Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

616 [No Asterisk Required] (slightly modified title)
ESPN.com ^ | 12 May 2006 | Patrick Hruby

Posted on 05/28/2006 2:42:41 PM PDT by MikefromOhio

Heads turned. The ball bid the park adieu. With a single, violent swing of his bat, Barry Bonds made baseball history Saturday in Oakland, climbing one home run closer to the immortal Willie Mays. Six hundred sixteen home runs. It's a mind-numbing number, a body of work to rival Tupac's posthumous releases. Congratulations are in order.

Wait. Hold up.

You say Bonds actually has 714 career home runs?

Er, no. Good one. But no. Sure, if you want to get all technical, there's no arguing that Bonds has forcefully redirected 714 pitches into home run territory over his 21 major-league seasons. Yet according to the ziggurat of evidence compiled in the book "Game of Shadows," Bonds also ingested a Mexican farmacia's worth of performance-enhancing drugs during his peak slugging period, making some of those dingers less authentic than country crooner Kenny Rogers' reconstructed face.

Question is, how many? How many of Bonds' home runs are honest? And how many came courtesy of his reported juicing?

Start with a caveat: There's no way to know. At least not for sure. The homers themselves can't be replicated in a lab, let alone studied. The variables involved in each at-bat are too numerous and complex to tease out completely. The specific physical effects of taking bovine bulk builders and female sex hormones -- Bonds reportedly took both; did he end up lactating buttermilk? -- are poorly understood.

Truth be told, we can only manage a crude approximation. An educated guess, but a guess nonetheless.

(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: asterisk; barroidbonds; barrybonds; baseball; bonds; choker; hesintheclear; homers; mlb; roids
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last
This is a very interesting article. I'd been debating on whether to post it on FR for the baseball fans, but seeing that Barry did hit number 715 today, I figured today was as good as any other day to do so.

Have at it.

1 posted on 05/28/2006 2:42:42 PM PDT by MikefromOhio
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: GraniteStateConservative; ken5050

For your pinglists gentlemen....


2 posted on 05/28/2006 2:43:10 PM PDT by MikefromOhio (aka MikeinIraq)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MikefromOhio; mainepatsfan; scott says; Michael.SF.; Fast Ed97; Flavius Josephus; GreatOne; ...

Here is something for you all, it's about Barroid....

Have at it :)


3 posted on 05/28/2006 2:44:53 PM PDT by MikefromOhio (aka MikeinIraq)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: MikefromOhio

"Without steroids, Bonds was a damn good player. With steroids, he's a good player damned."


Good conclusion.


4 posted on 05/28/2006 2:55:15 PM PDT by Chi-townChief
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Chi-townChief

pretty much.....

He is the ONLY 500 Home Run and 500 Stolen Bases guy EVER.

And he accomplished that without the help of the Roids.

It's quite amazing to me, that a player like Bonds, who has everything, feels the need to cheat to be that much better.


5 posted on 05/28/2006 2:58:23 PM PDT by MikefromOhio (aka MikeinIraq)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: MikefromOhio
a player like Bonds, who has everything,

At the memorial service of one Dr. Silverthorne, many years ago, Jonathan Winters, said:

"A man who has friends, good friends, has everything. A man who has no friends, has nothing."

Bonds has no friends and to me, the man has nothing.

6 posted on 05/28/2006 3:14:34 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ("I don't think Pat Kennedy is crazy, he's just a drunk" -- G. Gordon Liddy (5-10-06))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Michael.SF.; MikefromOhio

I think he was missing something, and mistakenly thought it was from his play on the field.

He was wrong, and is still missing that something.


7 posted on 05/28/2006 3:18:12 PM PDT by stands2reason (You cannot bully or insult conservatives into supporting your guy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: MikefromOhio; Charles Henrickson

8 posted on 05/28/2006 3:23:21 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Michael.SF.

everything in terms of baseball qualities, well minus the limp noodle of an arm he's always had, but the man was a 4+ tool player.


9 posted on 05/28/2006 3:24:31 PM PDT by MikefromOhio (aka MikeinIraq)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: stands2reason; Michael.SF.

You nailed it.


10 posted on 05/28/2006 3:24:57 PM PDT by MikefromOhio (aka MikeinIraq)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: martin_fierro

Is that for real? I will buy one if they are for sale.


11 posted on 05/28/2006 3:26:32 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ("I don't think Pat Kennedy is crazy, he's just a drunk" -- G. Gordon Liddy (5-10-06))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: MikefromOhio
but the man was a 4+ tool player

I do not fault him for his skills, but for his lack of character

12 posted on 05/28/2006 3:27:53 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ("I don't think Pat Kennedy is crazy, he's just a drunk" -- G. Gordon Liddy (5-10-06))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Michael.SF.

http://www.thehomerunguys.com/Bonds_BALCO_Bobblehead.htm


13 posted on 05/28/2006 3:28:28 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Michael.SF.

14 posted on 05/28/2006 3:30:56 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Michael.SF.

I was only talking about his skills...

AS for his character, I think baseball has had worse, but he is BY FAR the most prominent player at this time.


15 posted on 05/28/2006 3:30:59 PM PDT by MikefromOhio (aka MikeinIraq)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Michael.SF.

Because of the 'roids, the man IS nothing.


16 posted on 05/28/2006 3:53:13 PM PDT by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: MikefromOhio
It's quite amazing to me, that a player like Bonds, who has everything, feels the need to cheat to be that much better.

He did not have everything when he went the high-tech PED route. He didn't have the fame and adulation that Sosa and McGwire had, and that pissed him off-- because he knew or suspected that both of them were on PEDs.

Bonds is a hell of a player. At a minimum, he would have hit 40 a year every year he was on PED. That's tremendous, given the other tools he had as a player.

17 posted on 05/28/2006 7:01:04 PM PDT by GraniteStateConservative (...He had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here...-- Worst.President.Ever.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: MikefromOhio

For the record, though, I think that Rose should be in the HOF, too.


18 posted on 05/28/2006 7:01:46 PM PDT by GraniteStateConservative (...He had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here...-- Worst.President.Ever.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: GraniteStateConservative

I meant baseball skill-wise.

Not like you took it. Sorry I wasn't as clear as I should've been.


19 posted on 05/28/2006 7:02:45 PM PDT by MikefromOhio (aka MikeinIraq)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: MikefromOhio
UNDETECTABLE
Tune: "Unforgettable"
As sung by Barry "U.S.D.A." Bonds

Undetectable, the cream, the clear
Some injectable, right in my rear
Like a shot of stuff for human growth
Do one cheek, then go and do 'em both
Never before
Have steroids been more

Undetectable in every way
Unconnectible, that's how I'll stay
Look at me, see the incredible
Bulk I've gained but not by edible
Means I gained it from some spreadable goo

Unregrettable, well worth the risk
Record-settable, no asterisk
Chasing Aaron, catching up to Ruth
Couldn't care less if I tell the truth
What matters more
Is home runs galore

Undetectable each time I pee
Random-testable, you won't catch me
As for me, it's incontestable
What this does is so incredible:
Swells my head and shrinks my testicles too

20 posted on 05/28/2006 9:35:50 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson