I agree with you; I don’t understand the upside here for Otani. If he came on a handshake deal to get, say, 6 yrs for $120 million after his first season, the only way he’s going to end up actually getting that deal is if he PERFORMS at a $20 million a year level in MLB. Otherwise the team will back out.

I wonder why Otani is determined to come to MLB now, given these restrictions? Presumably if he has to stay in Japan another 1-2 years, he’ll continue to dominate; then he could enter MLB as a free agent at age 25 and get that “set for many generations forward, $150 million” deal you’re talking about.

Steroids DO allow you to recover faster so you can lift more, yes; but there are plenty of examples of players talking about much more transformative effects than that. Camimiti talking about them being like absolute magic, like he just had to flick the bat at the ball and it would fly, and he started them…

Maybe there was no clean era, but not all performance-enhancing substances are of the same impact; steroids have turned many players into totally different versions of themselves. Although I don’t have personal evidence OR scientific evidence of this claim, my guess is that amphetamines or other “uppers” do not…

He had 664 plate appearances the year he hit 73 (2001), which was one of the higher numbers of his career (because the horse pills kept him on the field!)

In 2004, he had 120 walks. 120 INTENTIONAL walks, that is. 232 walks overall that year. To put that in perspective, there were three seasons in his career in…

NYtimes had a big feature about white collar working conditions at Amazon a year or two back, and it made me want to cry. It sounded horrible and awful.

I’m going to toss out the possibility that he’s lying about the vasectomy.

Your point that race and racism can be used (and is used) divisively is valid, as is the point that even a moron can be incidentally right or even have a good point sometimes. Both valid.

You definitely should go to rehab for being a Boomer and Carton fan.

Let me say first that I’m a Red Sox fan and this is a fucking dumb, stupid embarrassment that, I think, should cost Farrell his job. Getting caught on camera doing this is just sloppy incompetence.

I mean, I don’t think its theoretically impossible that a sports show could have valuable societal impact. I think it’s very possible and has been done (“Outside the Lines,” “Real Sports,” and a lot of 30 for 30 pieces).

Personal responsibility is alive and well on Kinja today. +1 fake ticket to a Barbara Streisand concert for you.

I appreciate that you’re being reasonable with your words; however I’m skeptical that there has ever, in reality, been a case of Boomer and Carton bringing any real value to the world by “call(ing) out those who try to make everything into a racial case.”

Who are the people that wrongly make everything into a racial…

If you’re legitimately interested in the discussion of race and racism in America, PLEASE do not highlight Boomer and Carton as examples of people who have made positive contributions to the dialogue.

My favorite word in this comment is “usually”

Since there are no miracle elixirs at all, anywhere in the universe, it’s not particularly useful to point out that apple cider vinegar is a miracle elixir.

You are the one who is right on the internet today. You won the argument. First time in internet history.

Yeah we never really even got any of those “100+ for a few days” stretches this year, did we? Usually summer in Philly is good for about two of those.

I actually think this was a really good summer.

Beer. Yes.

KoP here as well. Is it possible we work in the same office? If so, get back to work. You’re slacking on company time.