jorgelito

Fellas,

I have to admit, I am a hater. Ok, I strongly dislike Barry Bonds - Why? Well, because I always thought of him as a "cheater" (yet to be proven), a jerk and, well, that's pretty much it in a nutshell.

BUT, this guy is truly amazing. He just hit another homer. I am finding it harder and harder to "bash" the guys skills. I still find him to be a jerk (just my opinion), but to be fair, assuming everything is kosher, he is truly an amazing hitter.

It just seems so surreal. Any other "haters" out there starting to eat a bit of crow like me?

What am I missing? Unless he somehow is still taking "performance-enhancing drugs" deep under the radar, that theory goes out the window does it not?

Borla

I've never been a bit fan, but I've never been a hater either. But what you are saying is absolutely correct, you cannot bash the skill. He is truly amazing as a hitter, no doubt about it.

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Coimhéad fearg fhear na foighde!!!!

djtestudo

He's always been a great hitter, but there are enough questions to make you wonder about why he is still doing so well right now.

Personally I will always root against him (even hearing Jon Miller do the home run calls isn't enough), mostly because he makes Albert Belle look like Cal Ripken when it comes to being a complete asshole.

You hear his comments from the other day? All that did was make me even more convinced he did something.

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"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
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Mojo_PeiPei

I've got nothing but respect for the guy. Clearly one of Baseballs all-time best, hands down the best of the last 30 years. The man was 2 (hell might even be 3 time) MVP well before there were any allegations. Not to mention just how he changes the game when he steps up to the plate. But yeah, he is clearly an asshat.

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pan6467

Gee as late as he came back and all the racist and anti-Ruthian comments he made my guess is:

He came back with just enough time to beat Ruth's mark, AND late enough so that if he is popped for steroids, by the time appeals and all the machinations are played through the season will be over and he'll at least have beat Ruth.

Then he'll retire (as part of a plea deal, MLB wouldn't want it out he popped and by retiring noone would ever have to know) and not go after Aaron's.

But if he isn't popped, he'll go after Aaron's next year and risk getting popped. (But like him or hate him MLB sees $$$$$$$ BIGTIME in his chase for the record.)

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

pan6467

Hey now Albert (Joey) Belle was not an asshole, he was just terribly misunderstood and very competitive.

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

alansmithee

He got tested earlier this year. Since he was still on a roster, he had to get tested (even though he was sitting out with injury)

I think that his steroid allegations are probably overblown. Unlike many of the other juiced up wonders (Palmero anyone?), Bonds was a sure-fire hall of fame player before his allegations (3 MVP's). And even as his HR total shot up, his BA also grew alot. And look now, after being out nearly a full year, steriod tested, and he's cranking out the homers (4 in 22 AB or something silly like that). The one he hit last night, it was silly how he turned on that pitch. And he's not just barely clearing the walls, he's cracking tape measure shots. To me, definitely one of the top 3 position players all-time.

And I think alot of the perception of him being a bad guy is media-generated. He's made no bones about how he feels about them, so I think they in turn (purposely or not) try to make him look negative. For all the hubbub, you never hear about him being in any sort of legal trouble (and besides an alleged mistress, nothing even sketchy [outside steroid allegations, of course]). Compare with someone like Kirby Puckett, who everyone thought was just a great and wonderful person, who after he retired was revealed to be faking alot (as well as a sexual assualt charge that was dropped, IIRC).

Mojo_PeiPei

I don't know how well founded all of these roids allegations are either just on the merit of his homerun hitting. Between 86'-96' Bonds hit 334 homeruns, between 97'-04' he had 369. He slugging percentage didn't change too drastically in that period .540 (roughly) to .560(roughly), he BA was .280(roughly) through 96', but through 04' is up in the .310 Range. Who knows maybe the stats have been help along by the fact that his AB's have steadily decreased and his walks have gone through the roof.

I love the numbers, they don't lie.

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To win a war you must serve no master but your ambition.

pan6467

Very good points Alan and Mojo....

As he was on the DL early, he was probably off them knowing he'd get tested and wouldn't be playing for awhile.

And Mojo his numbers are strong but no one really talked about being juiced until around the late 90's. In fact, I remember Albert Belle (and he would have been a prime candidate and perhaps rightfully so) and his biggest controversy was the corked bat in '95, steroid use wasn't really in the news yet.

With Bonds it's possible he has been using them his whole career, or it could be that people just don't want to believe someone is that good.

There is a quote I forget exactly who said it that could very well apply here: "you build heroes up just to later destroy them the second you see they are human and make a mistake."

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

crewsor

Whats with the Steroid " allegations"? Didn't he already admit to using steroids? I could have sworn I remember him being quoted as saying he "accidentally" used steroids. Said he thought the clear was a body balm or some shit. I don't think there is any doubt he's a cheater. The only question in my mind is how much the roids benefitted him. I have no doubt he would have been a great hitter with or without the juice. Thats what makes it such a shame.

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Mojo_PeiPei

Crewsor a big thing is the physological (is that the word I want? Is it even a word?) changes. Bonds back in the day early 90's was what a 2, 3 time MVP? He was a twig, sitting around 180lbs. Then he gets traded and gets swole, currently he is around 230LBS, and what another 2-3 MVP awards? Like I said you'd think there would be some huge discrepency in his stat line or something, well I guess there is 73 home runs, But Bonds has always been an amazing player. To further that he has never been officially caught; admissions or not... and what was up with that Victor Conte dude (that's the right guy right?) that's where a lot of allegations stem from, was it him saying shit about the cream and Barry? It's probably all a huge smoke screen to cloud the issue.

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To win a war you must serve no master but your ambition.

crewsor

C'mon Mojo. You would have to be in some kind of serious denial to believe Bonds is clean. He admits to using two substances identical to popular steroids... cream and clear. But claims to have thought they were flaxseed oil and arthritis balm. His head has swelled up like a pumpkin and he transformed overnight from a stick to a bodybuilder physique.

Now he may not officially have been "caught", but thats a technicallity to me. Everything points to him using, but the only thing missing is a positive test. Again, the sad thing is he never had to use to be a hall of fame player. But greed is a powerfull motivator.

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tec-9-7

Sorry. No one improves like he's done at his age. He's got more steroids in him than your local Tyson Chicken plant... Call me a hater, but I've no respect for him or his stats.

kutulu

I hate Barry too but his numbers (except for the 73) didn't change that much over time