Oh i get it. The NBA and MLB have ALWAYS had similar performance enhancing drug testing policies and methods, so what you are claiming makes MUCH MORE SENSE now.
Like the other person said All his numbers etc are basically hearsay etc no one has really *saw* him play Also If that is the case. . why do we dog players that come from small conferences? cause they amass big numbers against competition that is not the BEST OF THE BEST . . .just some of the best If there was no March Madness . .. he was decidedly better than any other player in the game THEN AND WHO WAS ALLOWED TO PLAY I mean he played in the ERA that had a a WORLD SERIES FIXED so no telling what else they FIXED How fast was Babe's fast ball? How did they measure it? How much movement did he have on his pitch? Tell me this . . . If babe played now. . . would he put up those numbers? Could he drink and carouse all night then play the next day? I'm a big Wilt Chamberlain fan . . one of the best of all time based on his stats .. . without a doubt he is but his competition sucked. He would NEVER avg 50 pts a game in the modern game . . and 25 assists. I'm no major baseball fan but the incredible PASS babe gets and the incredible HE GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT thing that Bonds get is just so distasteful Rocket River
I never said Ruth wasn't great. I just said he wasn't as good as Bonds. But, its hard to compare. Barry plays in an integrated league with great players from all races. Ruth can't claim that. Of course Bonds can't. Ruth played when professional baseball was only a few decades old. Bonds has to compete with players of all races and records that have had over a hundred years to be built. Ruth played in an all white league. He never played the best competition.
I mean Bonds played in an era rife with steroid usage, and he used them himself. So, no telling how else players cheated. The incredible he [sic] innocent no matter what the evidence to the contrary (incredibly reminiscent of the OJ Simpson trial) is just so distasteful.
Bonds very well may have used steroids for a while, but we will never know for sure unless he admits it. One thing to consider is that he's not using them now and he's just as ripped as ever. It is possible to put on that much muscle without roids -- guys at my gym have been doing if for years.
The "no one alive ever saw him play" has got to be the stupidest arguement I've ever heard in my life. After all the World War II veterans pass away, are you going to be saying that we can't tell the scale of that war? Some day when somebody tries to compare the Iraq war to World War II on some stupid aspect, for my arguement I'm going to say scale, are you going to defend them saying "well, no one alive saw World War II. We have to discount the broad size of that war as all hearsay."? This arguement is dumb. That's the problem with comparing eras RR. You can't say that Ruth would put up the same numbers in this era, but likewise you can't argue that Bonds would put up the same numbers if he'd started playing in the '20's. However, it's much easier to compare players playing at the same time because you're able to measure them against the same competition. A team may dominate a smaller conference, but when you bring them out of that conference and have them play a Duke, a Florida, or a Texas you get your answer. Unfortunately, you don't have that luxury when comparing eras in sports. As for Bonds, it's possible that he won't be remembered with the perceptions that are put on him today. Nobody liked Jordan at the beginning of his career. Barry's biggest problem, in my opinion, is that he doesn't give people a reason to like him. He comes off as a snobby crybaby, which is his doing. If he was a nice guy, I could see things being different and him being looked upon differently even despite the whole steroids debate. As it is though, in my opinion, Bonds has brought all of this upon himself. I don't like Bonds, but in the end I do feel bad for all the crap he has to put up with and do respect him as a hitter.
There's no way he would have had the same number in the 20's. He wouldn't have been allowed to even play.
You say we can't call Ruth a monster because we never saw him play, but you're comfortable comparing him to a modern star? You can't have it both ways. Ruth not being able to play in an integrated league is regretful, but that's how things are and there's no changing it. I don't see how you can discount his achievements because of it though. If things were reversed and the Negro Leagues had swallowed up the American and National Leagues, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. We'd be talking about Josh Gibson's numbers. How many home runs did he have? Oh that's right, we don't know the exact number. The quality of the record keeping in the Negro Leagues was way more questionable than that of the MLB. History has chosen to remember Ruth. It will remember Bonds. The exclusion of minorities from baseball at that time is unfortunate, but arguing that it diminishes Ruth's numbers in any way is unfair.
1. i know you're not a big baseball fan 2. i'm not trying to prove either guilty. i wouldn't slight either of them. ruth's impact on baseball was tremendous. 3. george washington was president....that's hearsay. 4. by the way, back when Ruth played, baseball was IT. it was far and away the premier professional sport in this country. there was little competition from football or basketball in those days. it didn't have to compete with those sports for athletes as it does today in this country.
Unfair to who? and how? I mean you say it is unfair then IMMEDIATELY dismiss theNegro league records as . .. . . liken to myth and fantasy???? Why did history CHOOSE Ruth? Why is america CHOOSING to Bonds? just because Joe Smoe hits 2000 HRS in college in middle kentucky leagues. . . don't make him the greatest of all time You cannot just boost someone up to the greatest of all time when he only played against a severely limited section of the population ASIDE: Standing Ovation while Bonds was getting pitched at was one of the most embarrassing moments in Houston sport history. Everyone who appluaded that can never speak of SPORTSMANSHIP ever again with out being the ultimate Hypocrits. Rocket River
Whatever. You can go marry Bonds if you want. I don't have to like him. I will boo Bonds, Karl Malone, etc every time. There is more to greatness than statistics. Personality goes a long way, and it is what this is really about. Bonds is a chump. Screw him.
