Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Barry Bonds
Two games into the 2004 season, Barry Bonds' batting average stands at .571. With all the controversy surrounding Bonds and his ties to BALCO, skeptics will surely spend most of the season denouncing the slugger's achievements, no matter what he does on the field this year.
"He was juiced when he hit 73 HRs in 2001," they'll cry. "He damamged the integrity of the game," they'll say.
So What!
To say that Bonds never used steroids would fly directly in the face of conventional wisdom. But I don't see the direct correlation between steroids and offensive output in baseball. Baseball is a skill sport, and all the testosterone injections in the world won't help you learn to hit a curveball, or even to catch up to a 100-MPH heater.
Bonds has always done that. He's topped the .300 benchmark in batting average 10 times during his career. And he led the leage in Home Runs more than a decade ago, when no one talked about steroids.
The simple fact is that people don't like Bonds. He's brash. He's arrogant. His antics rub people the wrong way. So his critics will try to use anything to discredit him. But all they have 73 Home Runs (from one season; he's never hit more than 50 in any other year, and I defy anyone to tell me that he couldn't hit 45 Home Runs without a drop of juice). Nevermind the eight Gold Gloves (do steroids help you make plays in the field?) or the 500 stolen bases, his success must be tied to the juice!
Please. Bonds is the best player of our generation, and among the top few of all time. This steroid witch hunt cannot change that.
ADDED: Just in case Bonds launches career HR 660 tonight to pull even with his Godfather Willie Mays at No. 3 all-time, no excessive celebration will ensue.
It's an interesting piece. Also included are gracious remarks from Bonds about Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt, who surrendered the game-tying three-run HR to Bonds on Monday.
"If Oswalt didn't get tired, man, he would have won the game. I believe he got a little bit tired. His curveball was not as sharp like the first four or five innings. You couldn't touch that curveball. He kept putting it right on the money. In spring training, guys are not throwing 99 pitches yet. But they made the right decision because he's winning the game. This is your horse. This is the guy who is going to be your future.
"He may have made a good pitch and if he gets me out, what do you say? He got me out in a big situation. That would have been the headline, too. 'Big situation nails Bonds.' If I hit him, it's reversed."
See... he's not such a bad guy. But then again, I'm a Bonds fan.
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"He was juiced when he hit 73 HRs in 2001," they'll cry. "He damamged the integrity of the game," they'll say.
So What!
To say that Bonds never used steroids would fly directly in the face of conventional wisdom. But I don't see the direct correlation between steroids and offensive output in baseball. Baseball is a skill sport, and all the testosterone injections in the world won't help you learn to hit a curveball, or even to catch up to a 100-MPH heater.
Bonds has always done that. He's topped the .300 benchmark in batting average 10 times during his career. And he led the leage in Home Runs more than a decade ago, when no one talked about steroids.
The simple fact is that people don't like Bonds. He's brash. He's arrogant. His antics rub people the wrong way. So his critics will try to use anything to discredit him. But all they have 73 Home Runs (from one season; he's never hit more than 50 in any other year, and I defy anyone to tell me that he couldn't hit 45 Home Runs without a drop of juice). Nevermind the eight Gold Gloves (do steroids help you make plays in the field?) or the 500 stolen bases, his success must be tied to the juice!
Please. Bonds is the best player of our generation, and among the top few of all time. This steroid witch hunt cannot change that.
ADDED: Just in case Bonds launches career HR 660 tonight to pull even with his Godfather Willie Mays at No. 3 all-time, no excessive celebration will ensue.
It's an interesting piece. Also included are gracious remarks from Bonds about Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt, who surrendered the game-tying three-run HR to Bonds on Monday.
"If Oswalt didn't get tired, man, he would have won the game. I believe he got a little bit tired. His curveball was not as sharp like the first four or five innings. You couldn't touch that curveball. He kept putting it right on the money. In spring training, guys are not throwing 99 pitches yet. But they made the right decision because he's winning the game. This is your horse. This is the guy who is going to be your future.
"He may have made a good pitch and if he gets me out, what do you say? He got me out in a big situation. That would have been the headline, too. 'Big situation nails Bonds.' If I hit him, it's reversed."
See... he's not such a bad guy. But then again, I'm a Bonds fan.
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