[discostu]

I don’t see a problem with Hank Aaron not showing up. He’s old, he apparently doesn’t travel much, and it’s not like he has anything to do with the steroid mess in baseball. Selig on the other hand is just being silly. He was in charge when the CBAs that wouldn’t allow for steroid testing were being signed, he let the PA keep steroids functionally OK, he also helped maintain a tradition of the commish being on hand for big records being broken. For him to get high and mighty now is hypocritical and preposterous, Bud needs to sleep in the bed he made.

[wideawake]

(1) Just because Bonds was intelligent enough to dispose of the evidence better than Palmeiro does not mean he is innocent: it simply means that there is not enough evidence to convict him.

The pall that hangs over him is well deserved.

(2) the argument that some pitchers were probably using steroids too, so Bonds' malfeasance is "cancelled out" would not only likely fall apart under statisical analysis, but isn't even germane.

A cheater is a cheater.

(3) People aren't happy about Bonds surpassing Aaron because Bonds is a nasty, racist misanthrope who cheated. And they never will be happy with him.

He's taken what was potentially a fairly accomplished milestone and turned it into a sour, ugly mess.

[GB]

Call me unfair and hypocritical, and I may have to answer for what I'm about to say at the White Throne of Judgment, but I hope Bonds falls down a flight of stairs and breaks enough bones not to cripple him for life, but so he'll have to retire before passing Aaron. And it's for the sole reason that if you look up "horse's a**" in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, you'll find a photograph of his expanded cranium. So I guess you can say it's because I don't like him.

The ironic thing is that Henry Aaron, in reality, is not a very nice human being either, although he's Mother Teresa compared to Bonds.

Still, I agree that Selig ought to be there if the record goes down, and that he can't after the fact wash his hands of the stain that was put there when MLB was turning a blind eye to steroids for filthy lucre ... and every old-line baseball fan like me, with half a brain, knew what was going on and why it was being overlooked at the time.

[MrEdd]

…Bonds cheated…He is like all too many people in the public eye today.'

And those Duke lacrosse players. We don't need evidence, it's the seriousness of the charge.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

[N. Theknow]

MLB looked the other way because the increase in offense was creating a resurgence of interest in baseball, and this was much needed after they called-off the World Series in 1994.

I have an "Official Ball" from the Never-was 1994 World Series in a plastic cube on my desk.

[GB]

One more thing ... I don’t know which entity makes it more difficult to be a free-market capitalist, the lords of Major League Baseball or the RIAA. :)

[Tallguy]

I say that, because of the additional scrutiny, many pitchers stopped taking steroids to avoid detection, and the loss of muscle mass resulted in increased strain on the body, resulting in more trips to the DL.

Tightly wound baseballs, smaller ballparks, better lighting for night games, not allowing pitchers to pitch inside... steroids. All are factors in the latest Home Run Era.

That said, I'm not sure that steroids help pitchers all that much. Steroids, as I understand it, aid in recovery from workouts. Their effect is on muscle fibre. I would think most pitching injuries occur in the connective tissue of the shoulder & elbow. Not sure steroids are going to do diddly there.

Older pitchers often have trouble with their legs & back. I can see steroids extending a pitchers career to a certain extent.

[HeadOn]

The season that McGuire hit 70, we were in St. Louis when The Cards were playing the Giants, and Bonds was in left field.

During warm ups between innings, Bonds consistently teased the KIDS in the left field stands by cocking his arm as if to toss the ball to them before that half inning got underway. He did that several times, laughed, and never threw it up there.

He’s a jerk no matter whether he’s juiced or not.