Judgement on Raul and his response

In this time and age, unfortunately Major League Baseball does not get the greatest appreciation in the sports world. From sluggers such as Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Roger Clemens, and various other superstars, speculations of cheating the game have placed a distinctive black cloud over America's past time. With that being common knowledge even to an everyday Joe who does not follow baseball at all, anyone who performs above their expectations is going to be criticized due to the "leaders choices: who came before them! For example, Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Raul Ibanez has had a fantastic start to this 2009 season (20 HR, 55 RBI, .325). Being a 37 year old and exceeding expectations does not help Ibanez unfortunately. This is ultimately a shame for a terrific hitter who is greatly adapting to playing in Philadelphia with a great team, and hitting in a hitter's ballpark. Ibanez does not deserve any of the assumptions and accusations, but that is the way baseball is looked upon now a days. Innocent until proven guilty is still a common law from what I can see, but unfortunately for players such as Raul Ibanez and any over achieving baseball player those rules do not apply.

From the blog Midwest Sports Fans, Jerod Morris took an investigative look into Ibanez's 2009 performance. After Ibanez was criticized through his fantasy league's message board (there is some basis for accusation), Morris took the time and put together a terrific package of stats explaining reasons Ibanez may be off to a torrid start. A powerful new lineup, playing in Citizens Bank Park, various easy ballparks he has homered in, and sluggish pitchers he has competed against are all great examples to be processed. I think Morris' ultimate goal was to look into different reasonings behind Ibanez performance thus far, but was based off of the common opinion and thought process of some immature sports fans who jump to their own set of conclusions without proper research or thought processes. Not to say that these fans have not been given reason to jump to those conclusions, but with testing in place you would think that there are some generally "clean" players out there who can step up and become better players, even at the ripe old age of 37.

I thought JRod wrote a fantastic article, and genuinely feel bad for a good guy like Ibanez who seems rather happy playing in a fantastic city and with a fantastic team in Philadelphia. It is a huge difference from going from Seattle to Philadelphia. 1) A much better lineup lineup. 2) A more hitter friendly stadium. 3) A more energetic crowd to play for. (Not saying Seattle fans are not fun, loyal fans. However, Citizens Bank is jammed packed every night and if you give those hardcore fans something to cheer for, they will bring your energy level up every time you step to the plate.)

Here is more featured on MSF on this subject:
Raul's Reaction
Outside the Lines with JRod