Pudge Fisk Rips Into McGwire & Clemens

I came across a small article in the Boston Globe this morning and I found it to be very intriguing. I wanted to run it by you and then I'll comment on it. Recently, Hall of Fame Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox catcher Carleton "Pudge" Fisk, much beloved by all citizens of Red Sox Nation, let loose with a few choice syllables regarding Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens and steroids. Here's Pudge on Mr. McGwire, the single season home run "king." Yeah, right. You cheated, Mark. No ifs, ands or buts. Here's Pudge...

“McGwire says, ‘Well, it doesn’t help eye-and-hand coordination.’ Well, of course it does. You are going to be stronger and you are going to be better,’’ said Fisk. "Some of these numbers that are out there are really warped. You saw how McGwire was viewed in the Hall of Fame voting. If you take the length of time that they use that stuff and subtract 15 or 20 home runs a year for those guys, where are their numbers then? There’s a reason they call it performance-enhancing drugs,’’ said Fisk. “That’s what it does - performance enhancement. You can be good, but it’s going to make you better. You can be average, but it is going to make you good. If you are below average, it is going to make you average."

And what about the Rocket, Pudge? What say you???

“The reason he (Clemens) got let go from the Red Sox was because he was starting to break down. His last couple of years in Boston just weren’t very productive, a la ‘The Rocket.’ Then all of a sudden he goes to Toronto and he wants to show somebody something. Then he gets two consecutive Cy Young Awards in ’97 and ’98. Come on, give me a bucket."

You need to toss your cookies, Pudge? I'M JUST KIDDING. Roger became wider and more muscle-bound after he left Boston. Was that due to steroid use? Innocent until proven guilty but OF COURSE IT WAS! His denying of that fact have only made things worse for him.

I remember the real Rocket in 1986. He had the fire and the fury and the young body to pull it all off, without PEDs. How many times does one get to see (in person) a guy strike out twenty batters? Clemens did it against the weak hitting Seattle Mariners. I was there at Friendly Fenway and I still have the VHS tape of the highlights of that game, a one hour special produced by channel 38 in Boston with game play by play done by Bob Montgomery and the one and only Ned Martin. MERCY! I take that old tape out at least once a year and look for myself in the stands as I watch the overpowering Rocket Man. I haven't found me yet but Roger sure showed up that day ready to go. By the way, the VHS tape still looks great to this day, 23 years later. I might put it on after I finish writing this post. In fact, I will!

That's enough memories for now. The point of me writing this is this...I wanted to draw attention to what Pudge said. I agree with his every word.

Click on this post's title for something Red Sox and as always, BE WELL. Feel free to leave some comments. It's been a long time. I'll answer every one of 'em. See ya.