Author Danny Vinik

Let Pete Rose In Cooperstown

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Pete Rose is one of the greatest players to ever play Major League Baseball. He is the all-time leader in hits with 4256. Think about that. 3000 hits is considered a major milestone for a player. Only 27 players have 3000+ hits. Rose has over FOUR THOUSAND hits. Ty Cobb is second, Hank Aaron third, Stan Musial fourth, Tris Speaker fifth, Carl Yastrzemski sixth, Cap Anson seventh, Honus Wagner eighth, Paul Molitor ninth, and Eddie Collins is tenth. That list of names is absolutely astounding. Everyone other one of those guys is in the Hall of Fame. There is no doubt that Pete Rose’s stats are Hall of Fame worthy. The doubt lies in his actions off the field.

Many people try to compare Pete Rose betting on baseball to steroids and that if Rose is inducted into the Hall-of-Fame then Barry Bonds should be as well. However, there is a huge difference between Rose’s actions and Bonds’s. First off, Rose never bet on games he played in. He never threw games and his betting never affected the outcome of games. His conduct certainly violated MLB rules and his lies afterwards hurt his legacy dearly, but Rose never compromised the integrity of the game. That cannot be understated. Continue reading “Let Pete Rose In Cooperstown” →

US Soccer Continues To Impress

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Most people have stopped following the US Men’s National Team after it’s tough loss to Brazil in the finals of the Confederations Cup. The US has actually been participating in the Gold Cup, a tournament for teams in the Americas, over the last several weeks. The matches have all taken place on US soil and the United States has used almost no players who played in the Confederations Cup, but nevertheless, the United States will face Mexico in the Finals tomorrow at Giants Stadium.

For those that have watched the games, the United States certainly hasn’t run over its opponents. The US won the games they needed to win, but didn’t demolish anyone and weren’t at the form seen in South Africa. That would make sense though since the roster has just four carryovers – Freddy Adu, Charlie Davies, Heath Pearce, and Luis Robles. Seven players were looking for their first cap while sixteen of the twenty-three man roster have less than five caps. The team looked nothing like the Confederations Cup roster yet they find themselves winning games and advancing. Continue reading “US Soccer Continues To Impress” →

Jim Parque: A Role Model For Steroid Users

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Jim Parque isn’t and wasn’t a big time superstar. He didn’t smash home runs. He didn’t fire the ball 100 MPH. He was a scrawny, persistent fifth starter just trying to survive in MLB. He pitched for the Chicago White Sox from 1998 to 2002, starting more than twenty games three times during his tenure there. His best season came in 2000 when he was 13-6 with a 4.28 ERA. Other than that season, his ERA was always above five. He didn’t dominate batters. He was a fourth-to-fifth starter who just sucked up innings and tried his best to keep his team in ballgames.

Then he hurt his shoulder and just like that, his career was in grave jeopardy. He signed with Tampa Bay in 2003 and started five games for them, but of those five games, he made it out of the third inning just twice and ended up with an 11.94 ERA. His career was finished as quick as it had started. Parque was done.

Now six years later, Parque is doing the unprecedented. He’s admitting using HGH with absolutely no pressure and no reason to do so. Few people even know who Jim Parque is. No one is going to care that he used HGH six times while with the Rays to try to stay alive in the league. Yet, this courageous action should be glorified by MLB. It should be put on a pedestal and shown to the world. Continue reading “Jim Parque: A Role Model For Steroid Users” →