I trying to get a picture of him this Spring. God does he look skinnier! Another member of the "Club" OH OH

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

I don't know why everybody thinks he's clean. Why ? Anybody who plays for LaRussa has to have doubt about him. There's a ton of smoke around LaRussa. I bet there's fire, too.

Wow, he does look a lot smaller.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Don't worry. The new hitting coach will fix him.

Any player over the last twenty years, whose numbers are historically eye-popping, is dirty. Any player other than Maddox, that is.
Pujols has been on something from the beginning. You just don't go from obscure A-ball player in 2000 to MLB phenom in 2001 with out some help. The guy never looked real to me.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

He's probably dirty but of course he looks bigger on the cover of Muscle and Fitness than he does on the cover of SI.

Seeing this pictures, the truth is clear to me now...

Muscle & Fitness airbrushes their photos...

That's true, you can't see any of his 'roid acne...

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

"Don't Be Afraid to Believe in Me." There's your ironic SI cover for the next decade.

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I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. -Susan B. Anthony

i am in agreement that it is a serious possibility that the guy has used steroids, but being someone in the printing business who sees before and after photos on some of the models and celebrities in magazines and advertisements, you absolutely cannot believe ANYTHING you see in print these days. 2 photos side-by-side prove nothing anymore. having tony larussa as your manager is more condemning, because it is clear his eyes are closed in the clubhouse.

Yeah, anything can be done with Photoshop, but why would SI do it? This isn't the cover of the Cardinals media guide. Either way, the "Believe" line will be another nail in the coffin of "legitimate" sports journalism.

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I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. -Susan B. Anthony

I'm guessing he thinks that it's Muscle and Fitness doing the photoshopping, not SI...

SI wouldn't but Muscle and Fitness would. Besides he probably did a workout immediately before the M+F shoot to be a ripped as possible while he probably didn't for SI. And he flexing a hell of a lot more on M+F too.

pul-jos...heh.

I guess I always just assumed everybody thought Pujols was a 'roid guy. There's no question in my mind.

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You know me like that.

this

I don't see why everyone is so certain he's on PEDs. His numbers have been pretty consistent. No major power spikes or other indications that he's on anything. I'm not sayin that he's never used PEDs but not one of you or anyone else for that matter has a case that he has

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"You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution."

No one has any proof Sammy used either, right?
His power spike came from A-ball to the Majors in one season. He's a juicer's juicer or as my man Keyser says, Roid Face.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

Sammy had at least parts of maybe 2,3 4 seasons in the Majors where he wasn't the blow up doll he became in 96-97.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Yep, and Sammy didn't put up historically significant numbers in those years, just good numbers. He was a good ballplayer, sans chemicals.
Pujols came in juiced up and I trust nothing he has done.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

IIRC his minor league career saw a helluva spike at the end, but he has been consistent ever since. While I have my questions, it is surprising how the fact that he's never even been implicated in a PED scandal gets glossed over

Of course, I have the same questions about every slugger except maybe Prince Fielder.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

In fairness, when he was traded in 92-93 he was viewed as something of a bust(Edit----not a bust, but a "potential" player who would likely never put it together. Only Larry Himes had unflinching faith in him) . It was another 2-3 yrs. after the trade that suddenly his numbers became "good".

He was a 175-180 lb. fielder with good range & a hell of an arm, and a hitter really inferior to Alexei Ramirez...until the '96 "change"

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

yes

i think that the SI cover photo and story is a very calculated PR move - purposely posed to show his actual physique. it is an attempt to dull the blade of cynicism if he has another monster year, particularly with mcgwire being affiliated with the team again.

I think there is no doubt he was on or is on the juice now, but how old are these magazines? I know the SI is from a year or 2 ago.

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Fuck Edwards and Zobrist

SI is from last March...the other one is from May 2007...

I thought he looked a bit skinnier last year...didn't seem to hurt him one bit.

I "believe" he is off the good juice as of opening day, and I also "believe" his numbers will drop precipitously this coming year.

what makes you believe that?

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"You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution."

It's really nothing more than an "educated" guess on my part. Though based on several "educated" guesses over the past five or so years, I'd really be surprised if Pujols' overall stats weren't down at least 15-20% or more for whatever reason this coming year.

If not, feel free to lambaste me completely after this year, or possibly next, and I'll accept.