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April 30, 2008 at 3:46 am · Filed under Baseball Card
As the steroid talk swirls around baseball like the juice surging into Jason Giambi’s veins, America’s favorite pastime continues to be bruised, right when spring training is getting started. First, it was Giambi’s admission of taking the muscle-enhancing drug. Then, Jose Canseco shocked the sports world with his tell-all book about his use of steroids, swinging a syringe with better accuracy than he ever swung a bat. Now, it’s baseball’s homerun king, Barry Bonds, making us despise the sport’s most talented player, with his strange ramblings at a preseason press conference, laced with perfunctory glances at interviewers, lame defenses of his own lousy image, along with distracting accusations aimed at various targets.
Man, is this guy easy to hate. “I don’t know what cheating is,” he says about the potential help steroid use gives to baseball players. How can adding dozens of pounds of muscles increase ones production, Barry wonders? This coming from a guy who entered the league weighing roughly 180 pounds before adding 46 pounds to his frame in a little over three seasons. Furthermore, in his first seven years in the league Bonds never hit 35 home runs. He was a 19 to 25 HR guy, except for two seasons of 33 and 34. Now, the ballooned up Barry, the one who doesn’t believe steroids can help hitters, bashes 45 or more homers each season, as if he were hitting super balls. But he’s not cheating, he claims.
In addition to the pitiful, “I don’t know what cheating is” statement, Bonds managed to blame all of his woes on the probing media and, of course, on racism. “Babe Ruth was a great player,” Bonds says, “but he wasn’t black. I’m black, and it’s tougher for blacks.” Only some tears would make his act more incredible. Again, I say, this guy is easier to hate than cancer. First of all, what problems does he have? Millions and millions of dollars in his pocket? Playing a game for a living? Incredible popularity? A few questions from interviewers? This is the life of Barry Bonds, and this guy has the audacity to pull the race card? Every African American and baseball fan should join me in hating this racist crybaby. “But I’m not a racist,” Bonds says. I wish I had a dollar for every person who ever made a comment like this one and then followed it up with “But I’m not a racist.” I’d probably have as much money as Barry.
Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player ever, hounded every waking moment by the media, never made such a ridiculous statement about black people in sports having it tougher. Jerry Rice, the greatest wide receiver in NFL history, hands down, never whined about discrimination making his life more difficult than his white predecessors. It’s because these guys didn’t use steroids, and these guys were true, hard-working, non-cheating professionals. Not to mention the fact that they were gentlemen.
This is not to say that racism doesn’t still exist in America. It obviously does. In fact, it may even exist in some sports. But it does not exist to the extent that Barry suggests. Does Barry deal with death threats, like Hank Aaron did the entire season he approached Babe Ruth’s mark? Of course not. In fact, for some bizarre, inexplicable reason, there is a large contingent of Bonds fans actually rooting for this jerk to break Aaron’s record. It’s hard to figure. Aaron never complained about racism, and he entered the batters box nightly, fearing for his very life. And now, 30 years later, he is one of the most revered leaders the game has. Aaron, like Jordan and Rice and Ruth and a myriad of other great athletes, has a legacy. What legacy does the cheating racist, Barry Bonds, have? I think the answer lies within the question. He’ll be remembered as a baseball player, who could have been one of the greatest ever, if he hadn’t been a cheater and a liar and a racist.
Meanwhile, the more Bonds and others like him talk, the bigger baseball’s black eye gets.
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April 29, 2008 at 2:03 am · Filed under Baseball Card
Traders, you have to stay positive!
If you are thinking of entering into the “day trading business”, make sure to check any negative attitude you may have at the door.
Day trading is tough enough even for the most optimistic people, but, I for the life of me, don’t know what some people are thinking of when they enter into trading (or any “trade” for that matter) with negative thinking.
I see it all the time. We offer a free two-week trial membership, and so many people come into the room with a predetermined mind set that is so negative that I don’t know how they can function in life itself, let alone in investing in or trading the stock markets. The ones with negative mind sets rarely last very long.
Trading is no different than anything else you do; you have to have the proper attitude and stay positive. There are thousands of books on the power of positive thinking, so I’ll not go there. But when it comes to trading specifically, there are a few things to think about.
The first thing to get ingrained in your mind is to forget about the indices! It really does not matter if the Dow Jones Averages or the NASDAQ index is up 200 or down 200. Oh sure, you have to pay some attention to the index just so you know what you may expect as far as what the overall “tone” of the market. But there is no such thing as an up day or a down day based on the Dow or the NASDAQ as far as a Day Trader is concerned. There is only profit and loss.
No matter whether the markets are going up, down or sideways, there are always stocks to trade both directions! That’s important to remember. A lot of stocks you will be trading are going to be driven by news specific to the individual stocks. That news is going to play a more important role in where the stock is going than the over all market itself.
The Dow can be off 200 points but if news breaks that XYZ stock just discovered a new and exciting treatment of cancer, that stock is more than likely going to move up regardless of what the Dow is doing, even if it is a Dow component.
Trading down markets can actually be quite lucrative. The obvious way to play down markets is to “go with the flow” as they say, and look for stocks to short. Shorting stocks, contrary to some beliefs, is not a negative or anti-American thing. Those that think so need to readjust their thinking. Shorters have been around since before the meeting under that Buttonwood tree that gave birth to the New York Stock Exchange. (See: “What Does A Buttonwood Tree Have To Do With the New York Stock Exchange” at this source).
On the other hand, most traders and investors do not short stocks. They are looking for stocks to trade to the upside. If and when good news hits an individual stock in a down market, it is likely to attract a lot more interest. Depending on what stock it is and how good the news is, it may even give a boost to the entire market.
Too many traders let bad news put them into negative frame of mind. I know it is difficult to do, but you have to be able to shake off the negative and focus on the positive.
I see it all the time where there is bad news for specific stocks or stocks overall, and it sets off an avalanche of negative thinking.
For instance, way back when Enron, WorldCom and others came unwound, New York Attorney General Spitzer was out trying to dig up dirt on every company on Wall Street. So many traders fell into the mode of “well, they are all crooks” or “every stock is a scam” or “every analyst is a liar”. They were coming up with conspiracy theories one after another and wallowing around in all sorts of crazy stuff, all of it extremely negative in general. When a stock moved against them, they would simply apply one of the above excuses and whine about it
No one is going to be successful trading with this mind set.
Another thing I see traders doing it listening to CNBC, Bloomberg or some market guru. All of sudden there is any number of critics making negative remarks about the commentator or reporter or the guru! Whining about what was said and who said what serves no positive purpose whatsoever. Talk about hanging the messenger!
Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks ) said in the movie, A League Of Their Own, “Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There’s no cryingthere’s no crying in baseball.”
Andthere is no whining in day trading!
You have to stay focused, and you have to stay positive. I don’t care how negative the news is. If the market hasn’t taught us anything, it has shown us time and again that it has an uncanny ability to sooner or later shake off bad news and go on.
As a day trader or an investor you have to be able to do the same thing, and stay positive!
Happy trading!
No permission is needed to reproduce an unedited copy of this article as long the About The Author tag is left in tact and hot links included. Questions and comments can be sent to floyd@TraderAide.com.
Floyd Snyder has been trading and investing in the stock market for three decades. He was on the forefront of the day trading craze that swept the nation back in the late 1990’s, both as a trader and as the moderator of one of the Internet’s largest real time trading rooms, http://Daytraders.com. He is the owner of http://www.TraderAide.com and Strictly Business Magazine at http://www.sbmag.org
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April 28, 2008 at 6:39 am · Filed under Baseball Card
Back By Popular Demand
Come and See Those Interesting Baseball Stats
For some people this is Baseball Fantasy
For some people this is Baseball Memorabilia
For me it is joy and amazement. I love perusing the baseball stats.
Walter Johnson - One of the first to enter the Hall of Fame in 1936. From 1912 to 1915 he won 124 games. He also started 152 games and completed 131 of those games - Do you think the Senators had a strong bullpen? He pitched in 196 games. With 10 years having an era of under 2, he finished his career with a
lifetime era of 2.17. Wow….
Pedro Martinez has the third highest lifetime winning % all time. He has 2653 strike outs in 2296 innings pitched. - an average of 10.39 strike outs per game. He has 321 starts with 42 complete games.
Christy Mathewson. One of my all time favorites. His initial three years he had a record of 34-37. His next three years he compiled a 94-34 record. He discovered spinach?
His lifetime era of 2.13 ranks with the best. And he pitched in a total of 11 World Series games. His era was .97 yes .97 in those World Series games. His 79 career shutouts also rank among the best.
Babe Ruth - He won 47 games in two year period of 1916-1917
Has 15th best era lifetime with a 671 winning % is 10th highest.
Sandy Koufax’s last two years produced 53 wins while he lost 17 games. When most players careers lose steam at the end he had his best years. In a two year period he struck out 699 batters. Greatest pitcher I ever saw.
Grover Cleveland Alexander one of true greats of the game. From
1914-1917 He pitched at least 355 innings per year. Old rubber arm won 121 games. That’s an average of over 30 wins per season.
From 1915-1916 he had 28 shutouts. Not too bad. In his lifetime he completed 437 of 599 games started - He didn’t trust many people, most of all his bullpen.
He had six straight years of era under 2.
Nolan Ryan Won 71 games from the ages of 40 to 46. From 1972-1974 Struck out 1079 batters.He had 15 seasons of 200 or more strikeouts.
Randy Johnson had six years over 300 strikeouts plus three years with between 290-299 strikeouts. In first six years he had a 56-61 record. From ages 29-40 he had a 190-67 record.
I love this stuff.
Aron Wallad has been a baseball lover for over 40 years. Writing about his favorite subject, baseball, has been a blessing. You will enjoy the heartwarming stories, the unusual statistics and inspiring quotes. But mostly you will love the heartwarming stories that hit a home run to your heart.
Join his ezine http://www.baseballsprideandjoy.com/index.php?tag=ezineart
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