Tim McG

Colts will crush them. And "Sad" Diego just plain sucks. Norv Turner proves once again that he can't win the big one....a 57 yard FG attempt?!? WTF?

M'kay. Peace to you, Brad.

The homer that McGwire hit to break the record was a freakish line drive home run. The line drive home run was also a steroid era special. I dunno. Rod Carew was famous for that. Not a chance. Goody's in his own world here, as his arguments just aren't supported by science. There's no question that Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, A-Rod, and Manny were/are great hitters... some of the best hitters the game has ever seen... but there's also no question that the PEDs enhanced their power numbers. The 61 shots hit by Maris is the record, as far as I'm concerned... although Ruth's 60 was so far beyond the league average in that year that it would be hard to argue his season wasn't the greatest of all time. None of the opposing arguments are supported by science either, my friend. And if you want to believe that a HR which lands in the lower deck is somehow less of a HR that goes into the Bay or out of the park, be my guest. But you would only be fooling yourself. Still a HR. I get you on that, but are you suggesting that Bonds/McGwire/Sosa/whoever never hit flies that only travelled to the warning track? Surely you can admit that they occasionally hit balls like that, that either were caught for an out, or were doubles or whatever. Those are the hits that would have been more possible to become HRs, with the use of steroids. How many of those in a season would Bonds/McGwire have hit? Without steroids - a double or out. With steroids, an extra Home Run. Oh sure. I saw a ton of fly-outs, too. But when the wind isn't blowing out, that can happen to anyone. Besides, haven't you ever hit a baseball/softball/racquetball/golfball/tennis ball where you didn't feel you got all of it? I have and I am certain McGwire and Bonds have, too. Add to that all the BBs Bonds got and the total HR count might have been 900 if the opposing pitchers had any guts. Add steroids to that pop-up....it's still going to be a pop-up. It is a mishit. Hit it flush, and it goes out. Then there is weather, who is pitching and if he's got his game on, are they throwing around the hitter, etc...too many factors involved to say unequivically one way or the other, Aggie. As we have over the past couple of years, we'll have to agree to disagree then. Fair enough, Aggie.

When I was down in SoCal to vist family and friends during New Years, the weather was perfect then, too. Clean air, 70s....outstanding! Almost makes me want to move back down there. Then I get on the freeways and it quickly passes. Ugh.

I get you on that, but are you suggesting that Bonds/McGwire/Sosa/whoever never hit flies that only travelled to the warning track? Surely you can admit that they occasionally hit balls like that, that either were caught for an out, or were doubles or whatever. Those are the hits that would have been more possible to become HRs, with the use of steroids. How many of those in a season would Bonds/McGwire have hit? Without steroids - a double or out. With steroids, an extra Home Run. Oh sure. I saw a ton of fly-outs, too. But when the wind isn't blowing out, that can happen to anyone. Besides, haven't you ever hit a baseball/softball/racquetball/golfball/tennis ball where you didn't feel you got all of it? I have and I am certain McGwire and Bonds have, too. Add to that all the BBs Bonds got and the total HR count might have been 900 if the opposing pitchers had any guts. Add steroids to that pop-up....it's still going to be a pop-up. It is a mishit. Hit it flush, and it goes out. Then there is weather, who is pitching and if he's got his game on, are they throwing around the hitter, etc...too many factors involved to say unequivically one way or the other, Aggie.

You answered your own question. Flawed mechanics and steroids just means he's going to hit grounders, line drives, and his occasional homers harder. The steroids didn't automatically turn his grounders into home runs.' For someone else who had better mechanics and better coordination, the increased muscle mass helps drive balls that might only get to the warning track OVER the fence, resulting in an increased number of HRs hit while on steroids. The ones that would have gone over the fence anyway simply traveled further over the fence than they would've. I get your point. If these guys [McGwire and Bonds] were just your average, run-of-the-mill baseball players I'd totally agree with you, Aggie. But they weren't. These were the greatest hitters of all-time. These guys were hitting moon shots well before the so-called steroids era. They didn't get cheapy HRs which barely cleared the fence. These were bonafide no-doubters, my friend. I have been to numerous Giants and A's games when both McGwire and Bonds played [and before all that steroid crap started] and I can tell you when they got into one, you knew it was going yard. Make no mistake. So let's assume for a moment that muscle mass somehow makes the ball travel further when hit, OK? Then those HRs might go 20 feet less far maybe? They would have still gone out, Aggie. These were upper-deckers half the time. So the ball might land in the 10th row of the bleachers instead of halfway to the Oakland Bay Bridge. Still a HR, Dude.

The science doesn't support your conclusion. Steroids build muscle mass. Anti-inflammatories and pain killers don't. Nor do bennies, bourbon, caffeine, weed, LSD or whatever else they took in dugouts in years past. All these substances may alter an athlete's performance for better or worse, but they do not build muscle mass. Increased muscle mass = ball goes farther = player on roids has advantage over player who doesn't use steroids. There are some legitimate medical uses for anabolic steroids, particularly after some specific types of surgery. But that's not generally how they are/were used by athletes. I can hit a baseball pretty well. I have the hand/eye coordination to make contact. Rarely struck out. In HS hit about .350. Weighed 150- didn't hit any HRs. Some doubles. Played adult baseball for 6 years until my late 30s. Weighted 180- more muscle, worked out. Hit about .400 and had multple HRs and extra base hits. Wamt to play again this year after 11 years off- weigh 190- not as much muscle mass. Ball doesn't jump off the bat like last year. Still can make contact. My conclusion: less muscle mass = shorter distance. So- Steroids = muscle mass = longer distance. Think Brady Anderson, Lenny Dykstra, Brett Boone. You know, Cal Ripken hit for average, too. He didn't hit that many HRs either. Hitting HRs isn't necessarily the benchmark of baseball success. Not everyone can do that, Vajerzy. You would know that better than any of us. My piont is this: Why didn't everyone who juiced hit record numbers of HRs then? This is where the whole muscle mass eqauls HRs falls apart. Even the biggest steroid monkey on the planet in Jose Canseco gained the nickname of Jose CanStrikeOut. Now why is that? His mechanics were flawed. McGwire worked on his swing as did Barry Bonds. There is just no way you can tell me that steroids/HGHs equal HRs any more than owning a Lamborghini makes you a champion race car driver. It simply does not work that way. Your own personal example deals more with the aspect of aging and staying away from the game. With all due respect, not the same thing. And Papsrus, bringing in LSD, weed and booze isn't even a part of this discussion. We are talking about performance enhancers. Anti-inflamatories and pain meds enhance performance. So do cortizone injections and nutritional suppliments. Asprin. Colds medicine. Even that boo-boo juice trainers spray on a bruise when a player gets hit by a pitch enhances a player's performance. So where do we draw the line? It really bothers me that we are willing to erase entire careers simply because we want to give far too much credit to a drug with a spotty record of producing HRs. Again, if that stuff worked then 75% of the league would be going yard and HRs would be as common as beer at a Sunday afternoon ballgame.

McGwire said he took roids to help him recover more quickly from injuries. (Wheaties may or may not do that as well). You seem to acknowledge that steroids make an athlete "bigger," meaning more muscular, presumably -- more powerful. When this additional muscle power ("bigger," as you say) is combined with the God-given hand-eye coordination necessary to hit a baseball or throw a baseball, one could reasonably assume that the athlete who takes roids has an edge over the athlete who doesn't. Roids won't make you see the ball better, or give you the ability to make contact with the ball more easily, but they do make you bigger, as you acknowledge, thus affecting how far the ball might travel once you do make contact with it. Advantage roids user. But, even if you believe that roids only help an athlete recover more quickly from injuries (as seems to be the justification they all give for taking them), and provide no additional power, that still gives these athletes an unfair advantage over those who didn't take roids. Bottom line: If roids didn't provide some advantage, why would some athletes take them in the first place? You seem to be arguing that roids are no different than a placebo. That is clearly not the case. I fully understand all that. My point is that no amout of HGHs or steroids will substitute for sound baseball fundamentals, vision, batting technique, natural ability or athleticism. Guys play injured all the time, but nobody calls anti-inflamatories or pain meds performance enhancers. It just seems to me that we are allowing ourselves to give steroids a lot more credit than it deserves, quite frankly.

After the Tule Fog went away, it warmed up to 54 today. More rain is coming!

OK. So why didn't he break the record ten years before, then? How about five years before? Three? Two? Further proof that steriods only make you bigger, not a HR hitter. There's a rumor that La Russa might PH him this year just to reset Mark's Hall Of Fame clock. If it happens (and I'm skeptical it will) who knows what another 5 years could do as far how the voters feel about this. That's true. What happens if Sosa, Bonds and Clemens admit in the near future??? Bonds and Clemens had HOF numbers even without steroids...but, they still did them. It only matters if you erroneously beleive that steriods somehow enhance your ability to hit HRs or throw strikes. This would be comparable to me saying I'm a pro athlete because I buy Wheaties. Seriously. Time to wake up, Guys. I'll take DUH for $2,000 Alex. I'll take hypocrisy for a buck, Alex Roid-riguez.

Carlinhos Brown Makossa Cal Tjader

Sarah Ella Miles

We got nailed five years ago by a similar PayPal scam. They had everything mirrored right down to the links on a legit PayPal site. The hacker tried to get almost $2000 bucks before I caught it. We got all our money back and if you alert your bank, they will go after the guy, too. The thing to watch out for is how they address you. If the salutation is "PayPal Customer" ignore it; it is a fraud. PayPal will only address you by name. Secondly, read the web address and if it is anything other than PayPal.com, it is a fraud.

Belated greets from me as well!

And a very Merry Christmas to all here on Organissimo! - Tim

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Wow! Very classy, Guys

Cold and rainy. An Artic Low has parked itself over California and I am just loving it! Bring me the RAIN!!!

Hey! Maybe we'll get a snow day tomorrow

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Thanks, Jeff. I'll check it out.

I understand no program can stop it yet. Although, my computer yoda told me about Kaspersky Anti-Virus which is supposed to be the absolute best at this sort of thing. So I'm using the free trial and if all goes well...I'll buy it.

BTW, I tried to get rid of the pop-up buy clicking the "X" and, my computer yoda tells me, started the whole process. It even burrowed into the McAfee program I was using and sent it into blue screen. I got the computer on safe mode, shut it down and unplugged everything. It took two days for my yoda guy to dig it out of my files. The hell of it was, it even hijacks the Task Manager as I tried to stop it. If you get this DO NOT CLICK ON ANYTHING!!! Go ctrl+alt+delete and remove any program running via Task Manager.

Just an FYI.... A new worm is on the web and it is a total hijack. What this worm does is disallow access to any program or file on your computer unless you pay for their security program. It is called Security Tool and according to my computer yoda, they haven't found a way to stop it. Further, I am told McAfee [the anti-virus/firewall we have; serves me right for switching from Norton] is basically useless in stopping this and other viruses. I got ATT to pay for the removal, but what a pain.