SubscribeThey hate him because he's allegedly an asshole
Players who test positive the first time will be suspended for 10 days. Second-time offenders will be suspended for 30 days. A third positive test gets a 60-day suspension and a fourth one year.If they were serious about de-'roiding baseball, they'd get, you know, serious about it.
Mister_A: My favorite players are the guys who just get on base a lot and then wreak havoc with the threat of a steal, or try to score from first on a single. I'll take this guy (in his prime) over Bonds any day of the weekFair enough, but perhaps it should be noted that:
MLB made it very clear in the post-strike days that they wanted fans back, at any price.
especially when it's almost certain that he's been blatantly cheating for nearly a decade
i think it boils down to his being the kind of total package asshole that's nearly as rare as his talent
I would like to offer my congratulations to Barry Bonds on becoming baseball's career home run leader. It is a great accomplishment, which requires skill, longevity, and determination. Throughout the past century, the home run has held a special place in baseball, and I have been privileged to hold this record for 33 of those years. I move over now, and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historical achievement. My hope today, as it was on that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dream.Matthew Yglesias:
Yes, it appears that during the period when Major League Baseball had no steroid policy, he took steroids. And the day when MLB invalidates all the other records from the Steroid Era -- rescinds the World Series titles and the division penants, takes back the Cy Young awards and the Golden Gloves, etc., etc., etc. -- I suppose it would make sense to take Bonds' achievements away too. But until that happens, the records are the records and he played better than anyone else.
ESPN showed a clip reel of Bonds important home runs, 100, 200, etc. and he slowly gets bigger over time.
...between 2001 and 2004, Bonds won four consecutive MVP awards, two batting crowns and a home-run title, and broke the single-season records for home runs, on-base percentage, slugging average, and walks. He hit 209 home runs during that stretch—equaling Ruth's total between 1927 and 1930, the best period of his career—with a .349 batting average. His on-base percentage for those four seasons was .556, higher than Ruth's mark in his single best season (.545 in 1923). His slugging average was .809, a figure Ruth topped just twice in his career. It was the most impressive run of sustained success that a baseball player had ever recorded...They go on to discuss the environments the batters played in, the technologies available, the color barrier, and other factors, devising statistical adjustments to account for each, and conclude that Bonds has superior on-base skills (and of course baserunning, though it's hard to know how much that affects win totals) and Ruth superior power. It's pretty much a tossup. If you want more, read the book; they go into every aspect in excruciating detail.
Can we now call Barry Bonds the best player of all time? Is he even better than the Bambino?
That depends on how you choose to settle the argument...
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posted by Poolio at 10:06 PM on August 7, 2007 [2 favorites]