coming in lighter
elsewhere in sports, it was interesting to read on can't stop the bleeding yesterday the quote from a Sports Illustrated article about how the new steroid testing in baseball will lead to "more than a few spring training stories about players who 'took yoga,' 'lost weight,' 'changed diets,' 'cut back on weightlifting,' 'came in lighter,' 'wanted to be more flexible,' and other code words for cutting down on steroids and other illegal supplements."
similar phrasing had already appeared in a story about how Phil Nevin has dropped 30 pounds through yoga, pilates, etc. now comes today's NYTimes with this tidbit about Cliff Floyd:
Floyd has been working out regularly at a Miami hotel and said that with spring training approaching, he would wear spikes today for the first time since the injury. Floyd said he had been doing yoga and pilates exercises in an effort to be less bulky.
less bulky, eh? i'm very intrigued to see if power numbers drop this year if indeed fewer players are taking steroids. personally, i don't think that steroids contribute much to the increased run scoring and power in the game (which, by the way have decreased since their highs in 1996 in the AL and 2000 in the NL). steroids don't help you actually hit the ball, and that's the most important aspect of home runs. in fact, huge muscles could potentially be an impediment to bat speed, which in turn determines the speed of the ball when it is hit. certainly in some cases there seems to be an inexplicable jump in a player's power numbers (i'm looking at you, Steve Finley), but for the most part, i think that steroids contribute mostly to players just looking bigger and scarier.
Comments
My comment has nothing to do with steroids. I just want to say that since someone (Dan or Marc or both) brought a 2-liter of orange soda over to my house on poker night a couple weeks ago, I have suddenly become obsessed with orange soda. I have drunk more of it in the last few days than in about the last ten years combined. Its subtle sweetness is more smooth and comforting than the tangy bite of ginger ale or the gross toxicity of Coke. Is orange soda really so good, or am I just that suggestible? Just in case it's the latter, please don't bring steroids over next time we play cards. (There, I tied it in.)
Posted by: Jim | February 5, 2004 05:32 PM
No player from the 1989 Orioles is guilty of anything other than being awesome!
Posted by: Dan | February 5, 2004 06:11 PM
orange soda is poised for a comeback. i really enjoyed it during poker night. are there quality differences between, say Sunkist and Crush? and how do the generic brands hold up. perhaps we should organize some sort of tasting party to get to the bottom of this.
the wife keeps threatening to bring home something called "tahitian treat" but she hasn't been able to locate any yet.
Posted by: jamie | February 6, 2004 10:38 AM
Tahitian Treat is basically Hawaiian Punch, only much, much sweeter and with a heaping teaspoon of cocaine.
Posted by: jake | February 6, 2004 01:56 PM