This whole argument is really just like saying that steroids or HGH don’t help with the Olympic lifts at all because they don’t improve your form. We all know that form is important, but all the form in the world isn’t going to help you complete a 400lb. snatch if you can’t even front squat 350lbs and you’re always too sore to practice the lift more than twice a week.
Another piece of interesting news today:
Daniel Bard is moving into the rotation for the Red Sox in 2012.
Really surprised with Papelbon’s departure.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
age matters though. a young person will see virtually no improvement. whereas a deteriorating older person will see significant improvements. there isnt a single age to know when gh will help in those regards [/quote]
So then it’s basically an irrelevant fact when it comes to 95%+ of Major Leaguers. Correct?
[/quote]
Not at all. Its relevant on a case to case basis. I dont consider 27 young. Many 27 year olds will show minor signs of aging.
And theres also need to consider that hgh may not improve eyesight in young people but possibly prevent it from getting worse sooner than it otherwise would.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
age matters though. a young person will see virtually no improvement. whereas a deteriorating older person will see significant improvements. there isnt a single age to know when gh will help in those regards [/quote]
So then it’s basically an irrelevant fact when it comes to 95%+ of Major Leaguers. Correct?
[/quote]
Eyesight deterioration doesn’t have anything to do with age. It has to do with accumulated stress and strain, something major league baseball players accumulate at a higher pace than the average person. So it’s conceivable to think that deteriorating eyesight in major leaguers occurs at a much younger age than it does in the rest of the population. That isn’t to say that they’re all going blind in the Majors; their eyesight is collectively far above the norm to begin with.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Does-Eyesight-Deteriorate-With-Age-Or-Can-You-Prevent-It?&id=2904290
[/quote]
But accumulated stress and strain occurs over time. Even for atheletes. It does have to do with age. The process is just accelerated with atheltes, according to you.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
"PEDs can affect, if anything, musculature, which in baseball translates to power. They do not, and cannot, do anything to improve hand-eye coordination, vision, ball judgement, timing, or any of the factors that go into hitting except actual power, the bat speed that determines the ball velocity and thus its travel distance.
Examinations of the actual records of major-league baseball for over a century, with an especial focus on the last 25 or so years, those now being attributed to a “steroids era”, show clearly and conclusively–by a number of independent analyses by a number of independent analysts each using a different methodology–that there simply is not any power boost needing explaining: PEDs are an “answer” lacking a pertinent question. This fact has been disguised by the analytically faulty method of counting power events instead of determining their rate of occurrence in hitting, and further confounded by changes in the baseball, notably the juicing whose effects were felt in 1994 and possibly back in 1993, when the change occurred.
PED use, to whatever extent it may have existed, simply did not affect any of the performance records of major-league baseball.
"
[/quote]
HGH use has been definitively proven to improve eyesight. THAT makes all the difference in the world. Steroids make you stronger, period. They make you stronger in your upper body and your lower body, and any discrepancy between the two is immaterial. Hand/wrist/forearm strength is easily as important as leg strength when it comes to hitting. Strong hands/forearms equals bat speed, and bat speed equals home runs. In fact, I would argue that the increased upper body strength they add is even more important to marginal hitters than lower body strength; a marginal hitter is such for many reasons, not the least of which is their timing. They’re late on the fastball and out in front of the off-speed pitch more often than great hitters. With strong hands/forearms, they can still hit the ball out of the park when they’re a little off-balance and their lower body is largely removed from the swing.
Anyone who would say that getting stronger doesn’t increase your ability to hit home runs is beyond ignorant. If there is ONE thing you should have learned from this site by now it’s that a stronger athlete, all other things being equal, is the superior athlete. Baseball is not the exception to the rule and only someone who has never played baseball and doesn’t lift weights would not understand this.[/quote]
FTR, I just presented it for discussion and didn’t actually say I agreed/disagreed with what I quoted.
Out of curiousity, have you used steroids while playing baseball vs not? Do you have firsthand knowledge that HGH improves eyesight?
If not, why do you believe it?
[/quote]
I never took steroids when I played and I was a pitcher, so I’m hardly qualified to state from personal experience whether HGH improves one’s ability to hit. I believe it because HGH improves muscle degeneration and poor eyesight is muscle degeneration. The pupil is a muscle that holds the lens in place, which affects the eye’s ability to focus. Stronger pupils (muscles) equals a better and longer-lasting ability to focus clearly and quickly.
http://doctor-patino.com/eyesight.html
The thing about those who argue that steroids don’t improve the ability to hit is that they look at one singular dimension to hitting. It’s a multi-dimensional athletic movement.
There’s neuromuscular coordination: If I were to use steroids I would gain strength quicker and I would recover quicker, meaning that I could lift more weight and more often. If I do this and I’m working out to increase maximal strength and explosive strength (the hallmark of any good athlete’s program) I’ll increase neuromuscular coordination more quickly than I would naturally.
By increasing neuromuscular coordination I would essentially have increased my “eye/hand coordination”, as the link you provided terms it. I highly doubt the claim that steroids have a more concentrated effect on the upper body than the lower body. The lower body is where the highest concentration of high-threshold motor units is and the glutes, hams and quads all carry the potential to gain large amounts of mass. Even if there is this alleged discrepancy, it does nothing to diminish the fact that steroids WILL increase strength in the lower body.
Furthermore, strength IS a major component for hitting home runs. There are many components, swing type, timing, ballpark, etc. But the easiest component to alter is strength. ANY hitter, if all other things were equal, would hit more home runs if he were stronger. It widens the margin for error.
I mean, if someone wants to deny the influence steroids have had on the record book, there are all sorts of ways to interpret the available evidence (much of which is dubious anyways) in order to fit into that argument. But common sense tells me otherwise. Bat speed and timing is everything in terms of hitting home runs. The ability to generate speed comes from power and power comes from strength and strength can be greatly increased in a shorter amount of time with steroids which can lead to increased neuromuscular coordination and HGH can improve eyesight…so I don’t see how anyone could argue that steroids and/or HGH use doesn’t improve a hitter’s ability to hit the ball farther.[/quote]
Alright.
Want to point out your posts are showing up mega late still.
One other thing: whose dick did Tim McCarver suck to get into the Hall of Fame?
^^
He wasn’t.
Ford C. Frick Award =/= HOF induction.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
^^
He wasn’t.
Ford C. Frick Award =/= HOF induction.
[/quote]
Whatever. He doesn’t deserve any award for “excellence in broadcasting”. I have never met ANYONE who is even ambivalent about McCarver, or his fagot partner, Joe Buck. It’s either, “fuck you, I don’t watch baseball” or “fuck Tim McCarver, he ruins the Series every year with his bullshit.”
This is pretty funny.:
It’s Derek Jeter’s protocol for one night stands.
The New York Post, bless its soul, is reporting today on Derek Jeter?s personal policies for female house guests of the amorous variety. According to the newspaper?s source:
Derek has girls stay with him at his apartment in New York, and then he gets them a car to take them home the next day. Waiting in his car is a gift basket containing signed Jeter memorabilia, usually a signed baseball.
Obviously. Cash is tres gauche.
Speaking of which, unfortunately for the single ladies of New York, the jig may be up after one small oversight:
This summer, he ended up hooking up with a girl who he had hooked up with once before, but Jeter seemed to have forgotten about the first time and gave her the same identical parting gift, a gift basket with a signed Derek Jeter baseball. He basically gave her the same gift twice because he?d forgotten hooking up with her the first time!
The article goes on to reveal some of Jeter?s practices for picking up women, which include throwing cocktail parties, inviting women out to smaller restaurants owned by friends and being the shortstop of the New York Yankees.
A single guy who has no commitment , and no wedding vows, takes girls out to dinner then back to his place and sends them home in a limo with a gift. Nothing wrong here but still humorous.
Did any of you guys watch the Sopranos?
It reminds me of Tony, how he would send off all his mistresses with a diamond studded horse shoe pendant upon dumping them.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
A single guy who has no commitment , and no wedding vows, takes girls out to dinner then back to his place and sends them home in a limo with a gift. Nothing wrong here but still humorous.
Did any of you guys watch the Sopranos?
It reminds me of Tony, how he would send off all his mistresses with a diamond studded horse shoe pendant upon dumping them.[/quote]
Compare Jeter to the dozens of guys who do the same exact thing. Except the girls arent as good looking and they give no gifts at all, with the exception of cab fare, maybe. It’s amazing how it’s impossible to find something wrong with the guy. He and Clooney should write a manual on how to be a celebrity yet still live the most baller life free of ridicule.
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
A single guy who has no commitment , and no wedding vows, takes girls out to dinner then back to his place and sends them home in a limo with a gift. Nothing wrong here but still humorous.
Did any of you guys watch the Sopranos?
It reminds me of Tony, how he would send off all his mistresses with a diamond studded horse shoe pendant upon dumping them.[/quote]
Compare Jeter to the dozens of guys who do the same exact thing. Except the girls arent as good looking and they give no gifts at all, with the exception of cab fare, maybe. It’s amazing how it’s impossible to find something wrong with the guy. He and Clooney should write a manual on how to be a celebrity yet still live the most baller life free of ridicule. [/quote]
To be fair, most guys have to put in several hours before a woman is willing to sleep with them. The gifting process is likely to make the girl feel less slutty for giving it up in under 30.
You know it’s kinda funny you say You never witnessed him commit a single ‘faux pas’ as you watched him while growing up. Alongside Jeter you saw A-Rod make EVERY SINGLE MISTAKE IMAGINABLE. It’s almost a perfect contrast lol
I mean this is a pic after the post season.
In 20 freaking 11 he’s still a big enough tool to not realize you shouldn’t duck behind a mailbox as a celebrity especially at 6’3.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I mean this is a pic after the post season.
In 20 freaking 11 he’s still a big enough tool to not realize you shouldn’t duck behind a mailbox as a celebrity especially at 6’3.
[/quote]
Are you making a joke that Im not getting?
It looks like a parking meter and that he’s attempting to put money in it or something. And why would he be ducking behind a mail box. And why is this a bad thing?
I dont follow
But yes, arod is a PR nightmare.
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I mean this is a pic after the post season.
In 20 freaking 11 he’s still a big enough tool to not realize you shouldn’t duck behind a mailbox as a celebrity especially at 6’3.
[/quote]
Are you making a joke that Im not getting?
It looks like a parking meter and that he’s attempting to put money in it or something. And why would he be ducking behind a mail box. And why is this a bad thing?
I dont follow
But yes, arod is a PR nightmare. [/quote]
I think he’s hiding. But yeah it was a parking metre, not a mailbox.
Shortly after the end of the post season he is spotted in Miami and when some paparazzi starts taking pictures his first instinct is to duck behind the parking metre.
http://www.infdaily.com/2011/10/exclusive-pics-a-rod-tries-to-hide-behind-a-parking-meter.html
2/3 down the page there’s 3-4 pics
You don’t think it’s bit ridiculous for a 6’3 superstar athlete to hide behind a parking metre in broad daylight?
Edit: Put another way, if Jeter were in same situation, do you think the thought of ducking behind a parking metre would even cross his mind?
If he’s hiding from photographers, then yes he’s a clown lol. Hes socially awkward.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I mean this is a pic after the post season.
In 20 freaking 11 he’s still a big enough tool to not realize you shouldn’t duck behind a mailbox as a celebrity especially at 6’3.
[/quote]
Are you making a joke that Im not getting?
It looks like a parking meter and that he’s attempting to put money in it or something. And why would he be ducking behind a mail box. And why is this a bad thing?
I dont follow
But yes, arod is a PR nightmare. [/quote]
I think he’s hiding. But yeah it was a parking metre, not a mailbox.
Shortly after the end of the post season he is spotted in Miami and when some paparazzi starts taking pictures his first instinct is to duck behind the parking metre.
http://www.infdaily.com/2011/10/exclusive-pics-a-rod-tries-to-hide-behind-a-parking-meter.html
2/3 down the page there’s 3-4 pics
You don’t think it’s bit ridiculous for a 6’3 superstar athlete to hide behind a parking metre in broad daylight?
[/quote]
What’s ridiculous is that there are people chasing him around everywhere he goes trying to take pictures of him. I would hide at some point as well. It would be my only recourse since I would definitely be on strict probation or parole for repeatedly assaulting cameramen. You know, like Sonny Corleone outside of his sister’s wedding.
In fact, one time I actually did break someone’s camera at a party when I still rammed coke up my nose with a leafblower. He took a picture in my general direction and I was really on one so I grabbed his camera, smashed it on the ground and threw a couple c-notes at him and walked away. I was asked to leave the party shortly thereafter. But A-Rod should try it. He looks like a big enough dickhead to enjoy an asshole move like that. It’s gratifying.
So the winner of the Yu Darvish auction will be announced today with the Rangers, Blue Jays, Cubs and Yankees all placing bids.
The rumoured favourites to win the bid are the Rangers and Blue Jays.
I wanted to ask you DB, setting aside comparisons to previous Japanese duds, what do you think of Yu Darvish’s stuff?
I don’t know much about pitching mechanics and also wanted to ask do you think his mechanics show any potential signs of arm trouble in the future?
As far as I can tell, Darvish doesn’t suffer with the “inverted W” problem we discussed with Strausburg, but other than that I’m not sure what else to look for.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
So the winner of the Yu Darvish auction will be announced today with the Rangers, Blue Jays, Cubs and Yankees all placing bids.
The rumoured favourites to win the bid are the Rangers and Blue Jays.
I wanted to ask you DB, setting aside comparisons to previous Japanese duds, what do you think of Yu Darvish’s stuff?
I don’t know much about pitching mechanics and also wanted to ask do you think his mechanics show any potential signs of arm trouble in the future?
As far as I can tell, Darvish doesn’t suffer with the “inverted W” problem we discussed with Strausburg, but other than that I’m not sure what else to look for.[/quote]
Cant see anything in a full speed clip.