Speaking of Italians and baseball, here's one that's truly beloved by all New Yorkers: 
Posted on 11/28/2006 1:32:31 PM PST by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
"I've believed in him from day one. I still believe in him," the St. Louis Cardinals manager said Tuesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. McGwire is appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time, and an AP survey of 125 baseball writers who are eligible to vote - about 20 percent of the total - showed that only one in four who gave an opinion planned to vote for McGwire.
"It would be two in five then. I'd make it two in five," La Russa said. "I can't answer for anybody else, what priorities they give and how they weigh stuff. I know what my personal opinion is, and that's the way it stays."
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
did you eat beans ?
I used to love watching McGuire when he was a power hitter at USC. If he was on steroids then, that's too bad. But to think that he should get into the Baseball Hall Of Fame on them...no way.
When did baseball become a welfare state? The Cardinals earned their championship.
Amen. I'm grouchy that the Cards beat my Tigers, but they won fair and square.
The bastards!
Can't even win their league champ, even though they have the highest payroll in baseball.
Take your team and shove it.
McGuire should be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame based on his statistics alone. He is quite similar to Harmon Killebrew, though Killebrew could play more positions and had no suspicions of steroid use.
Since McGuire is a nice guy and not a total prick like Barry Bonds, I'm inclined to take him at his word that he didn't use steroids. He did tail off rather spectacularly after his 65 homerun 1999 season which indicates that even if he were juicing, he gave it up long before he had to.
'87 dodgers? try '88.
Okay, '88. I was working from memory.
Roger Maris: Still the legit season home run king.
Hank Aaron: Always the legit career home run king.
Since McGuire is a nice guy and not a total prick like Barry Bonds, I'm inclined to take him at his word that he didn't use steroids.
Considering that he wouldn't say as much under oath, "his word" isn't worth much.
I don't care if he's a "nice guy" or not. If he changes his tune under oath, he's a liar.
The 1968 Tigers had Mickey Lolich. Three Series wins. He couldn't throw 102 mph like some of the 2006 Tigers, but when the game was on the line, he was a stud.
And I'm a Cardinal fan.
the '68 tigers were a very good team. (they would have won the AL flag in '67 also if not for denny's, ahem, "accident" towards the end of the season.) lolich was great that series.
Lolich had a career batting average of .110 and never hit another homerun. Walter Johnson hit 97 and had a career batting average of .235.
That isn't to say the Tigers didn't deserve to win the 1968 World Series because they clearly played a better 7 games, it is only to say the 2006 Cardinals did better yet despite an anemic regular season in what is arguably the toughest division in baseball.
The HR was officially announced at 489ft...but thats where it went through the walkway on the 3rd level and into the passage that surrounded the Dome. That walkway was at least 75 feet above field level...and I have no doubt, had there been no obstruction, that ball would have flown 600ft.
It was the hardest hit ball I ever saw. Simply amazing.
Randy lost the game 1-0.
Roger Maris got the short end of it IMHO. He was a great player and from all I know about him, a good man.
My 12-year-old nephew is a super baseball fan and budding historian and quite a good and up and comming player himself and Marris is his hero.
If you haven't watched it, take the time to see the movie "61".
If Roger Maris merrits an astricks behind his name, what does McGuire, et all deserve?
McGuire would have stood higher in my book if he'd just come clean and said, "yes I took andro - it was stupid and it was wrong". It wasn't illegal at the time, heck I could have bought it a my local GNC. He could have taken the high road but instead he went down the Bill Clinton low road of denying it in the face of the evidence and never taking responsibility for his actions.
Jason Giambi came clean and has stayed clean and salvagedhis career and reputation (except of course among all you rabid Yankee haters out there).
maris was a great player for only a few seasons until injuries ruined him. at the time he was rated just behind kaline and clemente with the glove also.
Tony Larussa just isn't very bright. He's a tree hugging vegetarian and if that doesn't tell you something, I don't know what would!
he hit the farthest one I have ever seen at Ballpark @ Arlington.
How's them sour grapes yankee? It appears that they've done turned into whine.
Speaking of Italians and baseball, here's one that's truly beloved by all New Yorkers:
McGwire deserves the same disgrace and opprobrium currently heaped upon Barry Bonds. So do the rest of them. Sosa, etc.
Yes, Gunny! Precisely.
I remember one he hit the season he broke the record. Off the center field St. Louis Post Dispatch sign. They put a giant band-aid on it for the rest of the season.
That was a monster home run.
He gave us Cards fans lots to cheer about.
NO HE DON'T, HE WAS A DRUGGIE.... CASE CLOSED.
Not being a baseball aficianado, perhaps my memory is faulty, but it seems to me that Roger Maris didn't do much after the year that he and Mantle were racing to break Ruth's record.
Just for the record it was a two run, walk off home run not a grand slam. Did you know he also knew what the pitch was going to be that he hit out?
My Dad told me he saw Frank Howard hit one on a line drive to dead center in the LA Coliseum - said it went about 500 some feet and splintered the seat that it hit.
But that’s what I think makes Marris such a great player. He was a good player who rose above his ability and potential for that one bright shining season.
Mickey Mantle was the star and even though they were friends and roommates, the public loved Mantle and hated Marris for challenging Mantel for the record.
Marris endured the all the media attention, and much of it not very friendly and even got death threats like Aaron did and yet he remained a humble man, a gentleman and a true sportsman.
He didn’t deserve the asterisk behind his name in the record book because of the number of games played that year – it had no bearing on his record.
Some people will say that there are shortstops technically better than Cal Ripkin but that doesn’t take away from his accomplishments either.
For some of us being a hero is more that just stats and brute strength. Being a hero and an icon is the sum of a person’s ability and their soul. Pete Rose was a great player and deserves recognition for his records and ability but he is not a hero in my book.
"capital punishment" could really hit it for distance.
My greatest sports viewing memory.
well said. I would consider his '60 season a great one also as he won the AL MVP that year to.
Here come BIG Frank Howard up to bat!
OH! What a SWING!!!
Steee---rike, Three!
--- Danny Kaye
Roger is the only player to win back-to-back MVP awards and not get elected to the Hall of Fame. He was a decent person as well as a baseball player. I grew up in his hometown and have visited his museum.
See, I told you I wasn't a baseball expert! Thanks for the information.
Mantle did, of course, start his career earlier and was a key contributor to the great Yankee dynasty of the 1950's. He was even a teammate to the legendary Joe DiMaggio during his 1951 rookie season.
I remember listening to that game on KIRO. What a blast that was, huh?
Two of the most powerful blasts I ever saw in the Kingdome hit speaker wires. One was Dave Kingman playing for the A's. He hit what would have been a monstrous homerun to left, but Phil Bradley caught it as it came off the speaker wire.
The other was Ken Phelps who hit what would have been a first inning grand slam to right, but it too hit the speaker wire and fell foul. He was pissed!
I like McGwire and won't feel bad if he does somehow get voted in eventually, but I also understand why most writers won't vote for him.
Equally amazing is that Randy Johnson had 17 K's and lost 1-0...gave up two hits.
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