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La Russa: McGwire Belongs in Hall of Fame ("I've believed in him from Day One.")
FOX Sports ^ | 11/28/2006 | AP

Posted on 11/28/2006 1:32:31 PM PST by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

"I've believed in him from day one. I still believe in him," the St. Louis Cardinals manager said Tuesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. McGwire is appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time, and an AP survey of 125 baseball writers who are eligible to vote - about 20 percent of the total - showed that only one in four who gave an opinion planned to vote for McGwire.

"It would be two in five then. I'd make it two in five," La Russa said. "I can't answer for anybody else, what priorities they give and how they weigh stuff. I know what my personal opinion is, and that's the way it stays."

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: accusationsnotproof; baseball; cardinals; cheat; halloffame; kennyrogerscheat; markmcgwire; missouri; mlb; onthejuice; steroids; stlouis; tonylarussa
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

Tony Larussa just isn't very bright. He's a tree hugging vegetarian and if that doesn't tell you something, I don't know what would!


21 posted on 11/28/2006 3:33:36 PM PST by Cricket24 (ULTRA PATRIOT!!)
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To: Mariner

he hit the farthest one I have ever seen at Ballpark @ Arlington.


22 posted on 11/28/2006 3:37:04 PM PST by CPT Clay (Drill ANWR, Personal Accounts NOW.)
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To: new yorker 77

How's them sour grapes yankee? It appears that they've done turned into whine.


23 posted on 11/28/2006 3:40:33 PM PST by ExpatGator (Extending logic since 1961.)
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To: new yorker 77
LaRussa is a disgrace to baseball and Italians.

Speaking of Italians and baseball, here's one that's truly beloved by all New Yorkers:

24 posted on 11/28/2006 3:40:46 PM PST by ErnBatavia (recent nightmare: Googled up "Helen Thomas nude"....)
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

McGwire deserves the same disgrace and opprobrium currently heaped upon Barry Bonds. So do the rest of them. Sosa, etc.


25 posted on 11/28/2006 3:43:20 PM PST by Petronski (I just love that woman.)
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To: GunnyHartman
Roger Maris: Still the legit season home run king.
Hank Aaron: Always the legit career home run king.

Yes, Gunny!   Precisely.

26 posted on 11/28/2006 3:44:13 PM PST by Petronski (I just love that woman.)
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To: Mariner

I remember one he hit the season he broke the record. Off the center field St. Louis Post Dispatch sign. They put a giant band-aid on it for the rest of the season.

That was a monster home run.

He gave us Cards fans lots to cheer about.


27 posted on 11/28/2006 3:46:45 PM PST by regularperson
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

NO HE DON'T, HE WAS A DRUGGIE.... CASE CLOSED.


28 posted on 11/28/2006 3:48:16 PM PST by fedupjohn (If we try to fight the war on terror with eyes shut + ears packed with wax, innocent people will die)
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To: Vigilanteman

Not being a baseball aficianado, perhaps my memory is faulty, but it seems to me that Roger Maris didn't do much after the year that he and Mantle were racing to break Ruth's record.


29 posted on 11/28/2006 3:49:31 PM PST by Miss Marple (Lord, thank you for Mozart Lover's son's safe return, and look after Jemian's son, please!)
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To: sittnick
(Kirk Gibson had only one at bat, but he mae it count . . . a ninth inning grand slam)

Just for the record it was a two run, walk off home run not a grand slam. Did you know he also knew what the pitch was going to be that he hit out?

30 posted on 11/28/2006 3:51:10 PM PST by Michael.SF. (Note: Sell Diebold Stock.................NOW!!)
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To: Mariner

My Dad told me he saw Frank Howard hit one on a line drive to dead center in the LA Coliseum - said it went about 500 some feet and splintered the seat that it hit.


31 posted on 11/28/2006 3:56:07 PM PST by 2nd Bn, 11th Mar (The "P" in Democrat stands for patriotism.)
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To: bobby.223

But that’s what I think makes Marris such a great player. He was a good player who rose above his ability and potential for that one bright shining season.

Mickey Mantle was the star and even though they were friends and roommates, the public loved Mantle and hated Marris for challenging Mantel for the record.

Marris endured the all the media attention, and much of it not very friendly and even got death threats like Aaron did and yet he remained a humble man, a gentleman and a true sportsman.

He didn’t deserve the asterisk behind his name in the record book because of the number of games played that year – it had no bearing on his record.

Some people will say that there are shortstops technically better than Cal Ripkin but that doesn’t take away from his accomplishments either.

For some of us being a hero is more that just stats and brute strength. Being a hero and an icon is the sum of a person’s ability and their soul. Pete Rose was a great player and deserves recognition for his records and ability but he is not a hero in my book.


32 posted on 11/28/2006 4:09:45 PM PST by Caramelgal (Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead)
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To: 2nd Bn, 11th Mar

"capital punishment" could really hit it for distance.


33 posted on 11/28/2006 4:16:45 PM PST by bobby.223
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To: Michael.SF.
Just for the record it was a two run, walk off home run not a grand slam.

My greatest sports viewing memory.

34 posted on 11/28/2006 4:19:28 PM PST by PRND21
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To: Caramelgal

well said. I would consider his '60 season a great one also as he won the AL MVP that year to.


35 posted on 11/28/2006 4:20:00 PM PST by bobby.223
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To: 2nd Bn, 11th Mar
My Dad told me he saw Frank Howard hit one on a line drive to dead center in the LA Coliseum

Here come BIG Frank Howard up to bat!
OH! What a SWING!!!
Steee---rike, Three!
--- Danny Kaye

36 posted on 11/28/2006 4:26:48 PM PST by Michael.SF. (Note: Sell Diebold Stock.................NOW!!)
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To: Miss Marple
Actually, Roger Maris proceeded to belt 82 homeruns and drive in 224 runs in the next three years. He finished out a very respectable career playing in five more World Series in two different leagues. No, he didn't get close to his 1961 numbers again, but he didn't do so bad either.

Roger is the only player to win back-to-back MVP awards and not get elected to the Hall of Fame. He was a decent person as well as a baseball player. I grew up in his hometown and have visited his museum.

37 posted on 11/28/2006 7:01:57 PM PST by Vigilanteman (Are there any men left in Washington? Or are there only cowards? Ahmad Shah Massoud)
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To: Vigilanteman

See, I told you I wasn't a baseball expert! Thanks for the information.


38 posted on 11/28/2006 7:07:36 PM PST by Miss Marple (Lord, thank you for Mozart Lover's son's safe return, and look after Jemian's son, please!)
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To: Miss Marple
Just by way of comparison, Mickey Mantle, who retired the same year as Maris (1968), would proceed to hit 80 HRs and 235 RBIs in the same three years following that 1961 season. He played in three, not five more World Series and, of course, was elected to the Hall of Fame, even though his star performance differed little from Roger Maris from 1960-1968.

Mantle did, of course, start his career earlier and was a key contributor to the great Yankee dynasty of the 1950's. He was even a teammate to the legendary Joe DiMaggio during his 1951 rookie season.

39 posted on 11/28/2006 7:22:39 PM PST by Vigilanteman (Are there any men left in Washington? Or are there only cowards? Ahmad Shah Massoud)
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To: Mariner

I remember listening to that game on KIRO. What a blast that was, huh?

Two of the most powerful blasts I ever saw in the Kingdome hit speaker wires. One was Dave Kingman playing for the A's. He hit what would have been a monstrous homerun to left, but Phil Bradley caught it as it came off the speaker wire.

The other was Ken Phelps who hit what would have been a first inning grand slam to right, but it too hit the speaker wire and fell foul. He was pissed!

I like McGwire and won't feel bad if he does somehow get voted in eventually, but I also understand why most writers won't vote for him.


40 posted on 11/28/2006 8:04:33 PM PST by Mr. Mulliner
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