine dated September 16th, 1985. The name of this article is Baseball's Drug Scandal and before I posted this link, I read the entire article and the guy that wrote this, a Mr.Ed Magnuson, got it exactly right with what was happening at the time. Many name players are in this article, including ones you have heard of and some that you have not. Dave Parker was part of this, Yogi Berra's son, Dale, was part of this. It was a huge problem that baseball had in the mid 1980's. Read this article, and on page one of this you will see something that you would only know in hindsight, and not back in 1985 when this was written. On page one of this article the writer was talking about the exciting things going on during the 1985 season. He went on to mention "the young Met fireballer" Dwight Gooden, who was at the top of his game back in '84 and '85. Gooden was "prompting comparisons with the greatest pitchers of the past" at this time. Little did this writer know or did anyone else that Gooden soon would be part of this problem. This here was baseball's biggest problem before steroids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean O Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 This here was baseball's biggest problem before steroids. Good points all, but I'm going to assume you omitted segregation as it wasn't a scandal, per se. As far as problems in MLB history, here's how i'd rank it: 1). Segregation 2). Public financing / corporate blackmail / monopoly 3). Betting / 1919 4). Drugs (alcohol, hard drugs, steroids, and amphetamines) 5). Reserve clause Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angryrat Posted May 19, 2007 Author Share Posted May 19, 2007 Check this interview out: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/questions/bouton.html This was a very interesting article. And, I want to thank everyone for their responses so far. I think this is opening up an interesting discussion. I also agree that Segregation was the biggest problem... though not just in baseball, that was a problem nationwide.... but that is also a whole other discussion in its own right. People want a "certain somebody's" home run records banished from the books, and the thing that it made me wonder was about the other decades like we have been discussing. That article from ESPN states that players in the 70's used "greenies" amongst other things. So it sounds like there has been problems with foreign substances for a long, long time. Steroids might have a bigger impact on performance than those other things did, but that's natural because modern medicine is amazing. I don't have a single doubt that the steroid era won't be the last problem the sport faces. I already read an article in ESPN magazine this past week about the development of a medicine that can transform your weaker muscles into the stronger type of muscles (There are different types of muscle tissue in your body, some are naturally weaker than others). The medicine is designed for MS, but the magazine claims it won't be long before it is in the wrong hands. I'll stop there for now and see what others have to say. I've always been curious on this topic, as people have made the former ball players into legends. It seems like as time passes we forget about the scandals and such, and just admire the great talents. There are a million bars in the area named after Shoeless Joe. I don't doubt there will be a statue of Barry Bonds outside of Pac Bell/At&T/whatever they want to call the park next year, when Bonds finally retires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevy Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 in the sixties speed was used on a regular bases ending some careers and making others short if u want i can give u more info on it in the 80s it was cocaine it did end and short wiggins life he played mostly for san diego padres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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