1) Obviously there are differences between steroids and amphetamines. But do you know what the biggest differences are insofar as it relates to the time Fergie was playing? It was that steroids weren’t widely available and people hadn’t thought to use them in baseball. It is utterly naive to think that the hypercompetitive players of the 60s and 70s who swallowed amphetamines on a daily basis to gain an edge would not have taken steroids. Fergie Jenkins and so many of his generation glorify their own time by disparaging the next without taking an honest look at themselves and their teammates.

Does that change anything? It’s really amazing that it took so long for baseball to have a steroid era when you consider that body builders and football players caught on. Brian Downing might have dabbled, but the guy had some guns early in his career. Who knows? Who knows who would have taken steroids if some guy like Canseco was pretty open about what he was using to other players. The point is that they didn’t use steroids and it didn’t matter if it wasn’t as pervasive as it was in the 1980’s and 1990’s. They didn’t use and that’s the point. Would they have? Bob Gibson claims he would have, but who cares?

2) I said absolutely nothing about cocaine being a stimulant. My point is that it’s asinine to think that someone who would do cocaine would be averse to taking a much less dangerous drug like amphetamines. In other words, amphetamines were common in baseball, Fergie Jenkins did drugs, it’s beyond same to assume that he was popping greenies throughout his magnificent run with with the Cubs.

I never said it wasn’t, but not every drug user is going to sample every drug out there. There are definitely drug users like that, but it’s not the profile of every drug user. Could Fergie have used meth? Any one of us could have at any point in our lives, but it doesn’t mean we used.

3) Hate it or not, the fact is that steroids were entirely widespread in baseball. There was the steroids era in baseball. How people want to deal with it is up to them. But to dismiss hitters accomplishments, as Jenkins does, because they were aided by steroids without taking into consideration they were often facing pitchers who were aided by steroids is a willfully ignorant way to look at things.

All I can say is look at the numbers of Mark McGwire. The guy practically transformed into Lou Ferigno. It did add to what he would have had and I projected his numbers without injury assumption (and no 1994-95 strike) and he was not projected to get to 500 home runs after his 1989 season. Can you say inflated? I think so.

The argument doesn’t hold for a stimulant. Using stimulants to get you through an all night cram session won’t make you smarter. It’s more counterproductive because of the crash, but they do help you do what you could have done if you weren’t tired.