We never had these problems when we 'watched' baseball on the radio ...
I consider his entire career bogus, who cares about this loser?
can I wear a swing fixer in my golf game?
Anyway, I remind all Freepers that Barry Bonds hasn't failed a drug test. Also, Babe Ruth played in an age with a lot of sucky pitchers who had no modern technique. Babe Ruth at the peak of his career would today be a hopeless fatass who couldn't even make the cut for concession stand operator for the Bowie Baysox AA minor league team.
Old records like Ruth's are only the benchmarks of their time and needn't be thought of as the modern standard -- Much like how I don't see anyone breaking NASCAR legend Richard Petty's record of 200-some career wins. Today's NASCAR is lots more competitive than it was in Petty's time.
“permits Bonds to lean over the plate without fear of being hit by a pitch”
What about a 100mph fastball to any other part of the body?
This story is utter crap. No mention is made of Bond’s elbow surgery to remove bone spurs.
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The other six:
1) The apparatus is hinged at the elbow. It is a literal "hitting machine" that allows Bonds to release his front arm on the same plane during every swing. It largely accounts for the seemingly magical consistency of every Bonds stroke.
2) The apparatus locks at the elbow when the lead arm is fully elongated because of a small flap at the top of the bottom section that fits into a groove in the bottom of the top section. The locked arm forms a rigid front arm fulcrum that allows extraordinary, maximally efficient explosion of the levers of Bonds' wrists. Bonds hands are quicker than those of average hitters because of his mechanical "assistant."
3) When Bonds swings, the weight of the apparatus helps to seal his inner upper arm to his torso at impact. Thus "connected," he automatically hits the ball with the weight of his entire body - not just his arms - as average hitters ("extending") tend to do.
4) Bonds has performed less well in Home Run Derbies than one might expect because he has no excuse to wear a "protector" facing a batting practice pitcher. As he tires, his front arm elbow tends to lift and he swings under the ball, producing towering pop flies or topspin liners that stay in the park. When the apparatus is worn, its weight keeps his elbow down and he drives the ball with backspin.
5) Bonds enjoys quicker access to the inside pitch than average hitters because his "assistant" - counter-intuitively - allows him to turn more rapidly. Everyone understands that skaters accelerate their spins by pulling their arms into their torsos, closer to their axes of rotation. When Bonds is confronted with an inside pitch, he spins like a skater because his upper front arm is "assistant"-sealed tightly against the side of his chest.
6) At impact, Bonds has additional mass (the weight of his "assistant") not available to the average hitter. The combined weight of "assistant" and bat is probably equal to the weight of the lumber wielded by Babe Ruth but with more manageable weight distribution.
Lots of envious middle-aged men and former jocks out there. Leading with love, yep, that’s what our media does.
The previous records by both Ruth and Aaron were achieved in the course and context of attempting to win games. The Bonds fiasco is a pure sideshow where the winning of a game or a pennant is secondary to the circus. I love the game, but hate MLB, players unions and agents.
Ever since they let this drug addict play ball because of his “record-breaking” streak, I’ve turned off all pro baseball. Bonds is a skunk, and the baseball commissioner is a bigger skunk for sending a message to America’s children that being a druggie is okay with him.
Baseball with its pro-drug attitude, ancient habits (coaches dressed like little boys, unlimited foul balls, 7 or 8 warm-up pitches when a guy comes in from the bullpen [where he already warmed up]) is only one step above the excitement of a 1-0 score in a 90-minute soccer game. Barf! (and Snore!)
Link/research help needed. Does anyone know were I can find a good summary of the incident where Bonds decided he should get more of the baseball card royalties than the rookies because he sold more cards than they did? I think he threatened to not allow his image on baseball cards one year.
For us non-baseball fans, I wish it had a picture of the thing.
thanks for the post..
Instead of mere speculation, I’d like to see some empirical research on the “Bonds device.” You’d think that amateur baseball players might be interested in the thing just like amateur golfers often use balls that are bouncier than regulation.
