Barry Bonds: Before & After Photos

[babygene]

"the issue relates to maintaining a level playing field among the participants in the sport."\

First of all, you have to realize that professional sports is just "show biz", nothing more...

Olympic athletes are so highly engineered that it also has little to do with natural ability.

Your argument is bogus.

[Luddite Patent Counsel]

Not to mention the dreaded "Dunlap's Disease"...my belly has dun lapped over my belt.

[Searching4Justice]

Lyle Alzado went to my old high school in Lawrence, N.Y. where he was a tall skinny kid and played defensive end with abandon ! He is a good example of why steroids can kill as they did him and he openly admitted it. It's a shame how some "cash in their bodies" making the big bucks and have to live (or die) with the consequences later.

[Charles Henrickson]

Beginning in 2000, at age 35/36, the newly bulked-up, BALCOed-up Barry began producing monstrous, drastically higher slugging numbers. This does not happen normally. Ever. In the history of baseball.

In his first 14 seasons, Barry had averaged about 31 HR, slugging % in the mid .500s, batting avg. in the upper .200s. In the last 5 seasons, beginning at age 35, BALCO Barry has averaged 52 HR, with slugging % in the upper .700s, and batting avg. in the mid .300s. This does not happen.

Compare Bonds with the other three top HR hitters in baseball history, their five seasons starting at age 35, in HR, slugging, and batting:

Ruth (1930-34): 49, 46, 41, 34, 22/ .732, .700, .661, .582, .537 / .359, .373, .341, .301, .288
Mays (1967-71): 22, 23, 13, 28, 18/ .453, .488, .437, .506, .482/ .263, .289, .283, .291, .271
Aaron (1970-74): 44, 38, 47, 34, 40/ .607, .574, .669, .514, .643/ .300, .298, .327, .265, .301
Bonds: (2000-04): 49, 73, 46, 45, 45/ .688, .863, .799, .749, .812/ .306, .328, .370, .341, .362

From age 35 on, Ruth experienced a steady decline every year. Mays had mediocre, below-normal seasons all five years. Aaron held close to his career averages. Only Bonds had dramatically better years all five seasons than he had ever had before. Starting at age 35! This does not happen.

Look where Barry was the two seasons prior to his power surge, at ages 33/34 and 34/35:

1998: 37, .609, .303
1999: 34, .617, .262

About 35, .610, .280 . . .This is what you would expect from a very good player beginning the downward glide path. But then, all of a sudden, for the five seasons after that, numbers like 52, .780, .350?! Come on!

[Luddite Patent Counsel]

"professional sports is just "show biz", nothing more..."

If what you're saying is true, then every game in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB is orchestrated and the outcome preordained. You are seriously arguing that there is no competitive difference between Major League Baseball and the World Wrestling Federation? What evidence do you have of this?
And you are calling someone else's argument "bogus"?

[uncbob]

If I recall correctly Barry is about 38 to 40, and that much weight gain happens as one ages. I weighed 120 in high school, 124 when I went in the army, and now 190 at age 62. My metabolism slowed down with age, and now when I smell mash potatoes I go to bed at night and hear the fat glands grow.

Bonds is an ATHLETE don't know about you

I weigh ten pounds less than I did in college
I am 6 ft 160 at age 68
In college I was 6 ft 170 ( 6% body fat )

Unfortunately the ten pound less is ten pounds less muscle

[rintense]

Looks like he started in 94-95 to me. The change in his face in those years is undeniable.

[Rakkasan1]

wrestling is real, baseball is fake.

[babygene]

"What evidence do you have of this?"

Their multimillion dollar salaries for starters...

[Freepdonia]

For Bonds to put up the most monsterous numbers of his career from age 37-42 is, to say the least, extremely suspicious.

Without a doubt, Sicon.

Check out the picture series at ESPN's site. It shows photos of Bonds every year from 1988 to 2004, with stats (HR's, RBI's, and AVG) for each season.

Thanks for the head-sup.

[uncbob]

Right. Walter Payton too.

Hold on Hoss

Peyton NEVER had the steroid look and had one of the most rigorous off season training regimens ever

[Charles Henrickson]

After his first 14 seasons, Barry had 445 HR. If he had followed the expected trajectory for the next five years (ages 35/36-39/40), he probably would be sitting at 550-600, tops. Not over 700.

Barry's offensive stats sans BALCO would probably be comparable to Frank Robinson: 586 HR, .537 SLG, .294 BA. (Of course, F. Robby accomplished those excellent numbers in a much lower offensive era.)

So, HOF, to be sure, but certainly not one of the top three or four ever.

Barry did have defense and speed--did have, past tense. But those aspects, which would not be helped by bulking up, and which would decline with age, have indeed declined. But somehow his slugging is better than ever. Hmmm. . . .

[uncbob]

From what I have read about it, they don't use nearly the same level of dosages that they used earlier. IOW, it was overkill back then. The reports I have read are from the bodybuilders themselves such as Tom Platz and Dave Draper.

Oh yeah compare Platz and Draper and even Lee Haney to the MR OLympia winners the past 10 years

[Fatalis]

Does anyone have photos of the BALCO District Attorneys before they illegally leaked grand jury testimony, and after?

By all means, we should clean up baseball, but the cheating by the D.A.'s office and the press is it's own scandal, which threatens to undermine the grand jury system.

[GarySpFc]

About 35, .610, .280 . . .This is what you would expect from a very good player beginning the downward glide path. But then, all of a sudden, for the five seasons after that, numbers like 52, .780, .350?! Come on!

But steroids are not going to help his eye and bat coordination. Granted, I believe he knowingly took steroids, but the man is a great hitter, and I am not willing to take that away from him.

[Charles Henrickson]

Almost all athletes in all sports have their best five-year run somewhere in the 22-34 age range.

The pre-Anderson, pre-BALCO Barry had his career year in 1993, when he was 28/29. That is perfectly normal, exactly the age you would expect a baseball player to peak. And then he started to slide just a little in his early 30s, again, true to form.

In the entire history of all sports, no one has ever had the best five-year run of his career, and the best five-year run of any player in the history of his sport, at ages 35/36 - 39/40. This is physically impossible.

[Freepdonia]

The doctors were mystified about his condition until he informed them that he was using Dyanabol {sic}. He lived and I understood that his being 5'2" tall and having a muscular walking weight of over two hundred pounds wasn't normal. I found another training partner.

Sounds like you made a wise decision, em2vn.

[latina4dubya]

can you give stats that aren't twenty years apart? a man's body in his early 20's is different than his body in his 40's... no matter how healthy or in shape he is...

[uncbob]

The best example of the juiced look is Lenny Dysktra

Compare him with the Mets then when he played for the Phillies

Course he said it was a great vitamin nutrition shake he discovered

[Luddite Patent Counsel]

The CEO's of Fortune 500 corporations make multimillion-dollar salaries. According to your logic, that means business is "just showbiz", and that success in the marketplace is actually fixed. You better adjust that tinfoil headwear, my friend.