There is an argument to be made that Barry Bonds cheated and his records should have an asterisk next to them. I for one disagree because I think the fact Barry hit so many homeruns during an era when pitchers were juicing just as much as he was makes his HR feat all the more remarkable.
The fact is that people do not always take steroids just to bulk up and hit for power. Pitchers have known for a long time that taking steroids will help them recover quicker and allow them to throw harder. Paul Byrd is the latest pitcher to have his name associated with HGH. Roger Clemens has long been suspected, and once the list is printed from George Mitchell’s report we will all see just how many pitchers have benefited from steroids.
Say what you want about Barry Bonds, but just be fair and call out all the cheaters when the list is printed. If you want an asterisk next to his name in Cooperstown, then you might as well put one next to the Rocket. He didn’t come back without a little help from somewhere. It is pretty scary now that all of these “rejuvenation” clinics are having their records revealed. Who’s next on the list? Pedro, Curt, or Randy Johnson would not surprise me at all.
Socalsports. there are a few things that confuse me, i have been talking about the abuse of steroids for sports for months and my blog goes un noticed, maybe its that girls are not supposed to know this stuff ?
However saying that the whole of professional sports is rife with the use of Steroids and HGH, that it really has become the norm.
I would go as far as to say that Bonds was doing as bonds should have done, lay to the best of his Chemists ability.
When players unions refuse to administer as they have done such tests, we know the sport is rotten. But hey its out rotten sports and so we dont care.
No asterisk, however, no hero parade either.
B*A*R*R*Y B*O*N*D*S
That's the new spelling.
I'll boycott any company that hires him to endorse their product. B*A*R*R*Y is a sports pariah. History will give him thumbs down.
The MLB Players Association is for blind support of the players and ignores cheating, corruption, the fans, crime, etc.
Blondie is correct, in my opinion.
The public reaction to the players union is similar to our feelings about the Tour de France. Both are filled with cheaters.
Barry's attitude toward the god-almighty and powerful sports media has led to him being constantly vilified. If he tries to defend himself, they form up and takes turns at him. I wholeheartedly believe that the steriod era involved the majority of the players in MLB. Who knows how many NFL stars have taken performance enhancing drugs. Lyle Alzado immediately comes to mind. Now we're even hearing revelations about pro golfers for gosh sakes!
What's the difference between everyone else and Barry? Barry didn't get along with the media, so they tormented him like so many hyenas surrounding a lion.
The bottom line? The American public has made him the undeserved poster boy when it comes to steriod abuse.
I, for one, appreciate your vigilance on the subject of PEDs (as they are now called), and I dub thee Community Watchdog.
As I am fond of saying, the Steroid Era is over and we are now in the "Growth Hormone Era". If an accurate estimate of the number of users ever comes to light, the statistics will be staggering.
Hotblonde, I have checked out your site although I have not left many comments. Your pics and name of blog are enough to lure me in, but not a soccer jock here. Right on that its rampant in all of sports.
TSI, I would agree it has progressed to the HGH Era. The trouble is, and i have been saying it for a long time now, these guys are getting prescriptions. Byrd has now come out and said he has one. He probably did, but does that make it right? Who judges which physicians are legal, bad, seedy, or good?
SLS, opinion noted, and I disagree.
Dwindy, I agree his attitude has not helped him, but aren't we supposed to be a fair nation, one that is not racist and bigoted. Just because we don't like him doesn't mean we should treat him differently.
Loan, feel free not to read, but as long as stories keep surfacing about pitchers using HGH, I can't let it go. No outrage over Byrd, Ankiel, or others, just Barry. Sorry if you don't agree, just don't read.
Socal, what do you want us to say? Others cheated so it makes it O.K. that Barry cheated? Come on, he was/is a HOF'er without using steriods. He just would NOT be the home run king, that is the reason people are all over him. Those other guys you mentioned, who cares?
SLS, I am really not a huge Bonds fan, I just appreciate what he has accomplished. Likewise I don't really like Clemens, but I appreciate his total career.
Loan, I don't want you to say anything. You can hate him, you can like him, you can ignore him, but just be consistent with the hate for Clemens, Ankiel, Byrd, and other steroid users. Don't say Clemens 7 Cy Youngs aren't in the same ball park for a pitcher as the HR record for Barry. In the modern era, what Clemens has done is untouchable.
Socal, I agree with you on that. We can sit here and debate all day long, my take, if they used drugs (steriods, whatever), they cheated. All of them that took it.
Last edited by loanumoney on October 21st at 12:29 PM.
SoCal, Great Post and Thank You for keeping this "injustice of a lifetime" a current topic. Many want the story to end where Bonds gets a * and goes to jail for his so called crimes and everyone else is soon forgotten with a slap on the wrist. That's B.S.
I'll be interested in the names that surface in the Mitchell report. These will be names where there is strong evidence of purchase or actual use. That is more than they have on Bonds yet he has already been found guilty by the media educated public majority. I still am holding out that he did nothing more than what he told the Grand Jury.
ya know, this is just crazy. Steroids or HGH has nothing to do with talent at your sport. You don't think that football players and wrestlers take those things? Put a bat in Hulk Hogans hands and see if he can even make contact with the ball after a hundred pitches. What do you think, that if someone that never even picked up a basball bat or ball can take steroids and all of a sudden they are in contention to become a home run king? Give me a break, I'm not crazy about Barry Bonds as a person, I think he is a complete, all right, I'll BLEEP myself, but I think he is still one of the greatest baseball players of all time!
We can also put an asterisk next to any record set before desegregation in baseball. It's also hard to believe that the talent level of Sy Young could compare to todays standards. If (the ole what if) he were pitching today. How can we even begin to compare todays pitchers to guys who were pitching almost every day?
I just wonder what the beef will be for next generation of record setters?
Last edited by evilquacks101 on October 22nd at 8:32 AM.
Most of the *Barry Bonds Bashers (BBB's) obviously have ulterior motives for protesting or calling for the asterisk. Somehow they must think that it will cheapen the records or defame him so that it doesn't matter anyway. I was old enough to remember when Hank broke Ruth's record.
Steroids are a wide spread issue in all sports that nobody wants to talk about. We as fans can only speculate about the what ifs and continue to depend on the media to spoon feed us what they want.
