On his current HBO show, Bryant Gumball (heh) closes out a rant about McGwire's non-apology by calling on other prominent still-in-the-closet roidrunners to 'fess up. He names the usual suspects -- Bonds, Sosa, Palmiero, Clemens, etc. But he also drops Bagwell's name, which I found surprising. Not that he's above suspicion (I've had that idea about him for years), but because he's rarely mentioned among the front-runners of the PED era. I also thought it pretty cowardly of Gumball to name THOSE players, but not to call out some who are still playing (Albert Pujols as the prime example).
not necessarily. whenever an athlete stops playing a sport, they usually stop working out regularly and eating protein filled foods. They usually easily drop 30 pounds of muscle since theyre not working out as much and eating such protein rich foods. for example im nowhere near as big as i was when i was playing football.
Butterfingers and RocketFan007, I have some magic jellybeans you might be interested in purchasing. They'll make you rich *and* good-looking. Act now and I'll throw in the Brooklyn Bridge and a 1-year supply of Extenze.
classless post, topfive. There is *zero* evidence of steroids. Pointing at pictures of him and saying, "see!!!! he's tiny!!! ROIDER!!!!!!!" is idiotic when ignoring all the other very real factors. I will agree that it is naive to assume he never did it, but it is also foolish to assume he did. We. Do. Not. Know. capiche?
And so far, we have no evidence about Sosa. Would it be equally classless to assume Sammy's power was not 100% natural? There was no evidence about McGwire until he decided to confess. And the only evidence regarding Clemens is the say-so of other players, something that might not even be admissible in a trial.
So he went from MASSIVE to tiny. Sorry, love the Stros and was always a fan of Bagwell, but I would bet every dollar in my bank account that he used PED's. I understand losing muscle, but he went from he-man to a guy with no build whatsover... I used to workout 5 days a week for 5 straight years and had about 20 pounds more muscle than I do now...but my size decrease is NOWHERE near his. EDIT: this is just my opinion...no need to get all angry, fellow posters
Pujols HR total has suddenly spiked at some point in his career? Being good isn't an indicator of substance abuse. Being decent then suddenly REALLY GOOD is an indicator. Pujols has been really good since day 1, I'm afraid.
True, but Pujols came along after the PED industry was in full swing, so maybe he didn't start mid-career. Someone could always start in the minors, y'know, or even in high school. There are other indicators, too: huge upper body, acne, early balding. None of those by themselves are uncommon, but when someone has nearly ALL of the indicators, it does raise suspicions.
Not really related to Bagwell or Pujols, but my coworker played two seasons of minor league baseball 10 years ago and said that roughly half of his team used steroids. Even the players who sucked
So he's somehow maintaining his numbers while passing all the drug tests that are currently enforced. That's some amazing stuff he's got.
suddenly putting up power numbers that are out of line with your career progression and then having a dropoff/end of career? Sosa HRs: 15, 10*, 8*, 33, 25**, 36, 40, 36, 66, 63, 50, 64, 49, 40, 35, 14, 21** 5/17 out of line McGwire HRs: 49, 32, 33, 39, 22, 42, 39**, (2 years of very short seasons, assumed injuries) 52, 58, 70, 65, 32*, 29* 4/13 out of line Bagwell HRs: 15, 18, 20, 39**, 21, 31, 43, 34, 42, 47, 39, 31, 39, 27 8/14 out of line... except they're not as far out of line as the other guys. *275-399 PAs ** 400-500 PAs (otherwise over 500 PAs) My admittedly biased opinion, but I think his consistency over the years (even in a bad way--i.e. the lack of a huge spike later in his career) if nothing else should separate him from those 2.
Did you go from that to not really lifting at all? Curious, just because everything we've heard is that after Bagwell's shoulder issues, he hasn't been able to do anything with weights really, right? Additionally, I've gotta think a pro athlete with the dedication to upper body weights that Bagwell supposedly had was even more intense than you were in your 5 days a week regimen.. so I'd think he got to a higher point, and then fell harder with the medical issues
I'm suspicious about Pujols in the minors. I wonder how big he was coming out of high school. I doubt he's juicing now, and he's obviously a great hitter, but wouldn't it still advance one's career if they juiced for a couple of years in the minors and then worked to maintain the previously unattainable strength?
Hardly amazing -- just state-of-the-art. It's common knowledge that PED detection lags behind PED development by a few years.
I think it is a little silly when you are trying to compare your body to a professional baseball player. Their lives were dedicated to their bodies and performance on the field. From the very exercises they do to the very thing they ate. They probably had personal trainers everywhere making sure they are doing things correctly. I like how we rag on Baggie for turning really really skinny after the majors but... look at Mcguire, Bonds, Clemens, Canseco. You do not really see any evidence of massive weight loss. Also, from what I remember, Bagwell was never a very SMALL player. Look at Bond's rookie year. He has gained tremendous weight. Baggie seemed to increase steadily through exercise and what he ate and after when he stopped, there was a big drop in weight loss. I think right now, there isn't the evidence that he took steroids, so we should really not take any stupid cheap shots at him until something gets released.
Spoiler Baggy was pretty small as a rookie (yet still looked strong), but his weight gain wasn't as drastic as Sosa, Bonds, or Mcgwire IMO.
nevermind the fact that he also went from tiny>MASSIVE very quickly. bagwell used PED's, get over it.
