Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:07 pm EDT

Most responses to baseball players using performance-enhancing drugs tend to be either hysterical or "meh." Hall-of-Fame right-hander Bob Gibson, whose reputation suggests he would have gnawed off an opponent's limbs to win one of his starts, gave an intellectually honest answer about steroids in a recent ESPN radio interview (AUDIO — skip to 7:45).
His most provocative line: "I probably would have a tendency to say, 'Let's just try this and see what it does to me.' "
Call Bob Gibson an enabler, or a cheater in his heart if you like (then duck), but he just raised the most reasonable point on the issue so far. That's not all Gibson said, either.
• "They had the 'Black Sox scandal.' ... Guys have always been cheating, period. It just takes a little different form today."
• "I'm just glad they didn't have steroids when I was playing. You know, I don't know what I would have done."
• "It's very difficult to go out there and perform when you know the guy next to you is taking steroids, or some kind of drugs, that make you play better — and not do it yourself. ... To let this guy get an edge on you, I can't see anybody wanting to go out there, knowing that this other guy is taking drugs and hitting .300 and hitting 500 home runs, and here I am, trying to behave and trying to do things the way it's supposed to be done, and I'm not hitting very well, so ... I probably would have a tendency to say 'Let's just try this and see what it does to me.' "
• "I don't know if I can really criticize the guys. ... Whoever the first guy was who started, that's the guy I'm going to criticize. For the rest of them, they're following suit."
• "I don't think it's 'OK.' I'm not sanctioning it, but I understand why it happens."
• On whether users should be allowed in the Hall of Fame: "Oh, yeah. I think so."
Testify, Pack Robert.
Big League Stew is an MLB blog edited by Kevin Kaduk. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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35 Comments
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It would be the equivalent if pitchers used sandpaper to scuff the baseballs...yet umpires were not allowed to check if pitchers had sandpaper in their glove or pockets. If you knew other pitchers were doing it...and there was no way for them to get caught...wouldn't you do it too?
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So what would Gibson's numbers be if the mound was at the height it is today. Or offensive enhancement has been going on since Gibson's time. For many Gibson's time was boring baseball because of so few runs. Since then, baseball owners have gone about creating a product that is more entertaining and fun to watch. Lowering the mound, small ball parks, small strike zones, body armor, maple bats, harder balls, legitimate weight training, there are too many factors to say that one thing like PED's are dominant. We like to watch baseball because it's so complicated.
Bob Gibson was great. How much of his career totals were enhanced by the high mound? It's as impossible to say as how much does PEDs enhance a career? He was just honest.
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They are the same guy. Please explain how PED's have enhanced A-Rod's career. nothing can help you handle the pressure to win when you play for the Yankees. Mr. Winfield; I believe that just as Mr. Gibson said, if you could have taken something that would have helped you win one WS while a member of the Yankees; you would have done so. Conversely, if A-Rod doesn't win one with the Yankees, that will be his greatest regret, not PED use.
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They are the same guy. Please explain how PED's have enhanced A-Rod's career. nothing can help you handle the pressure to win when you play for the Yankees. Mr. Winfield; I believe that just as Mr. Gibson said, if you could have taken something that would have helped you win one WS while a member of the Yankees; you would have done so. Conversely, if A-Rod doesn't win one with the Yankees, that will be his greatest regret, not PED use.
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We need to celebrate our heroes.
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i guess you don't know anything about baseball, self admittedly. There are a whole nunch of ball players in the HOF who have done dispicable acts against their opponents and even fans. Not to mention the players who admitted they were HIGH ON LSD during games and other crazy illegal stuff. They played in a different era when their cheating was just a part of their legacy. Players like Pete Rose and Barry Bonds may have shamed the game, but their numbers and impact on the playing field are among the best that have ever played the sport. Maybe they need an asterix by their name, but they deserve a place in the HOF. The HOF isn't "heaven", where you don't get in if you're a sinner, it's a monument for great PLAYERS, as well as coaches and writers. If you had any idea what these players have done on the field compared to their "crimes" off the field, you might have another opinion.
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Hank Aaron accomplished more on natural ability and longevity, as opposed to Barry 'Horsehead' Bonds. Roger Maris accomplished more in one season on natural ability and hard work, than Mark 'Popeye Arms' McGuire, and Sammy 'Que?' Sosa.
And for the poster who called steroid users heroes?!?! Um..... bull s*#$. A hero is somebody sleeping in a desert in Iraq. Ask Lyle Alzado or Ken Caminiti about their 'heroism'....oh wait, you can't.
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The sad truth of the matter is this, and don't hate me for saying so: If Bob Gibson or anyone else could have used performance-enhancing drugs in the 1990s and gotten away with it, they would have been stupid for not doing so.
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Look at before and after pics of baseball players not too long after that.
I've been looking at late 1970s players with some suspicion because they suddenly got huge.
You can also date it by when "lifting weights" became ok to do in baseball.
It was always considered a bad idea to lift weights,(bad for timing) but when the steroids came around, weight lifting became the excuse of why someone got so big? So it was suddenly ok to lift weights.
You know, I really don't care about it. I don't care if the NFL hides it, etc.
I'd just like sports leagues to have a consistent policy towards it. Allow it, don't allow it, whatever. Manny getting 50 games while Arod, and co. get nothing seems wrong to me. If they both got nothing, that's fine with me. It's the bias that I REALLY don't like.
You're never going to stop people who are THAT competitive from trying to gain an edge.
Also the media should have a gag rule. It's like covering an affair for a politician.
Don't talk about it, because it only stirs up trouble for people who can't handle the truth.
1 - 25 of 35