Barry Bonds is Burned
March 7, 2006 |
Barry Bonds has finally been brought down. The truth that everyone seemed to know was out there has finally been revealed. Barry Bonds takes steroids, and a hell of a lot of them. He was driven by jealousy and racism and apparently would let nothing stop him from becoming a superstar.
In tomorrow’s Sports Illustrated the history of Barry Bonds’ extreme regimen of doping is explained. The article is derived from a book, Game of Shadows, written by the San Francisco Chronicle reporters who initially broke the BALCO scandal back in 2003. The book contains information obtained from grand jury testimony, witness accounts, internal memos and BALCO records acquired during the 2003 federal raid of the facility.
Bonds decided to get into illegal steroids in 1998, the year Mark Maguire broke the single season home run record. The press was all over Maguire and Sammy Sosa and their race and Bonds felt left out. “They’re just letting him do it because he’s a white boy,” Bonds told his ‘mistress’ about Maguire’s 73 home run tear. So what did Bonds do? How did he claim the spotlight from Maguire and Sosa? He cheated.
Bonds got involved with known illegal steroids dealer and trainer Greg Anderson. (Interestingly enough, the article says that the San Fransisco Giants discovered Anderson’s shady dealings during a background check but said nothing so as not to tarnish their star.) Anderson would buy the steroids from AIDS patients who received them legally, then administer them to Bonds. Real nice guy right? After a few years Anderson got Bonds connected with BALCO labs and, well, the rest is history.
…Bonds was using two designer steroids referred to as the Cream and the Clear, as well as insulin, human growth hormone, testosterone decanoate (a fast-acting steroid known as Mexican beans) and trenbolone, a steroid created to improve the muscle quality of cattle.
Bonds has 708 home runs under his belt and that is after only playing 14 games last season — my claim that he took last season off to detox thanks to Major League Baseball’s strict new anti-drug policy looks to be proved true. He is third on the all-time home run list behind Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. Looking at statistics and information provided in the article, it is clear that the massive amounts of illegal drugs that Bonds was taking improved his numbers.
Through 1998, for instance, when he turned 34, Bonds averaged one home run every 16.1 at bats. Since then — what the authors identify as the start of his doping regimen — Bonds has hit home runs nearly twice as frequently (one every 8.5 at bats).
Do we put an astrick (*) next to his name in the record books like we did Roger Marris? Do we ignore his past and see what happens in the future? No. Hell no! Barry Bonds should be banned from the game, his numbers stricken from history. He should never be allowed into the Hall of Fame. What he did makes Pete Rose look like an angel. Illegal drug used to break one of baseball’s largest records is unforgivable. He decieved the game, made a mockery of it’s rules and morals and should have to pay the price.
In secret grand jury testimony obtained by the authors, Bonds testified that he did not know what the substances were that Anderson gave him and he put in his body, saying at one point, “It’s like, ‘Whatever, dude.’” Bonds testified under a grant of immunity, though he was told the immunity did not extend to perjury.
Barry Bonds is a disgrace to the game. Enough said.
Joshua Hopkins
March 8th, 2006 | 1:56 pm
Yes he is a cheater and a disgrace to baseball and should never be in the hall of fame. Hall of shame is where he belongs. I think this book is gonna seperate the other two people. There were people who thought he took steroids and then there were people who thought he didn’t and then there were undecided people. Well this book is gonna make everyone on the he took steroids side.
Scott Wild
March 8th, 2006 | 2:22 pm
Re the Barry Bonds story, I’m sick of SI’s hypocrisy. They lament the fall of the sports hero like’s its some kind of new phenomenon. I take SI writer Phil Taylor to task in my blog essay, read it at (link).
Catherine Cottrell
March 8th, 2006 | 5:30 pm
I don’t care who publishes it, I want the Bonds story out there. This man is what’s wrong with baseball. I never thought I’d say this, but “thank you San Fransisco Chronicle.”
ryan
March 8th, 2006 | 8:17 pm
I would first like to say that I am as agaisnt steriods and illegal drug use in baseball as anyone. I also think Bonds should be banned from the game. But, I don’t think you can ban him without banning others. Just because he has reached “superstardom” does not mean he has cheated any more than anyone else. There is a very fine line with steriods and testing, some have taken in the past and recently stopped some for one season and some continue to take them regardless of the risk of testing. Also, there are even stronger illegal performance enhancing drugs that are untestable, such as HGH (human growth hormone). So to focus this on Bonds (as much as this pains me to say) would be unfair. He was not the first and will not be the last to use steriods. The game does need to tighten downon all illegal and banned substances. Because, saying Bonds is ruining the morals and integrity of the game is almost a joke. Our national pasttime, has been a game dominated by cheaters and immoral men since as early as the great Ty Cobb. The game we all love needs a complete overhall and cleansing - from Cobb to Rose to Bonds and whoever is to come in the future or already is here that we know nothing about. The cheaters need to go, all of them.
Justin
March 8th, 2006 | 9:18 pm
You’re right Ryan, the game has been blackened for a long, long time. Remember the fixed World Series ala the Black Sox Scandal? (Thanks Scott for bringing that up in his blog.) But the point is that Bonds is in the position where he needs to be made an example of. Bud Seilig has taken a strong stance on illegal drugs and while the current system is good, he wants it to be better. Bonds should be used as a poster child to say “Look, if you cheat you’re done.” While there are players throughout history who cheated and there are still players who cheat, Bonds has done it to set records and change history. And his reasons for doing so — jealousy and racism — just makes it all the worse. I agree with you that all the cheaters should be gotten rid of, but a huge step in doing that is by knocking out the biggest one of them all, Barry Bonds.
Top 10 Posts in 2006 » Justin Cox’s Mindless Chatter
December 22nd, 2006 | 5:13 pm
[...] 1. Barry Bonds is Burned The most read post of 2006 is my coverage and thoughts related to Sports Illustrated’s article exposing Barry Bonds’ steroid usage. Not short on controversy, the Barry Bonds controversy remained a big story for much of the MLB season. The sad thing is that we’re now at nine months since the story broke and Major League Baseball hasn’t really done anything related to the matter. While Barry is pretty much a broken down shell of a person he is still going to attempt to return for yet another season next year with the sole purpose of breaking Hank Aaron’s home run record. If Baseball doesn’t make a decision soon, we might have to dust off the astrick after all — which would be a crying shame. [...]