Series Review - Tribe @ Baltimore 7/14-17

So I think this series can be summed up in that it started out quite well and then just crapped out at the end. Offensively, I was pretty disappointed with the last two games, even with the out pouring in the 9th on Saturday. Pitching wise? There was just nothing to write home about at all this weekend. Since that's the bigger area of concern to me, I guess I'll start there.

Consider this, against a team that had lost seven in a row coming into the series, Indians starters could only muster one quality start. One. And you know who that was? Nope, not Justin Masterson if that's who you were thinking. It was Carlos Carrasco in the loss on Saturday night. I, admittedly, did not watch the first game of this series because I went to a midnight showing of Harry Potter  (which was awesome in IMAX 3D, by the way. Totally worth the price of admission) and was in line during game time, but the fact that we only had one quality start is always going to be a problem with me, I don't care how many runs we score. That being said, Masterson did only give up 4 runs, and I don't think he'll give reason for concern as we continue into the second half of the season.

A lot of credit has to go to Tomlin for his start on Saturday, as he was getting knocked around a whole lot but battled well enough to go his usual 5 innings. I tweeted this, but something that always bothers me is when the team goes out and gets a lead and then the pitcher gives it right back. That's just not doing your job. Still, the offense came through for Tommy and my personal favorite pitcher on the Indians staff got his 11th win of the season.

Carrasco also had to work to get his 7 innings, and he did it without unraveling. I think this is one of the most important things to come out of this series, especially after how hard Carrasco was shelled in his previous couple of starts. I really think we should've won Saturday night, but the Bullpen Mafia just didn't come through. If they had, I just don't think Carrasco would've gotten the loss. Maybe this is obvious, but I don't think he deserved it.

Still, if we're actually going to win this division, Carrasco, Tomlin and Masterson have got to be able to give us quality starts in probably 75-80% of their starts the rest of the way. (That percentage is just my own made up thing based off of nothing but my opinion. Don't try to look it up anywhere).

I don't want to spend a lot of time on Jeanmar Gomez, simply because he just wasn't as effective as he needed to be. 5 runs in 5.1 innings? Mitch Talbot could've done that. The Indians need Gomez to be ready. I mean, this guy was about to start the AAA All-Star game after going 9-3 with a 2.40 ERA in the first half for the Clippers. I'm pretty sure this is his 3rd stint with the big league club -- it's time for him to take a rotation spot and keep it and not be a AAAA player. Unfortunately, giving up 5 runs just ain't gonna cut it.

I'm sure a lot of people are going to rip the bullpen for their mistakes this weekend, but I think it's important to remember that they never gave up a lead -- they just made the deficit worse. We've still got the best 'pen in the league, people, don't panic about that.

What we should panic about is our outfield situation. Krady Grady Sizemore went down with another right knee contusion, the same knee he 'contused' (if that's a word) earlier in the season. He was starting to get hot in this series too, so that's definitely not great. That means we're now without 2/3 of our starting 3 outfielders. There's just no way we can contend with a platoon of Buck and Kearns in RF, Carrera in CF and Brantley in LF.

That's no knock on the Porsche Carrera or Brantley, but the Buck/Kearns situation really needs to end. I think Buck would be a fine fourth outfielder, but Kearns is officially washed up. I know he hit that home run against the Yankees, and that was a nice little moment, but what else has he done this year? I believe the crickets are telling me the answer. We need some pop out of at least one of the three outfield spots, and without Grady, we just don't have any. With Grady we didn't have that much, since he's been hitting .230, but that's another story.

I'm going to say this here for the first time, and will probably repeat it a bunch over the next couple weeks -- If we are going to contend in this division, we have to make a trade for a RH outfield bat. I would've said that before Grady went down, but it's especially true now.

In other offensive news, it was nice to see how we just didn't quit in Saturday's ballgame, even though we had been completely shut down by spinach Alfredo Simon most of the game. Here's a fun fact, Simon is currently the subject of a murder investigation in the Dominican Republic and had to go back there for a court date after his start. I guess he wanted to make a lasting impression in case he has to go to jail. I just couldn't believe that when Matt and Rick were talking about it on STO. Yikes.

Anyway, that whole being shut down by Orioles pitchers thing was a bit ridiculous, but I always love when our hitters just refuse to quit. You've got to enjoy seeing A-Cab, Hafner and Santana all work walks to knock out the O's closer and then O-Cab delivering a bases clearing double. If the Indians do, in fact, end up making the playoffs, it's going to be because of veterans on this team like O-Cab, Hafner and -- I'll even venture to say -- A-Cab. Asdrubal was on this team in '07 when we went to the ALCS, he knows what kind of fight that takes as was Hafner. With O-Cab, the guy just gets on playoff teams wherever he goes. That 'never say die' attitude is going to be key down the stretch.

Now that is a lot to take in, so let all of that marinate as we get a twin billing tomorrow in the Twin Cities with a Twins ball club that has won 7 of their last 10 ballgames. Huff and Carmona will take the hill for the Tribe in the games tomorrow. Both starts are important for both pitchers, as I firmly believe the Tribe brass would love to move Huff in a deal and Fausto really just needs to get his you-know-what together. But it's an important series in general, as the Indians have got to start beating their divisional opponents if they're going to end up taking the Central crown.

Until next time, Go Tribe!
~MAS

Tribe Mid-Season Report: Part Deux

Why hello there loyal blog reading Cleveland sports fans! As I said I'd try to do, here is part two of the Tribe mid-season report, which is going to focus on hitting.

Obviously, with the amount of crazy statistics that are around these days, batting average and the amount of home runs and RBIs someone has sometimes don't carry the weight that they used to. This isn't the worst thing in the world, but I sometimes think people get too caught up in all of those stats and don't get down to business. I think of all of the "sabermetrics" that exist, the most important one is the OPS -- on base percentage plus slugging percentage. It's pretty much how much people get on base combined with how many extra base hits they get, so I find it pretty useful. Although I don't think bating average is outdated, I sometimes find that on-base percentage is just as important, if not a little bit more, because it factors in walks.

I think OBP is particularly important in looking at Carlos Santana. If you look at his AVG/HR/RBI line alone, it looks pretty bleak at .230/13/41. That .230 is pretty bad for a cleanup hitter, but his on base percentage is .363. Considering his batting average, that number is excellent. Everything I've read and heard has said that Santana's high OBP is because he is such a patient hitter. He is one of the league leaders in pitches per at bat as he sees 4.41 every time he steps up to the plate. Being that as it is, I'd like to see Carlos really get it going in the second half. I feel like if he could bring that average up to the .250-2.60 level, it would really help take some pressure off of Asdrubal Cabrera and Travis Hafner to carry the offense.

Speaking of Hafner, how awesome was this game winning grand slam last week? I was watching the game, and when he came up I said to a couple of my friends something to the effect of, "This is exactly the guy you want up there if you're the Indians. I might walk him if I were the Blue Jays..." Needless to say, I'm glad they didn't take my advice.

But here's the thing, besides the obvious Asdrubal Cabrera, Hafner has undoubtedly been the offensive MVP for the Tribe so far this season. This was never clearer than when the Indians went through their horrendous June swoon with Hafner on the DL, which ultimately resulted in batting Jon Nunnaly being fired. Ouch. I'm not sure that new coach Bruce Fields has been that much better, but having Hafner back with his .325 AVG, 8 HR and 35 RBI is absolutely huge. I was absolutely an advocate for getting rid of the man formerly known as Pronk before the season started, but I feel like the Indians are actually getting their money's worth for him this year. I guess he can stay.

Now here's my favorite whipping boy, Krady Sizemore. That's right, he's no longer Grady since he strikes out in 30% of his at bats. 30 freaking percent! Are you kidding me?! He has 72 Ks to 15 BBs. That's a disgusting ratio, and I don't even want to try and calculate it. Krady also doesn't get the same excuse for OBP like Santana, since his average is only .231 and his on-base is stuck at .295. Boo. His only redeeming quality is that on those rare occasions when he doesn't K, it's usually an extra base hit as he has 9 home runs, 19 doubles and a triple. But other than that, it's Ks galore.

There are a multitude of other problems on the offense, most notably the lack of production from the right field position, but I honestly believe that GM Chris Antonetti is going to improve that via trade. Dave Huff and Luis Valbuena should have their things packed and ready to go to any team, because the way I see it they are both trade bait in the biggest way...

That's all I've got for now, hopefully the Tribe can get the 2nd half started out on the right foot against Baltimore this weekend!

Go Tribe!
~MAS

Tribe Mid-Season Report

A Pool Table in the Indians "Fan Cave" 

So, if you haven't been following me on Twitter (@SilverBullets21) you might have been wondering where I've been since I've been completely neglecting this here blog. But with the Indians on vacation for the next couple of days, I figured this would be as good a time as any to jump in and give my thoughts.

To say that the Indians have been a surprise might be the understatement of the year. I mean, sure I said that they'd go 82-82 and finish 3rd in the season Start Me Up post, but I thought I was being wildly optimistic. Turns out we can achieve that and more, and I think the credit for that largely belongs to the three people representing the Indians at the All-Star game in Arizona.

I think it's fairly obvious that Manny Acta, Asdrubal Cabrera and Chris Perez have been the cornerstones of this team. That's not to say that other people haven't been significant contributors, but when it comes to coaching, offense, defense and pitching, those three have been some of the best in the league. Even though Acta was asked by Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington to be on the staff in Spring Training, I'd say he's more than earned the selection by having the Tribe a half game out of first place at the All-Star break. For Cabrera, there hasn't been a better offensive or defensive shortstop in the AL this season. Period. And Chris Perez has been automatic this season, converting 21/22 saves.

Now, given that all of those players will be talked about till the cows come home on some other sites, I'd like to take a look at some of the other players who have been huge contributors and a couple who might need to find pink slips in their lockers soon...

Let's start with the pitching -- starting pitching. Josh Tomlin and Justin Masterson have become the best 1-2 punch the Indians have had since '07 with CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona. Tomlin is tied for fourth in the league in wins with 10, and his ERA ranks 27th among AL starters. Granted, those numbers don't sound the best, but throw in the fact that he's pitched 30 starts in his career and all 30 have gone 5 or more innings, and I think you can see why I love this guy. He's not a flame thrower, but he can throw all four of his pitches for strikes. Quality strikes, not just the "get me overs" that Carlos Carrasco can sometimes throw.

Next, Masterson has been a huge victim of a lack of run support, which is why he only has a record of 7-6. You can really see how he's been victimized when you look at his ERA at only 2.64, above juggernauts like CC Sabathia, Felix Hernandez, and Jon Lester. If the Indians can ever get their mess together on the offensive side for him, he could get maybe 15 wins before the season is over. That is, if his arm holds up and he pitches to his potential every time. Something not exactly likely to happen.

On the flip side, we have a tale of two Carrascos, Fausto's pitching-from-the-stretch troubles, and a really bad Mitch Talbot. I remember reading at some point in spring training Manny Acta had said, "He has the  stuff to be one of the best in the American League. Period." Carrasco definitely had a string of starts in June where he showed that to be true, but once the calendar turned to July, he went just got shelled. Hopefully the All-Star break will be good for him.

Fausto Carmona in Center Field today at Progressive Field

I actually saw Fausto Carmona today at Progressive Field when I went there with the day camp where I'm a counselor, and he looked like he had just come out of a bullpen session. And as I voiced my concern for this guy in my last post, he honestly hasn't done anything to instill any more confidence in either me or (I'm sure) the Indians organization. The problem is that he's not getting any better, and there are at least three pitchers in AAA that could potentially replace him. The next problem is that he has no options left, so even if we wanted to send him down we couldn't. Ugh.

The same thing goes for Mitch Talbot, except he's been worse. Sure, Fausto has a 5.78 ERA, but Mitchey sees that, and raises him to 6.33. 6.33 runs per 9 innings. That's just awful, and if you're a first place team, you just can't have that. That's why it looks like Gomez is being called up to replace him, according to this story in the Plain Dealer. I think it's definitely a good idea. We don't have nearly the amount of time, money and support invested in Talbot as we do with Fausto. Think about it, we traded Kelly Shoppach for Talbot, so it's no big loss if we have to designate him for assignment and get nothing in return. At least in my opinion.

That's a lot to take in so I'll just leave it at that for now. At some point in the near future (I'm shooting for tomorrow!) I'll take a look at the offense. Until then, enjoy the All-Star game, Tribe fans!

~MAS

I'm Back!

Miss me?

Yes, it has been quite a while since I updated this here blog, but now that the school year is over and I'm settled back in the CLE, it's time to get back into the swing of things. And if we're talking about swinging, you know the Indians have got to be a part of the conversation.

I know I was a little more optimistic about the Tribe than most people going into the season, but who could've seen this coming? We're talking about the best team in baseball -- we're tied with three others for the mos wins with 26, but we have the best win percentage at .634. Top that off with a run differential of +56, also tops in the big leagues, and it's easy to see why we're in first place. I always say that a team needs to go about .500 on the road, and then pretty well above .500 at home in order to have a legitimate shot at the playoffs, and so far the Indians are following exactly that philosophy with records of 11-11 and 15-4, respectively.

I don't have to tell you everything that's gone right for the Indians so far, because, well, that's everything. Pitching, hitting, defense, coaching, personnel decisions -- everything the Indians has done so far this season has worked. The fact that we are in arguably MLB's worst division makes our road ahead that much easier, as right now we have the largest division lead in all of baseball over a second place team, at 5 games over the Tigers.

But with all that's gone right, there are a few concerns I have...

First off, Fausto Carmona against the White Sox. I've always been a big Fausto fan, and I was very happy to see the results of his...well...I guess you could call "rehab" program pay off last year. But the fact that he's been shelled now two out of two times by the White Sox has got to be a concern. I know they aren't as good as anyone expected they would be this year, but Fausto hasn't done that much better against other division opponents this season. In four starts, two against the White Sox, one against the Twins and one against the Royals, Carmona has gone 1-3 giving up 26 runs -- all earned -- in just 20 innings. That's an 11.70 ERA, for those of you keeping track at home. That includes the win, a solid, 7-inning start against Kansas City where he only gave up 2 runs. But a record of 1-3 with a 11.70 ERA in the division does not exactly inspire confidence.

Secondly, both Sizemore and Hafner are now on the DL. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Hafner was placed on the DL today, if you didn't hear, because of an oblique strain he suffered in batting practice a few days ago. You've gotta think it's not a good sign when your two best hitters get injured, and since Hafner has been out of the lineup the Indians have been driving the struggle bus offensively. Of course, I think Jake Peavy had a lot to do with that on Wednesday night, and I'd bet Fausto's struggles plagued the offense's mind as well.

So as they now come home to take on the Reds in the battle of Ohio, we're going to see what kind of team this really is. I think Acta's fun bunch is going to come away with a series win. The prospects are good, at least, with White going tonight, Tomlin going tomorrow (my personal favorite pitcher on the team), and then the Carrasco cat for Sunday. For my money, as long as we get two out of the three games, we'll have done our job against a 25-win team.

I'll be at the game on Saturday, my first game of the season. According to the Indians, the game is a sell out, the first non-opening day sellout since 2008. I'll be tweeting away my thoughts, so, if you're at all interested follow me @SilverBullets21.

Until next time, Go Tribe!

~MAS

Opening Weekend - A Series Recap

Unfortunately, due to MLB rules and regulations, I am not going to be able to listen to any of the Tribe games until I get back to the CLE. Therefore, this is my "I'm only going by the stats and what I read from others" disclaimer, which will be in effect until mid-May. That being said, there are a few things on my mind after the Indians finished their opening series of the season with the Chicago White Sox...

Pitching Anyone?
Well, my favorite person to question, Justin Masterson, got it right on Sunday. But other than that...Fausto Carmona and Carlos Carrasco? Are you kidding me? Carmona especially, after everything we heard about Carmona having a "great spring" and maybe looking like he's ready to get back to that '07 form... Well, not on Opening Day, that's for sure. 10 earned runs in 3+ innings (granted 2 of them scored after he left, but still) translates into a 30.00 ERA. Yes, our "Ace" has an ERA of 30.00. Let me drive this point home one more time, if he were to pitch 9 innings, this projects him to give up 30 runs. Ack.

Carrasco doesn't bother me as much, because as I have said before in this very blog, I had no trust in him going in. But, at least he was able to stop the bleeding and stay in the game for a little while. Both of those guys have got to get their mess together before their next start. Please.

Guys with some Pop?
Despite getting down by two touchdowns, the Indians did end up scoring 10 runs in that opening game. The second one wasn't so great either, but the Tribe then came out and scored 7 runs on Sunday. I'll take that average of 6.6 runs a game, which will be great as long as the pitching stays under, you know, 5 runs a game. I don't think that's too hard, is it?

I was impressed by a couple of guys (well...based on their highlights) this weekend, Travis Hafner and Jack Hannahan. The Man-Formerly-Known-As-Pronk blasted a home run into the visitors bullpen on Saturday afternoon, and also hit safely in each of the opening three games. I know I wasn't expecting much of him in the season preview, but this was an encouraging weekend. Especially that home run, if you haven't seen it, it reminded me of his '06 blasts—back when he was on steroids before he got injured. And then Hannahan also had a pretty good weekend, although his contributions mostly came in the first game when he hit a nice home run. Hopefully he can hit somewhere around .250 until June when Chisenhall will most likely be promoted.

Can't have a post about offense without mentioning clean-up hitter Carlos Santana, who has reached base at least two times in each of the Indians games so far. He only has one extra base hit, the home run in the Opener on Friday, but I have no doubt that more will be coming this week. Santana also started the league's first triple play of the year at first base on Sunday! I got this stat from indians.com beat writer Jordan Bastian but there have been three triple plays in the history of Jacobs/Progressive Field and Asdrubal Cabrera has been involved in all of them. How about that!

And here's an honorable mention to Orlando Cabrera who jacked a two-run bomb to the home run porch out in left field on Sunday. It's good to have the veteran presence at second base.

Attendance...Or Lack Thereof
Okay, I can't say I blame anyone in Cleveland for this, but the attendance? Man oh man, it just makes me sad to see all the empty green seats in such a nice stadium. I know the Indians are bad, and I know that the economy isn't the greatest, but can we at least get...I don't know, 15,000 people in the stands? It's not like the Cavs are that great anymore, so we don't have that as an excuse. I mean, setting the record for smallest attendance at the stadium on Saturday was bad enough, but then we had to break it on Sunday with 8,726? I hate to say it, but I feel like there will be some weekday games where we'll have around 7,000. Hopefully it won't go any lower than that.

Just for the record, I fully intend to do my part and go to a bunch of games during the summer. At least when it hits June and Chisenhall comes up. That should at least be a little exciting, right?

Not entirely sure when the next post will come about the Tribe, but it'll be soon. Probably a little mid-week filler...remember those? Until then Cleveland fans!

~MAS

Start Me Up - It's Tribe Time!

It's Opening Day in Cleveland! What isn't exciting about that? I've been to a few Opening Day games and they're always great. The one that comes to mind is the '06 opener where Travis Hafner smacked 2 homers and Casey Blake hit a grand slam in what was a really foggy day on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. But all that's in the past, we have a core of pretty young players this season and despite the youth I'm optimistic about them. In fact, I'll go as far as to say if  healthy, the Indians will be competitive this season.

Yes, I said it and I believe it's true so I'll say it again.

If they stay healthy, the Indians will be competitive and fun to watch this season.

Carlos Santana

Okay, now let me elaborate. I don't really think they'll make a huge run for the playoffs or anything like that - although it is baseball, anything is possible - but I do think they have a great opportunity to forge their way back into mediocrity. Think about it, a lineup with a healthy Grady Sizemore, Carlos Santana, Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo is already pretty potent. Add in a contributing-to-his-potential Matt LaPorta, The Man Formerly Known As Pronk  (yeah, that's not going to happen), Austin Kerns and Michael Brantley and this lineup doesn't look so bad, does it?

"Ace" Fausto Carmona

What's going to stop the Tribe this season is their starting rotation. Other than Fausto Carmona and Justin Masterson (who still think might be better suited for relief...but what do I know?) the rotation has way too many question marks. Mitch Talbot? He had a nice first half of the season going 8-8 with a 3.99 ERA, but then the wheels really came off in the second as he went 2-5 with an ERA of 5.29. And it certainly doesn't help that he had a disastrous spring this season. Carlos Corrasco? He's going to be a big key to the rotation as well, but aside from his few starts at the end of last season he's extremely unproven. Manny Acta is very much in this guy's corner though, saying earlier this spring that he has the potential to be one of the top pitchers in the American League. I'm not so sure about that...but it could happen. Josh Tomlin rounds out the rotation, winning the fifth starters job after a nice spring, but again he's very green throwing just 12 starts last year.

That being said, I really think the starting group has some good potential. Today's Opening Day starter, Fausto can come back and be the ace-in-training we saw in 2007, that would be a huge boost. I've read a lot about how the Indians basically have a bunch of guys who are all middle of the rotation guys, but I remember what Carmona did '07 and I believe he can get back to that level. Or maybe I'm just a victim of too much positive thinking.

Lonnie Chisenhall

If there are two positions I'm very concerned about for the upcoming season it has to be third and first base. Yes, we've got prospect Lonnie Chisenhall waiting in the wings (and Terry Pluto responded to a question I asked him on his Facebook page that the Indians are really hoping he can Chisenhall can be up in the big leagues in June), but right now we've got Jack Hannahan at third and Matt LaPorta at first. Defensively, these two should both be at least above-average, but offensively...these two could be the dregs of the Indians lineup. Now, this is alright for Hannahan as he's a stopgap and will hopefully have no place on this team beyond June, but LaPorta was one of the keys to the CC Sabathia deal. It's extremely important that he show the power and average he's always displayed in AAA ball this season at the big league level. My fear is that LaPorta is going to be another "Brandon Phillips"—we'll trade the guy and then he'll become the impact player we wanted someplace else. The same thing happened with Jeremy Guthrie, a former Indians draft pick who now starts for the Baltimore Orioles. Sometimes in baseball a change of scenery is all a player needs to start playing better, but in LaPorta's case it better just be the change from the Arizona hot to the Cleveland cold.

Matt LaPorta

So, since this is a Start Me Up, it's got to end with a prediction. And, as the title of this post might imply, I'm going to be pretty optimistic.

The Prediction: 81-81, 3rd place in the AL Central.

I wanted so badly to say 2nd place, but I'd rather be right. So consider this me second guessing myself and I will claim both as my prediction at the end of the season.

Enjoy Opening Day today Tribe fans. I wish I could catch the game on TV, but hearing Tom Hamilton and Mike Heagan call the game from WTAM's online stream will be more than good enough for me.

~MAS

Why Yes, It Has Been a While

Oh hey there happy blog readers! This baby has been on hiatus for a while since there haven't been any Browns games and...well, spring training is boring and unless the beat the Heat as they did last night, nobody wants to write abou the Cavaliers. But I have been writing for the Columbia Daily Spectator  and doing a few posts on their Spectrum blog. I wrote a column yesterday that I felt could go on this here blog too about Barry Bonds and how I think he definitely lied when he said he didn't knowingly take steroids.

So enjoy the subsequent column. I think I'll be back with my predictions for the Indians season tomorrow as opening day is on Friday! (Can you believe it?)

~MAS
___________

In the last few weeks, I’ve done two posts for Spectrum’s new series, “An Athlete’s Diet.” Basically, these posts detail how athletes eat throughout the day in order to perform their best at their given sport. In interviewing the two athletes, football left tackle Jeff Adams and wrestler Eren Civan, and subsequently writing the posts, I’ve realized how little thought I give to what I put into my body each day. Obviously, since I’m not an athlete, it isn’t nearly as big of an issue for me, but it shows the level of commitment that these athletes must have. Participating in a sport is not just about the performance you give when there are fans on gameday—it’s the preparation, the little things you do when no one else is watching, that makes a victory sweet.

That being said, the controversy surrounding Barry Bonds is ridiculous to me. He is currently involved in a perjury trial, accused of falsely testifying to the 2003 grand jury of the BALCO case that he did not knowingly take steroids. Based on what I’ve learned in recent weeks about Ivy athletes’ eating habits, how am I supposed to believe that a Major League Baseball player had no idea what was going into his body? The whole principle of it is ludicrous.

I’m not going to tell you about how guys like Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and Rafael Palmeiro ruined the game by taking steroids. In fact, in many ways I’m very glad they took steroids because it led to some amazing performances. All the home runs and strikeouts energized a sport whose fan base had been decimated by the 1994 players’ strike. The 1998 home run race between McGwire and Sosa is a distinctive memory in my early childhood. I remember playing wiffle ball with my friends and trying to imitate Sosa’s trademark jump after he hit a home run. I also remember pretending to be Clemens when pitching. These players of the late ‘90s and early 2000s were vital to baseball’s revitalization.

Bonds was an absolutely essential part of this. The tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001 struck just as he was closing in on McGwire’s 1998 record of 70 home runs. Of course Bonds would go on to surpass McGwire’s mark by three, and in the process he provided a very welcome distraction from an American disaster in the form of an American triumph. To me, the image of Bonds touching home plate pointing to the sky with the American flag patch on his back after hitting his 70th home run is iconic. And I will never forget staying up late the summer of 2007 to watch Bonds hit an opposite-field home run to tie Hank Aaron’s career home run record of 755. I truly think that Bonds was one of the main players that helped to save baseball—even if he did cheat.

Now, all nostalgia aside, my problem with Bonds is that he’s a liar. I know we have innocent until proven guilty in this country, and I am not saying that Bonds does not deserve his due process of the law, but let’s be real for a second. Is the American public actually supposed to believe that a professional athlete just lets people shoot him up full of things and he doesn’t know what they are? Really? I mean, even when I’m in the doctors office for a vaccination shot I ask the nurse exactly what she’s going to give me. If I don’t ask, how am I to know if this is something that’s actually good for me?

I can break this down even further. Think back to middle school when you were eating lunch with someone else and that person wanted to trade food with you. If you see what that kid is offering and you don’t recognize it straight away, what’s the first thing that comes out of your mouth?

“What is that?”

Exactly.

Now this could be your best friend or your worst enemy, the question will remain the same—it’s what any logical person does. I mean, what if the food has peanuts and you’re allergic to it? Are you really going to believe someone if he says, “Trust me, it’s going to be great for you,” and not ask any more questions? I don’t think there’s that much trust in the world—especially if you’re a multi-millionaire who makes his living by hitting a baseball with a bat.

So as I think back to Jeff Adams and Eren Civan and the meticulous detail they use when discerning what to eat and what not to eat, it pushes my belief even further that Bonds has been trying to play us all for fools since 2003. If Columbia’s athletes can take me through their daily schedule and tell me precisely what they eat at a given time, I’m sure a Major League Baseball player on a multi-million dollar salary can do the exact same thing.

You may have some people fooled, Barry, but I see right through you.