Impressive. Just two sentences in–a race reference. Never saw that coming.

I had a long rant written up, but forget it. It’s not worth it to correct a moron.

As much as I disagree with Mark on the Bond’s issue, I have to say that Mark is anything BUT a moron, and is, in fact, one of the more engaging, interesting bloggers in town.

Re Bonds, if anyone can show me any athlete who improved as dramatic from ages 36-40 (compared to his/her earlier years), I’ll eat my Bill James paperbacks.

Look at Bond’s slugging percentages the five years before he turned 36 and then the five years afterward. That, my friends is a statistical aberration unmatched.

Steriods can’t help you hit a curve ball, but they can help you recover from the aches and pains of the rigors of the long season, and especially the aches and pains of a relatively older player.

…and don’t you agree that roids can make you able to hit the ball farther?

I don’t care what else he’s blogged about, the fact that he says steroids won’t make you stronger (turn a doubles hitter into a home-run hitter) means he’s a moron. Especially considering how much muscle mass Bonds has added.
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His comment about steroid use and basepath speed is also dumb, because if someone shoots steroids and lifts weights, they gain bulk while degrading the integrity of their joints, thus making base-stealing and speed out of the question.

Hi Ron, moron here. I spent a few years in a college football lockeroom. Though I never enjoyed the pleasure of having some dude stick me with a needle to attempt to increase the possibility I’d get drafted, I have seen the effect of steroids (or rather, felt it) in a way you have no bloody clue I’m sure.

Saying that steroids turns a “doubles hitter into a home run hitter” just evinces what little you know about hitting. Your comment about steroid use and lifting weights and speed is dumb because I remember Ben Johnson. And Tim Montgomery. And Linford Christie. Etc. Weight training is a part of every track athlete’s regimen, as was nandrolone. Oh, and there’s the always disappointing Edgar Davids, the Dutch footballer who was on roids. Still think roids keeps you from running (mind you, all the men I mentioned were big and cut)?

It is quite possible for someone to add as much “muscle mass” as people think Bonds has added (I still think he looks kinda chubby to be juiced). OTOH, Bonds did look pretty skinny at the CWS back in the day. As did Roger Clemens. Talk about bulking up, even his head got bigger.

My argument is that roids doesn’t play as big a part in hitting as people think, and so recognize Bonds skill fairly, even if he’s found to be in violation of MLB’s rules. And forget about whether or not you “like” Bonds.

Roger Clemens is probably on steroids (and HGH), too. I have no doubt that a lot of pitchers Bonds faced have been on steroids. But there’s a difference between the sort of weight training a track athlete does and the sort of weight training a power-hitting baseball player would do. They don’t go for bulk and raw power, because that sacrifices flexibility and fast-twitch muscle speed. Look at boxers who do weightlifting versus boxers who do resistance training. Even those guys were still not heavyweights, no matter how cut they were. Barry Bonds in 1998 looked like Shawne Merriman.
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Steroids cause water retention. Look at professional wrestlers from back in the 80s (or most of them now). Bonds is chubby from bloating (or he takes his steroid cycles from the James Toney handbook).
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As for turning a doubles hitter into a home run hitter, the difference between a double off the outfield wall and a home run is 15 feet. You still have to make contact, but it helps if you can hit the ball 500 feet in the air.

You talked about steroids keeping you from running in reference to its (long term, I’m assuming) debilitating effect on joints, not the difference in weight training. It’s important for any power athlete to be flexible. It’s an old myth of training that lifting sacrifices flexibility. There are bodybuilders who can do full on Van Damme splits. As long as your regimen incorporates proper flexibility training AND your reps take your muscle through the full range of motion, you don’t have to worry.

Also, Ben Johnson was huge. HE’s no Greg Valentino, but . . .

Think you’re arguing against something I’m not saying. As to whether Bonds is actually taking steroids, all we have is conjecture. I’m saying it is possible for him to break the record without it, which runs against what seems to be the argument most are making as evidence — that he *must* be juiced or else he couldn’t break the record. It’s all tangental to my main point, which is “no asterisk.”

Jon,
The Tennessean had a breakdown of Bonds’ HR pace over the length of his career. It comes out to around 50 a year (not a season) after 93. Some years less, some better. He hit about 250 between 36 and 40, but 53 since turning 40.

I have no problems with no asterisk, either. The Players Union and Bud Selig should have to live with the permanent stain of allowing steroids to damage the game in ways that Tim Raines playing with crack rock in his pocket never could.
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As for the Bonds steroids thing being conjecture, I think BALCO’s records, grand jury testimonies, etc. all go against that thought process. While it isn’t impossible he could’ve broken the record without steroids, it wasn’t probable given his 20+ AB/HR ratio from the days that should’ve been his power peak.