Giants Melky Cabrera suspended 50 games

[TZ]

Tested positive for testosterone, per Ken Rosenthal on twitter. Suspension effective immediately...

Statement from Melky:"My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used. I accept my suspension under the Joint Drug Program and will try to move on with my life. I am deeply sorry for my mistake and I apologize to my teammates, to the San Francisco Giants organization and to the fans for letting them down."

[Kingofalldems]

1. Well well well

Last night's game should not count.

[Auggie]

2. WTF??

Testosterone is banned?

50 ... that includes five playoff games

FUCK!

[TZ]

3. excessive amounts of it.

Considered PED.

[Auggie]

5. Dodgers just won the NL West

Get 'em, Nats

[KamaAina]

10. Five playoff games?

You really think they'll get that far now?

[Auggie]

23. See post 5 ...

I was thinking irrationally.

[RockaFowler]

4. LOL

Another Giants cheater!! Where's the Giants fan today??

[El Supremo]

6. Take away his MVP All Star game win!

And have the Word Series home field in the American League park.

[Auggie]

7. One of these will suffice:

[Jack Rabbit]

14. Ban him from Baseball -- trade him to the American League!

!!

[cherokeeprogressive]

28. You mean ban him from REAL baseball... make him a DH.

He's worth about a bushel of fried clams now.

Yup... I'd have to agree. Ban him from Baseball. Real Baseball anyway...

[Upton]

8. Tainted Melk..

thanks a lot Melky. No wonder the contract talks broke off after the rumor surfaced a couple weeks ago..

Giants season is probably over. Last year it was Posey, this year Cabrera. Not much has gone right since 2010..

[Auggie]

9. Well ...

we had a great line-up for one day -- Tuesday, August 14th.

[Upton]

15. Hey, we're in great shape now.

Miller just said Blanco is 3 for his last 39. Melky was carrying a WAR of 4.5. Don't see how he can be replaced sufficiently enough to keep the Giants in the NL West race..

[Auggie]

27. To that I say ...

[Onceuponalife]

17. Buster tested positive?

How did I miss that?

At least you aren't in denial like you were with Baroid. I'll give you that much, Uptonoy4.

[KamaAina]

24. No, he got knocked out for most of last season

by a Marlins benchwarmer who barreled into him at the plate much like hockey goons used to do to Gretzky and Lemieux.

And now this season they're out of Melk.

[Jack Rabbit]

11. Testosterone?

Can we ban white male Republicans who seem to have in in excess?

[joeybee12]

12. Too bad...sort of liked him because Satan had dumped him...

Had assumed he was doing better because he was not influenced by pure evil anymore.

[KamaAina]

16. The Kansas City Royals are Satan?

Jeez. Lighten up, Francis!

[joeybee12]

20. No, the real Satan...the Stankmes!

[Iggo]

30. The Royals are Satan's farm team.

[KamaAina]

38. Actually, the old Kansas City A's pretty much were Satan's farm team.

(assuming that, by Satan, you mean the Yankees ) judging by the trades they made late in the season.

[El Supremo]

39. DON'T REMIND ME!

The KC Blues were the real AAA farm team of the Yankers. When they left (for Denver) and the Athletics came in, the merry-go-round continued. Charlie Finley finally stopped but then he pulled out for Oakland. And then his big stars became free agents who signed with New Yawk anyway.

[KamaAina]

47. Oddly enough, they got driven out of Denver by none other than the Rockies

they're now the New Orleans Zephyrs, which rocks, because NOLA had been by far the largest U.S. city without pro baseball.

[Jack Rabbit]

13. Well, I didn't think the Giants' chances were too good with him, either

They've done well this year under the circumstances and this definitely won't help.

[Onceuponalife]

18. He's a free agent after this season

Bye bye, fat contract. What a dumbass! Is he related to Manny?

P.S. Espinoza just hit a blast off of Timmy boy, giving the Natinals the lead back 4-2.

[KamaAina]

19. Th-th-th-that's all, folks

Enjoy your Dodgers-Natinals NLCS. Wake me up when hockey season starts.

[Kingofalldems]

21. The guy went from being a sometimes decent hitter to MVP

candidate. Giants should have been suspicious.

[madinmaryland]

22. Hmmm. There appears to be a pattern of abuse in SF going on. Unless of course he "unknowingly"

used it.

[KamaAina]

25. The Joint Drug Program?!

[El Supremo]

26. ...

NO

[hughee99]

29. As an added punishment, because of the timing, he'll be 1 AB short

of qualifying for a chance at the batting title.

[Upton]

31. The "Tony Gwynn Rule" says you're wrong..

a quirky rule allows Cabrera to add a hitless at-bat in order to get the required plate appearances. Call this "The Tony Gwynn Rule," as Gwynn had 498 plate appearances in 1996 and was given the four hitless at-bats he needed to qualify. Gwynn won the batting title with a .353 average.

Adding an 0-for-1 to Cabrera's season total still leaves him with a .346 batting average. So if that ends up as the best in the majors, MLB could face the awkward situation of awarding a batting title to a suspended player.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1299591-why-melky-cabreras-50-game-ped-suspension-is-the-most-costly-ever

In his final time up, Melky was actually at the plate, when Pagan got tagged for the 3rd out because he got caught off second. Sounds like a hitless AB that qualifies under the rule..

[Kingofalldems]

32. That's right up there with the Panda and Bochy

claiming in 2010 that because of an alleged All Star snub 3 yrs ago, Panda should go that year.

And of course, a deserving Ryan Zimmerman was left off the team because Baby Huey wanted to play.

[Upton]

33. ??

I'm pointing out a rule demonstrating Melky is probably still eligible for the batting title. Put in place to accommodate TONY GYWNN not Cabrera. What's your problem?

[Kingofalldems]

34. Giants get by on another technicality

[hughee99]

35. I wasn't aware of the rule, but I don't believe having a runner picked off is a plate appearance.

At least by any definition I've ever heard, anyway.

A plate appearance, if I understand correctly, requires a player to complete a turn at bat. If the game had continued, Cabrera would have had an official plate appearance in the next inning.

In any case, though, I don't believe he needs to actually have a plate appearance (now that I've looked into it). They'll just add in as many O-fers as needed to get him to the minimum. Usually, adding a bunch to someone's average would knock them out of contention anyway, so that's the built-in penalty. If he had been 100 AB's short, they would have just given him an 0-100.

I'm not sure why it's called the Tony Gwynn rule, because it's actually much older than him. In 1954, Ted Williams was given an 0-14 to make him eligible for the batting title, but it dropped his average 4 points to under .341 and he missed out on the title to Bobby Avila.

[Upton]

36. Yeah, it wasn't an official AB..

but apparently it doesn't have to be under this exception...it can just be made into an 0-1. Presto!..Melky qualifies for the batting title..

Btw, for you, Kingofalldems, or anybody else...I'm not defending Melky. And my reading of the comments on Giants boards yesterday shows I'm with the majority. Most fans seem to think he let the team down..

[RockaFowler]

37. Kirk Gibson thinks Melky Cabrera got off easy

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/16/kirk-gibson-thinks-melky-cabrera-got-off-easy/

He’s had a huge impact against us. My understanding is he admitted to taking it and knew what he took and that’s just not right. If you do something like that, in my mind, it should be much more severe. Part of me says that, enough already. We’ve made a commitment to stopping that kind of activity and we still from time to time find that people are still trying to fool the system.

Maybe they should consider a much stricter penalty. It’s just bull. I would say the majority of the people who are in this game care about the integrity of the game. We’re all committed to that and cleaning it up. Obviously there’s not a big enough deterrent if it continues so I think the penalty needs to be much more severe.

[Onceuponalife]

40. This seems to becoming a pattern with this team

First Baroid, now Melky. Who next? Posey? Pence? You wonder about the culture of win at all costs that must be going on in the clubhouse.

The Giants seemed to be trying to look the other way as long as they were winning:

This is the same team that years ago allowed Bonds' supplier, Greg Anderson, to roam the clubhouse. They enabled. They turned a blind eye. When law enforcement intervened and the lid was lifted on the crimes, the Giants waffled until Bonds broke Hank Aaron's career home-run record in 2007. AT&T Park was packed every night, the air was electric, and although everyone but the deepest in denial knew Bonds' exploits were tainted, fans cheered and the team went along.

To the Giants' credit, Bonds wasn't re-signed after the '07 season despite his 28 home runs in 126 games, his league-leading .480 on-base percentage and ungodly 1.045 OPS. They would try to scrub PEDs from their image. Drugs would always be part of Bonds' legacy, and the Giants were tied to his needle-pocked hip, but a new drug-free/Bonds-free team would move forward, however belatedly, into the MLB testing era.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/giants-losing-melky-cabrera-is-apt-five-years-after-barry-bonds-ended-his-peds-fueled-reign.html

[Upton]

41. Check out Kemp's stats sometime..

his stats are actually somewhat similar to Melky's..a big jump last season, after coming off a poor year.. The BA is there, Kemp went from a .249 hitter in 2010 to .325 in 2011, .355 so far this season.

This is what I find interesting though..the best AB/HR ratio Kemp ever had in his career was 21.5 in 2010, other years have shown 23.3, 29.2, 33.7..you get the idea. Suddenly, starting in 2011, his AB/HR dropped all the way down to 15.4. This year it's even lower, a HR every 14.8 AB..

Kemp has been in MLB since 2006. He's a good hitter, but do you actually think he coincidentally turned into a big bopper just last year? Victor Conte says up to half of ML players are using something. Fast acting testosterone which cleanses out of the system quickly making it hard to detect, seems to be the choice nowadays...but if Conte is right, and you think Kemp isn't one of them, you're deluding yourself..

[Auggie]

42. BULLSHIT!

There's no culture of cheating. Management does not encourage steroid use. Yes, they fucked-up royally with Bonds and it will haunt them forever. But those days are long over.

"Culture (to) win at all costs..." "Seems to be a pattern..." implying the use of banned substances. THAT'S BULLSHIT!

Edited to add: 8 posts in the last 90 days? 4 in sports? And you suddenly show up in this thread just to trash the Giants? That speaks volumes.

[Upton]

43. The Mitchell Report..

Former Senator George J. Mitchell released a blistering report Thursday that tied 89 Major League Baseball players, including Roger Clemens, to the use of illegal, performance-enhancing drugs. The report used informant testimony and supporting documents to provide a richly detailed portrait of what Mr. Mitchell described as “baseball’s steroids era.”

Mr. Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, was the most prominent name on a list that included seven other former most valuable players as well as players from all 30 teams. The list included more than a dozen players who have had significant roles with the Yankees, and more than a dozen Mets, too. It also included 11 players alone from the 2000 Los Angeles Dodgers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/sports/baseball/14mitchell.html?pagewanted=all

Uh, among the Dodgers implicated were: Gary Sheffield, Todd Hundley, Paul Lo Duca, Eric Gagne, Ismael Valdez, and Kevin Brown..

Lets not forget, the Mitchell report didn't include the 50 game suspension Manny was forced to serve while playing for the Dodgers..

How does that go.....people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones?

[Auggie]

44. And do you really think

Giants' GM Brian Sabean would knowingly sign a steroid user who could be banned in the middle of a playoff race? No GM -- NOT ONE -- knowingly takes on the risk of losing a player, especially a starter, especially this late in the season.

Yours is a douchebag post ... one of the all-time doucheiest ever in Sports.

[El Supremo]

45. You better develop some thick skin about this.

Melky could very well win the batting title this year. There are going to be a lot of people pissed. And lots of comparisons to Bonds.

Luckily I don't hate the Giants nearly as much as I hate the Yankees or Marlins. And most Coloradans hate the Dodgers much more than the G-Men.

[Auggie]

46. I'm going to call bullshit if I see it

The Giants do not harbor a culture of cheating

[El Supremo]

48. Kicking to show how all our Failure Fixated Frisco Fans were ready to throw in the towel.

[Auggie]

49. I was WAY WRONG

Dodgers win the division?

[Jack Rabbit]

50. Excuse me, that's SAN FRANCISCO to you

[center][/center][font size="1"]Photo by Daniel Schwen (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User schwen) in Wikipedia
(Creative Commons License, Attribution/Share Alike)
[/font]

FRISCO is a suburb of Dallas, Texas.

Look at the bright side, El Sup. The Giants won't beat the Rangers in the World Series this year.