[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

If the 'Stache sees this all hell will break loose.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

And the innocent Ryan Braun.

Yount's inarguably one of the top five shortstops to ever play the game. And before he hurt his shoulder, he was one of the top two or three players in baseball. Shortstops just didn't hit for that kind of power, and play incredible defense, at the same time. You had guys like Ernie Banks who could crush the ball, and was pretty good with the glove, but he couldn't do all the things Yount could. Wagner is the Gold standard. But after that, Yount's not far behind anyone else who's ever played the position.

There's NO comparison between Baines and Yount. None. Baines, in 22 seasons (20 full ones) finished 9th and 10th in the MVP. Yount was an MVP at short and center field, two of the three toughest defensive positions in baseball. Baines by no stretch of the imagination should be a Hall of Famer, and that he is in now further waters down what has become a joke.

And nowhere have I ever said that Ryan Braun was innocent. He screwed up, broke the rules, and deserved to be suspended. The narrative I've always pushed was that he didn't need PEDs to be a great player, and that he didn't take a PED. He took a banned substance to heal an injury. Dumb, and illegal, per baseball's rules, but not the same thing as a performance enhancer. Before he had the nerve damage in his hand, he was one of the very best hitters in baseball. After his positive test, and with baseball testing him/watching him under a microscope, he put up a season nearly as good as his 2011 MVP one. Led the league NL in home runs, and with a .987 OPS, only 7 points lower than the prior season.