Hammerin' Hank No. 1 again? Selig mulling it

[Poiuyt]

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig on Wednesday left open the possibility of punishing New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez for using performance-enhancing drugs. Selig also said he might consider amending the record book to acknowledge steroids use by players.

Selig told USA Today in a telephone interview he "would have to think about" taking action against Rodriguez, saying the player broke the law by using PEDs. Selig refused to be specific about possible penalties, and he indicated a decision would not be made quickly.

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On the issue of changing the records, Selig said he would look into the possibility of reinstating Hank Aaron -- a personal friend -- as No. 1 on the all-time home run list and attach asterisks or some other note to the records of players involved in steroids use. "Once you start tinkering, you can create more problems," USA Today quoted Selig as saying. "But I'm not dismissing it. I'm concerned. I'd like to get some more evidence."

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http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/29149415/

[TZ]

1. I have no problem with this.

But we need to restore Roger Maris and 61 as well. Take off Bonds, Sosa and McGwire.
Oh and--:popcorn:

[Captain Hilts]

15. A-Rod's #s went up by a third. Remove a third of the home runs for the 3 yrs. plus one. nt

[Upton]

2. Until the time comes

when ALL the names of ALL the steroid users are known, to even hint at something like this is typical Selig. You can't just pick and choose what records should stand and what records shouldn't...what kind of precedent would that set?

Selig should put an asterisk behind his own name..for he is as responsible for the steroid era as anybody else and is the worst commissioner in MLB history.

[wilt the stilt]

8. by far the worst

he has made one boneheaded decision after another.

[flvegan]

3. Why stop at steroid users?

Any MLB player that has, at any point, used any performance enhancing substance should be ineligible under that mentality. That ought to clear the record books really quickly, effectively stopping most anyone since probably the mid-80's from holding anything.

There, problem fixed.

[TZ]

5. You make a good point.

I hadn't thought of it this way, but its not like there aren't cheaters in the HOF already..like spitball type pitchers....

[flvegan]

7. Very true. And amphetamines have been around baseball since the 60's IIRC.

[PVnRT]

11. Some spitballers were allowed to continue throwing it after the rule was implemented

Before the 1930s or so, it was a legal pitch.

[Forkboy]

4. This is such a can of worms.

How do you take away players records without affecting other players who played with them? Say they clear A-fraud from the record books. That affects other player's stats, players that may have done nothing wrong. Runs scored, RBI's, even pitcher's stats against these players. This has nothing but clusterfuck written all over it.

Selig has done a wonderful job of ignoring this issue until it's a joke, and now the punchline is about to be delivered. For once I agree with Upton that even saying this at this point is stupid on Selig's part. But hey, he hasn't done anything intelligent yet, why start now?

[El Supremo]

6. They don't need official asterisks....

The press and the media have already given them out. This would be a total mess.

I really question Selig's mental capability.

[Auggie]

9. Absolutely agree. 100 years from now the asterisks will still be there.

They might be even bigger.

[nickgutierrez]

10. Purely playing the role of devil's advocate, here, but...

...how do we know Hank wasn't on greenies? Illegal substance, not banned by the league, prevalent in the game at the time, just like steroids in 2003. It's easy to say that modern players are tainted by playing in the 'Steroid Era', but not so easy to figure out how far back the era goes, or how far back the game was "tainted" by performance-enhancing drugs of one kind or another.

They should leave the records alone, and let the debate sort itself out over time.

[madinmaryland]

12. I just think Selig should just go the FUCK away.

Definitely LIHOP, if not MIHOP.

[Capt. America]

13. Amen! Time for a NEW Commissioner one that was not with management or the players!

Too bad it will not happen until the "Glorious Leader, Chairman for Life Selig" dies. Oh, and the owners have to actually pick someone that is independent. So, I guess it will never happen.

[nickgutierrez]

14. Definitely true.

There's no way he didn't know.

[cboy4]

16. I loathe Bud Selig as much as I do the Cowboys

:puke:

[DaveinMD]

17. when he does this

I hope he wiped out all of Gaylord Perry and removes him from the hall of fame. After all, Perry is an admitted cheater.