Baseball is known as the American pastime. Opening day, for some, is the best day of the year. It is described as “Baseball’s New Year” by commentator Jon Miller, and for some it is just as big a party.
Baseball is known as being one of the most pure things in the world. Kids from age 5 until 95 enjoy the sport. Kids in 1908 could catch a game, just as kids from 2008 are able to now. It survives and transcends decades, and now centuries, and always will. It is filled with lore and legend alike. It has more history and icons than the country which so enjoys it.
A quote from the movie Field of Dreams spewed by a character named Terence Mann says “The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again, but baseball has marked the time. This field, this game; it's a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again.” There are certain issues brought up today by certain players which give the most wonderful and poetically lending game a black eye. Hopefully the game will straighten itself out and remind us all of what was once good and could be again, as Mann lends us to believe.
Legends, and heroes alike, including, but not limited to, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Ty Cobb, Cy Young, and Willie Mays will never go away. “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die,” a quote from none other than The Sandlot, never seemed more true.
In today’s game, we have future possible legends like Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, John Smoltz, Ken Griffey, Jr., Chipper Jones, Vladamir Gurrero, and Greg Maddux, to name a few.
A name left off this list is Barry Bonds. He is no legend. A true legend, left off the first set of names is Hank Aaron. He doesn’t deserve to have his record broken by such a despicable and disrespectful representation of our beloved game.
There’s a saying that came about circa 2006 or 2007 that says “755 Home runs. Zero Steroids.” It’s a telling line which provokes much thought. Hammerin’ Hank had smashed 755 home runs without ever in his life taking a performance enhancing substance. He did it the right way, the natural way. Hard work and determination and perseverance were the path he took.
It also deserves note that he did so during the 60s and 70s when race wars were prominent and a light was shed upon any African American who was in a white’s world, as baseball was dominated by at the time. It was hard for Aaron to accomplish any task, especially one which he was so discriminated against because Babe Ruth, a Caucasian, held it at the time. Bonds had no such hardships.
Henry Louis Aaron had his record of hitting 755 home runs “broken” on August 7, 2007 by Barry Lamar Bonds. He hit a blast that traveled over 430 feet to left-center field off of Mike Bacsik, a pitcher for the Washington Nationals, marking the 756 time he had done so, a new “record.”
“Records are made to be broken,” is a saying often used to reflect upon the passing of the metaphorical baton that is a record in sports. If Barry Bonds had in fact broken Aaron’s record fairly and justly, no one would have a problem with it. The “baton” would be his.
Bonds was projected to be one of the best players of all time. He is the only player to have stolen more than 500 bases (514) and hit upwards of 500 home runs (762*). In fact, he is actually the only one to reach the 400/400 plateau.
Additionally, Bonds holds records for walks (2,558) and intentional walks (688). He also leads all active players in RBI (1,996), on-base percentage (.444), runs (2,227), games (2,986), extra-base hits (1,440), at-bats per home run (12.92), and total bases (5,976). (Bonds is still considered active although he is a free agent at this time. He has yet to formally retire.)
Most of these stats should probably be asterisks laced. The reason being that no one would be afraid to pitch to Bonds had he not been a steroid ridden monster that crushed bombs. Had he not hit the ball the extra steroid laden 5 feet needed to clear a fielder to get the RBI, runs, on-base percentage point, extra-base hit, or more total bases. Had he not been juiced he wouldn’t have hit as many home runs, doubles, and triples, lowering the extra-base hits, total bases, runs, and at-bats per home run.
Barry Bonds could always hit. It is evident that he was one of the best hitters of his generation when he took home Rookie of the Year honors for his prowess with the lumber. His multiple All-Star game selections, MVP awards, and Silver Slugger awards also attest to that fact. Bonds most likely would have still hit nearly 600 round trippers and stolen just as many bases. “Best Player of All Time” like numbers that would have catapulted him into the Hall of Fame on a first ballot after his retirement.
Steroids don’t make a person hit better. They do, however, add power and injury resistance to a player which allowed Bonds an unfair advantage and immense muscle growth that is so evident today by looking at the monstrosity he has become and by his so called numbers. Aaron had no such advantages.
Bonds went from a meek frame of about 180 pounds to a gargantuan size of about 250 pounds in his later years. His cap, jersey, and shoe sizes all swelled incredibly. Getting bigger comes with age, that being said, no one grows at the rate he did nor gets better with age as his so called numbers supposedly show. Not unless human growth hormone is there to assist in the process...
Pete Rose, MLB all-time hits leader, when asked about steroid implications surrounding the slugger, said he didn’t know anything about that, but he’s never seen anyone get better as they got older. This question raises many more.
Barry Bonds allegedly took stanzonol, a synthetic anabolic steroid derived from testosterone, in addition to a host of other steroids. The book Game of Shadows by Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, 2006, told the story on Bonds’ use of the aforementioned substances, all banned by Major League Baseball.
He was also involved in the BALCO scandal in 2003. His trainer worked for the laboratory and had been indicted by a federal grand jury for supplying athletes with performance enhancing drugs. He is quoted as saying he used a substance called “the clear,” or “the cream,” given to him by Greg Anderson, his trainer. He was supposedly told it was a nutritional supplement of flaxseed oil and a rubbing balm for arthritis, by Anderson.
Barry Bonds was indicted by a federal grand jury on November 15, 2007. A typographical error in court papers filed by Federal prosecutors wrongly alleged Bonds for testing positive for steroids in November 2001. A month earlier, he hit his single season record 73rd home run. The reference was meant to refer to a November 2000 test that had already been disclosed and reported at an earlier date.
The San Francisco Giants have formally removed all pieces of their park that have a Bonds reference in any way, shape, or form. They will, however, place a plaque where Bonds hit the record breaking home run. They have washed their hands of baseball’s biggest disgrace. Now the rest of the baseball world should too. Perhaps his inability to find a home for the 2008 campaign is a step towards that. Now all that’s left is the asterisk-ing of his “records” or their removal all together.
In a generation where kids need heroes, where can they look if the games best players are called out on a national stage for using performance enhancing drugs? People today should envy those growing up in the time when Hank Aaron broke the home run record. That’s a true hero. A true person to look up to. Not Barry Bonds. Not someone who cheated to get ahead, who falsely took what wasn’t his, who hasn’t earned most of the records he has broken. It’s not fair to the youth in America, nor the fans who have been watching the game for decades.
755 Home runs. Zero Steroids. That’s all that needs to be said.
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6 months ago
Nice work, the article gives great insight into what the baseball world needs to recognize as a legend
6 months ago
Barry, Barry, Barry
Barry is the greatest.
from 6 months ago
Have the decency to not comment anonymously please. I am trying to spark controversy over this topic. I know it definitely has people on both sides of the issue, so speak your mind.
from 6 months ago
In the fact that some don't view what Bonds did as wrong, and others do.
6 months ago
Tell us more about the race wars in the 60s and 70s! I must have missed them.
Read the steroid report that set Rodger off. A large percentage of players used them. Get over it.
from 6 months ago
Good choice to remain anonymous...
It isn't the fact that he used them, just used them to catapult himself into the record books unjustly. That's the point, not that people use them. Hank Aaron still should hold the record, plain and simple.
6 months ago
Well first off, I am from the Bay Area, but I have very little bias (if any at all). I have met Barry Bonds, and flat out don't like him as a person. I do however, respect him as a baseball player. There are many people who feel it's obvious that theres clear "evidence" that he used steriods. Show me that "evidence." Don't base your opinions on looks, looks can be decieveing. Would you say someone who started out as a lean lefty, and over his career gained around 60+ lbs. used steroids? Or someone who hit 24 more homers in one year? Well guess what everyone, that description was based on Babe Ruth's career. I'm going to leave this somewhat brief, although I could go into much more detail. But the point is, dont base your opinion on looks or someones attitude. Wait for the solid, concrete facts.
6 months ago
I've been a baseball fan for decade, I've read "Game Of Shadows", and I've followed the steroid saga in the press- particularly concerning Marion Jones. No doubt that Barry was a very talented, gifted and disciplined baseball player when he started out with the Pirates. His sudden increase in power and his physical changes coincide with his ties to BALCO. As for the weight gain comparison between Babe Ruth and Bonds, Ruth was noted for constant overeating and alcoholism; hence, the weight gain. On Bonds' side, his well-documented ego, arrogance and conceit is consistent to his alleged jealousy of McGwire and Sosa during their record chase. As for Ruth's homer increase, he started out in an era where hitting homers were NOT part of game strategy; experts of the day like John McGraw and Ty Cobb preached a brand of ball based on the base hit, stolen base and bunt. Ruth poured on the power when he realized what a star it made him- much like Bonds has been accused of after he realized what a big deal Sosa and McGwire had become.
A court of law does say, "innocent until proven guilty." A court of public opinion says, "if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck and sounds like a duck- then it's a duck". Marion Jones finally quacked after years of telling us she wasn't a duck. Palmeiro quacked after firmly saying he wasn''t a duck, either. McGwire and Sosa quacked under oath in Washington. Clemens and Bonds are now quacking, too.
6 months ago
I'm not about to say Bonds didn't use steroids--it would take an incredible amount of obtuseness to believe that. I'm also not going to say 762* is a bigger accomplishment than 755. However, two things you have to remember when it comes to Bonds that DO work in his favor are:
A.) Most of the pitchers at the time used steroids as well. Think about it--when Bonds homered off Clemens, the playing field was even. And yes, many pitchers used steroids--most players estimate that 85 to 90% of players used steroids about 10 years ago, including pitchers. When Bonds homers off of them, they basically have the same advantage he does. He can hit a ball farther, yes, but they make it harder to hit. It's tough to say what this means as far as what he would've done otherwise, but it's just something to keep in mind. Furthermore, in an era where so many hitters used steroids, Bonds outshined them all. McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, Canseco, etc. all had the same resources at their disposal and none of them could even come close to Bonds (especially given all the times Bonds was walked, who knows what he would've done if they actually pitched to him).
B.) Part of this is baseball's fault because Bonds really didn't break any rules. Bonds didn't fail anything in 2005, 2006, or 2007, when they finally put the policy in place in the majors. Think about it--if 90% of the people around you were gaining a competitive advantage, and no policy against it, wouldn't you want that advantage as well? Don't blame Bonds for that. And besides, Clemens is worse than Bonds as far as this goes because no one looks up to Bonds. No one sees Bonds in an interview and goes "Yeah, when I grow up, I want to be an asshole just like that." People looked up to Clemens, and he has completely let them down. At least Bonds had the sense to largely keep his mouth shut.
Just a few thoughts from the (sort of) other side. But yeah, Bonds did use, and that was wrong, and we shouldn't idolize him, I'll give you that. Then again, if the court of public opinion so wholeheartedly agrees with you, why write this article?
6 months ago
Bonds is the biggest disgrace in baseball? Only because we've made him that way. Only because he excelled. Listen, I am not a Bonds fan and never have been, but I'll admit that I would often change the channel to watch him hit in a game I had no other interest in. And I was pretty sure he was on Steroids. I was pretty sure a lot of players were on steroids. The only reason we care about it is because individual records are so hallowed in the game of baseball. Guys get caught juicing all the time in Football, and are back on the field with a minor handslap and no loss of public opinion. Bonds was the BEST steroid user that's for sure. But should we excessively chastise him for being good? He cheated, yes, but no more so than many other players. I know we want our heroes to be as pure as the driven snow, but we want them to be super-human athletes even more. We created Bonds. Baseball created Bonds. His disgrace is our own.
6 months ago
I agree with Daniel. Fans turned their back on the game after the strike-shortened 1994 season. How did the game get fans to jump back on the bandwagon in 1998? Oh yea, the home runs hit by McGwire and Sosa when they were juicing! If it weren't for them and Bonds (hell, even Brady Anderson had a following with a roided 50 HR season), the game would have had a much tougher road to regaining relevance with the fans.
Now, years later, instead of having a united front saying something along the lines of..."we now drug test and do not allow steroids in baseball and apologize for casting a blind eye in the past," there is a hypocritical witchhunt on Bonds for cheating because Selig and others are trying to save their own asses instead of admitting they benefited from these players as much as anybody.
Were Bonds and hundreds of others wrong? I don't walk in their shoes so far be it from me to cast stones. What I do know is they cheated in a time where it wasn't outlawed.
from 6 months ago
"cheated in a time where it wasn't outlawed."
If we acknowledge it as cheating, why then does it matter if Major League Baseball had no rule against it?? In reality, steroids are an illegal substance, therefore he was committing a crime. It shouldn't have been necessary for the MLB to ban steroids because it never should have been a problem. Baseball doesn't have a rule against poisoning opponents either because its a ridiculous idea. So to hide behind the fact that they weren't banned in baseball is an outlandish statement when you think about it.
Furthermore, you're missing the point of the article I think. Scott's point had nothing to do with a witchhunt about who used in the last decade. It was making the point that Hank Aaron clubbed his way past Babe Ruth with hard work and natural talent alone. That's not to say Bonds didn't bust his ass, or have immense talent. It merely means he enhanced his career(and therefore his numbers) because steroids allowed him to workout more often and stay healthy long enough to swell his numbers to the point of obliterating some of baseball's greatest marks. If guys like Aaron and Mays and Williams and DiMaggio had the opportunity to use, who knows what they would've done, but if they made the same choice to cheat that Bonds did, they're numbers would have been at least as eyepopping.
6 months ago
Let me pose this question to everyone who says that steroids=longevity. For those who think Bonds' career was extended because of his steroid use. Why is it that other players who are main targets for steroid accusations (i.e. Canseco, McGwire, and Sosa) were basically done by there mid 30's? Why is it that Bonds (and I guess you could consider Clemens too) are the only two accusees that have had success into their late 30's-early 40's? Some people say, steroids shorten a players career and cause more injuries. I just wanted to throw that out there.
from 6 months ago
When used correctly, steroids can cause injury resistance. In Clemens' and Pettite's situations, they used steroids to to combat injuries by quickly repairing damage. When used incorrectly, or just in certain cases, steroids have an opposite effect.
6 months ago
Well assuming that Jose Canseco is the steroid expert that he (and many others) say he is, why did his career start to tail off in his mid-30's? As well as people that he supposedly taught how to use steroids; such as Mcgwire, Juan Gonzalez, even Pudge isn't too great anymore. Oh, and pettite didn't use steroids, he used HGH on a couple occasions though
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