Bonds Gets No. 700

* Streroid induced hitting. Aarons record stands as the best non-pharmaceutical induced record.

shouldn't we also put an * next to mcgwire's 70?

We should put an * beside the entire sport!

On the streets there is a name for you guys, hater. Maybe Bonds does use performance enhancing drugs, but if you wanna use asterisks to handicap everything how about an asterisk saying Bonds walked over 200 times in multiple seasons?

A much more hallowed record.

Oh yeah, how about this...The Babe played in about 10 fewer games a year, asterisk?

Could be an asterik. There's lots of asterisks. The Babe batted against pitchers that would normally go 9 to 18 innings. Nowadays with the 100 pitch count there might be 3 to 5 pitchers in a game.

The thing is, at the end of the day it is still baseball. The best players will adapt through the mound heighth, training advancements, field length etc.

Guess so.

B.S. regarding the asterick.

Does he use drugs? I'd bet my left nut. Anyone with common sense can figure that out. But I don't think it "diminishes" the record. That guy was hitting blasts when he was a stick-thin rookie. Steroids don't make you a better home run hitter, which takes more coordination, skill, and athleticism than strength.

There's plenty of other "*'s" you could make a case for too, like Babe Ruth's record shouldn't have counted because there were no black players in the league, therefore, limiting talent. Sound stupid? It is, I'm just making a point.

Barry Bonds is one of, if not, the greatest baseball player EVER. It's a shame that the general baseball population don't embrace him as such. Compare him to Sosa...when him and McGwire were battling for the single season HR record, nobody was talking about putting an asterisk next to the record if Sosa got it...and it's obvious that guy has stuck a few needles in his ass too. Just because he has a lot more fans, people didn't focus on all the dirt they could pull up on him.

Bottom line: Joltin' Joe's 56 hit streak is more awesome and it will NEVER be broken. 'Nuff said.

Not wanting Bonds to break Aaron's record doesn't make us haters. If he can prove he's never used those drugs, then fine.

I'll tell you what hate was: Those who didn't want Aaron to break Ruth's record because of race. And there were many who felt that way.

But why do you think that steroids make that much of a difference, and where do you draw the line between what's ok to take, and what's not, regarding "legal" supplements?
Am I going to say they don't make a difference, no. Probably not as much as some people like to think. But you have to realize that a LOT of professional athletes take steroids now. It's an unfortunate part of the game, but it's unfair to single out Bonds by saying his achievments don't count the same.
It's not just the guys you see that are noticeably bigger than others on the juice, it's a lot of athletes in general. For example, I went down to visit my buddy last year who was in AA ball, and he said there was only about 4-5 kids on the team who didn't openly admit to taking steroids. Alot of them were around my size (5'10, 180lbs) and didn't look like they were on it at all, and they weren't all blasting HR's left and right. Just to give you some perspective.
Also, look at how much bigger guys in the NBA are compared to 10-15 years ago, and guys in the NFL. The average size lineman has gone up something like 80lbs over the last 15 years, and they're faster! That's not evolution.

Steroids, I've heard, can add distance to long flies. Hence the relevance to how many home runs (rather than long outs) a batter hits.

I have nothing against guys getting bigger and stronger, as long as they do it legally. And I don't think Bonds should be singled out. But he's the poster child right now because he's on the verge of breaking baseball's most famous record.

funny coincidence this year: they start testing for steroids, and home run production has dropped off -- we might not see anyone with 50...

i read a quote from david ortiz saying he didn't want to hit 50 because then it would be expected of him every year...

You can be the strongest man in the world, but like Slappy said, if you don't have the coordination you have nothing.

Adam Dunn, Beltre, and Maybe Pujols.

since barry's finally ready to play, i thought i'd blow the dust off this thread.

it looks no one besides andruw jones will hit 50 HR's this year...

Re Andruw: Needless to say, with him hitting far more homers than he ever has in the past, I had to wonder (and worry) if he was on the juice.

Of course, I don't know, but I will say this: He looks like the same dude he was in years past. Maybe a little thinner...