i hear ya. but they're absolutely relevant to this discussion. because if you throw out bonds' single season numbers, you're left with McGwire and Sosa next. then Maris.
I hate how people say Bonds is doing roids because hes so much bigger than when he was in Pittsburgh. He was 195lbs when he was a rookie. He's 225lbs now. Shaq was 295lbs in Orlando. Now he's 340lbs. Is Shaq on the "clear" too?
i'm not hearing any outcry to strip their records. i'm hearing lots of talk that steps need to be taken to prevent bonds from breaking records.
Talk from MLB? I would veeeeery seriously doubt they want to open that can of worms. But if it's proven in a court of law that Barry knowingly used steroids (something we can't do w/ former players), what should MLB's response be?
not talk directly from MLB, no. the indirect reporter stuff. you know how that goes! i don't know. it's not really mlb's response AT THIS POINT that bothers me. i think you know how i feel about this whole situation...i've posted it a bunch before, i'm sure.
I think that Bonds probably did steroids at one time, but I don't think he does them anymore. So many people use the argument about his increase in size and mass, but they ignore the fact that Balco has been out of business for years and Bonds himself has been under incredible scrutiny for several years now. How is he so ripped going on 42 years old unless that is his natural workout build? There are a lot of people in Europe making the same type of allegations against Lance Armstrong with the same kinds of circumstantial evidence.
yeah, i know, but he's not an average athlete. like i said, there is no way to know for sure but he looks to have broken down in a heap. i just think the whole saga sucks and i blame MLB more than anyone else that it's come down to this ugly pissing match.
Bonds gets the edge because of the grand jury testimony, but so much of that is just hearsay evidence, which is the same stuff used against Lance in all the tabloid books.
Shaq is not on the clear, but maybe on gravy and fast food. Shaq is just fat. Bonds started putting on an obscene amount of muscle in his 40's. Not typical of people who age. If Pujols is able to hit 62 HR's this year I'd like to see it celebrated as breaking the single season HR record. Not likely to happen though.
But in that scenario - if we actually DID strip his record - I think you'd get a whole lot more discussion about stripping McGwire and Sosa as well, especially if we had solid evidence that they cheated. Right now, why worry about 2nd or 3rd place when there's far more evidence against 1st place and nothing's been done?
And he took a whole lot of heat about it for a year or so. If he was setting any type of MLB records, he'd be getting even more hell about it. Kind of like Palmeiro did because he was a HoF-caliber guy. The bigger a star you are, the bigger the fall from cheating.
It's also worth noting that he wasn't defiant about it like Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, and Palmeiro have been. He openly accepted he made a mistake. Fans always give players a second chance if they are up front, apologize, and seem contrite (no matter how insincere it might be).
I just don't see how you can argue that Bonds and Bonds alone should be subject to special investigations/record stripping/etc. If that's the route they're going to go, pending the appropriate investigations: get rid of McGwire's records, take away Giambi and Canseco's MVP awards, take away Oakland's WS ttitle, Caminiti's big seasons, the Padres NL title. Investigate everybody. From Bonds down to the .174 hitting utility infielder. Take it ALL away. Baseball had an endemic problem, and MLB itself was complicit in it by dragging its feet on the issue for fear of killing the golden goose. I just don't see where MLB gets to ride the high horsey and trample Bonds without distrubing its own skeletons.
