The Sports Apocalypse is upon us. Barry Bonds has hit his 755th home run, and middle aged sportswriters everywhere have broken fingers in their fervor to wring their hands. I wish we could go back to those days of innocence when our baseball players didn't do steroids, instead doing fistfuls of amphetamines.
Hank Aaron has admitted to using greenies (as has almost every old star like Willie Mays and Ted Williams). Yet I'm supposed to be outraged that a player using a DIFFERENT drug has ascended to the home run record. Our outrage is completely dependant on believing that using speed is okay and using steroids is not. The pitiful argument is that amphetamines don't help you hit home runs but steroids do. I humbly submit the career stats of Alex Sanchez, the first player to test positive for using steroids:
5 seasons, 6 home runs.
Barry Bonds is the greatest baseball player of my lifetime. He also has probably done more drugs than a touring funk band. I wish I could be outraged, but I'm not. The entire NFL is likely on an almost unimaginable amount of drugs, but it's the most popular sport in the country. I'm sure everyone outraged by Barry Bonds will immediately stop watching football.
To the credit of the San Diego crowd in attendance, their boos quickly turned to cheers as soon as the ball left the yard. It's hard to boo greatness. Barry Bonds is a great player, maybe the very greatest player ever. And there still isn't a shot which will magically turn you into a great player. Just ask Alex Sanchez.
11 comments:
Let's not appoint Bonds as a great player right now. Maybe in his earlier days he was a great player, but now he is just a great home run hitter. I think Bonds represents a lot of things that I don't like about pro baseball right now. He only plays minimal defense, doesn't use any situational hitting, and doesn't run the bases hard.
Back to the steroids, I won't crucify Bonds if he did use. One, no telling how many people have used that have never been caught. Two, no telling what other advantages other people have had that were not considered wrong or were not caught. Last, you still have to make solid contact before you can hit a ball a long way--no drug will help you make contact. Are we going to criticize people for getting lasik? After all that is still body-altering that would have more of an effect on being able to make contact.
I think there are a lot of reasons to hate Bonds. I personally will not hate him solely for using steroids.
Well, he is 42. Let's try and name all of the good all-around players at age 42. Willie Mays was pretty lousy at age 42, so I don't think that means a whole lot. And criticizing Bonds' situational hitting is like saying Shakespeare couldn't do free verse. The guy is still among the very best hitters in the league, even though he has the mobility of my couch.
I'd also like to point out that Clay Hensley, the pitcher who served up the gopher ball, has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Which is kinda funny.
I think the reason Bonds doesn't run hard, field, etc. stems from a fear of being injured, and he doesn't want to be injured so he can continue to hit homeruns...no matter how else he may be hurting his team. Ask Matt Morris about that. I mean most players are retired by age 43 (not 42...his birthday was two weeks ago), and the only reason he is still playing is to chase the record. But then again I can't fault him because I would do the same thing.
But all those who despise Bonds holding the HR record just have to wait a few years. ARod will destroy that record. He has hit 500 in just 12 full seasons whereas Bonds didn't hit his until his 17th. Bonds was 38; ARod is 32. This will be a short-lived record for Bonds. Consider this, if ARod plays until he is Barry's age, ARod will be in his 23d season, and if he continues his HR pace or increases it like Bonds, he will be nearing 1000 HR (season average 44 HR * 23 seasons = 1012 HR).
My Son's question: But Daddy, if he's cheating, why do they let him play?
My answer: Nevermind. Rub this on your pitching arm.
ARod hitting 1000 HRs is as likely as either of Poseur's knees functioning normally.
I did not know that about Hank Aaron and the others, although if I'd thought about it, I probably could have figured it out. I just willfully choose to live in the fiction that drug use in sports is a recent thing without absolutely no history that would lead players to believe it is acceptable. And, until someone beats me over the head with drug tests that say otherwise, The Big Unit has never done drugs. Ever.
The only drug the Big Unit needs is Retin-A.
And I really don't think Bonds is hurting his team. He's no longer the best player in the game, but he can still hit the ball a ton. He's a far better hitter than anyone else on the team, which is not saying much.
Warning to A-Rod: the previous youngest player to 500 was Jimmie Foxx. He only hit 34 more home runs on his career due to knee injuries. Tom Hanks' character in League of Our Own was loosely based on Foxx.
So what's your opinion on the debate regarding Bonds' "armor"?
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003621797
Carver -
An interesting article, but maybe overstated.
The point I found most intriguing was the idea that the hinge on the body armor helps Bonds have a more consistent swing. It seems to make sense, but then, so few batters using armor suggests there may be little real advantage.
In any case, I Barry Bonds is the devil and Hank Aaron is a god... Damn you Poseur and your reliance on history, facts, logic and other liberal values.
I also don't care about the steroids, but to say that Bonds is the best player of our generation is an insult to the greats like Ozzie Smith and Cal Ripken.
Despite Alex Sanchez' lack of power on the juice, you really can't downplay the effect that they have had during this era. I mean 70 homers in a season? Drugs may not be able to help you make contact, but I have seen plenty of flyballs that wouldn't usually make it to the warning track drift midway into the bleachers. The same thing with line drive homers. Greenies wouldn't help you with that. Perhaps help guys get through a double header after staying out all night, during the dog days...but not hit a 400 foot pop-up. I know with modern nutrition and new workout methods, it was reasonable to see power numbers go up, but not like that.
That being said, one of the reasons bonds does dog it now is because his body is already feeling the ill effects of steroids. I am not surprised his joints are so delicate, and if his head and shoe size increased three sizes since coming to Frisco, how big do you think his heart and liver are?
I also slightly disagree with him being the best player of this generation. I think the steroids complicates things, but people are incorrect in saying he was the best already before he 'roided up. Griffey Jr. was a better player during that same period...and while things changed with one going on the juice and the other on the indefinite DL, Griffey was a better hitter, fielder, and most importantly not a douchebag. I mean I refuse to classify a guy who couldn't throw out a 80 year old Sid Bream from shallow left as being the best player of this generation.
Bonds was better than Griffey in the 90s. While he is an unlikebale jackass, he was a great player. And I love Cal Ripken, hes my favorite player ever... but he ain't Bonds.
As for the homer explosion, there are plenty of explanations besides steroids:
1. Ballparks are puny. When Camden Yards was built, it was considered a bandbox. Now, it is a pitcher's park comparatively speaking.
2. The strike zone is microscopic. Pitchers have to throw it right over the plate to get a called strike. Unless they are Greg Maddux.
3. Strikeouts. K's and HR's go hand in hand. and there is no longer shame in striking out. Hitters have longer swings and go for the fences in away that never would have happened in the past when it was important to protect the plate.
4. Thin-handled bats. You can really whip those suckers. Bats are thinner and therefore lighter, while at the same time having a bigger sweet spot. Way to go, Louisville Slugger.
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