He's not called 'The Mad Hungarian' for nothing

The Burlington Bees had their Winter Banquet over the weekend. Long-time St. Louis Cardinal pitcher and current Cardinal broadcaster Al Hrabosky was the guest speaker. He jumped right in with both feet to keep the Cub-Cardinal rivalry alive.

"We have Cardinals fans here tonight, we have Royals fans here tonight," the former St. Louis Cardinals reliever and current broadcaster said to the crowd at the Great River Convention and Events Center. "And we have born losers here tonight."

Then, he had a word or two for supporters of the Bees and minor league baseball.

"Minor league baseball is the backbone of what this sport is about," Hrabosky said. "That is the neat thing about minor league baseball. You have the chance to see these young men close-up as they come through here, and make an impression on them.

"You are the stars to them."

Then, he took some questions. What do you think one of them was?

On the Mitchell Report concerning steroid abuse in baseball: "I didn't expect much. Everything in there had already been reported, or, being around the game, you heard a lot of the rumors.

Hrabosky said he understood why some players succumbed to the temptation of taking performance-enhancing drugs.

"It would be hard sitting there and watching guys you were competing against taking something that was giving them an edge, and you weren't doing it," he said. "It would be easy for someone to take something that they were told, in some cases by a doctor, would help them heal faster or recover faster.

"It's easy for guys these days to get designer drugs. But the reason you have to eradicate this system is because it's trickling down to our youth. These kids aren't taking the designer drugs, they're sharing needles. You have to get rid of steroids in baseball."

Hrabosky placed most of the steroid era's blame on the players' union.

"That's their constituency who is using it," he said. "The testing? I don't know about these things, but guys tell you it's a joke.

"We're going to see a lot of guys break down, and you'll know why."

Go over there to find out if he prefers Old Busch Stadium or New Busch Stadium.