Are there any player's autographs that you refuse to collect?

[toyman55]

Maybe age (I am 63) and the fact that I have loved baseball since 1955 has given me tolerance. I still have great memories of Pete Rose playing harder than anyone to set a hit record and win games. He belongs in the HOF and I do have his autograph. As far as the steroid era I remember the excitement that McGuire and Sosa gave not to me from only watching them on their quest but through the voices of the broadcasters who loved them and now refuse to acknowledge they knew along with everyone else that these guys were juicing. I find it repulsive that my tax dollars are being used to prosecute and persecute, Bonds, CLemens and all the other great players we brought our kids to see.
Wake up, we are fans not judges. Mantle was an alcoholic as attest to his early death, Cobb was mean to a core, Ruth had no guidelines and I love Baseball for all it's good and all it's bad.
I do have autographs of Bonds, Mcgwire, Sosa, Clemens and more and I cherish them as much as any of the over 150 autographs I have.

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by toyman55

Maybe age (I am 63) and the fact that I have loved baseball since 1955 has given me tolerance. I still have great memories of Pete Rose playing harder than anyone to set a hit record and win games. He belongs in the HOF and I do have his autograph. As far as the steroid era I remember the excitement that McGuire and Sosa gave not to me from only watching them on their quest but through the voices of the broadcasters who loved them and now refuse to acknowledge they knew along with everyone else that these guys were juicing. I find it repulsive that my tax dollars are being used to prosecute and persecute, Bonds, CLemens and all the other great players we brought our kids to see.
Wake up, we are fans not judges. Mantle was an alcoholic as attest to his early death, Cobb was mean to a core, Ruth had no guidelines and I love Baseball for all it's good and all it's bad.
I do have autographs of Bonds, Mcgwire, Sosa, Clemens and more and I cherish them as much as any of the over 150 autographs I have.

I totally agree. I am no moralist, and I love the history of baseball AS IT HAPPENED, played by imperfect human beings.

[J.McMurry]

I respect your opinion and agree on some points,but please dont compare todays players to HoFer's personal flaws from 40-80 years ago. No matter how mean they were, or how much they drank, their performance on the field was NATURAL ABILITY and the numbers in the record books are legit. The players of today? who knows what numbers are real or enhanced by PED's. Baseball to me is that Joe Dimaggio looking kid next door who is a natural ball player, not the muscle bound roid head that gives us the equivilent of beer league softball. jmo

[phikappapsi]

I'm not a collector of steroid era stuff, but to be fair, Barry Bonds was one of the best ever even before the roids. Sure they extended his career, and inflated his late career power numbers, but that guy was at another level even before his head grew

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by J.McMurry

I respect your opinion and agree on some points,but please dont compare todays players to HoFer's personal flaws from 40-80 years ago. No matter how mean they were, or how much they drank, their performance on the field was NATURAL ABILITY and the numbers in the record books are legit. The players of today? who knows what numbers are real or enhanced by PED's. Baseball to me is that Joe Dimaggio looking kid next door who is a natural ball player, not the muscle bound roid head that gives us the equivilent of beer league softball. jmo

+1

[drc]

In his defense, steroids didn't make Bonds more of a jerk.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by drc

In his defense, steroids didn't make Bonds more of a jerk.

Like

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by J.McMurry

I respect your opinion and agree on some points,but please dont compare todays players to HoFer's personal flaws from 40-80 years ago. No matter how mean they were, or how much they drank, their performance on the field was NATURAL ABILITY and the numbers in the record books are legit. The players of today? who knows what numbers are real or enhanced by PED's. Baseball to me is that Joe Dimaggio looking kid next door who is a natural ball player, not the muscle bound roid head that gives us the equivilent of beer league softball. jmo

If you think none of those guys would have taken steroids, were they as readily available and widely used as they were in the 90's, then I will respectfully say that you are kidding yourself.

You can look at steroids merely as cheating, or you can look at it from the angle of players doing whatever it takes to be the best. Either way, if they had been available in the 30s, you can bet that hundreds of MLBers would have taken them in that era and every era since.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by mighty bombjack

You can look at steroids merely as cheating, or you can look at it from the angle of players doing whatever it takes to be the best. Either way, if they had been available in the 30s, you can bet that hundreds of MLBers would have taken them in that era and every era since.

Maybe. But the fact is they didn't. Thus, their records are real.

Unlike those of Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, etc., etc.

[drc]

There aren't players I would refuse to collect, but there are I'd chose not to buy.

In my mind, all players' autographs are worth owning in my mind, but there are players I have distaste for.

I don't like Bonds, but if his autographed baseball was offered at a really good price I'd take it.

With political autographs, I don't collect only politicians who's beliefs I agree with. I've had both Michael Dukakis and Alexander Haig.

Though I have to admit I'm not in the market for Rafael Pameiro or Adolph Hitler autographs. Not equating the two morally or politically, just two autographers I'm not fond of. If someone has Hitler's autograph as a historical figure, I understand. As someone here said, history is made up of good and bad and if you collect history you're going to have some bad.

Dick Clark, I don't want his autograph either. Never a fan. And, no, I'm not equating him with Hitler.

[toyman55]

Three cheers for your comment. The proof of whether they would take steroids is only enforced by the pitchers who cheated with spitballs, batters who corked their bats and base runners who would slide into a base not just to be safe but to put a player out of the game. Maybe if Don Drysdale had taken steroids he wouldn't have thrown at the heads of so many players to get an advantage.

I also respect those who disagree, that is what makes baseball the greatest sport of all. The different personalities, the wide variety of reporters and all the fans make this game great. The players are idols and even when they fall (Tiger Woods, Steve Howe, Strawberry, Gooden, etc>>) we still want to meet them, shake their hand and get their autograph while telling them how we were a at a game and witnessed their greatness.

Fact is I still turn into a little kid when I meet any baseball player. Oh by the way I would have done steroids to if it meant saving the game and bringing fans back to the parks.