Chr8808

iTrader: (1)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...rpt/index.html

NEW YORK (SI.com) -- Beginning in 1998 with injections in his buttocks of Winstrol, a powerful steroid, Barry Bonds took a wide array of performance-enhancing drugs over at least five seasons in a massive doping regimen that grew more sophisticated as the years went on, according to Game of Shadows, a book written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters at the forefront of reporting on the BALCO steroid distribution scandal.

(An excerpt of Game of Shadows that details Bonds' steroid use appears exclusively in the March 13 issue of Sports Illustrated, which is available on newsstands beginning on Wednesday. The book's publication date is March 27.)

The authors, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, describe in sometimes day-to-day, drug-by-drug detail how often and how deeply Bonds engaged in the persistent doping. For instance, the authors write that by 2001, when Bonds broke Mark McGwire's single-season home-run record (70) by belting 73, 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.

BALCO tracked Bonds' usage with doping calendars and folders -- detailing drugs, quantities, intervals and Bonds' testosterone levels -- that wound up in the hands of federal agents upon their Sept. 3, 2003 raid of the Burlingame, Calif., business.

Depending on the substance, Bonds used the drugs in virtually every conceivable form: injecting himself with a syringe or being injected by his trainer, Greg Anderson, swallowing pills, placing drops of liquid under his tongue, and, in the case of BALCO's notorious testosterone-based cream, applying it topically.

According to the book, Bonds gulped as many as 20 pills at a time and was so deeply reliant on his regimen that he ordered Anderson to start "cycles" -- a prescribed period of steroid use lasting about three weeks -- even when he was not due to begin one. Steroid users typically stop usage for a week or two periodically to allow the body to continue to produce natural testosterone; otherwise, such production diminishes or ceases with the continued introduction of synthetic forms of the muscle-building hormone.

Bonds called for the re-starting of cycles when he felt his energy and power start to drop. If Anderson told Bonds he was not due for another cycle, the authors write, Bonds would tell him, "F--- off, I'll do it myself.''

Continued . . .

Yumcha

Yeah, was about to post that in the MLB thread.



Anyhoo... on the cheater's reaction. The game doesn't need him and I hope somehow someway he does not break Ruth and Aaron's HR records.

Black CL-S 4-Life

Big deal probably 50% of baseball players have done or do roids, one of the many reasons why baseball is a joke.

Black CL-S 4-Life

BTW Ruth doesn't have a record its Aarons.

Yumcha

You know what I mean. Ruth is #2. I was saying that I hope Bonds doesn't pass Ruth...

goose25

That's some real breaking news there, next you're gonna tell me that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were on the juice during their home run chase. The horror, the horror, won't someone please protect the children from the scourge of steriods

Always Dirty

Fuck Bonds - he's an asshole and hopefully all this evidence against him will eventually make the HoF voters see the light.

goose25

I don't think so. Those 'roids made him hit more homeruns but don't account for his batting average and his bat speed. He may not get into the hall on the first ballot but he'll get in there. You can't keep him out unless you keep out all the others who were juiced up in the late 80s through the early 2004.

Always Dirty

Fuck those two too. Actually, fuck Sosa for being a cheater. Was it ever proven that McGwire took steroids, or just creatine or whatever?

Always Dirty

They should keep out anyone with strong evidence of steroid use against them. And the average/bat speed argument is bullshit. Once somebody starts hitting homeruns like that it throws off every game he plays in from many different angles. How about all those intentional walks? The guy is a proven cheater and he should be punished the same way Pete Rose has been, if not worse.

peacefrog

Good....kick everyone out of the hall from 1970 on, or whenever it was that players started ditching their teams. IMO that was when baseball really lost its luster.

Yumcha

peacefrog

It was not as if his bat exploded into a hundred little cork laden splinters, i.e. the Dominican Disgrace, but the court of public opinion found him guilty after watching him testify before the commission. I have never been so sure someone was guilty outside the last 5 minutes of an episode of Matlock.

Always Dirty

Ah, forgot about that little disaster. I'm all for blocking him from Cooperstown as well. Next!

Yumcha

Don't forget Raffy Palmeiro as well, please. Ban him too!

Always Dirty

Any of these assholes who they can prove cheated. Lifetime ban for tarnishing the game's reputation. Next!

cob3683

with AD.

I was a huge McGwire fan but he screwed up big time. If they are going to keep Rose out for cheating as a manager (which has no basis on keeping him out as a player), baseball needs to keep Bonds, McGwire, Palmeiro, and Sosa out too.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

he doesn't deserve his home run records or any other accolade he received after starting to dope up.

Yumcha

One thought: Considering how almost everyone hates Bonds, I wonder what kind of glee the folks at CNNSI were in when they slapped that on the front of their page like that? I mean, could the headlines be any bigger and obvious?

Always Dirty

...but I think it's more than that. When someone like him does what he did it throws off the whole game. It screws with win/loss records. It screws with the stats of individual players (here, pitchers). It basically throws off the whole game around him and that's why I think that the punishment needs to more than just taking away a few records.

goose25

There's a big difference between him and Pete Rose. During the time that Bonds and the rest of the cheaters took roids, it was not a banned substance in baseball. Stinky Pete, on the other hand, placed bets on baseball games and consorted with known gamblers while actively managing a baseball team. In all baseball locker rooms, there is a sign specifically stating that gambling is prohibited and will result in instant bannage from the game. There is a big difference between the two.

Always Dirty

That's true, actually, and a good point. So do we forgive him and let everything he accomplished stand? Usher him right into Cooperstown?

rtlltj

steroids dont give you hand eye coordination. If I actually believed most pro athletes never used steroids then I would say yea punish anyone to the fullest but you know what. People kept a blind eye to it for so long do you really blame someone for taking steroids? They see everyone else doing it they figure its the only way their going to keep up. yea I agree steroids in sports is retarded but you know how many people are using but aren't hitting like barry bonds.

95gt

Wasn't it an illegal substance in America?

Seems like a pretty weak argument. Bonds and the rest are cheaters and should be treated as such.

btsilver

well this is the way i look at it. I think 95% of the ball players took some sort of illegal supplements during the course of their career to get to the point they are at right now. Whether it be in high school, college, Minors, or the Majors.

Always Dirty

How do you explain his pre-roids and post-roids numbers then? Not too many baseball players enter the primes of their careers in their late 30s...

mamboking

AD, his argument is not even worth of a response. I mean, it is like saying "A lot of the members of Congress take bribes therefore I don't blame the honest ones if they start taking them too."

JaredGMS

JaredGMS, who can't believe no one used this yet.....

and who thinks Bonds should be pubically beaten for being a shitty role model

mamboking

pubically as in "pulling his pubes one by one"

JaredGMS

yup.....there's a reason I didn't write publicly......

jlukja

Mike 350Z

Uhh how do you think power for the long-ball is generated?

For those that don't know: bat speed = power

PillsburyChoboy

An underrated effect of steroids is faster muscle repair and ability to sustain top performance. That's why athletes using steroids get bigger and stronger with quicker recovery rates. Sure, Bonds has tremendous hand-eye coordination and a great swing. That's a given. But steroids helped him use these natural gifts at an extremely high level for EXTENDED periods of time. So instead of 35-100-.300, he put up absurd numbers. 73 home runs? .370 batting average? 4 consecutive MVPs? What a friggin' joke. Imagine his numbers if he didn't draw all those intentional walks.

I remember reading that most baseball players perform at "peak" levels only 50-60% of the season (think about how long/rigorous a 162-game regular season is, NOT including spring training and playoffs). If steroids helped Bonds get that extra edge (let's say perform at "peak" levels 75-80% of the season), that's obviously cheating. Many athletes bemoan that they could not sustain their physical prime when they finally "got" the game. You know, the whole, "if I knew back then what I know now, I would've been so much better ..." attitude. Well, Bonds managed to do this. Hey, I'm sure he worked his butt off during the offseason. But with such performance enhancers, Bonds goes from one of the best outfielders of his generation to one of the greatest of ALL Time.

It's pretty obvious right? When do 99% of baseball players start breaking down? In their late 30's. When do 99% retire? Usually before 40. Why? Mostly due to a singular and/or cumulative effect of injuries. The body simply breaks down. And it's not like Julio Franco, who's a physical marvel, playing into his mid-40s ... but has obviously lost a step or two or five from his prime in Cleveland/Texas. Bonds is still at the very top of his game.

Bonds will make the HOF. Easily. It's pretty obvious why ... the past 20 years have been the steroids/performance enhancing age for baseball. The cloud of suspicion is pretty much over every major star during that era. Raffy was the only idiot who "truly" got caught.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

double

It basically makes any game he's played in a sham.

Unless of course every single other player was doping up.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

I don't think he cares about eye-hand coordination that much. the only thing he really cared about IMHO was making it easier to crank them outta the park.

agranado

+



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saw this one on fark

Mike 350Z

although the pics of him dressed as paula abdul aren't too far from that bodybuilder.

agranado

mm look at those roided abs lol

jlukja

Barry's Lifetime Stats

If you look at his stats, it seems that he was following the normal pattern of very very good baseball player, unitl 1999. Then, at the age of 35, when most player's skills start to decline, his stats just went astronomical. The thing about Barry now is that he is able to wait on a pitch much longer than other ballplayers because of his increadible sternght and quick bat. In doing so he has more time to recognize pitch and location and the strength to actually do something with the pitch if its to his liking. That is why is average and slugging percentage is up so much since 2000 and, as a result, his his on base percentage due to all the walks. Take away the juice beginning in his 2000 season and Barry is an outstanding, hall of fame player, on par with Dave Winfield, Andre Dawson, etc.

bgsm1th