Rick Helling: "The Man Who Warned Baseball About Steroids"

[Brian the Automator]

Thought this was a really good read...

 

If he doesn't already have enough cool points for pulling a shard of broken bat out of his arm Chuck Norris style, the fact that he was willing to stand up against steroids in the 90's makes me an even bigger fan.

[gobrew23]

Wow, that's a great article. I had never heard any of that about Helling standing up to the union.

[craigharmann]

And here I thought Jose Canseco was the first to bring up steroids.....way to go Rick Helling!!

[twobrewers]

Rick Helling is the man.

I can't find the game log. But I believe he once struck out the side on 9 pitches to start a game.

[Patrick425]

Yeah, I'm reading Joe Torre's new book and they talk about this. It's really very interesting

[Buckethead Brigade]

Great Read, the best i've had in a while...thanks for posting

[burnzy24]

'If ownership didn't ask for it, why volunteer it? It's probably not that big a deal.'

 

This quote from the article kind of struck a nerve with me. Maybe im reading this wrong, but it is almost like the players union are children looking for their owner parents to tell them what they should and should not do. Its like the players union can't give an inch up unless they are force to do so by the owners. Instead of taking the lead in the fight on steriods, they waited for it to hit the fan before anything was done. I believe the article when it implies that Bud and Don probably knew something was happening, but they didn't know how prevalent it was. It is just sad people turned a deaf ear to this for so long.

[razzzorsharp]

I got that the players just kept it in the back pocket for when negotiations started to have something to bargain with.

[SenatorShriv]

That was an interesting read. I've always had the inclination to place a large part of the blame for this mess on the players union and this article just sealed the deal for me. I guess the root of the entire problem though was just that there was too much money floating around for anyone to make a rational judgement call on topic. I'm now for socializing baseball. The sport just can never be pure again as long as the corrupting influence of money is involved. Castro for Commissioner!

[MessiahRp]

Man, Orza and Fehr are complete tools. They couldn't look any worse in all of this... although we all sort of suspected how idiotic they were when they were stonewalling steroid testing originally.

 

Rp

[DatHoser]

My first man-crush.

 

Great read - thanks Brian!

[crackley]

I am glad to see his name like this. He was one of my favorites when he was here.

[TooLiveBrew]

Ironically, imo Helling looks pretty Beefcaked himself in the accompanying photo with that article. But I do think it's cool that he voiced those concerns to the Union.

 

 

I can't find the game log. But I believe he once struck out the side on 9 pitches to start a game.

 

I hear tell it was on 6 pitches

[Brian the Automator]

I hear tell it was on 6 pitches

In three feet of snow.

[Point Beer Is Best]

Ironically, imo Helling looks pretty Beefcaked himself in the accompanying photo with that article. But I do think it's cool that he voiced those concerns to the Union.

If I were Helling (or Frank Thomas) and I got that size the old fashioned way, I'd be pretty PO'd about guys getting huge dishonestly too. They'd be stealing money from me.

 

It's good to hear about guys like this that stood up for what's right, without seeking financial gain in the process.

[bigredrobbo]

I hear tell it was on 6 pitches

In three feet of snow.

Throwing underhand.

[hawing]

I hear tell it was on 6 pitches

In three feet of snow.

Throwing underhand.

Barefoot, of course.

 

The game was June 20, 2006 vs. Detroit at Miller Park. Rick was lights-out in the top of the first, but by the Brewers' 3rd inning was behind 8-0, en route to a 10-1 loss.

We attended that game, and the experience clearly peaked early that night. Unless you count Corey Hart's RBI single to score Corey Koskie and break up the shutout in the bottom of the 9th.

[snyttri]

I wouldn't expect the players to reveal they were cheating or their union to go against the wishes of the players they represent. I wouldn't expect the owners to turn off the money spigot either. Players have always bent and broken the rules to win and owners have always done the same to make money. The only person whose job is to act in "the best interests of the game" from a long-term perspective is Bud. I would also fault the owners for not having an independent commissioner but a fellow owner who was and is unlikely to take the unpopular action independent commissioners have taken when circumstances warranted it.

[Baldkin]

The game was June 20, 2006 vs. Detroit at Miller Park. Rick was lights-out in the top of the first, but by the Brewers' 3rd inning was behind 8-0, en route to a 10-1 loss.

We attended that game, and the experience clearly peaked early that night. Unless you count Corey Hart's RBI single to score Corey Koskie and break up the shutout in the bottom of the 9th.

I was there as well, sat in the Buckethead section, and sang Carlos Lee happy birthday.

[JumpinMacFlash]

You know what? I sat in the Buckethead section for the exact same game. Go figure.

[twobrewers]

I'm officially adding Hawing to my favorite posters listing thanks to that pull.

 

I looked through 2 years of Helling game logs to try and find it. I must have just over-looked. D'oh!

[Loopee]

The game was June 20, 2006 vs. Detroit at Miller Park. Rick was lights-out in the top of the first, but by the Brewers' 3rd inning was behind 8-0, en route to a 10-1 loss.

We attended that game, and the experience clearly peaked early that night. Unless you count Corey Hart's RBI single to score Corey Koskie and break up the shutout in the bottom of the 9th.

It makes me feel somewhat pathetic that I specifically recall that game from 3 years ago.

[saxyman1004]

Does that make me pathetic too? Because I remember generally where I was sitting and who I was there with.