I'm Not Alone!

by PB @ BON on May 11, 2006 12:06 PM CDT in News

Everything comes bigger in Texas. That includes automotrons, of course. But also egos. Which is why, perhaps, some of us are more forgiving of Barry Bonds than others.

Texas Super Fan Matty McConaughey recently e-mailed the Austin American Statesman in defense of Barry Bonds. His e-mail, subject title "Why Root For Bonds" said:

If Barry Bonds did take steroids or not, even if you think he did or didn't, you gotta root for him because, whatever is true, or whatever you believe, he's clean now. Fact and perception.

So every home run he hits, like the mammoth 452-footer he hit in Philadelphia May 7, is a hit, a home run -- for Barry, for baseball. It's a clean pursuit of the record, by maybe the greatest home run hitter ever to play the game.

Whether we admit it or not, we want that. We need it.

We believe in the game of baseball, and although it's somehow easier to root against and boo Mr. Bonds, deep down, we really love to see him succeed.

Look at the fans in Philly as the ball left Bonds' bat. Booing turned to oohing as the ball flew so strongly and longly upward and outward into the depths of the third deck. They stood to witness, and their jeers turned to cheers, as the man, Barry Bonds, who played for the other team, put a mammoth and unanimous steroid-free run on the board.

Maybe the other 712 were the same. Ironically, in a nation whose judicial system says we are all "innocent until proven guilty," we like to think of him as a guilty man who just hit an innocent home run, but that's another story for human nature and socio-psychology.

Whatever. He hit it, and when he hits it that far, we are reminded that the cynics who say he has now "lost" his power are just wrong. Steroids or not, that shot didn't need an extra "roid-assisted 6 feet" to get out of the ballpark. So we all know, and are reminded, 'roids or not, this man has more than the ability, but the talent, to be the greatest home run hitter in baseball history, and I think he is.

So, believe what you want, guilty or not, what the future tells or not, we should, and do, all root for Barry Bonds to break every record in baseball's home run history.

It's even more than what we love about the game; it's what we love about success. We, America, still love to see success. Keep it up. It's why we are who we are.

Just keep livin',

Matthew McConaughey

"Steroids? Your upset about steroids?

Get your priorities straight, dude!"

What to make of that? First of all, he's clearly stoned. But beyond that, he's right. I'll be the first to admit that Bonds can be a world class jerk, the spoiled product of a dysfunctional family, fathered by an alcoholic superstar that taught him squat about how to deal with people. I'll also concede that he went too far in his obsession with working out, artificially enhancing his ability to recover from workouts with performance enhancing substances.

But, I offer two other points for thought.

Steroids don't help you hit a baseball. They help you work out more. Should Bonds have used them? No. Does he regret it? Absolutely. Is it why he's such an amazing talent? Not even close. Steroids help you work out; they don't help you hit a baseball. Would he have broken these records without it? Maybe, maybe not; but he'd have gotten damn close. He's that dedicated, he works that much harder than everyone else, and he's a freaking physical genius.
The obsession with hating Bonds is borderline ridiculous. It's gotten to the point of hysteria. Deadspin, a site I normally enjoy perusing, has become so Bonds-obsessed that I can barely scroll through it any more. My eyes are literally sore from all the rolling they're having to do. The Bonds hatred is mob mentality at its worst, and though he has himself to blame for a chunk of it, a bigger part of it is just people piling on. It's a shame, too. No one should feel sorry for Barry Bonds, that's for sure. But I feel sorry for all the people that are missing one of the greatest shows on Earth. Get over it. Enjoy the show. Quit the hysterics over steroids. It's. Not. The. End. Of. The Earth.

You wanna get hysterical? Take a peek at what your Congress is doing flushing our budget down the toilet... Where's the outrage over -that-?

--PB--

0 recs | Comment 7 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

you're a Giants fan

Sooner fans defend Barry Switzer. Aggie fans defend Jackie Sherrill. They also roll their eyes, call it sour grapes, throw out all the usual lines. I'm just sayin'.

by lex on May 11, 2006 1:13 PM CDT 0 recs

it does help.. indirectly..

I disagree with your assessment it doesn't help you hit a baseball. I do agree it doesn't help you see the ball any better, but there's more to batting than that. Bonds was going to be a great hitter, but noone ever mistook him for a long ball hitter to start with. The cream helps hit harder. It also let's him practice harder & longer so he could be a better hitter. Where maybe he could only work out 2 hrs a day batting before, now he could work out 4 hrs. Where before, he would need 24 hrs to recover, now he might need only 12 hrs. Those are things the steroids DO help. And baseball, like any other sport, is part talent and part practice/repetition. You don't get a great eye as a batter by sitting on the bench. And the final thing they'll do is extend your career. Where most long ball hitters start winding down their careers due to injuries or age in general, BB managed to get better and avoid injury. And since he quit, he sure does get hurt a lot.

So to summarize my ramblings. It won't make a baseball player, but 'roids can make a good player great by helping them practice longer, harder and have greater strength.

by itsaMike on May 11, 2006 1:25 PM CDT 0 recs

Sort of

For one thing, if Bonds had retired in 2000, he would have finished one of the 20 greatest players of all time. From 2001 on, yes, he enjoyed a power spike, but you're delusional if you want to say he was just "good" prior to that. He was the best player in the 1990s; yes, better than Griffey.

I've watched probably 500 Barry Bonds games since 1990 - no joke. The guy was getting bigger and bigger long before the steroids started. He's a workout machine. And while yes, the steroids do help you recover from workouts, you're incorrect that they make you a better baseball player. They don't help your batting eye, and he had a God-given brilliant batting eye from the moment he walked in the majors. By 1997, he was walking almost 150 times per year. That was back when teams pitched to him.

Nor does being stronger make you better at baseball. There are lots of players stronger than Barry Bonds; none who hit like he does. The worst you can say about Bonds is he enhanced his ability to gain strength, and perhaps prolonged his career... Then again, if you watched him blast a 450 foot BOMB in Philly the other night, on one good leg, you might reconsider where to place the value - on steroids, or his talent.

I know, I know: hate away. It's your loss, though. You're missing the show.

by PB @ BON on May 11, 2006 1:32 PM CDT up 0 recs

I still think

that mike had a point about recovery time and batting practice time, that makes sence.
But Peter is right about one thing, long before Bonds was on the roids he was one of the best to play the game.
People have hated Bonds long before he got caught, and most of the hating going on now is just a new way to manifest the same old hatred.

Leslie beat Adam at pool!

by Wells on May 11, 2006 2:36 PM CDT up 0 recs

Hall of Famer

He was a hall of famer, no doubt on his pre-2000 statistics alone.. but he hit 1/3 of all his home runs in a 5 year period starting in 2000, this coming from a guy who hit over 40 just once in his entire career.. that's not a power spike, that's the juice.. entirely.. and who's to say when he started taking anything.. most ball players have been taking something to play those 162 games a season for a long time.. i think bonds just realized that a dedicated routine to maximize the effects would create better results..

and they did..

And I also agree that he's a dedicated workout machine who's entire focus was baseball to the detriment of family, friends, media, whoever.. he wanted to be the best..

but don't discount the effect of steroids on his ability to play.. his career would have continued, but like any other power player, his statistics would have to have declined as he aged.. but the 'roids gave him an edge, and if they didn't, why did he take them?.. if we both agree he was a gifted player that wanted the most, the only reason he took them is because he felt it made him a better player..

i also agreed that they don't improve your batting eye, that's talent, but practice time improves coordination, bat speed, timing, etc. and you get more practice time if you recover faster and have more energy, both proven effects of 'roids...

and personally, the only hate i have for Bonds is that he's a horrible personality for the game.. he's not fan-friendly in the slightest, he truly is all about himself..

and as to baseball.. i say let them all use steroids.. i don't have any problem w/ these guys pumping themselves up to play the game, especially if people are willing to pay to watch.. much like wrestling finally admitting they're entertainment versus a sport per se, let baseball admit that their players are NOT normal athletes, but enhanced replicas of human beings pumped to the gills w/ the latest liquid technology and go after to it.. i'm all for 600 foot blasts.. just build bigger parks to make it competetive, raise the mound, it'll be exciting to watch..

by itsaMike on May 12, 2006 10:29 AM CDT up 0 recs

Power spikes in late career

While none of these players spiked quite as high as Bonds did, they still experienced a strong spike in their homerun hitting after age 35 relative to prior in their career: Darrell Evans, Hank Aaron, and Ted Williams. What ties them to Bonds is that all of them were good at drawing walks, they all had more walks in their career than strikeouts.

Evans hadn't hit over 30 HR in 10 years then suddenly at age 36, he ran a string of 4 of 5 seasons where he had 30 or more (one year he had 29, I counted as a 30). Hank Aaron does not appear to peak but if you look at his HR/AB rate, it jumped up significantly in his late 30's, allowing him to match his HR totals from before in 100-200 less ABs, plus he had his career high in HR at age 37 in only 495 AB, whereas he averaged around 600 AB from age 21-34. Ted Williams did the same as Hank, his HR totals look about the same but he did it in a lot less AB. He hit 30 HR at age 32 in 531 AB and hit 29 HR at age 41 in 310 AB. These were unusual occurences when they happened, does that mean that they were using some sort of enhancers, at least for their time?

I consider Ted Williams to be the best model for examining the performance of Bonds. Both had keen eyes - I never realized until now that Williams nearly averaged a .500 OBP from age 22 to age 38! Here's the reason why I think they are similar: many don't know but Teddy-ball served in the Marines in both WW II and the Korean War and, I assume that they must have had some sort of great workout regiment to keep them in tip top fighting shape, which would be highly advanced compared to the fitness levels of ballplayers of his era, which he continued doing after he served our country, and the same appears to hold for Bonds as well, his workout regiment is beyond what the average ballplayer today does and he is in tip-top shape, and more importantly, tip-top for baseball fitness, not just general fitness.

So I don't think that you can point to a power spike as definitive evidence that Bonds cheated, there have been players, and great players at that, who have had a high HR power peak in their late 30's and beyond, the main difference being that Bonds peak is beyond their peaks. However, their peaks were beyond what anyone had really done before as well, is that a result of cheating or a result of better science of nutrition (Bonds has his own cook prepare meals designed by his dietician) and fitness, methods far beyond what was available to Ted Williams in his day.

by obsessivegiantscompulsive on May 12, 2006 5:02 PM CDT up 0 recs

Brady Anderson

I'm not going to get into a baseball/Bonds debate with you because that's just not my bag, but I would like you to explain Brady Anderson's 50 home run year. He never hit anything close to that before or after.

I liked what Bob Gibson said on Costas Now (gay show, but I was bored)..."The game changes from year to year and generation to generation, but when a utility infielder that weighs a buck-eighty is hitting opposite field homeruns, something's up."

I'd also contend that without steroids, a lot of Barry Bond's homeruns might have been just long flyball outs and his body would have never held up this long. Easy to debate, but impossible to prove. Regardless, Barry and his fans better enjoy it now because chances a very good Barry won't see his 50th birthday. I mean animal tranquelizers, come on.

Regardless, I'm not a Barry hater. I think the guy is a jerk but MLB is the one to take the blame for this whole steroid mess. They knew exactly what was going on even as far back as the late 1980's and they looked the other way to pad their bottom lines and fix the mess from the 94 lock out. And I don't want to hear about Player's Unions and that other crap, what Selig and the MLB is doing with Barry Bonds and making him the scapegoat right now is absolutely chicken shit.

Lastly, I use to think the common fan didn't care about steroids but the last time I made my annual trip to Wrigley, I left my $165 official Sammy Sosa Cubs jersey (purchased after walking out of the bleachers drunk out of mind) at home in the closset. It matters.

by 54b on May 11, 2006 2:37 PM CDT 0 recs