A Brief History of the Single Season Homerun Record

 

 Source:  http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/ss_home_run/ruth_60th_photo.htm

The National Baseball Hall of Fame website has a great timeline of the single season homerun record.  Starting with just 5 HRs by George Hall in 1876 to the current (and disputed) 73 by B.B. whom I refuse to name or give credit.  It's a great story that you can read in 5 minutes.  It's worth the read.
http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/ss_home_run/index.htm

2010 Predictions: NL Central

This one isn’t hard to pick.  The Cardinals look to stay atop the division in 2010.  Pujols still amazes and the addition of Matt Holiday last season adds another bat to the lineup, showing that the Cards are content with just winning the division.  As long as Wainswright and Carpenter are at the top of the rotation, this team will continue to win.  Brad Penny was added in the fourth spot but I don’t know if this helps or not.  I’m looking forward to see how their young stud shortstop Brendan Ryan betters his performance of a year ago.  As long as Big Mac doesn’t cause too much of a distraction, 2010 promises to be another good season for the Cards.

I look for the Reds to move up to second in the division this year after picking up Orlando Cabrera to help plug the hole up the middle.  There is too much talent (Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips) to think that this team shouldn’t do better.  With a starting rotation of Harang/Arroyo/Cueto and now the addition of Aroldis Chapman, the Reds should have what it takes to make a run this season.  As long as the can stay competitive until June, hopefully Edison Volquez will return from Tommy John surgery and give this team the boost they need for the stretch run.

Sliding to third then, is the Chicago Cubs.  Everyone says their window of opportunity is closing with guys like Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, Alfonso Soriano and Ted Lilly getting older but I think their window has already starting closing.  Although the Cubs will run out Zambrano, Lilly, Dempster and Wells, I think their age will hold them back.

The Brewers have possibly the best 3-4 hitters in the game with Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, but with the departing of JJ Hardy and Mike Cameron, they should struggle to score runs.  Still manageable for teams with good pitching, but the Brew Crew struggled last year from the mound and the addition of Randy Wolf doesn’t appear to be enough.

Hanging around in the fifth spot is the Astros for another season.  Essentially, the ‘stros are playing with 4 guys (Hunter Pence, Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman and Michael Bourn) and 2 pitchers (Wandy Rodriguez and Roy Oswalt).  I don’t look for the Astros to make much of an impact in 2010.

Bringing up the rear as usual are the Pirates.  This year, however, there is hope.  The bucs bring a lot of young talent to spring training this year.  2010 should be a learning season for Pittsburg, but look for a climb in the standings in years to come.

Fisk Condemns McGwire and Clemens

Carlton Fisk spoke out about Mark McGwire’s comments that steroids did not help him hit home runs. Fisk points out that they are called ‘performance enhancers’ for a reason. Although Fisk claims that this isn’t new news to him, the forum is now available for him to speak out. Carlton claims that Catching ‘took a toll on me’ and that steroids would have made his daily life easier but he chose not to because of the integrity of the game.
Fisk also blasts former Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens for his use of steroids saying “The reason he got let go from the Red Sox was because he was starting to breakdown. Then all of a sudden he goes to Toronto and gets two consecutive Cy Young Awards.”
This is where the Hall of Fame will have to do some serious thinking. Fisk’s comments point out that while PEDs may not help you hit per se, it does. PEDs get you back on the field and help you physically as well as mentally.

Link to Story on Extra Bases Blog

McGwire Admits Steroid Use

Nearly five years after not speaking at the congressional hearings, Mark McGwire has come clean about his use of steroids during his playing career including the 1998 season in which he broke the single season homerun record. My first thought, after disappointment, was ‘why now?’ Why after all these years would he now come clean? Is it because of the bad results he has seen regarding his Hall of Fame voting? Is it because he has been hired as a hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals and doesn’t want the distraction all season for the team? Is it because of the rumors that he wants to suit up as a pinch hitter for the Cardinals this season and knows that he will be constantly hounded by media and fans?

My personal opinion is that he sees how everyone seems to have given Andy Pettit a free pass because he came clean and did not deny using steroids to help him recover more quickly. McGwire is the first of the ‘Steroid Era’ players to be eligible for the Hall of Fame. I think that he believes that if he comes clean now, suits up as a pinch hitter for the Cardinals which would then delay his Hall eligibility for another 5 years, that time will heal the wounds he has created and better his chance of getting in.

Whatever his reasoning is, I have mixed feelings. The 1998 season may have been the greatest season of baseball in my life. I look back fondly on that season. I had the opportunity to see Big Mac in Cincinnati when he was sitting on 60 homeruns and could have tied or gone ahead of Maris’ record. My seats were not good. I sat in the red seats behind home plate. I felt like I was 1000 feet above the field but I was there. McGwire only played part of the game as it was the last game of the series and the Cardinals were heading back to St. Louis the next day. The whole stadium cheered, Cardinal fans and Reds fans alike. Mark hit a line drive down the left field line that stayed in the park by only a few feet. McGwire would leave Cincy still on 60 but broke the record in the next couple of days in front of his home field fans. Everyone loved Mark McGwire. He was this likeable, wholesome guy that really seemed to enjoy playing the game of baseball.

Now I’m stuck here thinking about the greatest season that I have ever witnessed and my morals and thoughts on the game I love. I despise Barry Bonds and in no way would ever want him to get elected to the Hall of Fame. Is that to say then that no steroid user should ever be elected? that list stopped at Roger Clemens or Rafael Palmeiro or even Sammy Sosa then I’d be all for it. But, when you look at the career that Alex Rodriguez is having, how could you possibly not vote him into the Hall of Fame? Also, does this mean you keep the guys out that have tested positive but every guy the ‘got away’ with it can get in? How can you say that one guys record doesn’t count but another guys does even though he played in the same era but never failed a test? The only solution I know, is that you have to let them in, perhaps under higher standards, and note that they played during a period know as the “Steroid Era.”

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