Ahhhh the Ides of March have now springed into the best time of the year. Nothing beats the optimisim that shoots through your veins as Opening Day approaches. Die hard baseball fans begin to twitch with excitement as they grab anything they can get a hold of that has predictions to see what the “experts” say about their favorite club. The talk of college basketball begins to kind of die down as the roars become about the upcoming baseball season. We sit only a couple days away from getting to watch the Red Sox vs. Yankees to kick off the season, and then it’s time what really matters… RANGERS BASEBALL.

I love the new advertising campaign where fans and players say one simple phrase, “IT’S TIME!”

Ranger fans IT IS TIME! The excitement of our 2009 season has poured into the 2010 season with hopes and dreams of playing through October. It’s time to jump onto the big stage and begin to show our team to a national audiance. My wife thinks I’m crazy because I tell her all the time that opening day is my favorite day of the year.

Every year my brother and I sit down and pick our season picks for the upcoming season. We go through all the divisions/wild cards, and all the various awards that are given out.We sit down with a pen and paper and literally spend hours going through everything. We discuss our picks (argue about some) and then end it by going outside and playing catch.

This year my brother and I agreed with quite a few picks:

Blake’s picks

AL West: Rangers, AL Central: Twins, AL East: Red Sox, AL Wild Card: Yankees

NL West: Giants, NL Central: Cardinals, NL East: Atlanta, NL Wild Card: Phillies

World Series: Rangers beating Cardinals

AL MVP: Mauer, AL CY Young: Beckett, AL ROY: Feliz 

NL MVP: Pujols, NL CY Young: Halladay, NL ROY: Heyward

My picks:

AL West: Rangers, AL Central: Twins, AL East: Red Sox, AL Wild Card: Rays

NL West: Rockies, NL Central: Cardinals, NL East: Phillies, NL Wild Card: Braves

World Series: Braves beating Rangers

AL MVP: Cabrera, AL CY Young: Verlander, AL ROY: Feliz 

NL MVP: Pujols, NL CY Young: Josh Johnson, NL ROY: Heyward

Pretty similar picks this year between the two of us. I think that this will be a close year in many divisions, and it will come down to which teams can stay healthy. The sexy pick of the Mariners is kind of dying down a little bit since Cliff Lee went down with an injury and could miss the first month of the season. Face it games in April have just as much of an impact on a season as the games in September. If the Rangers can go a few games over .500 through the first month of the season then they will be in great shape, but it won’t be easy. They get to play the Mariners, Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers, White Sox. The Rangers fared real well against the AL East and AL West last season but they struggled mightely against the AL Central.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

Brandon Webb received bad news on Thursday when he was told that it could take a full year for him to recover from his surgery that was performed last August. This has a huge impact on the Diamondbacks chances of winning the NL West.

Recently there have been a few different columns written about the possibility of realignment. There has even been mention of the possibility of a “floating realignment,” which would have teams constantly changing divisions year after year. There have been suggestions about getting rid of the Wild Card and expanding to 4 divisions in the AL and NL. Bud Selig discussed this issue yesterday, in a report written by the AP http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5013511,  “I’ve always believed in realignment and we have done a lot in the last
18 years, but we really have not discussed that subject,” he said. “It’s
a subject that has been on my mind for a long time, but is there
anything to report? No. There have been some stories but that is way
ahead of where we are.”Realignment is just one of many issues being looked at by a committee that Bud Selig has put together.

There are various opinions on the execution of realignment. The “floating realignment” is probably a bit to complicated to ever be a viable option, but there is a way of making it work without actually getting rid of the Wild Card. The Wild Card has become a great addition to baseball since being implemented in 1995. It keeps teams in contention that may have be eliminated early within the division.

However, let’s not overlook the great rivalries that exist within the divisions. Where would baseball be without the Yankees competing against the Red Sox, and the Cubs battling it out with the Cardinals? Heated rivalries are what make this game so great.

 Here is my realignment proposal

American League West: Seattle Mariners, LA Angels, Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies
American League Central: Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers
American League East: New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays

National League West: San Diego Padres, LA Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks
National League Central: Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers
National League East: Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, Florida Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates

This realignment would allow MLB to have instate rivalries with the Mets and Yankees playing in the same division and also group some of the larger market clubs together. It also gets some of the smaller markets in a grouping together that will expand parity in the league. It puts the Rangers into the central (where they belong) and creates some great in-state rivalries. Colorado Rockies have a stadium that would be great for the American League, with the DH.

Probably will never happen but a fan can always dream….

A little more than 2 weeks away from Opening Day. Time to put behind the mistake that Ron Washington made last July, and start focusing on the upcoming season. There is no question that the Ron Washington saga is far from being over. He will get a brutal greeting early in the season when the team travels to New York to face the “Evil Empire.” He will also probably get a fair share of choice words from the hometown fans. However, there is a way to make this problem go away and it’s quite simple.

Win!

That’s all Ron Washington and the Texas Rangers need to focus on. Win and all your problems will seem to go away. The Rangers are going to score runs, but can they pitch even better than what they did in 2009? So far in the spring Rich Harden and Colby Lewis have struggled but the team doesn’t seem to be all that concerned about either of them. The biggest question going into the 2010 season is who will be in the Rangers starting rotation. That question got a little easier when Tommy Hunter was sidelined with a strained oblique muscle in his left ribcage that will keep him out of action for 2 weeks, and making it highly unlikely that he will be ready to start the season in the rotation. Hunter was a clear lock for the number 4 spot in the rotation. Now he’s out and who will jump in?

Meet your 3 candidates: C.J. Wilson, Matt Harrison, and Derek Holland

Derek Holland had flashes of being brilliant in his rookie campaign. In the midst of trade rumors surrounding Arlington for the likes of Roy Halladay, there were many fans who were very clear in their message, “Don’t trade Holland!” In fact, the night before the deadline the Holland was on the mound with scouts from the Blue Jays on hand to watch him throw, and BOY DID HE THROW! Holland had his best start of the season and there was a lot of heated debate among Rangers fans on if they would trade Holland, Smoak, and others for Roy Halladay. (I’ll admit that I was one that thought that the Rangers should do what it took to get Halladay) In the end it was irrelevant because Halladay decided that he did not want to pitch in Arlington. Nolan Ryan confirmed this when I asked him this question early this winter. Holland came into the spring in 2010 as the favorite to win the 5th starting spot. His early minor injury changed things and Holland became the guy fighting to keep up with the likes of Matt Harrison, C.J. Wilson, and even Brandon McCarthy. Derek Holland pitched brilliantly in his last start and is currently set to throw again today in relief of Colby Lewis.

Matt Harrison is another candidate who had flashes of success last season until he had an injury that virtually took him out for most of the 2009 season. Harrison came into the spring as an unlikely candidate to fill the 5th spot, but he came into spring with a competitive mindset. Harrison said that his goal is to win the CY Young award this season and early indications are that he means it. Harrison is learning to be smarter with his pitches and is starting to miss more and more bats. Arguably, he has been the best pitcher so far this spring.

Then there is C.J. Wilson… Wilson may be the most interesting of them all because if Wilson moves into the rotation then an obvious hole opens up in the bullpen. Guys like Chris Ray, Darren Oliver, and Feliz become critical guys to step up. Wilson worked the off-season with the rotation on his mind. He knew that if he did not win a spot in spring then more than likely he was not going to be starting at all during the season. Wilson has pitched great early on in spring with 8 strikeouts over 9 innings. His next couple of starts will show a lot on if he is ready to be a starting pitcher or not. Wilson will have to prove he can pitch more than just a few innings at a time.

3 candidates left with 2 open spots. The early favorites are Harrison and Wilson but one bad outing can easily change everything. 

Stunning news broke early in the afternoon on Wednesday, March 17th. News that brought many fans and players a wide range of emotions. There will be many different opinions on this subject. Some fans will be wanting to wash their hands free of their manager, Ron Washington. While many others will stand beside him just as they did with Josh Hamilton. There are quite a bit of people inside the media (and also fans) that will probably try and compare the past of Josh Hamilton with what happened to Ron Washington. There will be many loyal supporters of Ron Washington and the Texas Rangers that will flee. Some will question the support that the Rangers front office have given to their manager, while wanting more severe punishment. There will also be those fans that will be merciful and will continue to passionately support their beloved Texas Rangers.

What we do know is that Ron Washington made a mistake and will be having to come face to face with arguably the single most difficult thing that he has personally had to go through. Washington faced a difficult time when Katrina stormed into Louisiana, but this is a personal dark cloud that will be following him around for the near future and quite possibly his whole career. Ron Washington has been around the game for a long time, and you will meet very few people that love the game of baseball as much as he does. Ron Washington is well liked and respected throughout the game. Ron Washington enjoys the simple fundamental aspects of the game and is almost giddy when he walks onto the field each day.

These are things that will no longer come first to mind when fans hear the name “Ron Washington.” There is now a dark cloud that will shadow over him. When he walks on to opposing teams fields he will more than likely be greeted by a heavy reminder of one of the mistakes he will forever want to have back.

Ron Washington held an emotional team meeting and then press conference where he told players and fans about his drug usage. There have been reports from various media outlets that players have stood in support behind their manager. Nolan Ryan has also discussed his initial reaction of frustration and disappointment of the situation, but that the Texas Rangers are a family and will support their manager. About a month ago I got to speak with Ron Washington about the teams chemistry and how they seem to be a very close knit group. Ron discussed that he is happy that fans are noticing this and that they are truly a team in every which way.

No one knows how Ron Washington will handle this situation, and a lot of questions will be answered over time. However, it appears that Ron Washington will not be facing this battle alone and he will have a team of players and a front office that will stand beside him in support.

Currently we sit just 39 days away from opening day at the Ballpark in Arlington where the Rangers will square off against the Toronto Blue Jays! Excited?

My brother and I recently had our draft for tickets. We share a package of full season tickets and we took turns picking through all 82 home games. We were like fat kids inside a candy store trying to figure out what tasty treat we wanted to get. So many great games to choose from. I ended up with 2 out of 3 games against the Red Sox and 2 out of 3 games against the Cubs. Also, I managed to get almost every single Oakland A’s game for some reason, but luckily also grabbed the a fair majority of Angels and Mariners games as well. My brother snatched most of the Yankees games, but honestly I don’t really like going to see the Rangers play the Yankees in person. Call me crazy but it’s frustrating to me to be a minority fan in my own ballpark, where the majority seem to root for the “Evil Empire.”

This is always an exciting time of the year, but this season seems a bit more special to me. It will be the first opening day game that my wife has ever gone to, and hopefully late in the season I’ll be able to take our son “Nolan Ryan Austin Roberts” to his first ballgame.

I looked over at my wife the other night and told her, “Now I can start enjoying life again, my depression is finally coming to a close after a long winter.” Not sure she enjoyed that comment or not but it’s true. I don’t enjoy the offseason nor do I enjoy winter weather. It all puts me in a sour mood.

A quick recap of what we know so far into the spring

*Health is the key this season. If we stay healthy then we have a strong chance to win the AL West, and if we don’t then it could be a long season.

*So far we are off to a bad start. Hamilton and Holland have both suffered minor injuries.

*Also, count Madrigal and Mathis in on that mix

*Oh and I forgot to mention that we no longer have our utility infielder Kahil Greene, who I felt was going to be a key part of this team…. back to the drawing board

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

How in the world did Scott Boras still get Damon $8million and a no trade clause????

In the movie “Field of Dreams,” Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella hears a voice in his corn field tell him, “If
you build it, he will come.” Ryan interprets the message as an
instruction to build a baseball field on his land. Throughout the movie Ray struggles with the financial struggle of building the field and trying to keep his dream alive.

New Texas Rangers owner, Chuck Greenberg, faces a very similar situation. He inherits a team that fought all season for a playoff spot before falling just short. The problem was that the fans still didn’t seem to buy into it. Jon Morosi, writer from foxsports.com, tells about talking to Ian Kinsler last season in the midst of the Rangers playoff push. “With that in mind, I walked up to Kinsler’s locker and asked him when
he sensed the Texas crowds starting to believe that 2009 was a special
season. ‘They still haven’t,’ Ian Kinsler replied”

You can read the full article here
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Texas-Rangers-hope-new-owner-Chuck-Greenberg-can-sell-to-fans-013110

So will 2010 be different? Will the Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan regime be any different than the regime of Tom Hicks?

The 2010 Texas Rangers are expected to be among the top teams in the competitive AL West. In fact, Nolan Ryan has stated that he expects the Rangers to not only compete but he expects the Rangers to win the division.

Dreams and expectations are high surrounding the 2010 Rangers. The Rangers are no longer the team that is going to fly under the radar and surprise people if they compete. They are beginning to gain national media attention and are gaining respect from opposing AL teams. This will be one of the first years that the Rangers players should be filling the pressure of the expectation if winning. Ron Washington told fans on Saturday, at the yearly Fan Fest, that he wants his guys to fill the pressure.

Time will tell if the Dallas/Fort Worth area can manage to get as excited about the Rangers as it does about a mid-season Cowboys football game. All I know is that on a Saturday morning in January (in 25 degree weather) fans showed up. Thousands of Rangers fans bought into the excitement and filled the stadium. Players and coaches were as optimistic as you have ever seen them. I walked into Clint Hurdle in the Rangers weight room, and he couldn’t stop smiling. He looked at me and said, “It’s going to be a good season and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Jon Daniels, Thad Levine, Nolan Ryan, and the scouting crew have built the team that will compete. Now it’s up to the fans to show simply show up. The early buzz is that the Rangers are up almost 30% in season ticket sales since the ownership change.I suspect that those numbers will continue to increase as we approach spring.

 ARE YOU KIDDING ME???
How can it not be Johnny Damon turning down a 2year/$14million dollar offer from the Yankees earlier this winter? Does anyone expect him to even approach $5million for a one year deal?

I spent the majority of my childhood going in and out of the emergency room for numerous injuries that I would suffer. I had a broken femur bone which required me to be hospitalized for 6 weeks and then be placed into a full body cast. I had broken arms, toes, fingers, cracked elbow, broken nose, back injuries, etc. Let’s just say that the doctor’s became very familiar with me in the emergency room. My wife has also spent a good amount of time with different doctors after she had undergone 6 different heart surgeries, and as we get closer to our son being born our biggest hope and prayer is that our little Nolan will be healthy.

The Texas Rangers have a similar story from their 2009 campaign, in which they managed to compete up until the last month of the season. The Rangers surprised many and might have fared better had they not hit the injury bug with Josh Hamilton missing the majority of the season and Michael Young’s late season injury. Hamilton and Young were two critical pieces and the Rangers simply didn’t have enough offense without them being present.

In 2009, Vladimir Guerrero played in only 100 games, Josh Hamilton played in only 89 games, and Rich Harden appeared in only 26 games last season. Rangers fans may want to breathe a sigh of relief that they didn’t
spend $10million on a guy like Ben Sheets who didn’t appear in ANY
games in 2009.

It’s pretty safe to say that the Rangers success in 2010 will be
largely impacted on the team can remain healthy, and this is anything but a certainty.

If the Rangers can remain healthy and keep their stars on the field then we may see great things. If not then….

Let’s just remain positive and say a little prayer for Jamie Reed, Jose Vazquez, Dr. Keith Meister, and crew as they try and keep the players on the field and healthy.

“My expectation is we will be extremely competitive and if we don’t win
our division, I will be disappointed because I think we positioned
ourselves to be right there with everybody else,” club president Nolan
Ryan said Tuesday. “It will be very competitive. There is a lot of
balance. It’s going to come down to which organization stays the
healthiest and which team plays up to their capability.”

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???
No surprise here it has to be the Oakland A’s signing Ben Sheets for $10million plus $2million in incentives. The A’s with or without Sheets don’t appear to be a strong contender in the AL West in 2010. Even if the A’s were to try and trade Sheets at the deadline they probably won’t get enough in return to warrant the signing. I would imagine that contending teams will still proceed with caution in trying to trade for a guy who has a history of breaking down towards the end of the season. I’m a fan of Sheets and there was even a part of me that was kind of getting giddy with the thought of him pitching in Texas, but I could only justify such a move in the realm of $4-5million with incentives. Jon Daniels did a great job of not getting into this bidding war.

My wife works as a manager for a tanning salon. She gets to experience the joy of working inside of retail. One of the issues she constantly battles is it better to open the store before 6am and get off early? Or is it better to go to work in the afternoon and close up around 11pm? Both opening and closing have their pros and cons.

The Rangers are facing a pretty similar situation with young phenom Neftali Feliz. Do they see him as a late inning guy to close out the game, or do you want him to start? Both options can be heavily debated, and I’m not sure there is a clear cut answer.

In 2009, Feliz pitched in 20 games in the majors with an ERA of 1.74. He threw a total of 31 innings games and had a remarkable 39 strikeouts. In 3 save opportunities he had 2 saves and 1 blown save. While up in the majors with the Rangers Feliz walked only 8 and gave up only 6 earned runs.

In 2010, the Rangers have a long list of candidates in the starting pitching pool. Neftali Feliz is expected to come into training trying to compete for a spot as a starter, but will more than likely end up back in the bullpen.

As a starter in AAA Feliz went 4-6 with an ERA of 3.49 pitching 77.1 innings through 25 games. He had a total of 75 strikeouts. The numbers don’t jump out at you but still prove to be pretty decent stats for a pitcher that is just 21 years of age.

Which role would you prefer to see Feliz in? Should he start or should he close? He will probably be effective in either role. Eventually the Rangers will probably have to decide or risk the chance of having what happened to Brandon Morrow with Seattle. He never had a clear identity and was shuffled back and forth before eventually being traded to the Blue Jays.

Adam Wainwright started out as a closer but he transitioned pretty nicely into the starting rotation.

I doubt the Rangers decide on bullpen or starter in the 2010 season but it should be interesting to see how Feliz’s career shapes up and which role the Rangers decide to put him in.

Say it ain’t so Fergie! Just read Ferguson Jenkins comments on steroids and Mark McGwire. Nuff said

One thing that I have learned over the 9 months of being married is that there are certain chores that the husband hates doing and certain chores that the wife hates doing. It truly has to be a team effort in order to make it work. Every time that put on clean sheets on our bed my wife has a difficult time trying to put them on. She’s convinced sometimes that they don’t fit. After a little maneuvering of the sheets she see’s that the bed and the sheets are a perfect fit. She just has to adjust the parts of the corners to make it work.

On Tuesday, Ben Sheets will be auditioning for approx 8 to 10 clubs. A few teams that are expected to be in attendance are the Cubs, Rangers, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Mets, Brewers, and Diamondbacks. I would not be surprised to see the Mariners jump into consideration and I’m a little shocked that the Angels won’t at least be among the teams to watch him throw on Tuesday. Outside of the Blue Jays all the teams have a hole in their rotation where Sheets could potentially fit in.

How does Sheets fit in the already crowded Rangers rotation? Sheets has a career 3.72 ERA. In 2008 he had 13 wins and earned a spot on the NL All-Star Team. He has proven to be an ace in his career, and at 31 years old he is entering into his prime years.

The questions that surround Sheets are not how he performs. The questions are all centered around his health and that he is injury prone. Sheets had a deal in place with the Rangers in 2009 but failed his physical and had to have surgery that cost him the entire 2009 season. The Rangers remain interested and have kept the door open for a 2010 signing. Sheets has ties with pitching coach Mike Maddux when he pitched for him while with the Brewers. Sheets is also from Louisiana and Texas would not be far from his home.

The question remains does Sheets fit with the Rangers?

Let’s take a look at the candidates for the 2010 Ranger Rotation:
-Rich Harden (lock for the rotation)
-Scott Feldman (lock for the rotation)
-Colby Lewis
-Tommy Hunter
-Derek Holland
-Brandon McCarthy
-Matt Harrison
*Other candidates include Nippert, Feliz, Wilson. Although they appear to be set in place in the bullpen.

Without Sheets the Rangers have 5 guys competing for 3 spots. It can be argued that Colby Lewis may be close to being a lock for the rotation when he signed a 2 year $5million deal. If the Rangers were to add Sheets then that would leave 1 open spot in the rotation with 4 worthy candidates to fill it. The Rangers could always trade one of these candidates to fill their need for an extra catcher. It’s clear that the Rangers have depth and that’s not a bad thing. It’s very rare that a team will end a season with the same rotation that it started with. If the Rangers were to add both Sheets and Harden then it would be safe to assume that they will need that depth at some point during the season. Adding Sheets could also give the Rangers more time to develop Holland and give Harrison more time to rehab from his injury last year. Both could be excellent options in the bullpen or could go down to Triple A and get more work as a starter. Derek Holland showed signs of breaking out last season but he also struggled. The most likely candidate to fill the rotation would have to be Tommy Hunter. Also, if Colby Lewis were to struggle then the Rangers would have the depth to fill his shoes.

It’s hard to argue against the Rangers signing Sheets. A top of the rotation with Harden, Sheets and Feldman looks awfully enticing. The Rangers already have the best lineup in the AL West and if the Rangers were to add Sheets then that may be enough to separate them from the pack.

We should find out soon if the sheet fits. Economics may be the biggest factor lying in the way of the Rangers reeling him in….

ARE YOU KIDDING ME OF THE WEEK????
It’s clear this week that it has to be the situation surrounding the New York Mets and Carlos Beltran. It’s mind boggling to think that the Mets would be going public against one of their star players. If reports are true then the Mets knew about the surgery and someone on the team had to authorize it with the doctor’s office or it would not occur. It leads one to wonder how much longer will the Mets stick with Omar as their GM.

On Monday the Rangers made it official by signing Vladimir Guerrero to a one year deal worth about $5.5 million dollars plus performance based incentives. There is a mutual option for 2011 believed to be around $9 million with a $1 million dollar buyout if the Rangers choose not to pick up the 2011 option.

The scene around the ballpark was quite impressive with players Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler, Darren Oliver, and captain Michael Young in attendance for Vladimir Guerrero’s press conference. Vladimir Guerrero was welcomed with open arms into the Rangers lineup.

It’s not typical that you will see a group of All-Star players attend the announcing the signing of a free agent, but the Rangers aren’t your typical team. The Rangers have one of the best clubhouses around the league. This isn’t just a club that plays 9 innings together, but this is also close outside of the locker room as well. They have a chemistry that is hard to describe into words. Although part of that chemistry is now with the Chicago Cubs with the departure of Marlon Byrd.

Fans marveled watching the Rangers young duo of Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus turning remarkable double plays. Fans were also treated to a team that went beyond expectations and competed up until the very end of the 2009 season. Step by step the Rangers kept up with the Angels at the top of the AL West Standings. They were with the Angels until the end when Michael Young suffered an injury that kept him out a good part of the last month of the season.

The AL West is going to be even tighter in 2010 with the resurgence of the Seattle Mariners. Captain Michael Young made a very good point though, “It still goes through the Angels…” You can’t be the best until you beat the best, and the Angels have proved over the past few years that they are the best in the AL West. The Rangers have stolen a couple of key players from the Angels in Darren Oliver and Vladimir Guerrero. The Mariners signed Figgins away and the Red Sox signed the ace John Lackey.

One word of caution…

The Angels aren’t necessarily finished this offseason, and even if they don’t make any other additions they are still the Angels and they haven’t been beaten yet.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME OF THE WEEK
I have taken the approach to bypass the steroid talk that is currently the talk around baseball. Opinions vary across the board but are very passionate. Some feel that Mac is a Hall of Fame baseball player and feel his admission to taking steroids is good enough for them to forgive him and move on. Others feel that all his stats should be wiped away and he will always be a cheater in their eyes. Regardless of how one feels about Big Mac this isn’t a topic that is likely to go away anytime soon. We will re-visit this conversation through the upcoming years as Palmeiro, Bonds, A-Rod, Sosa, and Clemens come up for election.

My simple stance is this. I don’t agree with what was done and I do agree that these performance enhancing drugs did have an impact on their careers as a whole. Whether the steroids were taken for the sole purpose to help rehab from an injury, or if they were taken to give one an upper hand against fierce competition. It does not matter to me what the reason the player took the steroid. The bottom line is that the steroids were taken. I choose to believe that steroids did not make or break someone from becoming a Hall of Fame player. Agree or Disagree with me is fine. I’m just ready for baseball to move on and get back to the amazing things that are going on in the game.

Quote from For Love at the Game
Billy Chapel:

“The game doesn’t stink Mr. Wheeler. It’s a great game.”