Juice
pumps up homerun record
By
Mario Burciaga
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
It’s well documented that ever since Barry Bonds underwent arthroscopic
knee surgery three times last season, he’s better at throwing curveballs
than hitting them.
After his repaired knee held him to only five homeruns last season, he seriously
considered retirement—again. Nearly a week ago when Bonds, who turns
42 this year, was asked about playing again, he said the game was no longer
fun to him and this spring training would mark his last.
Whether this coming baseball is his last; spring training has arrived and Bonds
is still missing.
Perhaps arriving to training camp dressed as Paula Abdul was Bond’s strategic
approach of trying to hide from the media and the ridicule.
Ever since Congress got involved with the MLB steroid allegations, Bonds has
been shying away from reporters and the game. The steroid allegations seemed
to scare him, so he got off the juice, injured his knee and now he’s
off the field and in disguise.
There is no doubt Bonds is or was the most obvious juicer in the game and once
he stopped taking steroids his body fell apart, his numbers went down and his
age finally caught up with him.
Bonds has always been a productive ballplayer, even when he first entered the
league with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but compared to his record-setting year,
the abnormal weight gain is clearly evident.
Eating right and working out will not convert anyone into the Hulk and the
Greatest Hitter of All Time. Never.
Since the 1994 hold-out-season when the World Series was canceled, MLB has
witnessed a decline in fan support and it was clear the sport desperately needed
a boost, something that would bring in fans and increase the ratings.
The result was a revamped style of play where lazy fly balls became souvenirs
for fans sitting in the designated homerun sections of baseball stadiums throughout
the league.
The new and exciting game was to be played with steroids.
Much like how MLB protected baseball’s resuscitator, Mark McGwire during
his steroid-based diet schemed by Androstenedione and overshadowed by his race
to catch Maris in 1998, the league also shielded Bonds from Congressional hearings
and the media.
Bonds admitted to unknowingly taking steroids and was tested by MLB officials
but the results were never released to the public. Why?
Publicly proclaimed as baseball justice by Congress and MLB officials, the
newly acquired drug policy has not done anything to extract the obvious juicers
in the game.
Barry “The Juice” Bonds holds the single season homerun record
with 73 and is currently third on the career homerun list with 708. He is only
six homeruns away from Babe Ruth’s 714 and 47 homeruns away from Hank
Aaron’s 755.
Bonds is ridiculed by many and even though his blasts to McCovey Cove still
amaze, ballplayers and fans know the truth behind the swing.
How is it possible Bonds broke the single season home run record in his 16th
MLB season at the age of 37?
The all-time homerun record is out of reach for Bonds this season and if this
marks his last, the all-time home run record is safe.
Bonds will not break Aaron’s record but if he does, it should be followed
by an asterisk.
If the clean play of Pete Rose can’t get him into the Baseball Hall of
Fame, why should Bonds have a chance? Bonds directly affected the game in a
negative way for years, whereas Rose’s gambling problem was affected
by the game.
The talk of Bonds in Cooperstown is out in left field, the only place Bond’s
belongs.
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