The Steroids Era Makes You…

…really appreciate how good Chipper Jones is. And also a handful of players currently in the game who’ve been overshadowed by baseball’s tainted decade-plus.

Watching Chipper homer in addition to being his usual awesome self this afternoon against the Mets got me thinking about how good this guy really is.

And while we’re on the subject, throw Jim Thome in there, too. They are two players who have amassed spectacular numbers AND are believed to have done it drug-free.

Currently, Thome ranks 13th on the all-time home run list. Of active players, only Ken Griffey Jr. (#5, 621) and Alex Rodriguez (#10, 570) have more dingers than Thome’s 557.

Griffey, like Thome and Chipper, is believed to be clean. A-Rod, as we know, is not. (I’ve omitted Griffey from my argument because it’s already understood that he’s an all-time great.) Active players trailing Thome on the home run list include Manny Ramirez (#15, 536), Gary Sheffield (#24, 509), and Jason Giambi (#43, 407). They, like A-Rod, are cheaters.

Thome (as far as we know) has done it the right way. Take the following leap of faith with me:

Lets say, for each known cheater on the list, we assume their career HR totals are inflated by 100 home runs because of their PED use. Subtract those 100 home runs from their totals and all of a sudden they become a more-believable 470 (A-Rod), 436 (Manny), 409 (Sheff), and 307 (Giambi).

Thome has hit 557 – CLEAN. WOW. The guy’s one of the all-time greats.

The home run argument doesn’t work perfectly with Chipper - his achievements are more wide-ranging - but you can still make a compelling case with the long-ball.

Chipper is currently 41st on the all time list with 417 home runs. If you apply my same minus-100 home run standard, his 417 land him ahead of Sheffield and Giambi.

Furthermore, it’s generally accepted that Chipper is a more accomplished hitter than Thome. Chipper is a career .310 hitter. In the same way we deducted 100 home runs from the steroid users, lets say, CONSERVATIVELY, you can take away .10 points from the career batting averages of hitters like A-Rod and Manny.

A-Rod’s actual career batting average is .304. Take away the ten points and his steroids-adjusted BA becomes .294. Manny is currently at .315. He becomes a .305 hitter.

Again, Chipper is at .310 with 417 home runs. Compare that with A-Rod’s adjusted .294 / 470 and Manny’s .305 / 436.

A-Rod and Manny are considered two of the greatest offensive players of ALL TIME. As the numbers are presently composed, Chipper doesn’t appear in their league. With the numbers adjusted for past PED-history, Jones rightfully takes his place among our generation’s best.

Obviously we’ll never know how to EXACTLY adjust the stats of PED-cheats during the “steroids era.” But the legacies of players like Chipper Jones and Jim Thome, who are widely accepted as having played the game clean, suffer as a result of others’ dishonesty.

I think it’s time we give these two the recognition they deserve. And that should be their inclusion as two of the greatest players to ever play the game.

Matt Estreich for The Huddle