Mood:
spaceyNow Playing: Across The Universe - The Beatles
So A lot of press has been focused on Barry Bonds and his chase for the homerun record. Currently he sits at 713. One short of Babe Ruth and still 42 short of Hank Aaron. In case you've been living under a rock, or to be more specific, dead, for the last 4 years, Bonds has been strongly linked with steroids, BALCO, etc. It doesn't help that he is extremely short tempered with the media, tends to be a huge asshole, and is a gigantic racist (both physically and metaphorically). I know I did a previous post about this, but I really want to focus on something different with this one. Recently, I have been reading, watching, listening, etc. to a bunch of so-called "pundits" that claim to know what the fuck they are talking about. These dumbasses say that Bonds, because of his steroid use, shouldn't be allowed to pass the immortal Ruth because he is a terrible person that cheats and disrespects the game. Um, hello? Where are you sane and rational thinking? You've been missed these last 5 years. Let me clarify something: Babe Ruth was not and never will be a fucking saint. The man gambled, boozed, did drugs, and slept with so many women that he was considered shawn kemp decades before shawn kemp even existed. Plus, Babe Ruth was a terrible teammate. He refused to play in games, missed practices, cursed out coaches, teammates, and umpires. People need to stop thinking of ruth like this:
The guy was basically a terrible human being and an even worse ambassador for the game. If babe ruth lived today, this is what he would probably look like:
Now back to Bonds. Yes Barry Bonds is an asshole, yes he is a racist (if you don't believe me, try reading his statements, or the book "Game of Shadows"), yes he took steroids and cheated (seriously, if you don't think he did, you are just as dumb as all the people that support george bush, jerry falwell, pat roberts, and republicans), but Barry Bonds was and is a hall of famer. Let me break things down for you.
Prior to 2001, the year in which it is widely acknowledged that Bonds played a full season while taking roids, the man was a sure fire hall of famer. Lets check the career stats til then:
494 homeruns, 1405 RBI, 471 stolen bases, .289 Batting Average.
This means that his average season before 2001 was:
.289avg, 37hr, 105rbi, 35steals.
The guy was THE most complete baseball player in the game, along with a certain mr. griffey jr. He was mvp 3 times before 2001. He was a gold glove outfielder every year from 1990-1998 (except 1995). He led the league in OPS (slugging% + on base%) 5 times before 2001. If Barry Bonds would've died before 2001, he would have been a sure fire hall of famer. So he took steroids. So did nearly 15% of players (according to positive, but private, test results) and many, MANY more if you listen to some current and former players. So he cheated. So does every current player that takes HGH, and trust me, many are. Baseball, and in particular, fans and writers, need to stop being such fucking hypocrites. Just because Ruth is dead, and dominated an era with a small yankee stadium, and is therefore glorified in myth and legend, doesn't mean he is a better person or player than Bonds. All this being said, I still hate Bonds, he is a dick, and should just lighten the fuck up, but he won't so I will continue to hate him. Oh, and here is some photographic evidence for those of you that don't believe he took steroids.
Before:
After:
End of discussion.