The Melk has Gone Sour

By Kalen Patrick

Wednesday, August 15th, I wake up and start thinking of the afternoon game for my Giants vs the powerhouse Washington Nationals (that's still weird to say). I was feeling confident after yesterday's win, we finally had THE lineup we have been waiting for. Then, in a flash, a tweet by Ken Rosenthal changed everything " Just announced by MLB: SFGiants' Melky Cabrera suspended 50 games without pay after testing positive for testosterone." 

As a die-hard fan, I went through the usual list of emotions, First: Denial "Hey maybe the report is wrong! It has to be wrong!" Second: Sadness "We are screwed!! No playoffs!!" Third: Anger "F**k Melky! He is a cheating piece of S**t!" Finally: Accepting Reality, we no longer have Melky for the rest of the regular season, we can start looking at names as to who can replace him. I like Gregor Blanco but he shouldn't be an every day player. Other names float around, and an interesting one is Alfonso Soriano from the Cubs, but the Giants wouldn't go near him unless the Cubs eat a significant portion of his contract. 

WHO KNOWS WHAT THE FUTURE NOW HOLDS FOR MELKY CABRERA

Ultimately the whole situation just sucks. Plain and simple. After yesterday's game confidence was sky high, we beat the Nationals, we have our lineup and things were looking great. Now we have no Melky, Timmy got beat up by the Nationals today, and confidence is near an all time low. 

Going forward this season either one of two things will happen, the Giants will let this drag them down and they will get to the finish line gingerly, maybe ending up 3rd in the NL West with a record slightly over .500. Or else the team can rally around this, play the whole "Nobody Believes in Us" card and make a great run to the playoffs and beyond. Obviously I am hoping for the latter but right now the former is firmly stuck on my mind. I just hope Bruce Bochy and the Giants can think as positive as possible about the whole situation.

Until Next Time....

The Steroid Era and The Hall of Fame

This is gonna be an age old question, do players who have tested positive for steroids or have overwhelming evidence of doing so, belong in the Hall of Fame? The answer has to be Y-E-S yes! Look I completely understand the argument of the more traditional baseball enthusiast, that steroid era players should not get voted in, that their numbers are inflated, etc etc. But let me give you my side of the argument as to why, in my opinion, players from the steroid era do belong in the Hall of Fame.

The Steroid Era happened. Nothing we will ever do or say will erase that fact. I get the feeling that a lot of people who don't want the players from this era in, is that eventually the era itself will be forgotten. That is simply never going to happen. There are just too many Hall of Fame caliber players from this era to just simply flat out ignore it. Place an '*' beside their name, in Cooperstown have a special section dedicated to this era, do what ever you want to them, but first they must be voted in. How can you seriously have a Baseball Hall of Fame which doesn't include the likes of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez etc etc.

382 HR's, 1451 RBI, .298 AVG, .352 OBP and 1 MVP
762 HR's, 1996 RBI, .298 AVG, .444 OBP and 6 MVP's

The 1st stat line is that of recent Hall of Fame inductee Jim Rice of the Boston Red Sox. An excellent player in his time and in my opinion, just about deserving of induction. The 2nd line contains the career numbers of Barry Lamar Bonds. Odds are if you are not a fan of the San Francisco Giants you probably flat out hate the guy, you probably hate the fact he holds arguably the most coveted record in American Sports, hitting 762 Home Runs. But don't tell me this guy doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame. His numbers are way too ridiculous to even have to think twice about it.

          Whether you love or hate him, Barry Bonds belongs in the Hall of Fame

So I'm guessing many responses would be "Oh you are a Giants fan! Of course you'd say that about Bonds!" Well I will save you some time, guys like Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, all belong in there too. I hate Roger Clemens and I hate A-Rod, but they along with every other deserving player from this era, need to be in the Hall of Fame when it's all said and done.