MLB just cannot win with the media and steroids

[MartyFunkhouser]

No matter what MLB does it is never enough. MLB has the toughest testing policy with the major sports now and they still take grief. Volquez is suspended 50 games and on the way home today, I hear on the radio people bitching that the suspension isn't good enough because he is on the DL and was going to miss the games anyway.

MLB suspends a player for 1/3 of the season and for a 1st offense and people are still bitching.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

No matter what MLB does it is never enough. MLB has the toughest testing policy with the major sports now and they still take grief. Volquez is suspended 50 games and on the way home today, I hear on the radio people bitching that the suspension isn't good enough because he is on the DL and was going to miss the games anyway.

MLB suspends a player for 1/3 of the season and for a 1st offense and people are still bitching.

Many of us don't care at all about steroids in baseball, in fact the annoying talk about steroids in baseball incessantly has turned me almost all the way off from baseball. But the reason that MLB can't win is because they spent the better part of a decade denying that any baseball player would even consider PEDs and made such fools of themselves that they are not to be trusted.

[smokymountainrain]

No matter what MLB does it is never enough. MLB has the toughest testing policy with the major sports now and they still take grief. Volquez is suspended 50 games and on the way home today, I hear on the radio people bitching that the suspension isn't good enough because he is on the DL and was going to miss the games anyway.

MLB suspends a player for 1/3 of the season and for a 1st offense and people are still bitching.

So you don't think the complaints about the suspension coinciding with his stint on the DL are legit? If he's going to miss the games anyway, where is the punishment? I'm not sure I understand where you are coming from. Unless you feel a "first" offense shouldn't be punished. If that's your opinion, I guess I understand (don't agree, btw), but at least admit there is no punishment if he's missing the games due to injury regardless.

[Surfah]

Many of us don't care at all about steroids in baseball, in fact the annoying talk about steroids in baseball incessantly has turned me almost all the way off from baseball. But the reason that MLB can't win is because they spent the better part of a decade denying that any baseball player would even consider PEDs and made such fools of themselves that they are not to be trusted.

I tend to agree with this. I don't care about steroids in baseball anymore. At this point they've become synonymous.

[Surfah]

So you don't think the complaints about the suspension coinciding with his stint on the DL are legit? If he's going to miss the games anyway, where is the punishment? I'm not sure I understand where you are coming from. Unless you feel a "first" offense shouldn't be punished. If that's your opinion, I guess I understand (don't agree, btw), but at least admit there is no punishment if he's missing the games due to injury regardless.

This.

[Indy Coug]

Doesn't the suspension also entail a pro-rata loss of salary? If that's the case, who gives two craps if he's on the DL or not?

[Tim]

So you don't think the complaints about the suspension coinciding with his stint on the DL are legit? If he's going to miss the games anyway, where is the punishment? I'm not sure I understand where you are coming from. Unless you feel a "first" offense shouldn't be punished. If that's your opinion, I guess I understand (don't agree, btw), but at least admit there is no punishment if he's missing the games due to injury regardless.

On the DL he still gets paid. On suspension he doesn't get paid.

[MartyFunkhouser]

So you don't think the complaints about the suspension coinciding with his stint on the DL are legit? If he's going to miss the games anyway, where is the punishment? I'm not sure I understand where you are coming from. Unless you feel a "first" offense shouldn't be punished. If that's your opinion, I guess I understand (don't agree, btw), but at least admit there is no punishment if he's missing the games due to injury regardless.

He doesn't get paid while he is on suspension and it is a coincidence that his suspension coincides with his stint on the DL, but people want to paint it as some sort of conspiracy.

Yes, MLB turned a blind eye to steroids in an attempt to get fans back. It was a stupid move especially considering if they had a steroid policy people would have just beat it anyway (like they do in the NFL). I doubt that the NBA and especially the NFL has a lower percentage of players using steroids.

[Surfah]

On the DL he still gets paid. On suspension he doesn't get paid.

I think people don't think it's fair that his actions don't impact his team because he was on the DL anyway. Only hurting his wallet isn't sufficient. Why suspend him for 50 games when they could just fine him the amount of salary he'd be losing? Same thing right?

If Ben Rothlisberger gets injured this summer and has to miss half the season to start on the DL and Goodell had suspended him for the first 4 games (as everyone is predicting), do you think that people would be cool with him just not getting paid for those 4 games he was going to miss anyway?

[MartyFunkhouser]

I think people don't think it's fair that his actions don't impact his team because he was on the DL anyway. Only hurting his wallet isn't sufficient. Why suspend him for 50 games when they could just fine him the amount of salary he'd be losing? Same thing right?

If Ben Rothlisberger gets injured this summer and has to miss half the season to start on the DL and Goodell had suspended him for the first 4 games (as everyone is predicting), do you think that people would be cool with him just not getting paid for those 4 games he was going to miss anyway?

Absolutely people would be cool with it, because it is the NFL and they are typically not criticized. Remember when Shawne Merriman was suspended for using PEDs and it was barely even a story. Compare Merriman to how big of a story it was when Manny was suspended.

Apparently having the toughest drug testing and suspension policy in sports isn't enough.

[Surfah]

Absolutely people would be cool with it, because it is the NFL and they are typically not criticized. Remember when Shawne Merriman was suspended for using PEDs and it was barely even a story. Compare Merriman to how big of a story it was when Manny was suspended.

Apparently having the toughest drug testing and suspension policy in sports isn't enough.

Are you serious? The Merriman thing was a huge issue and still remains one because of his declining performance and health ever since being busted, not to mention the Merriman rule that came about because of his suspension and still being voted to the Pro Bowl that year. Jason Taylor made a huge stink about it. Barely even a story? It was and is a bigger story than Edinson's suspension and it's not even close dude.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Are you serious? The Merriman thing was a huge issue and still remains one because of his declining performance and health ever since being busted, not to mention the Merriman rule that came about because of his suspension and still being voted to the Pro Bowl that year. Jason Taylor made a huge stink about it. Barely even a story? It was and is a bigger story than Edinson's suspension and it's not even close dude.

Compare that story to any story coming out about baseball and PEDs. It barely made a dent in comparison to baseball and no one ever used it was evidence that everyone in football is using. There is still this belief that football is clean and baseball is dirty. Anytime a star in MLB is outed as using roids it is evidence that everyone is on them, a football player is outed and it is an isolated incident.

Everyone thinks Pujols is using because he is ripped, but people look at players like Bron Bron or any football player and assume they are clean. Yes, baseball waited too long to get a steroid policy in place, but at this point I have no doubt that all the leagues are equally dirty but only baseball still gets criticized.

[Surfah]

Compare that story to any story coming out about baseball and PEDs. It barely made a dent in comparison to baseball and no one ever used it was evidence that everyone in football is using. There is still this belief that football is clean and baseball is dirty. Anytime a star in MLB is outed as using roids it is evidence that everyone is on them, a football player is outed and it is an isolated incident.

Everyone thinks Pujols is using because he is ripped, but people look at players like Bron Bron or any football player and assume they are clean. Yes, baseball waited too long to get a steroid policy in place, but at this point I have no doubt that all the leagues are equally dirty but only baseball still gets criticized.

There are lots of baseball and PED stories that are barely blips on the radar. Merriman's wasn't. It was a big deal. New policies were instituted because of it. It easily compares with Manram's suspension.

Whatever perception you're claiming is unfair here is the MLB's own doing.

And I think most NFL fans and the public in general believe most NFLers to use PEDs. The NFL is just far better at managing its image and controlling public perception than the MLB. Baseball deserves all of the criticism it receives in regards to its handling of the whole steroid era.

[il Padrino Ute]

There are lots of baseball and PED stories that are barely blips on the radar. Merriman's wasn't. It was a big deal. New policies were instituted because of it. It easily compares with Manram's suspension.

Whatever perception you're claiming is unfair here is the MLB's own doing.

And I think most NFL fans and the public in general believe most NFLers to use PEDs. The NFL is just far better at managing its image and controlling public perception than the MLB. Baseball deserves all of the criticism it receives in regards to its handling of the whole steroid era.

Agreed. Baseball only has itself to blame for any of this. But I also think it's time for folks to just move on when it comes to PEDs. It happened, but there is now a policy for those who cheat. Let's just move on to the next phase of the sport and put the past in the past.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Agreed. Baseball only has itself to blame for any of this. But I also think it's time for folks to just move on when it comes to PEDs. It happened, but there is now a policy for those who cheat. Let's just move on to the next phase of the sport and put the past in the past.

Exactly, baseball deserved the criticism that it received in the past. What baseball doesn't deserve is the higher level of criticism that they continue to receive. It has reached the point that nothing baseball does is enough. It isn't enough to have the toughest PED policy, they still take more criticism than any other sport.