Dave Stewart - SJ Mercury - Ben Margot

This last week the Giants and A’s celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1989 World Series.  They both were in it that year, and that was the same year as the big earthquake up here .  They had a reunion for the players which included such greats as Dave Stewart and Carney Lansford. 

I read a great article (click here) though on how two players were obviously missing.  That would be Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.  The two former “Bash Brothers” have essentially been black listed from public functions due to their ties to steriods.  Jose Canseco has openly said that he did it, but he hasn’t been welcomed back.  (In fact most of his teammates are so mad at him still that they don’t even consider him part of the original team.)  Mark McGwire has stayed silent and sadly has allowed everyone to make their assumptions that he did do steriods.  His silence only seems to confirm those suspecisions.

It leads to an interesting discussion as to what baseball is going to do in the future with these steriod users.  You have a growing number of athletes who were involved in fantastic fan memories of great games, but now they are fading away like ghosts.  Barry Bonds is that way even though up here in SF they still invite him back to certain events.  Manny Ramirez will also be that way eventually.  Perhaps once everyone is exposed and steriods are cleaned up, then forgiveness can be granted, but not yet.  Not for certain players. 

It’s funny how all the teams are involved now, because just about every team has had some player who is associated with drugs.  It is sad because in some ways you want to honor the former greats…but their legacy is tarnished, and thus they can’t be invited back.

On a lighter note, I had an interesting discussion with a Giants fan this week as to whether the Giants would win the Wild Card, or if the Rockies would catch them.   It’s an interesting debate.  I think the Rockies have more offense, whereas the Giants have more pitching.  Minus Matt Holliday, the Rockies are a similar team to the team that went to the World Series a couple of years ago.  I give the edge to the Rockies, even though I have a weird hunch on the Cardinals.  I think they may squeak in yet.

What’s your thoughts, Giants or Rockies.? Till next week for Spy Game.  Go Blue.  (And yes, I’m really glad to be past the White Sox and Mariners…)

Jose Canseco by Michael Buckner/Getty Images

So this whole A-rod thing is really too bad. Not totally surprising, but still too bad. I really like A-rod. He is just flat out a stud. He is ripped, he can hit like crazy, and he is clutch (during the regular season that is.) I was glad to see that he at least copped up to it today for his time with the Rangers.

I got to see A-rod take batting practice at the Home Run Derby in San Francisco a couple of years ago. I won’t ever forget him because of the way the ball jumped off his bat. Other guys could hit. They were all All-Stars, but there was something about the way he clubbed it that was different than anybody else. It was just a studly swing and the balls just sailed through the park.

I’m sure this will pass for him, as people will still want to see him play. Enough about him though because he isn’t the true purpose of this post.

Look who’s right again – Mr. Canseco. Talk about an interesting guy. He was a cool Bash Brother, but now he’s just bizarre. He obviously needs a better financial manager if he’s doing boxing matches for money, but the guy has forever shaped baseball. Even more, he was right. People called out his motives, and it does seem like he sold people out to make money on his books, but there wasn’t any reason to lie.

It was like in 24 two episodes ago. Mrs. Matumbo says that they should trust Jack Bower because there is no reason for him to lie. Jose Canseco has nothing to lose. His reputation is whatever people want, but he is a whistle-blower, and he is right on…as odd as he is.

I thought this article on Canseco was interesting in that he foreshadows more will come out on A-rod. I do think it’s funny that Alex only did it when he was with the Rangers. Why stop when he went to the Yankees? If anything, I would think the pressure would be more in New York to produce than Texas. I don’t know, it seems fishy to me.

I still would love a chance to have a meal with Jose Canseco. I think you’d have stories for a lifetime.