no homerun thread?

[Maengelito]

not many baseball fans in MM? i'm curious to hear what those of you that do like baseball think of barry bonds breaking the homerun record. i think barroid is a selfish prick and has no respect for the game of baseball. to me, its a travesty that he surpassed hank aaron's record under such auspices that he didn't "knowingly" take steroids. i know regardless of performance enhancing drugs, hitting a homerun is a difficult task and i dont downplay 756 homeruns over a career as a trivial accomplishment, but cmon, its not like he fixed some minor flaw in his mechanics. he hit more homeruns after turning 35 than both roger maris and his own dad did in their careers. he was the league MVP the same year that mcgwire and sosa had their long ball battle, but not many people know that cuz it was overshadowed by those two swatting homeruns left and right. not to be outdone, he shows up to spring training the next year ripped saying he got on a different off season weight training program. what, is he the first person in baseball that ever thought of working out? personally i cant wait until i hit my late 30s when apparently you go through a 2nd puberty and put on 50 lbs of lean muscle in the span of like 3 months.

sorry, i had to vent over this travesty. what do you all think?

[Hunter]

Why'd he have to do it against the nats? They should have just pitched him in the dirt for the entire series.

[ScottyB]

travesty

pretty much why i made no fuss about it.

i watched it last night, watched people fight for the ball, watched him round the bases. then i kind of felt dissapointed and went to bed.

i respect what he did as a milestone and it obviously takes skill to hit well in the majors anyway (whether you can crush the ball or not), but i don't like his character, and i think he surpassed players more worthy than him.

[white_2kgt]

who cares? baseball is a joke these days, to me its like drifting

[CaptainHenreh]

Why'd he have to do it against the nats? They should have just pitched him in the dirt for the entire series.

That's exactly what I would have done.

If I were a pitcher, the cheating son of a bitch wouldn't have seen a square millimeter of my baseball.

[Ryan T]

I think you have to put it all in perspective, it's not just Barry Bonds on steroids. Lots of major league players are on steroids, pitchers included, just not all of them take it so late in the game and on such a high level as Barry Bonds did. The pitcher that threw Bonds 755th home run pitch was suspended in the minors for steroid use. It's all over professional sports, people just don't get mad about it until a big record is broken. Nobody made a big fuss and said it tainted baseball when McGuire broke the record and he's used steroids. Roger Clemens was juiced up for a long time.

What if Aaron had to face juiced up Roger Clemens in his time too? Put it in perspective, athletes are getting bigger and stronger and faster...blame it on the stadium builders for not keeping up with how far people can hit.

[Maengelito]

I think you have to put it all in perspective, it's not just Barry Bonds on steroids. Lots of major league players are on steroids, pitchers included, just not all of them take it so late in the game and on such a high level as Barry Bonds did. The pitcher that threw Bonds 755th home run pitch was suspended in the minors for steroid use. It's all over professional sports, people just don't get mad about it until a big record is broken. Nobody made a big fuss and said it tainted baseball when McGuire broke the record and he's used steroids. Roger Clemens was juiced up for a long time.

What if Aaron had to face juiced up Roger Clemens in his time too? Put it in perspective, athletes are getting bigger and stronger and faster...blame it on the stadium builders for not keeping up with how far people can hit.

thayer, you're spot on. i didnt wanna go that in depth, but the commisioner bud selig should've nipped this in the bud long ago. i know many players are juicing but the fact that the league turned a blind eye to the problem initially pretty much made it okay for players to use steroids. and as more players use them, more players need to use them to keep their jobs and stay competitive. since the whole 'steroids in baseball' issue has been raised, its amazing to see how many players have all of a sudden reported to camp leaner or have come up with strange diseases. as for pitchers taking it, the benefit of steroids isnt going to do as much as it will for batters. sure, it can give them more velocity, but its not going to help much putting movement on pitches. the main reason pitchers use them is to recover quickly and to prevent injuries to their arms and shoulders.

[.RJ]

People still play professional baseball?

[Goodspeed]

It's all over professional sports

Professional sports are largely a joke to me. I'll participate in them and have fun, but I don't really watch them with any admiration or respect.

[damnit458]

This record is going to be broken by Arod 7 or so years down the line anyway, so I'm really not giving it much thought.

[WRXtranceformed]

I'm all for steroid use! We'll never know how far the human body can be pushed unless we juice it up with superdrugs!!

UFC would be the best playground for legalized roid use. Hell, Melvin Guillard was penalized for being found to be jacked up on cocaine after one of his fights. If you've ever watched him fight, it should come as no surprise :lol:

[Hunter]

Im going to start using steroids so I can kick some serious HPDE ass! The championship will be mine!!!

[HAULN-SS]

I agree that pitchers are probably using steroids, but I dont think it's for the reason of throwing faster. Pitching fast is all about transfer of energy from the ground up. Steroid use makes your joints and ligaments retain water and other fluids, and become more spongy, which is not efficient for energy transfer. Pitchers are more likely using them for career extensions/pain relievers. Movement on the ball is the most major advance in baseball pitching in the last 50 - 60 years...he's definately had to hit more wicked curve balls, splitters, sinkers, and knuckleballs than anyone previously had to face. This probably is why he has the most walks issued too, only a small fraction were intentional - he just waited for the junk to go in the dirt, and tee'd off on a high percentage of fastballs that were actually over the plate.

[Evan]

who cares? baseball is a joke these days, to me its like drifting

drifting is much more exciting.

I didnt even know people still watched baseball. what a joke.
As if it wasnt boring enough, steriods ruined the only thing it did have: tradition

[white_2kgt]

who cares? baseball is a joke these days, to me its like drifting

drifting is much more exciting.

actually you are correct, if I'm channel surfing and I see drifting I watch, I see baseball, I throw up

[JustinG]

all i have to say is......FUCK BARRY BONDS.


How do you go from a base stealing, slap hitter weighing like 185, to a jacked homerun hitter weighing like 250. I know you gain weight when you get older, but not lean muscle. To say he didnt knowingly take steroids is a joke, Is he so retarded he didnt ask what supplements he was taking or what he was having injected into his arm? I understand he is talented, but to say he is the greatest baseball player today is a joke.

[REED]

This record is going to be broken by Arod 7 or so years down the line anyway, so I'm really not giving it much thought.

i agree completely - the only consolation I have in Bonds doing this is knowing that Arod will surpass him. I hate arod, but he is one hell of a good ball player and as far as home runs go I'm rooting for him.

as long as he isn't playing the sox.....

[Mike]

baseball is tarnished forever, ratings are going down, and i don't think it can recover... thank god.

[damnit458]

all i have to say is......FUCK BARRY BONDS.


How do you go from a base stealing, slap hitter weighing like 185, to a jacked homerun hitter weighing like 250. I know you gain weight when you get older, but not lean muscle. To say he didnt knowingly take steroids is a joke, Is he so retarded he didnt ask what supplements he was taking or what he was having injected into his arm? I understand he is talented, but to say he is the greatest baseball player today is a joke.

A lot of players make this transition, just not to as much of an extent. Did he juice? I have no doubt in my mind that he did. Is he still one of the greatest players ever? No doubt.

And to be fair, he was never really truly a slap hitter. His second year in the league he hit 25 home runs. He consistently hit for power, just not slugger type numbers. And again, he won two NL MVPs before 1993. I mean its not like he was just some average player before he started jacking home runs (he also won 7 gold gloves so he wasn't to shabby on defense).

I dunno. Personally I think the guy is a dick and a liar. But he is still one of the best, if not the best player of his generation.

[damnit458]

baseball is tarnished forever, ratings are going down, and i don't think it can recover... thank god.

I hardly see how baseball is tarnished forever, nor how the sport cant recover. Baseball has endured blemishes in the past, and in 10-20 years I think this will be looked back on as just that, a blemish. I'm not saying steroid use isn't a severe problem, but slowly and surely it will be dealt with.

Baseball is one of the two most marketable major american sports in other countries, and its popularity domestically is still pretty high. Some of the most well known records in all of sports are from baseball, with the homerun record being IMO the most well known out of any.