01-01-2012, 01:01 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-02-2012, 02:17 AM by natejeffries.)
Did steroids in baseball start with the Big Red Machine?
Did steroids in baseball start with the Big Red Machine?
<a href="http://s1122.photobucket.com/albums/l533/Nateguidry/?action=view&current=JohnnyBench.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l533/Nateguidry/JohnnyBench.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Did steroids start in baseball with the Big Red Machine?
Maybe others were doing it before the Reds, but the amazing offensive statistics produced by this team and what we now know about performance enhancers, raises the possibility that there were some synthetic sweeteners in that clubhouse.
Three players on the team stand out the most.
1) The first guy is on the above Sports Illustrated cover from 1972. Is that Hulk Hogan? Arnold? The Honky Tonk Man? Macho Man Randy Savage?
No. It's Johnny Bench. The guy that some people swore hit homers farther than anybody they ever saw.
There is a reason no catcher ever hit home runs remotely like Bench before. They didn't have the forearms of Mark McGwire. Look at that picture again. That vein is about to burst.
He led the league in home runs twice, with 40 and 45. He also did it in a pre-Mike Piazza era when catchers never even dreamed of approaching the 40 homer mark.
Bench also was known for his rage. I am not accusing him of roid rage but one person on this site actually wrote about experiencing it firsthand as a little child, after being berated by the "Little General" for wanting his autograph.
2) Joe Morgan. Look up his stats. Pay attention to those first nine seasons with the Houston Astros. He had a batting average of .260 over that period.
In all of those seasons, he only had three years where he belted more than 8 homers and reached a high of 15. He averaged one home run per every 54 at bats.
He was traded to Cincinatti before the 1972 season and immediately posted career highs with a .292 average and 16 home runs. He hit 26 homers the next year.
In Morgan's first six years with the Reds, he had a batting average of .300. The 5'7 second baseman hit more than 20 homers four times. He lowered his home run ratio to once every 41 at bats. And it wasn't the ballpark. His home away splits were remarkably consistent throughout his career except for his biggest home run season in Cincinatti when he actually hit twice as many home runs AWAY.
Take a close look at footage of Morgan in the 70's. He had the muscles of an olympic weightlifter. Did I mention he was 5'7?
3) George Foster
He went from being a guy who hit for average in the minors with a little pop to being a guy who couldn't hit for average or power in his first few years in the majors.
In his first three seasons in the minors, he hit a combined 25 home runs in 1,200 at bats.
In his first full year in the majors, he hit 13 home runs. Between 1971 and 1974, he batted .233 and hit 26 home runs in 930 at-bats.
In 1975, Foster was apparently let in on a secret as his average soared to .300 and he belted 23 homers, nearly the same amount of homers that he needed twice as many at bats to hit over the previous three years.
In 1976, he hit .306 and had 29 home runs.
In 1977, he did what nobody would do until juiced up Cecil Fielder 14 years later - he smashed 51 home runs. In fact, Foster was the only guy over a 25-year stretch to hit 50 home runs. The last one was Willie Mays.
Then he went into decline. Right away. He went down to 40 home runs the next year, followed by 30, 25, and 22 in 1981. He was traded to the Mets the next year where he batted .241 and hit only 13 home runs.
Just when you thought he was washed up, Foster miraculously found his swing again at the age of 35. He bested his home run totals of the previous three years by hitting 28 home runs before going into decline again.
I can't prove any of these guys took steroids and I don't think anybody ever will. But I have a strong case for suspicion.
Did steroids start in baseball with the Big Red Machine?
Maybe others were doing it before the Reds, but the amazing offensive statistics produced by this team and what we now know about performance enhancers, raises the possibility that there were some synthetic sweeteners in that clubhouse.
Three players on the team stand out the most.
1) The first guy is on the above Sports Illustrated cover from 1972. Is that Hulk Hogan? Arnold? The Honky Tonk Man? Macho Man Randy Savage?
No. It's Johnny Bench. The guy that some people swore hit homers farther than anybody they ever saw.
There is a reason no catcher ever hit home runs remotely like Bench before. They didn't have the forearms of Mark McGwire. Look at that picture again. That vein is about to burst.
He led the league in home runs twice, with 40 and 45. He also did it in a pre-Mike Piazza era when catchers never even dreamed of approaching the 40 homer mark.
Bench also was known for his rage. I am not accusing him of roid rage but one person on this site actually wrote about experiencing it firsthand as a little child, after being berated by the "Little General" for wanting his autograph.
2) Joe Morgan. Look up his stats. Pay attention to those first nine seasons with the Houston Astros. He had a batting average of .260 over that period.
In all of those seasons, he only had three years where he belted more than 8 homers and reached a high of 15. He averaged one home run per every 54 at bats.
He was traded to Cincinatti before the 1972 season and immediately posted career highs with a .292 average and 16 home runs. He hit 26 homers the next year.
In Morgan's first six years with the Reds, he had a batting average of .300. The 5'7 second baseman hit more than 20 homers four times. He lowered his home run ratio to once every 41 at bats. And it wasn't the ballpark. His home away splits were remarkably consistent throughout his career except for his biggest home run season in Cincinatti when he actually hit twice as many home runs AWAY.
Take a close look at footage of Morgan in the 70's. He had the muscles of an olympic weightlifter. Did I mention he was 5'7?
3) George Foster
He went from being a guy who hit for average in the minors with a little pop to being a guy who couldn't hit for average or power in his first few years in the majors.
In his first three seasons in the minors, he hit a combined 25 home runs in 1,200 at bats.
In his first full year in the majors, he hit 13 home runs. Between 1971 and 1974, he batted .233 and hit 26 home runs in 930 at-bats.
In 1975, Foster was apparently let in on a secret as his average soared to .300 and he belted 23 homers, nearly the same amount of homers that he needed twice as many at bats to hit over the previous three years.
In 1976, he hit .306 and had 29 home runs.
In 1977, he did what nobody would do until juiced up Cecil Fielder 14 years later - he smashed 51 home runs. In fact, Foster was the only guy over a 25-year stretch to hit 50 home runs. The last one was Willie Mays.
Then he went into decline. Right away. He went down to 40 home runs the next year, followed by 30, 25, and 22 in 1981. He was traded to the Mets the next year where he batted .241 and hit only 13 home runs.
Just when you thought he was washed up, Foster miraculously found his swing again at the age of 35. He bested his home run totals of the previous three years by hitting 28 home runs before going into decline again.
I can't prove any of these guys took steroids and I don't think anybody ever will. But I have a strong case for suspicion.