Bonds Breaks All-Time Home Run Record

I agree Cash. Can't say what the courts will find but the man has continued to hit these past couple years despite what would have been more than enough to grind even an exemplary person underground long ago. I respect him, and I'm open to the idea that he is a guy that would have hit 756 home runs anyway, with or without an assist.

Makes me think about McGwire during his 70 home run season in '98. People conveniently forget that with two games to go the guy stood at 66, but in each of his last two games he hit two home runs to make it 70. Now, if anything steroids are blamed for bulk, but here was a guy seeing fastballs well enough to hit four out in two days when everything, and every eye in the baseball world, was on the line. It was not steroids that helped McGwire hit four home runs in two days when it could not possibly have mattered more. It was character. The man was a seriously historic hitter, as is Bonds, if anything ever more so, and, even allowing that nobody has proved squat regarding supplements, it would be seriously naive to think that Bonds and McGwire would have achieved less during their careers even if they had foregone supplements, assuming they did "benefit" from them. As a Reno National League fan who has watched hundreds of Giants games, I can say that the guy is a hall of fame hitter who gets down on the pitch from the get go. He's dangerous, because of his mind and his eye, and I honestly don't think artificially enhanced musculature had much of anything to do with any of it.

wow, that's the most positive thing i've ever seen you say, pseudonihilist, ;-]

"The Clear" does it all. Builds muscle, and improves concentration. It puts you, if any of you are or were athletes out there, "in the zone".

"The Clear" does it all. Builds muscle, and improves concentration. It puts you, if any of you are or were athletes out there, "in the zone".

Uh, no it does not.

It is simply another anabolic-androgenic steroid, which means that all it can do is provide potent androgenic and progestinic effects.

I heard this from the horses mouth, the guy that designed it. On ESPN. He's out of jail.

While Pat may be a smart business man and chemist, if he is indeed making those claims, he is making claims that are not based upon science, and have never been substantiated.

Also, he did not as much design tetrahydrogestrinone, as added 4 hydrogen atoms to gestrinone. Modifying a current compound to avoid detection is very different from designing a new one.

wow, that's the most positive thing i've ever seen you say, pseudonihilist, ;-]

Thanks Wolf, I think. For what it's worth, I see my habitual negation of naysaying as a positive. ;-]

I've seen it so many times, and not as Giants fan (I'm a lifelong St. Louis fan): a pitcher loses a curve ball or a slider down and in and Bonds swats it over the right field fence like it was an insect. The guy's reaction time and bat speed is off the charts. When they throw it in his wheelhouse they pay. Bonds is special, and, given that he's so socially-challenged, we have to give him credit for continuing to do what he does best despite all the media scrutiny and skepticism.

The level of denial that gloms onto celebrity worship is truly impressive. Barry Bonds believed that Sosa and McGuire were 'bulking up' in the late 90's and his jealously got the better of good judgement. This new record is utterly and irrevocably tainted, as is Bonds' historical legacy in MLB.

Here's a little somewhat related tidbit for you. In 1920, Babe Ruth hit one home run every 12 at bats, when the league average was one home run for every 98 at bats. Many of Bonds home runs came when the league average was skyrocketing. I'll grant you that Bonds has been a great, Hall Of Fame level player, but both Ruth and Aaron were greater home run hitters when all this nonsense is put in proper perspective.

These are all good points - in fact, they're the exact same ones levelled at Ruth and Aaron.

Babe Ruth home runs:

1918 = 11
1919 = 29
1920 = 54

100% increases!! Did Ruth have an advantage? Yeah, they juiced the ball and critics said those home runs were tainted. He also never had to travel farther than the east coast and only played against white people. Other players had been specifically trained to be successful during the dead ball era so they had a huge disadvantage.

in 1968, Aaron hit 29 home runs. In 1969 he hit 44. 50% more in one year! They lowered the pitchers mound that year to give hitters an advantage. Critics said those home runs were tainted because of it. Aaron was blasted because of amphetamines and the benefit of an 8-game longer season for most of his career. Like Ruth and Bonds, they built a stadium around his swing so that is a wash.

Now we have Bonds. Every player who used steroids, without exception, suffered debilitating injuries soon after and was out of the game. Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco, McGwire, etc.

Bonds hit 49 home runs in 2000 and 73 in 2001. 50% more, same as Aaron's best jump and nowhere near Ruth. He then put up three consecutive seasons of over 40 home runs, something neither of those other two did.

Bonds will hit 30 home runs this year, playing in the field. If someone actually proves Bonds did anything wrong, I am first in line. Physically, guys who do steroids do not last 22 seasons. This clear and cream nonsense was pumped up in part by the chemists trying to make their rep taking credit for his success and in part by sportwriters who hate him. The fact is each of those guys had an advantage over others of their day that had nothing to do with outside forces. In the case of Aaron, he had the fast wrists in the history of the game. With Bonds and Ruth, both tested with the best methods of their day, it is superhuman ocularity. You can't medicate that.