I am proud of Frank Thomas

[DERRENMATTS]

Lifetime .301 batting average
521 homers (tied for 18th all time)
495 2Bs
1704 RBIs (22nd all time)
.419 OBP
.555 SLG
(.974 OPS) (24th all time)
more walks than strike outs
2-time league MVP
5-time All-star
4-time Silver Slugger award winner
won a batting title

.....and all this without PED's. I honor you Mr. Frank Thomas!

I heard on sports radio that people were upset that McGuire, Sosa, Bonds, Clemens, etc, didn't get voted into the Hall of Fame. Their reasoning is that these players who took PED did it in a baseball era when tons of players were doing it. Numbers were inflated across the boards. Homerun records were being broken annually, tiny punch and judy hitters were launching it out of ballparks regularly, and baseball players looked like Hercules (anyone know if Ron Gant took PEDs? the guy was ripped!).

So since that entire era of ballplayers took PED's, these critics are saying the ball field was pretty leveled, so the numbers Bonds and Sosa and McGuire put up should not be held against them.

I just cannot agree with these critics. If a player cheated and put up those crazy numbers, I would not allow those numbers to be put alongside the great achievements of Ruth, Mays, Aaron, Gehrig, Wagner, Williams, DiMaggio, Musial, and all the other greats who did it without PED's. They did it solely on the power of their own given talents.

If Babe Ruth took PED's (and if he actually worked out in the gym, which makes his accomplishments even more amazing), he could have amassed 900+ homers maybe.

Bonds, if he didn't take PED's, could have still made it into the Hall because of how great he naturally was. Yeah, maybe he doesn't hit 762 dingers, but he could've maybe hit 500 on his own, swiped 500 bags, and hit 500 2Bs, and collected 3,000 hits. Those numbers are shoe ins for the Hall.

But for what he did, and how he lied and denied, and basked in the sun while knowingly doing it illegally, I look at it as a slap in the fan's faces. We were deceived while we cheered and rooted for him.

That's why Frank Thomas is a breath of fresh air, and why I am proud of what the Big Hurt did on his own. Thank you, Mr. Thomas, for showing us fans that a player can become great, with hard work, and without the PED's.

[Roadrunner]

D', MLB never had a drug policy. How can you say they cheated when their were no rules?

[DERRENMATTS]

Even if there were no rules specifically set in place that said no drug use, the players have a conscience to let them know that they were cheating.

[runrondo]

I loved watching baseball during that time, shame it was ridden full of steroids. If you are not voting in Bonds with those kind of stats can you really vote in anyone from that era? How are you supposed to be sure someone was not on roids before the ban (there's no way to be 100% sure)? If anyone hit a lot of homeruns or had a strong physique they are generally assumed to be on roids (with or without proof). Frank Thomas said nice things and I'd love to be proud of that, but I'm pretty sure every player says they were not on roids. Who really knows?