Selig considers reinstating Aaron as HR king

I blame Bud Selig for the whole steroid mess. He, as Commissioner has to take the blame. His highness and the owners and the players union all looked the other way while this was all going on. Anything to bring back baseball after the catastrophic 1994 strike. Selig should erase his name from the books. He takes credit for all the great things that have happened (all debatable) in the sport these last 15 years but points fingers at those who cheated. It's all related. Baseball's comeback with its player's steroid use. A very long standing ovation BOO to the worst Commissioner ever.

I agree Roman. See what happens when you cave in to public sentiment. A mess is what happens. What are you gonna do BAN everyone and everything from that era? ADD CAL RIPKEN!!! ADD HIM!!! And see how many slithering forked-tongue media give him a pass - JUST LIKE THEY DID AROD. This was an era, and to start trying to single out people you don't like is arsenic! Cancel Bonds and cancel ALL of the records - including Jeter's!! ALL. Sounds less attractive now doesnt it??? Selig what is breaking my heart is that you won't step up and tell folks to go jump in a lake. Its a non-issue. Reinstate Rose and Shoeless. What do you really think...its all pure. PAH-LEAZE. Mob betting and point shaving and everything else you can imaging. What about some people throwing greaseballs and spitballs and what about some people throwin a certain individual - fastballs right up the middle because he was a legend.

This blog smacks more of stupidity than anything.

You say Selig doesn't want to open this can of worms? That would just compound the mistakes he made earlier. That would mean he would still have his head in the sand instead of actually doing SOMETHING. Selig did sit by for years with every other owner. I give you that point and as a result, he will go down as the commissioner who let baseball get degraded by steroids. But that does not mean he should just throw up his hands and say oh well.

Will it be messy, of course, but that does not mean it should not be done. Bonds, AROD, and everyone else deserve punishment for doing something illegal that also cheated the game. Hank Aaron deserves to be the Home Run King, not because he has friends in high places, but because he did it clean. Simple as that.

If Bud Selig does this, it will be one of the few times he deserves to be applauded.

Roger Maris had it for years give one to Bonds and anyone else during this era * asterik. there is nothing more that can be done you cannot undue what has been done. but you can place as asterik by each and everyone of them

"..there's no way to know how often he cheated or how many home runs he would have hit if he hadn't cheated."

Precisely the reason you restore Aaron as the king. Bonds is the one who chose to cheat. If his dishonesty leaves doubt as to whether he would have surpassed Aaron, then he doesn't get credit for doing it. It's his own fault.

And by the way, restore Maris as season king also.

If Selig does this, it will bo one of the few things he has done during his tenure that actually helped the game of baseball. Bonds and A-Rod have cheated, A-Rod admits it, as does Bonds, who also adds that it was not knowingly. Knowingly or not, he used performance enhancing substances and he should be punished for it. Who cares how many home runs Selig bans, Aaron, Ruth and Mays are the true home run kings...Bonds, A-Rod, McGuire, Palmiero, are all tainted and there accomplishments should not be allowed to overshadow those of men who, as far as we know, did it the right way.

I hope Selig has the intestinal fortitude to do something, Aaron, Ruth, Mays and Maris deserve to have their accomplishments protected.

What about Sosa? No proof, no admission, no case.

A complete self-serving, headline grabbing, nonsensical stunt. Where was he when the roid machines were hitting HRs back in 1998 ???

This is stupid. You might as well make them give back the money they made. The fans should get back the money they spent. You can't just take out an eraser and expect that people forget that he allowed this stuff to go on. If he wants to cleanse anything he needs the other 103 to be revealed. They need to impliment a hard line salary cap because salaries got jacked up because of the balls flying out of the stadium. Most of the 103 probably got paid way more than they would have if their talent wasn't enhanced. Owners should be made to lower tickets as well. Everyone benefitted from that power surge but the fans. Fans should be the ones compensated. Since he wants to do right, start from there. Appease the fans. Allow them to tell the owners and the players what should happen. Make every team adhere to a poll started by fans in every city and live with whatever facts they decide. Give back to the fans. Don't just punish a few when it was done by many.

"restore Maris as season king also."

How about Sammy Sosa? The only evidence against him is circumstantial.

having to repeat myself since the invention of copy/paste hasn't been all that bad...

"what do I think?....they are all fake...all of them...none of them should be given any credit for any accomplishments...their names kept out of the record books...and their busts kept out of cooperstown...fictional characters...simple as that"

My Kid's kids won't even know who they are...see, it won't take long to erase...one generation...that's it

Then...they (the cheaters) can be like folk lore... we can stretch the tales about them.... the "750 ft bomb that was hit at Bank One Ballpark" (knocked it dern near all the way to Tuscon)....Marvel at Barry Bond's Size 15 1/8" hat ...and how he would hold runners from the warning track..

Painting Barry Bonds's head on the epcot center would be awesome!!

Steroids and HGH are the reasons these guys didn't miss games due to injury and hit the ball substantially further...and ask anybody who has taken roids what it did for their focus...and tell me it didn't help them hit...

and one more copy/paste

Selig is a Homo

Thank you..Good Night...and Good Luck

Pete Rose should be in the HOF...and he's a jag off, btw

And the Secret Service is considering having JFK ride in the limo with the top on too.

Selig is and has always been a joke.... just a not very funny one.

Madrowski, it doesn't matter how many times or when he cheated or how many more homeruns he may have hit because of cheating. The bottom line is he cheated. Period. Yes, Selig is complicit and so is the player's union -- BIG TIME.

What Selig can do is right the ship and make the record books clean. No asterisks, no ongoing debates about Bonds' "record". If baseball hopes to have any credibility in the future, the only record that should count is Hank Aaron's.

Let's see, 762-247=415+135=550-96=454+187=641....Oh yeah, do homers hit against juiced pitchers count???

Hey, Bud, welcome to that slippery slope you created several years ago by waffling on just about every tough decision that has confronted MLB during this time period. Aint it fun to try to climb back to the top? You freaking numbskull.

The only way to stop the use of PHD is to throw offenders out of the Majors. They can wallow in the fun confines of minor league baseball for a year, and if clean, they can be reinstated at the major league minimum salary for a rookie.

If they are found to be juiced a second time, they are permanently banished for life.

"How about Sammy Sosa? The only evidence against him is circumstantial."

MSS - you can get convicted of murder based on circumstantial evidence. Sosa is fortunate they don't do that in MLB as he is one of the poster boys for PEDs.

Baseball is my favorite sport, there is nothing more wonderful than watching a game on a sunny summer afternoon.
But major league baseball should be ashamed of its history. The steroids situation is only the latest black eye. Bud Selig can't change baseball's awful history by changing the record book. If he could maybe he should name Josh Gibson the all time home run champ.

I think Telander is too harsh on Bud. I don't think there's enough evidence to say that owners & the commissioner turned a blind eye.

If the post strike goal of 1994 was to increase HR's the owners could have wound the balls tighter, bring the fans closer, increase foul territory, lower the mound, etc. The union has little say in that. The owners wanted testing in the league prior to 1994. The last thing they wanted to do was to inflate salaries for long balls.

The true crime boss of the steroid era (1992-2006) is Donald Fehr. If not for the "whistle blower" Canseco convincing some investigative journalists to dig deeper we still wouldn't have testing.

What Selig can do & should do is take the scarlet letter approach. If a player is suspected, implicated, or admitted to steroid or HGH usage, place a subscript "s" next to their name. Make it a field in stat databases so that these players can be easily avoided in searches.

Furthermore, Selig needs to use everything in his power to bring about blood tests for HGH usage. Nows the right time to do it, given the former poster child is now an "s" & another 100 players are sure to be disclosed soon. The Fehrer is at his weakest now. Strike hard!

This MESS is an excellent example of what can happen when the person at the top isn't strong, firm in his convictions and decisive. While I wasn't enamored with George W. over his entire second term as president, his first term showed the kind of man that would make for the comsummate baseball commissioner. I understand he doesn't want the job and I'm no longer sure that he could do the job, but his first term was a valuable model of what a baseball commissioner should be in my opinion.

The question is would the owners and players' union ever allow such a commissioner to take office? No way. This mess is much more than just Bud Selig. It's about greed and getting one's way and doing what's right for #1 and only #1. There's not a speck of decision made for the fans. The fans just get jacked around like pawns on a chessboard. Those fans who choose to look the other way or simply accept it all remain. Those fans who see it, can't stand it, and have had enough, finally come to their senses and say "you know, why am I wasting myself on this gigantic farce?" It's time to move on and do other things--things that truly matter.

Thinking about that dunce Selig, the owners, the players union and the greedy players, brings to mind a quote of Don Corleone, applied to baseball, "Look how they massacred my game".

Navarro..hitting a 96-103 mph fastball isn't all that hard compared to a 88 mph fastball...when the hitter is thinking 'fastball.' which they all do... it helps them hit it further if anything

It just helps the pitcher get to the bigs faster...that's all

It does make Randy Johnson look a whole lot better than he already does, now doesn't it?

strip them all of their power records...and Roger Clemens...he pitched for as long as he did...cuz of (insert your answer)

never thought I'd be so ready for baseball

yay roids!!

Great Point...mss

It should by default go to Sosa!

Let's see, if anyone of us take a test and max out on it, but later it's determined that we cheated on the test, that test will be ripped to shreds and either we'll get a failing grade or have to retake the test. That is life! And you know what they'll tell us? "Hey, you shouldn't have tried to cheat"! So how is this any different? Once it's determined that they cheated, whether proven or admitted, their records mean squat! And who's to say they actually quit using when THEY said they quit? Their word means squat as well. Once they can pass a series of steriods test to determine their cleaness, then their stats will start from there! So if they end their career with only 50 HRs, then Oh Well, they shouldn't have tried to cheat! They all got paid well due to their plate prowess! They can take their millions and retire in obscurity! But their records mean SQUAT! A hard line needs to be drawn!

Hitman, trying to hit an 88 m.p.h. fastball is NOT the same as hitting one close to a buck, and you're referring only pitchers with fastballs to my comment; 0 for 2.

Good sign though! Means you CAN'T be on steroids yourself, otherwise your hitting would be a lot better.

lol Navarro...I used to practice in a batting cage that whipped it at 110...anyway...roids put the hitters ahead of the pitchers without a doubt

and me

don't need roids...ripped without 'em..and I mean r,r,r, ripped

strip them all of their fake accomplishments

Reinstate Rose

I'm sick and tired of this. So he used steroids. So what? It wasn't illegal in baseball, a federal law yes, but not a baseball rule. How did it help Bonds? It didn't make him hit the ball 450', he already could do that. Bonds will face a bigger penalty, his life has been shorten. Did Cy Young use vasoline? How many hall of famers of old used corked bats? Cheating is going to happen. Bud didn't want to make rules tougher, and the players didn't sack up to keep the playing field level.