"Bonds was good before he started taking steroids"

[ten ocho recon scout]

No, sorry..

He wore armor that took away the inner half of the plate. Did everyone do that, too?

'Everyone' used steroids? Really? Eckstein did, also?

What percentage does everyone think took steroids? 50? 60? It sure as hell wasn't 100% or anything close to that.

Did everyone just forget on how much his body changed from the Pirates to Giants when he was hitting 70?

eckstein likely did not, as for more han a few other guys. That doesnt mean it wasnt still far more prevalant than people think.

As far as the body armor, yeah its a dick move but its still legal. And he wasnt aoone in that either.

Heres another thing. How many guys of that era were taking completely legal over the counter pro hormones and steroid percursors? Also legal. Is that fair to the legacy players? Taking legal substances.

[Chimi]

Back when this whole thing was going down, it was reported that Bonds started the steroids after the McGwire and Sosa home run race. Apparently Bonds was extremely jealous over the attention they were getting so he started taking steroids so he could be "the man" again.

Not sure how true that is, I just remember reading a story about it back then.

[DW711]

eckstein likely did not, as for more han a few other guys. That doesnt mean it wasnt still far more prevalant than people think.

As far as the body armor, yeah its a dick move but its still legal. And he wasnt aoone in that either.

Heres another thing. How many guys of that era were taking completely legal over the counter pro hormones and steroid percursors? Also legal. Is that fair to the legacy players? Taking legal substances.

 

Oh, I'm sure plenty of people did it..but no one has an exact count. Going by the eye test..I'll settle somewhere around 2/5..maybe a 1/3.

 

No..the body armor isn't illegal at all...but it was just another thing that made it better than he really was.

 

You eliminate pitches = it's more predictable = you can guess way more often = way more walks and home runs.

 

I'll plead ignorance to the last part as I really don't know.

[Don]

PEDs aren't a static thing. I'm not sure what the muscle building drugs that come in the next few decades will be, but I'm sure they're coming. The same thing goes with amphetamines, pain killers, and psychoactive drugs. What I'm getting at is that there will always be PED users in baseball. It's just the way the world works. Greenies were huge in the 60s/70s, and adderal is big now. The same goes for anabolics-to-andro-to-HGH story. The truth is that people will always look for an edge. People always do human stuff.

[ten ocho recon scout]

^yep

And to clarify DW, im not calling out your post or opinions, nor am I defending bonds (not at all). I just think people are a little too wrapped up on the big name guys like bonds, mcgwire etc, while forgetting how many forgettable RP's, minor leaguers etc that got caught but no one noticed because they werent that good.

[sneaky_flute]

Barry Bonds was the best player in history before steroid use. He would have continued to be the best player in history without steroids. The dude is a genetic freak and if anything, PEDs put an end to his running game and shortened his career. 

[HaloMilliVanilli]

I just assume that everyone was using during that era.  Maybe just to differing degrees.  Ethics go out the window when the guy you are competing with has a substantial competitive edge that you are choosing to not take advantage of.  Especially when considering that winning that positional battle, or simply making the 25-man roster, could lead to a MLB minimum contract or larger that could put your families financial security at ease.

[Hollyw00d]