On January 9th of this year, the class of 2013 was announced to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, and for the first time since 1996, no player was elected. Some of the players on the list include, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, Jack Morris, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Curt Schilling, and former Met Mike Piazza. Back in 2008, after Piazza announced his retirement, our very own Mike Peters wrote an article stating that Piazza should be put in to the Hall. However Piazza fell well short of the 75% needed to gain entry with 57.8% of the vote, 93 votes short.

It appears that the main reason why Piazza was not elected is the suspicion of his steroid use. Unlike Bonds, McGuire, Sosa, and Clemens, there has been no concrete evidence ever linking Piazza to performance enhancing drugs. Piazza was not named by Jose Canseco, nor was his name listed in the Mitchell Report. The closest link between Piazza and steroids was the rumor of back acne. Piazza's numbers alone should have warranted election to the Hall of Fame, with 396 homeruns as a catcher out of 427, 1335 career RBI's, a .306 career batting average, .377 on base percentage, and .545 slugging percentage. Piazza beats out Johnny Bench, who is considered by many to be the greatest catcher ever, in every category but RBI's, in two seasons less than Bench. However, many writers simply have stated that they wish to see what Piazza's book (which comes out in February) has to say about his potential usage of steroids.


If there is no new revelations about Piazza and potential steroids in between now and next year's vote, then there should be no argument that Piazza should be voted in as a Hall of Famer. Thus leaving the only argument whether or not he goes in as a Dodger, or as a Met.

UPDATE:
For the second year in a row Piazza was not elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 62.2% of the vote. Read More...

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~ by J Soul

Go Away Jose
I don’t care what you have to say
Stop publishing your greed-driven books
Because I’ll be the last one to pay

You’ve tarnished the reputations of many
With a disgusting smirk on your face
How much money is it going to take
To put you in your place

What’s important now are the children
And the harm these drugs can do
But you don’t care about all that
Just the careers you want to screw

Now that I think of it
You probably needed the ‘roids in your ass
We all know that without them
You couldn’t have hit the ball over of the infield grass

Let it be known that nobody is safe
As long as Jose raises his brow
If you can hit or throw a baseball
You must’ve gotten the drugs somehow
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While speaking at a charity event in New Hyde Park on Wednesday David Wright was quoted as saying his former teammate and good friend Paul Lo Duca deserves "a harsh penalty" if the allegations against him in the Mitchell report are true.

"He's a guy I would go to battle for any day, but when you're talking about steroids, you're talking about something that's illegal," Wright said of Lo Duca. "Steroids are something I could never - no matter how close of a friend it is - condone."

"I'd like to think that maybe there's some fabrication [about Lo Duca in the report], or maybe it's not all true," Wright said. "But I've said it from day one - whether it's my best friend in the game or whoever, if they get caught . . . using performance-enhancing drugs or steroids, there should be a harsh penalty."

According to Wright, he keeps in touch with Lo Duca, but they do not discuss HGH or steroids.

It's very uncharacteristic of Wright to speak about other players, but for something like performance enhancing drugs, it seems as if he feels very strongly about eliminating them from baseball, hence the "harsh punishment" comment.
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The Mitchell Report has finally been released on MLB.com the report lists the names of a number of current and former players. According to Mitchell at his press conference, about half of the players in the report are current players.

Most of the Mets involved in the report connect back to Mets former clubhouse assistant Kirk Radomski. Radomski you may remember plead guilty to distributing performance-enhancing drugs to dozens of major league players between 1995 and 2005, in April.

Former Mets catcher, Todd Hundley, who broke Roy Campanella's record for most home runs in a season by a catcher in 1996, is included in the report.

"Radomski has known Hundley since 1988, when Radomski worked for the Mets and Hundley played in the Mets’ minor league system.380 Radomski stated that, beginning in 1996, he sold Deca-Durabolin and testosterone to Hundley on three or four occasions. At the beginning of that year, Radomski told Hundley that if he used steroids, he would hit 40 home runs. Hundley hit 41 home runs in 1996, having never hit more than 16 in any prior year. After the season, Radomski said, Hundley took him out to dinner."

The report includes a great deal of information on Mets former catcher Paul Lo Duca, including checks, and handwritten notes from Lo Duca to Radomski.

"Todd Hundley referred Lo Duca to Radomski when Lo Duca played for the Dodgers. Radomski estimated that he engaged in six or more transactions with Lo Duca. In some transactions, Radomski sent the performance enhancing substances by overnight mail to Lo Duca’s home or to the Dodgers clubhouse and Lo Duca sent Radomski a check a week or so later.

Radomski produced copies of three checks from Lo Duca, each in the amount of $3,200. All are included in the Appendix. Radomski said that each check was in payment for two kits of human growth hormone.

Lo Duca’s name, with an address and telephone number, is listed in the address book seized from Radomski’s residence by federal agents. During that search, federal agents also seized a note from Lo Duca to Radomski."

The following players named in the report have played for the Mets or in the Mets minor league system st some point in their careers.

Lenny Dykstra 197
David Segui 198
Josias Manzanillo 209
Todd Hundley 211
Mark Carreon 211
Matt Franco 213
Mo Vaughn 234
Chris Donnels 238
Todd Pratt 243
Mike Stanton 253
Paul Lo Duca 256
Fernando Vina 261
Mike Bell 267
Gary Bennett Jr. 270
Scot Schoeneweis 302

NOTE: The page numbers indicate the page number on the PDF file, not the report itself.

I cannot say I am completely shocked at most of these names; the big name in this report from the mets perspective is Paul Lo Duca, because I think it finally puts to bed why Omar was reluctant to resign Lo Duca this off season.
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According to ESPN Mets lefty reliever Scott Schoeneweis reportedly received six steroid shipments from Signature Pharmacy while playing for the Chicago White Sox in 2003 and 2004.

According to a source in Florida close to the ongoing investigation of Signature, Schoeneweis' name appears on packages that were sent to Comiskey Park while the White Sox were battling to win the AL Central title in 2003. Two more shipments arrived at the stadium in 2004, months before Schoeneweis underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow.

Well doesn't this one just rub salt in the wounds. First Guillermo Mota gets busted after the Mets were eliminated last season, and now Schoeneweis appears to be involved with steroids as well. Well Omar, you sure know how to pick 'em.

thanks to our own Zac Wassink for breaking this
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