This is a response to a DB comment from the "At Any Costs" article.

The problem with the topic of cheating is that it's such a polarizing subject that those who participate rarely seem able to actually read what was there, rather than what they *think* is inferred.

I didn't say I expect the Cubs to win if they cheat.  I said I expect the Cubs to cheat in general.  Ways of cheating outlined in this post include ...
*stealing the other team's signs at Wrigley Field
*doctoring the baseball when pitching it (something Maddux was often accused of doing, but never caught incidentally)
*putting voodoo hexes on the opposition
*using a loaded bat whenever possible
*taking amphetamines to have more energy/awareness during a game
*consuming performance enhancing drugs.

I'm not advocating that the Cubs do the last one.  I've never written a post in which I state "the Cubs really should start illegally using steroids.  THAT will give them the edge they need!"

Instead I'm being a realist in saying that steroids, HGH, and probably all sorts of other PEDs are as much a part of the game as the things we have already accepted, like sign stealing, baseball doctoring, and drinking the "magic coffee" before a game's start.

To say the game is ruined for this brand of cheating but for none of the others is contradictory and wrong.  We have to accept that in a billion dollar sport where massive amounts of dollars are on the line players will always, ALWAYS try to find advantages.  Sometimes those advantages will be too illegal to ever be commonly accepted. 

But rather than decry that the fairness of the game has been ruined, we should instead recognize that, at this point, pretty much every modern day player to hit 450 homeruns or more has either been suspected of - or flat out caught - cheating with steroids. 

Meanwhile we really can't say that it's a "new" issue. There have been players from the 70's who've confessed to experimenting with steroids.  People who played with Willie Mays have said that Willie used to consume a special drink before games that quite frankly was almost certainly laced with speed.  And although we don't directly know it, you can bet that guys from the eras of Ruth and Gherig were cheating too.

Back to the point, if steroids are "against the rules," then that's understandable.  Punish the users who get caught with suspensions and fines.  But we need to either accept that we can no longer separate the Hall of Fame candidates who were users with those who weren't because there have been TOO MANY USERS.  Either the Hall closes its doors and stops voting in candidates or they accept that the rules have changed and still vote in the guy with 620 homeruns and one 50 game suspension. 

Like I said, DB, I never announced that I *want* the Cubs to all use steroids and I never *said* that they should use steroids to win.  I just accept that they will and I know I'll still be a fan if they do and I'll still be overjoyed if they win a World Series in the process.  But you said "I think it's a sad enough commentary in and of itself to 'expect' that we'll win by cheating."

But let's just be completely honest.  EVERY TEAM CHEATS.  Not every team wins.  But there are plenty of ways to bend the rules and you'd be naive to think that it doesn't happen every single day.

Pitchers and catchers report for duty this week.  Several big name sluggers, such as Manny, Dunn and Abreu have not yet found work in today's economy.  Other great baseball names, such as the Big Hurt, Ray Durham, and Junior Griffey aren't even getting courtesy phone calls from teams this winter.  The Yankees have thrown around their usual funny money, while everyone else in the league pinches their pennies.  Our very own Cubs have a chance to do something they have only accomplished one other time in their history - win their division three years in a row, but yet most of us are down because of the nagging feeling that we could have done more.  Teams such as the Angels, White Sox and Red Sox seem to have come back to the pack a bit, and other teams, such as the Pirates, Nationals, Rangers and Mariners do not see to have a chance anytime in the foreseeable future.

Football is over; the NBA has fallen back to the niche outlet that it was before Jordan, Magic and Bird, and the NHL is and will always be for Canucks and wanna-be-Canucks.  This ought to be one of the best times of the year to talk baseball, and what's number one on the charts?

Freakin' A-Rod and his five-year-old piss.

He isn't a Cub - thank God, because there were a few times he could have possibly ended up here.  He may be the most talented ballplayer any of us have ever seen.  There isn't any particular baseball skill that he lacks.  But he's never won anything.  He's been traded twice, and nobody left behind has shed a single tear.  He seemingly has no friends in the game.  He was born in America, but he is of Dominican descent, and has lived there at times in his life.  Neither country wants to claim him, and especially when you consider how openly the D.R. canonized the charming and delightful Sammy Sosa, you must take that into consideration.

Yes, kids, I used the adjectives for Sosa with all the facetiousness I can muster.

He looks like a freak.  Not a swollen Michelin Man like Bonds or Sosa, but like some refugee from Top Model with his makeup and lip gloss.  Ever since he broke in, there's been all sorts of conjecture about his "humanity" away from the game, the manner in which he has conducted himself in the "relationship arena" does nothing to clear things up for us.  Madonna?  Really?  If he is already categorized by one and all as an strange-looking, arrogant, aloof weirdo who acts like he sleeps in a space pod, why would he go and seek out one of the ten other people on this whole planet who might be even more arrogant and haughtier than he?

If I saw A-Rod on the street, I would turn and run the other way.  Or maybe I would freeze perfectly still, in hopes that maybe his velociraptor brain might not be able to process my presence.  I can't even IMAGINE how his teammates feel about undressing in front of him every day.  I'd be afraid that he might smell my blood and try to gut me.

This has nothing to do with the Cubs, except for the fact that I now thank God every night that A-Rod does not rock the Blue.  And this has little to do with baseball, except that he is the highest paid performer in the sport, and even considering all his faults, misgivings, and pecadilloes, you could always at least grudgingly give him some credit for playing clean.  But, it appears that even that little bit about him is as phony and fake as the rest of him.

A-Rod?  I gotta tell you buddy, I hope that some agency picks up this little post today and puts it out there for all to see.  Because as much as I want to see MY ball club win, my second biggest wish in all of sports is for you to just.  Go.  Away.  Forever.  You and Bonds and McGwire and Sosa and Michael Jackson, just go to Dubai or someplace far, far away where they can hook you up to the special machines where they feed you vampires human blood or whatever it is that you crave to get through your days, and just go away and be the pets of some trillionaire sultan, and never be seen above ground ever again, and just leave us the hell alone.

A-Rod, we hate you!

So - and stop me if you've heard this already - but there's a rumor floating around baseball that the Cubs are stealing signs.

First of all, I’m convinced that this is great and wonderful. Can you name the last time a Cubs team was good enough to where they could be accused of any sort of competitive advantage, cheating or otherwise?

That’s what I thought.

And now, let’s get this out of the way: stealing signs happens all the time in baseball. Possibly one of the most famous home runs in baseball history came from a stolen sign. And go ahead and check the official rules of baseball and find the part where stealing signs is prohibited. I’ll save you the trouble and tell you it isn’t there. Reportedly MLB put out an official memorandum prohibiting stealing signs by electronic means. But if the Cubs have a guy standing in the scoreboard and figuring out the signs with a pair of binoculars, that’s not technically against the rules of baseball.

I have read today, from dozens of Cubs fans, protestations that its “ridiculous” or “absurd” – it isn’t. It’s entirely possible. Hell, it could even be likely. It’s certainly not the first time that the Cubs have been accused of this sort of thing.

At the same time, the reason being offered for the suspicion is ridiculous. The Cubs, heading into tonight, were producing 6.46 runs per game on offense at home, compared to 4.39 runs per game on the road. Yeah, they’re tacking on two runs per game by stealing signs. If stealing signs was that effective, you’d have to fire the GM of every team that wasn't trying to steal signs. Meanwhile, Cubs pitchers are allowing 3.85 runs per game at home, and 3.85 runs per game at home - perhaps even a neater trick than what the offense is doing, given that Wrigley is a hitter's park. Are Cubs pitchers stealing their own signs?

I think the problem is the insistence that something has to have an explanation. Sometimes flukes occur. (Sour grapes probably also helps.) I tend to think that, outside of the usual home field advantage, the massive split the Cubs are showing this season is probably a fluke, an artifact of chance.