Walk Barry Bonds

[Cuban Carving Gooding]

Why dont all the pitchers just walk Barry?

[pebu]

Why not play him like any other baseball player cause who the hell cares who he is or what kind of records he might get. It's still a game and you don't get wins by treating players differently in order to keep them from getting a record.

[Jack M]

indeed. Cyclists get stripped of their titles if they are found to be doping. Why not in Baseball?

[pebu]

Was he found to be doping or was everything just speculation (true or not)?

[Eric]

indeed. Cyclists get stripped of their titles if they are found to be doping. Why not in Baseball?

Because it wasn't outlawed at the time.

[RDY_2_Carve]

Why dont all the pitchers just walk Barry?

There's no reason to walk him anymore. He's only going to hit maybe 30-40 HR's tops. Unlike the year he broke the single season HR record (he also broke the intentional walk record that year)...

He's innocent until proven guilty IMHO. Don't believe everything you read. I'm definately curious how he bulked up so much in one offseason, but hey give the guy a chance.

His career HR record will not matter anyways with people like A-Rod already blowing his pace away. Then everybody will forget about Bonds and stop talking about him-although I do think he'll make it into the hall of fame someday.

[Cuban Carving Gooding]

It is and was against the law. And baseball had steroids banned. He might not have tested positive but he did it. If he didn't he would have sued over that book. Just walk him and we don't have a cheaters name in the record books. I like the way you think Jack .Wrong is wrong.

[pebu]

I'm not one way or the other. I couldn't give two rats asses about barry or baseball for that matter. But if he didn't test positive, how do you know that he did it? They actually have to have proof in order to take any action.

Also, walking him repeatedly would point out that you took notice of him. He'd probably get another record for walks and you'd probably lose the game because you're playing the record instead of the player. Walk him when you need a walk and pitch for strikes when you need an out. He's just another stupid baseball player.

[FTA2R]

then you're very gullibale.....do the research dude..

he went bald yet his cap size increased b/c his head got bigger!!!

his shoe size increased 2 sizes!!!!!! that is not normal human growth pattern...especially at his age

he's likely done smart cycles or taking a very good masking agent or was tipped or something...

drastic changes like that do not happen naturally...

legally you are correct in giving him the benefit of the doubt, but common sense wise, all the proof is right there...

i think he already admitted to "accidentally" taking "the clear" however

hey mcgwire didnt' do roids either right? he just completely dropped off the face of the earth b/c he wanted to, right? no, he's now a disgraced ball player that has a hard time admitting to the public his faults - probably b/c he feels guilty b/c he does have a conscience....another great espn.com article (from a few months back)

bonds, he's just a lying sack of ****....probaly suffers from OJ syndrome "if i convince myself i didn't do it, well...then I must not have!"

[pebu]

Look, I'm not saying he did or didn't. Whatever, I don't give a ****. But still, just ignore the f*cker.

[AaronG]

Walk him?? this is what a local Dodger fan wants to do. I am paraphrasing here. I heard it on sports talk radio. If Bonds comes up to bat and he hits a single just let it roll to the outfield and let him round the bases, he will have an in the park homerun without hitting the "big one" over the fence. How humiliating would that be to have the go ahead homerun be an 'in the park' homerun. Forever immortalized in the Baseball Hall of Fame

[tex1230]

Hell with walking him...I want to see some pitchers out there with the balls to throw AT him (preferably his oversized melon)

What's the record for HBP anyway?

[Jack M]

Whatever, I don't give a ****.

Then why are you posting here? I'll never understand people who go out of their way to post in threads about X, only to say "X is lame, who cares about X".

I like the way you think Jack .Wrong is wrong.

Roger Maris is still the man, if you ask me.

[tex1230]

Then why are you posting here? I'll never understand people who go out of their way to post in threads about X, only to say "X is lame, who cares about X".

how else are you gonna get to 1000 posts in under a year? posting interesting stuff and helpful advice is so last year...

[Cuban Carving Gooding]

If you can watch this months Costas Now on HBO. That show prompted Barry to say A few things about Bob Costas. And Bob had a great come back. Costas was great today {unless you live in San Fran} on the Rome show . He has all the facts and puts it all out in the open. Its worth the $6.95 to replay the interview on Romes web sight. I would rather give Bonds the walk record.

[Hugh]

Hank Aaron is one of my baseball heroes. I saluted him passing Babe Ruth 714 record against the Dodger's Al Downing in 1974. I will not Boo or applaud Barroid as he is not a good role model, but a narcissistic a$$.

Hank's 715 on NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1829912

My $0.02,

Hugh

[pebu]

Then why are you posting here? I'll never understand people who go out of their way to post in threads about X, only to say "X is lame, who cares about X".

You're right. I obviously do care, otherwise I wouldn't have said anything. Sorry for the confusion.

[FTA2R]

Hugh,

the bobblehead pic is funny, very clever.

so somewhere on espn.com, costas was interviewed and very eloquently made the argument that it's very conceivable and quite likely that Bonds juiced if you really look into his numbers. Bonds was a great player before he got huge, but as Costas put it, his numbers, as he aged, became "superhuman" and there's no reasonable conclusion.

on a personal level, i wish this cheater would change his name. he gives the rest of us Barrys a bad name

on a somewhat related note, for an entertaining costas interview, check out costas and Vince McMahon , pt. 1

[skategoat]

Roger Maris is still the man, if you ask me.

C'mon Jack, Maris was a good but not great hitter who caught lightning in a bottle in '61. The 61 homers that season was the result of hitting before Mickey Mantle. He never hit more than 40 before or after that season.

As for Bonds, people wouldn't be so negative towards him if he wasn't such a complete jerk. He will retire from baseball and be a pariah. Will probably die a bitter, lonely old man.

The thing is, he would've been a first ballot HOFer without the 'roids. But he got greedy.

[Neil Gendzwill]

The Onion had a pretty funny story about Bonds this week.

[Mike T]

C'mon Jack, Maris was a good but not great hitter who caught lightning in a bottle in '61. The 61 homers that season was the result of hitting before Mickey Mantle. He never hit more than 40 before or after that season.

Maris had another advantage - one shared by Sosa and McGwire in '98. No I'm not talking about 'roids... '61 and '98 were expansion years, and the picthing talent was more diluted than usual in both these seasons. Each of those years you get ~10 picthers / new teamwho have likley been rushed to the big leagues . Once the epxnasion teams' farm systems get established, the effect wears off - takes about 3 years with the effect being reduced over the course of each year.

[Bullwings]

here's a slightly different view

Why do profession sports athletes get paid million dollar sallaries? It's because they're entertainers first and formost, and athletes second.

Which, if that's the case, they should be allowed to take steroids... Nay, they should have steroids made mandatory.

When I watch sports, I want to see awesome things happen, like 85 yard touch down passes, home runs being hit out of the stadium, tennis serves exceeding 140mph, golf balls driven 350+ yards, etc. etc. I want to be wowed and impressed.

And, if someone could naturally beat all of the other roid using athletes, then that would be a big wow factor and kudos to him. In short, make steroids legal. We've already seen what humans can do without them, lets start seeing what they can do with them.

[Steve Prokopiw]

I think from a perspective of fairness that the ability of the most genetically gifted athlete should be assessed and then those not lucky enough to have won the genetic lotto and therefore not born with the physical traits necessary for greatness(ie, everyone else) should be allowed to take whatever medical measures possible to even the playing field.Monitored by regular health testing of course.Think that's silly? I believe one reason some athletes are tempted to do performance enhancing drugs is that they know that even though they possess the intestinal fortitude,they simply were not physically born with what it takes to win,but crave victory anyway. This probably would make more sense in an aerobic sport like cycling where vo2 max(an unchangable trait that varies widely)matters so much,but even in baseball there are tasks that athletes are simply born with more or less ability to do. So let em even things up.And hey,that would be more entertaining.

[skategoat]

here's a slightly different view

Why do profession sports athletes get paid million dollar sallaries? It's because they're entertainers first and formost, and athletes second.

Which, if that's the case, they should be allowed to take steroids... Nay, they should have steroids made mandatory.

When I watch sports, I want to see awesome things happen, like 85 yard touch down passes, home runs being hit out of the stadium, tennis serves exceeding 140mph, golf balls driven 350+ yards, etc. etc. I want to be wowed and impressed.

And, if someone could naturally beat all of the other roid using athletes, then that would be a big wow factor and kudos to him. In short, make steroids legal. We've already seen what humans can do without them, lets start seeing what they can do with them.

You're joking right? Before you're a pro athlete, you're an amateur one. I don't really care if pro athletes want to endanger their health with performance enhancers but I do care if the trickle-down effect leads to juiced up, balding 14 year olds.

[FTA2R]

are athletes first, not entertainers. they dont' study acting, speaking (that's for sure), or any other entertainment-related activities. They get paid what they d b/c sports is a huge industry and the public will pay the prices. Is it fair that some guy who may not have even graduated college makes such a ridiculous amount of money? no, probably not....but, athletes are physical specimens compared to the rest of us, they have great genetics, and the clean ones have worked very hard to perform the way they do. many of them are naturally great at what they do.

legalizing steroids in sports? A very bad suggestion any way you look at it. have you ever participated in a sport? Accomplishment, pride in knowing you've done your best w/o cheating, honest competition - these are some underlying objectives of sports (in addition to winning). Steroids is cheating - any way you look at it.

...this debate should NOT about "what the fans want." MLB let that happen and now they are paying the price. this is about keeping sports real and honest (as much as they can be). if you're to see a bunch of roid heads, or follow professional bodybuilding.

"When I watch sports, I want to see awesome things happen,"

check out Highlight reels and ESPN SportsCenter.

from an ethical perspective, athletes taking roids could never be condoned. their impact on society, and kids in general, is waaay too much. Would you allow your kid to juice? It's bad enough there are very very few actual role model athletes.

for the record, i think a lot of currently illegal things shoudl be legal, i'm not conservative by any stretch of the imagination, but steroids in sports is bad for many reasons.