Barry Bonds

He is not being indicted for steroids, he is being indicted for lying to federal investigators. I agree he probably should not go to prison but a large fine or small time behind bars to get the message out will do.

 

He's scum. Throw the book at him.

 

When did he join the Astros, Texans, or Dynamo?

Wrong Forum. This should be in Hangout.

 

On the subject of Bonds i have a question. I don't follow baseball so much so i don't understand why Clemens has had his legacy completely destroyed while Bonds has not had half as much damage. They both lied to the judge. Is the hate for Clemens because he lied and made a big deal in court or just because he did steroids. Steroids doesnt help a pitcher that much i would think.

 

Kidding me, steroids is not just about strength, it is about quick healing of the muscles. Now think how important that is to a guy who throws 100+ pitches every 5 days.

 

Well I'm thinking Bonds didn't talk to the media as nearly as much as Clemens has...shoot Clemens WANTED to testify before Congress.

Lost in the mix somewhat is Tejada. He apparently lied too, but he's gone quietly about his business. Clemens has been such a loud mouth during this whole thing when he could have either A) admit guilt or B) deny it once and not talk about it anymore.

 

Barry Bonds took steroids and needs to just step up and admit it to prevent himself from getting in more trouble then he already is in.

 

I would say Bonds' reputation has taken a pretty big hit. The Balco case has been going on in public since 2002ish, so maybe that's why it doesn't seem like a drastic fall from grace. Or, maybe he was just never as well liked as Clemens? But, make no mistake, if it weren't for the steroid allegations Bonds would be considered arguably the greatest player of all time (only Babe Ruth would have a legit argument, imo). Will he even make the HOF now?

I'm not sure anyone knows exactly just what effects PED's have on player performance. They supposedly help recovery time, which would obviously help pitchers. Increased strength leads to increased velocity, which might help to explain the rising strikeout rates the over the last 15 years. I wouldn't assume that pitchers don't benefit from steroid use as much as hitters do.

Bonds by all accounts is a big A-hole, a possible sociopath, and almost certainly a knowing steroid user, but his whole investigation and prosecution has been outrageous. This didn't start with Bonds lying, it started in 2000 with ex-jock turned IRS agent Jeff Novitsky deciding that because he thought Bonds was a ******, he was going to go out of his professional area to investigate (the DEA didn't want anything to do with it) and prove Bonds did steroids. If you can find it, there is a good article about this from Playboy circa 2004 by Jonathon Littman called "Gunning for the big guy". The Balco investigation, wasn't about justice, or the integrity of the game, or protecting kids from drugs, it was about one failed athlete turned rogue IRS agent's personal mission to bring down someone (whether through GJ admission or perjury) because he was envious of his success and thought he was a jerk. So congratulations IRS and Bush justice department, you made Barry Bonds into a sympathetic figure. Quite an achievement!

 

Imagine Ted Williams stats if he didn't miss 3 prime years (24 - 26) to World War 2 and the vast majority of 2 seasons when he was in the Korean War.

Of course Ruth lost some offensive year to pitching, but I'd rate Williams above Bonds any day of the week.

 

yea ted williams was ok

but...Barry had a better peak (600 obp in a season ) and played ~800 more games. caveat of ignoring PED use of course.

You're right about the missed time in Williams' prime due to war service, but I'm just not sure what to do with that. and if we give him credit for those years, do we have to give bonds credit for a hypothetical 2008 season lost due to what likely was owner collusion?

 

I think Bonds is a good guy. The media makes him out to be evil or something... but he is really nice to fans, extremely down to earth.

He is just not friendly to media, and that was his biggest problem.

 

By this failed logic, we can release 95% of our prisoners.

 

I haven't really followed this story at all, but if Bonds is indicted for lying to the Feds- doesn't Roger Clemens face the same charge?

I personally admire Bonds alot. He is just portrayed as a bad guy by the media, just because he isn't very friendly with them. But he is friendly with the fans. Basically if you control the news, you can control public opinion.

 

not sure if he's going to jail, but it must have been a ***** to lie and have to live with it. he shoulda just been honest, he's got money, he's fine.

 

I'm sure we could find the case of the opposite types: The ones who are totally loved by the media (or on favorable), but is a geniune prick to everyone else, family members, team members, managment, mistresses, fans, and everyone else. Yet, the media tells us to love them, no matter what...

 

Barry Bonds and Pete Rose, perhaps the two greatest offensive players during the last 50 years, will never be in the Baseball HOF. Baseball is one screwed-up sport.

 

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but weren't Tejada's issues more about having no evidence of the drugs, but merely of the checks he paid with? Since he never had any positive tests or the evidence wasn't nearly as strong as Bonds' or Clemens' case, his denial essentially is his official stance. He never acknowledged taking anything, and there's no proof he did right?

It's just that, unless he says he bought drugs with those checks, he's good. Everyone knows it.

Bonds and Clemens were idiots and had bad legal advice. Still, they shouldn't go to prison. It's sickening how far the government has been taking these particular cases.

I'm not blaming George Bush in particular, but I firmly believe his administration and previous ties with baseball certainly had an affect on litigation and prosecution with these issues in recent years.

 

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