ptatc

My comments were from the 90s when I worked in the league.

Another axiom of life, crap runs downhill.

It can give it a screwball type motion but it's more that they throw it inside more than it breaks inside. The turn over just allows it to not come back over the plate when thrown inside. Of course they have a better chance. i agree that it's an advantage and should be illegal. I just don't think its a huge advantage as some have said.

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There are a few that throw the "back up slider." However the more common one is the change. They turn that over regularly and it's a much more common pitch in today's game.

That's very old school thinking. It really not as cut and dry like that

I've never played at a high level.If a ball came at me at 90+ I would run. I'm only going by what I've heard MLB players say. Many of them have said that they didn't want to knw as it messed with their reaction to the pitch.

I wouldn't say huge. They couldn't rely the location only off speed or fastball.

The NFL uses blood test for HGH. It's difficult to gain mass and power without consistent use. Where the NFL lacks is that they don't test on games days. So a player can take whatever ther want the night before a game and reduce the fatigue factor. Players refer to this as microdosing.

If the desired effect is power for homeruns it is though. Relief pitchers in the 90's were the primary abusers for the endurance and recovery effect. This didn't create the muscle bulk then either because that wasn't the desired effect.

If true, it will be in small enough doses not to make much of a difference in performance. These waivers are not uncommon and strictly reulates the dose and the players are tested much more often to make sure the dose is regulated.

This is would be true if this is what actually happen. It didn't happen on every pitch and they didn't know what pitch was coming. All they knew was fastball or off speed, in general. If the buzzer thing is true then a couple of players may have had a little more information.

You keep forgetting that most of those sports don't use the baseline blood testing other than the Olympics and they are catching people all the time. I have proof people are getting caught in this system. You have subjective opinions that people are not getting caught. I never said it isn't happening. As I said before "if you aren't cheating, you aren't trying." However, it is more difficult and the research bears it out how tough it is.

Many of the reports say that everyone knew about it. It's just Farquhar was smart enough to do something effective about it.

It's pretty tough to do with testing today but it's always possible. However, I wouldn't say it's obvious.

Need to correlate that with the liveliness of the ball as well. Could be an interesting year for the pitchers in their contract years.

It can't happen on a team wide basis without the managers knowledge. Now the managers can go to the players and instead of saying "stop it, it's wrong" they can say "stop it I don't want to lose my job." This will hit home more with the players.

I'm not sure that was the case. Why didn't other teams do like the Farqhar did for the Sox and simply change signs every other at bat or so to confuse the Astros. Everyone knew they were doing it, so change it yourself. Teams probably didn't turn the Astros in because they were doing it themselves. It may not have been as advanced but many were probably doing it.

Hence my comment about, if they are caught they should be appropriately punished.

The punishment wasn't weak. They pretty much went as far as they could for first time punishments. They can't go from no precedent to life time bans instantly. If they tried this with the players, the union would get involved. If the GM or managers had a union, this would be in grievance right now. The next punishments will be greater due to this precedent.

The part about Trout and the thyroid can't be true. It doesn't make sense. Thyroid issue are treated by hormones but not HGH. A pituitary issue could be treated with HGH but not thyroid.

No my point is that it's going to happen and it can't be stopped. However, when they are caught, they should be punished appropriately. Others on the board have said that cheating should be stopped. My point is that it isn't realistic to say "cheating should stop."

I wonder if he is one that got immunity for testimony? If not, there should be a suspension.

When I worked at a horse racing track, I worked on the track crew. We would find the buzzers the jockeys used to shock the horses along with the whip. We were instructed just to get rid of them away from the track.

An IV port?