ESPN's Rick Rick Reilly has a funny piece this week about steroids and their impact on recent MVP awards. One of the players he calls out is Seattle's own Adrian Beltre.
Reilly writes:
"I have a U-Haul of hardware here for Jose Alberto Pujols Alcántara of the St. Louis Cardinals. You already have two MVPs, Albert, and you're about to get three more, since Barry Bonds ripped you off worse than Bernie Madoff to win the award from 2002 to 2004. You hit .335 and averaged 41 bombs those years and yet you finished second behind the clearly creaming Bonds in '02 and '03, and third behind Bonds and Adrian Beltre in '04. We're throwing out Beltre since, while he denies ever using PEDs, he fell off the face of the planet once baseball put in stricter steroid suspensions in 2005. If he wasn't cheating, I'm the Queen Mother."
On a side note, Beltre is seen here appealing his own check swing, which he does frequently. Nothing funnier than watching Beltre ask the 1b umpire to ring him up after the home plate umpire doesn't call a strike. Why doesn't someone with the Mariners explain to him that he is the only major league hitter (ever?) to do this and that it can only hurt him?
Back to the 'Roids. Beltre can prove in 2009 that he is not a cheater, and that he saves his best effort for contract years. Hit 35+ HR this year Adrian and we'll know you play for the cash and not on the juice!
No comments:
Post a Comment