Omaha, Ne: If you really want to upset your local talk radio host bring up some of these facts:

Of the 300 win club, there are 26 pitchers. Of the so-called steroid era, it is hard to say when it began, but lets use Canseco’s Rookie Year of 1986. Baseball has placed four pitchers, Maddux, Clemens, Glavin and now Randy Johnson. The next on the active win list will not reach 300 prior to his retirement. Lets look at home runs now: In hitting, you have Bonds, Griffey Jr, Sosa, A-Rod, McGwire, Thome, Thomas, Palimeiro, Sheffield, all have joined the 500 hr club. Bonds broke the record, while Jr and Sosa are in the 600 club.

50-60’s era of pitching and hitting:

Lets talk home-runs first. When baseball first started until Babe Ruth there was no one to measure to. Then came Jimmie Fox and Mel Ott. Then the list  explodes: Matthews, Williams, Mantle, McCovey, Mays, Aaron, Banks, Robinson and Killebrew. Muscial had 475. So with the advent of steroids, we may have 3 people from the steroid era not on the list of 500 hr’s. Lets see another fun fact, 70-80’s: Only has two players to hit 500!! Only two? And they modified pitching and stadiums for hitters. So what happened in the 60’s? Lets talk pitching: The top four pitchers all pitched prior to 1930. So it is hard to gather how they did it when no one is alive to say how. Next on the list: Warren Spahn? You just do not think of him as the measuring stick to pitchers, again the 60’s-70’s turned out Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, Phil Niekro, Gaylord Perry and Tom Seaver, so we have again 6 pitchers from the 60’s era in baseball who achieved this unusual feat.  And where is the 80’s? No Jack Morris the most dominating pitcher of his era?

So lets review
Steroid Era: 9 members of the 500 home run club, 3 in the 600 hr club and 1 in the 700. 4 pitchers to join the elite 300 win club. No one in the top five.

50’s-60’s: 7 members of the famed 500 home run club, and two in the 600 and one in the 700. Pitching: 6 pitchers in the famed 300 wins club, and one in the top five. So, if there are any baseball Americana Reporters out there, please tell me how can this be?

And why was the 70-80’s so weak? I am going by the Rookie year of above players. And the era they are most noted for. Seaver for instance is most noted for his win the World Series in 1969 more so than his mid 80’s 300 win.

So when someone says baseball is tainted by the steroid, tell them look at the 60’s. We have to remember, those years, no drug testing, and what is the biggest thing that happened in the 60’s is most talked about today. Woodstock..... So just say lets look at the facts!