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New book details Barry Bonds' long steroid use
Reuters ^ | Adam Tanner

Posted on 03/07/2006 4:13:52 PM PST by indcons

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A new book about Barry Bonds says he used steroids for at least five seasons, casting new doubts about the baseball superstar's exploits as he seeks to pass Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time home run list.

The book "Game of Shadows", an excerpt of which was on the "Sports Illustrated" Web site on Tuesday, said the San Francisco Giants outfielder took steroids via injections, pills, creams and liquid starting in 1998. His most productive seasons followed while he was in his mid-to-late 30s, most notably in 2001 when he hit a single-season record 73 home runs.

"If it really is true, I'm sorry to hear it because it does cast a shadow," Babe Ruth's last surviving daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, 88, told Reuters.

"I don't know if daddy were here what he would say," she continued. "He was always on the side of ballplayers."

Asked if it might be appropriate for Bonds to retire before passing her father in the home run record books, she said: "I certainly would not have any objections to that."

(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: barrybonds; baseball; bonds; bookreview; gameofshadows; steroids
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To: cincinnati65

Did you read what you just wrote? He admitted to steroid use! He said he took the cream and the clear--that's admitting to steroid use.

He might not have admitted to knowingly using steroids, but at this point, it's getting more and more difficult to deny that he knowingly used it.

What I've read so far of this book--the documentation that they've used--is pretty damning. In particular, you talk about his size earlier; one of the more interesting parts of the article is a method that uses a height to weight to body fat percentage to come up with a ratio that predicts steroid use. Any number over 25, it noted, was indicative of steroid use. Pre-1998, Bonds was at 24.7 on this scale. Recently, however, his number was approaching 29.


41 posted on 03/07/2006 7:57:27 PM PST by Publius Valerius
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To: cincinnati65

"Bonds testified that he had received and used clear and cream substances from his personal strength trainer, Greg Anderson"

I just quoted your own qoute to prove that he has admitted to using it. And if you believe he didn't know what it was, I have a bridge to sell you.


42 posted on 03/07/2006 7:57:27 PM PST by KurtZ
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To: cincinnati65

Stop it ..he's a junkie and you know it ...FRAUD ..Should be run out of town with the rest of the drug addict "stars"


43 posted on 03/07/2006 8:00:48 PM PST by binkdeville
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To: cincinnati65
Why in the world would you make that outrageous assumption that the WHOLE LEAGUE is juicing? The whole league?....lol No wild assumptions there....(rolling eyes)
Just because the numbers are way up, the whole league,,,,EVERYONE?

Geeez,,,,,did it ever occur to you that ONLY the top home runs hitters might cause that big increase (Sosa, Bonds, McGuire, Palmeiro and a few others) because of THEIR juicing and not the whole league? The WHOLE LEAGUE? Heck, if the whole league is juicing no problem then--because Bond's cheating is NOT giving him any advantage, right?...lol

44 posted on 03/07/2006 8:14:29 PM PST by stockstrader
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To: stockstrader
I was demonstrating the absurdity of the argument by being absurd. The fact is that the number of total home runs during those time spans outpaced the rate of growth of Bonds's home run growth. If the only way that Bonds increase his home run totals by that much was through "juicing" and "cheating", then the whole league must be juicing and cheating.

For the 1993-1997, Bonds accounted for 2.02% of all home runs hit in the National League. For 1998-2002, he accounted for 1.71% of the total. That includes his 73 home run season of 2001!

The fact is that during this timeframe the TOTAL number of home runs hit in the National League grew DRAMATICALLY! That wasn't just Sosa, McGwire, and Bonds. It was across the board.

If you follow others' reasoning on this thread, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that the whole League was juicing.

45 posted on 03/07/2006 8:24:12 PM PST by cincinnati65 (Go Panthers!.......)
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To: stockstrader

Further, the average number of home runs per year for the first time frame was 1957.6/year; the second, 2802.6/year. Now, surely you're not implying that little old Bonds, Sosa, and McGwire accounted for an extra 845 homeruns per year!


46 posted on 03/07/2006 8:28:38 PM PST by cincinnati65 (Go Panthers!.......)
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To: cincinnati65

hahahhahahah.......

are you a complete idiot? or just an idiot?


ok.....from now on....if you believe barry is innocent...then.....isn't it completely plausible that keith richards never used drugs? completely clean i tell ya!!!

hahahhahahah.......


47 posted on 03/07/2006 8:38:52 PM PST by wheathead
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To: cincinnati65
Seriously!

That's not the way it happens. You don't "develop" power in your mid thirties without pharmaceutical help, you begin to lose eyesight and reflexes. The body begins to wear down from years of playing ball.

Your head doesn't expand eight hat sizes either...

You can worship at the altar of your favorite player, but don't expect everyone else to suspend common sense.

48 posted on 03/07/2006 8:44:09 PM PST by wireman
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To: steelyourfaith

Great post!


49 posted on 03/07/2006 8:45:42 PM PST by freedumb2003 (American troops cannot be defeated. American Politicians can.)
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To: cincinnati65
I'm in no position to say "Yes, he juiced." or "No, he didn't." I'll admit the changes in his physical appearance are damning, but you can't automatically make the leap of faith. Bonds was brought up and was being tailored as a lead-off man. He was slim and fast and stole a lot of bases. Good eye for the ball. As he got older, he lost a step (as we all do), recognized this, and built himself into a power hitter to lengthen his career.

I remember Barry Sr. commenting on his recurring ankle injuries. He explained the problem as being "no meat." He gentically did not carry large muscle mass and it caused him some injury problems. Barry has the same genetics as evidenced in the pictures displayed of his younger years in this thread. You don't go from a stringbean to moose by drinking protein shakes and lifting weights in your late 30s. He used lots of illegal supplements (illegal by criminal law).

Barry Bonds the younger is a blight on the sport.

50 posted on 03/07/2006 8:55:52 PM PST by Ghengis (Alexander was a wuss!)
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To: wireman
Hank Aaron hit the highest season total for home runs at age 37, and posted 40 at age 39 in only 120 games.

Another juicer.

51 posted on 03/07/2006 8:56:17 PM PST by cincinnati65 (Go Panthers!.......)
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To: Ghengis

I assume by Barry Sr. you mean Bobby Bonds, his dad.


52 posted on 03/07/2006 8:58:44 PM PST by cincinnati65 (Go Panthers!.......)
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To: cincinnati65
You must be a Democrat, you keep changing the subject.

This isn't a thread about Hank Aaron. It's not about anyone except Barry Bonds and your refusal to acknowledge the obvious.

Name one other player that added thirty pounds of lean muscle at age thirty five.

I know....You're Barry's lawyer. Am I right?

53 posted on 03/07/2006 9:02:12 PM PST by wireman
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To: indcons

Isn't Bonds the player who had that little sit down with his son and some sports reporters last year and did a minor kookout on them? Hasn't he been flipping out and had a 'woe is me' negative attitude with the sports journalists, or am I thinkig of someone else?


54 posted on 03/07/2006 9:06:51 PM PST by HitmanLV (Listen to my demos for Savage Nation contest: http://www.geocities.com/mr_vinnie_vegas/index.html)
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To: cincinnati65
Obviously there will be no convincing you until someone comes out with a video of Mr. Bonds sticking a needle in his a$$. Do you believe anyone has used performance enhancing drugs in the MLB? Or do you deny their very existence? Or do you think Jose Conseco, Mark McGuire, and Sammy Sosa use them, but certainly not Barry Bonds, because we all know he would never do such a thing?
55 posted on 03/07/2006 9:09:05 PM PST by KurtZ
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To: wireman
My point is: This increase in performance has been accomplished by others in the past. You can't use exceptional on-the-field performance increases in your late 30's as your yardstick for measuring whether or not Bonds or any other player juices.

The bottom line is short of your sitting on Barry Bonds' shoulder for the past seven years or a documented failed drug test, EVERYTHING is conjecture. No one has presented a single piece of evidence other than "He looks big, and plays ball too good for a forty-year old." Heck, even Nolan Ryan threw a no-hitter at 44. You want to talk about the improbability of THAT?

56 posted on 03/07/2006 9:12:14 PM PST by cincinnati65 (Go Panthers!.......)
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To: indcons

G 145
AB 506
R 104
H 146
2B 30
3B 5
HR 31
RBI 91
SB 35
CS 10
BB 102
SO 80
BA .288

These are Bonds average yearly stats through 1997 when he turned 34. Mid to late 30's is when a lotta careers start to tank. And this twelve year career certainly did not merit HOF consideration. Assuming he averaged the 31 Hr/yr pace, he would have needed 5 more years to hit 500. without the 'roids -- NO WAY!

If you want to see his average stats for the 1998-2003 seasons...you see an entirely different story. He has his best years when he is physically past his prime.

G 138
AB 443
R 116
H 141
2B 30
3B 3
HR 47
RBI 108
SB 14
CS 4
BB 141
SO 72
BA .318

Nuff said. The guy is ferakazoid cheater who has been allowed to perpetrate fraud by a lotta people...his managers (Dusty Baker comes to mind), his ownership, the league offices...they all had to know.

Baseball is no better than the WWF in my mind now.


57 posted on 03/07/2006 9:12:39 PM PST by Basilides
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To: KurtZ
Again, my point is not to say he did or he didn't, but I'm not going to definitively accuse him of juicing when it is possible to achieve exceptional performance results later in life without juicing.

He may have juiced until the cows come home, but not one single person on this thread has come up with anything other than "he bulked up and he doesn't play like a forty year old." For this, they're ready to tear up his stat sheet, kick him out of baseball, and ban him from the Hall of Fame.

And I have absolutely no doubt that at least half of the people here would claim that Pete Rose belongs in the Hall, and all he did was violate a decades-old rule that's posted in every single clubhouse in major league baseball.

58 posted on 03/07/2006 9:17:51 PM PST by cincinnati65 (Go Panthers!.......)
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To: cincinnati65
You yourself posted evidence that he has used steroids. Here, let me re-quote the quote you posted.

"Bonds testified that he had received and used clear and cream substances from his personal strength trainer, Greg Anderson, during the 2003 baseball season but was told they were the nutritional supplement flaxseed oil and a rubbing balm for arthritis, according to a transcript of his testimony reviewed by The Chronicle." -- San Francisco Chronicle, 12/3/04
59 posted on 03/07/2006 9:18:22 PM PST by KurtZ
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To: cincinnati65
Hank Aaron hit the highest season total for home runs at age 37, and posted 40 at age 39 in only 120 games.

That is a strawman and you know it. Aaron hit between 35-45 every year. Bonds suddenly became stronger at age 35, and no one does that. Don't look at one year at a time..look at the entire period of production. Let me demonstrat with the top 5 HR hitters of all time -- thier numbers age 30-34, and 35-39, let's see if we can identify a pattern and if one of the group is not like the others.

HANK AARON 30-34 168HR -- 35-39 203HR
BABE RUTH 30-34 232HR -- 35-39 186HR
WILLIE MAYS 30-34 226HR -- 35-39 123HR
FRANK ROBINSON 30-34 151HR -- 35-39 108HR

BARRY BONDS 30-34 186HR -- 35-39 258HR

Everyone Had a sharp decline after age 35 except Aaron, and his numbers reflect the move from Milwaukee County Stadium where he was held to 24 and 32 HR at age 30-31 to Atlanta Fulton County Stadium where everyones HR numbers became inflated. (See Darrell Evens/Davey Johnson -- 20-25 HR a year before Atlanta, 40 HR hitters in Atlanta).

The empirical evidence is there. Bonds became much larger and much stronger at an age when most players decline in ability. Aaron stayed at the same level he had been at his entire career, Bonds Got better -- not only did his HR totals skyrocket, but his Batting Ave went up 30-50 points from .290-.310 to .340-.370 during those years. Aaron was still hitting HR but his Batting Average dropped during those years.

60 posted on 03/07/2006 9:21:54 PM PST by commish (Freedom Tastes Sweetest to Those Who Have Fought to Preserve It)
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