Barry Bonds question

[VermontDem2004]

Me, I am a huge Arizona State fan and there is nothing I would want more then someone from that school to break records because in a way it reflects on the school. But I am not sure I would want Bonds to hit 756+ because of the whole steroid thing, I think if anyone should break that record it should be based purely on ability. In your opinion, do you feel that the 661 and any future home runs he hits is tainted because of the huge possibility he has used steroids or other performance enhancing products?

[THUNDER HANDS]

1. who cares if he used steroids

the freakin' ball is on steroids.

[mikey_1962]

2. Maybe they can put a needle next to his name instead of a *

[mouse7]

3. The pitching is just as steroid-tainted, so the record is legit.

This is not a competitive environment in which the hitters are taking steroids and the pitchers are not. The pitchers are just as dirty. Since the pitchers are dirty, too, the record is legit. There is no competitive advantage for the hitters. Look how many pitchers you have throwing in the mid-90's compared to previous eras. It's just as insane.

[Bertha Venation]

4. I chose "I need proof" although

I really do not like the man's grandstanding and wish he would stop it. His self-aggrandizing behavior makes me sick. His pointing to the sky -- god knows what it means, but he was doing it before his Dad (of whom I was a tremendous fan growing up) died. If it's a "to god be the glory" thing, wouldn't it make more sense for someone to just drop the bat and run the bases without being an obnoxious asshole about it? "Look at me! Look what I did! Hey! Hey you guys! Watch me! I hit it out again! I'm great!"

I say to Barry Bonds, "Who gives a shit? Just play the game and quit drawing attention to yourself."

I hope he does not break Hank Aaron's record.

[tjwash]

6. Proof?

Besides his personal trainer being arrested for dealing roids to pro athletes? I agree with you though, he is a grandstanding a-hole. My pads just took 2 of 3 from the Giants, and all the national media could do was say how Bonds was gonna get his third place tying homer at our new ballpark. Guess what, he did squat the whole three games. He can't hit anything that distance now that he has to lay off the juice.

[Bertha Venation]

12. I love the Pads...

My second favorite hometown team. :bounce:

[LynneSin]

5. If he's done steroids - he should be banned from baseball

because obviously those steriods have affected his game play.

nuff said!

[Whitacre D_WI]

8. But how "obviously" have they affected his play?

That's the question nobody seems able to answer (or willing to confront). I mean, he was already far and away the best player of his generation before he bulked up.

Now, what can the roids do? Certainly, they can improve the performance of weightlifters, but that's a red herring -- baseball is not weighlifting. Hitting baseball a long way depends upon 1) bat speed, 2) ball speed, 3) the resiliency of the bat, and 4) the resiliency of the ball.

Well, bat speed could be increased by strenthening the wrist muscles, sure. It could be increased a great deal MORE by using a lighter bat (c.f. those aluminum things the kiddies swing). The maple bats in increasing use over the last few years (Bonds switched to maple prior to 2001) are lighter than the traditional ash bats.

Pitchers throw harder than they did a long time ago, but as was stated by someone earlier in this thread -- if the hitters are on roids, so are the pitchers. Frankly, I think stereoids would help a pitcher throw harder (by increasing musculature in the legs, which are used to provide the power behind a fastball) a hell of a lot more than they would help a batter hit a ball a long way.

I don't know if there's any difference in the resiliency of maple vs. ash bats, but just about everybody knows the BALLS are "livelier." As Magic Rat said earlier -- "the ball is on steroids."

All that said, if he's on a banned substance, he should be suspended. If he's on an illegal substance (but one not specifically banned by baseball), he should receive the same type of suspension as was meted out to well-known cokenoses Steve Howe and Dave Parker back in the day. But if you ban him, you'll have to ban everyone who's on the juice. That'll thin out the talent pool pretty damn severely. ;)

[BringEmOn]

7. Barry Bonds then and now

Barry Bonds rookie card



Barry Bonds 2003

[GOPisEvil]

9. I look a lot different than I did 15 years ago too.

Doesn't mean I took steriods.

[Blue_Tires]

10. bonds is a disgrace and should be bannaged

I revel in this because i was saying it YEARS ago, while all my friends and Giants apologists laughed at me...none are as blind as those who will not see...

but as an ASU person, you can still be proud of Reginald Martinez Jackson

[GOPisEvil]

11. What the hell does "bannaged" mean?

And what happened to "innocent until proven guilty". All you have are suspicions and guilt by association.

[Blue_Tires]

14. bannaged

just a quasi-hip way of saying banned

and why has he ducked any test attempts?

[11 Bravo]

13. A juiced ball, expansion pitching, smaller ballparks, and

a strike zone the size of Tinkerbell's butt, make comparisons of Bonds and those who preceded him meaningless. Also, while he is not exactly a liability with the glove, he is not in the top dozen defensive outfielders. Simply put, Will Mays was, is, and will continue to be, the greatest and most complete ballplayer ever.

[maveric]

15. Bonds was a leadoff hitter in Pittsburgh and hit about 22-28 hrs a year.

He was slim back then, about 180 lbs. He got traded to SF after age 32 and beefed up tp 230 with a huge upper body. He was never one to "hit the weights" either.

When most players bodies were feeling the wrath of age in their prime in their mid 30's he went anabolic, beefed up his upper body to super human proportions and broke all those long ball records.

IMO, Bonds, like Sammy, McGwire and Giambi got "juiced" on that bay area candy and jacked the baseball like none have before.

He, like the others I mentioned should get an asterisk* before their names.