Gotta At Least Ask the Question

Richard Griffin asks: Why is it just baseball that falls under suspicion?

For the following unpopular question, blame Major League baseball and all the nonsense it has spewed over the past decade.

Don't blame me.

When it comes to Jose Bautista, how is it exactly that at the age of 29 he's suddenly become the most dangerous power hitter in baseball?

Chance? Healthy living? Diet? New contact lenses? Comfortable batting gloves?

Anyone reading about the Roger Clemens perjury case this week, which of course brings up all of baseball's tawdry steroid history, should at least be willing to wonder about Bautista's sudden transformation into the dinger king.

This is a player, don't forget, who never hit 20 homers before in a Major League season. Some of that was due to a lack of opportunity,although in 532 at-bats in '07 he managed only 15 round trippers.

As of Sunday morning, he had 38 homers, six more than the great Albert Pujols, seven more than Miguel Cabrera and Adam Dunn.

Really? Quite a story, huh?

Makes one remember Brady Anderson, who went from 16 homers to 50 and then back to 18 right smack dab in the middle of baseball's steroid problem.

Things happen in baseball, I guess.

The great news for Bautista is that these numbers will surely net him an enormous increase on his current $2.4 million salary when his contract expires. That would motivate any player to find a way to improve his stats.

The Blue Jays, we know, have quietly become known as a bit of a nest for alleged steroid abusers over the years. Clemens played here. Gregg Zaun has been implicated. Ditto for Troy Glaus.

And now comes Bautista. Blue Jay fans will, of course, angrily respond to the suggestion that everything isn't on the up-and-up, just as I remember getting bushels of bitter emails from baseball fans when questioning Mark McGwire's open use of androstenedione back when he was smashing Roger Maris' record.

My favourite line was always how steroids couldn't help a baseball player hit home runs. Too funny.

Maybe Bautista is just one of the great individual stories in baseball this season. This could be his career year, and he could deserve nothing but credit and praise.

But the fact is that baseball's history, and the Nixonian way in which the Selig administration and the players association have chosen to deal with the steroid issue over the years, should compel any intelligent person to wonder when a player suddenly starts displaying abilities never before seen in his career.

Blue Jay fans won't like it. But you've got to at least ask the question when it comes to Jose Bautista.

For the fact that we do, blame baseball.

Comments

[celtic sparky]

I attended as many games as I could during Jay's inaugural season and lots of games after that including every season opener until late 90's. I became disillusioned by the size of contracts that pro-athletes in major sports leagues were signing...after all the public gets dinged for salaries one way the other. I was actually thinking of attending a few games recently because I thought the Jays were finally making some progress in fielding a better team. But then Rogers intros Sportsnet 1 and I'm no longer able to watch the Jays on a regular basis because I'm a regular cable subscriber...so I will not be attending any games and I will be switching to another tv service provider. Bad riddance.

[Taylor]

I must say I find it extremely funny that most of you are hating on the author of this article just because hes asking a question that frankly I guarantee 98% of you were curious about yourselves to begin with. As far as the not so bright posters who said "they test for steroids now", obviously your exactly that, "not so bright". It's a pretty known fact that there are many upon many types of these steroids going around that aren't known therefore aren't tested and new ones being made everyday just so people can get around those tests. That's not even mentioning the fact that Major League Baseball doesn't even test for HGH.

[Rick]

I think it's fair to ask the question but I think Bautista has answered the question directly. The media needs to keep scrutinizing baseball numbers as we all got duped in the 90's and early 2000's. With Jose though He has not backed down or hidden from the media on this question. I think he deserves credit for his accomplishment this year until proven otherwise.
In the more than 25 years I have watched this game there are very few players that have had their numbers spike this late in their career. The player that jumps to mind in recent history is David Ortiz although the steroid question creeps in with him, his power numbers have remained strong in the post steriod era. The key similarity with the two is that when they arrived at their current teams they became everyday players and made changes in their batting mechanics.
Until this year Bautista was never a fulltime player. His homeruns actually started in late 2009 when he hit 10 homeruns in September and he has made some very key changes in his approach at the plate. His current approach allows him to identify pitch types earlier in the delivery and as a result the amount of Pitches that Bautista sees per at bat has increased. He has quite simply become a smarter more selective player under guidance of Dwayne Murphy and probably Cito Gaston. The other big thing I have noticed is his actual swing, it is very strong....it's a power swing every time. He doesn't hold back. The Confidence in his swing is really a site to see. I think if you saw video from him at the beginning of 2009 or the end of 2008 and then watched video from today you will see two very differnt players in the same uniform. Each adjustment he has made is very subtle but when you put them all together you see a dramatic change. His next challenge will be to keep making adjustments. You can bet that every team in the A.L. will have him on their radar for 2011. I think Jose will continue to have high production numbers but I think he will be a 25 to 35 homerun hitter and drive in 75 to 100 runs.

I think the other dimension of Jose that nobody talks about is his leadership in the clubhouse. With the Jays adding more latin speaking players he is a key role model for these young players coming in(i.e. Escobar). He will continue to be a key ingredient for the Jays future success regardless of how many Homeruns he hits.

Now the next big question we need answered is who will manage this club in 2011 and what will happen to this coaching staff? The next step in the road to succes is a very big and difficult one.

[Pat Landry]

You have to ask just because it is baseball? Why couldn't you take the high road? There are a lot of hockey players on performance enhancing drugs, do a story on that.

[Victor E]

Really this is such a ridiculously useless, non productive argument without substance. Look at the difference in his swing prior to coming to the Jays! His knees are buckled allowing for higher leg kick ( prior to the Jays he had a wide stance) , his hands are higher up and hes closer to the plate. I do not see the changes as a minor tweak ; its a substancial change. He has an amazing swing and covers the strike zone as well as any player I have ever seen. His success has NOTHING to do with PEDS! Its a Great story that unfortuately been tainted by the Bonds shadow. Cito Gaston is quite frankly a Genious .