Assume for a moment that, instead of using PEDs, Barry Bonds had retired after his 1999 season (WAR of 3.8, age 34). That leaves him with a career WAR of 103.3, which puts him 19 all time, solidly worthy of the Hall, but not anywhere close to Ruth, Mays, Cobb, et al. Perhaps without the PEDs he would have recovered to his previous form, or, maybe, he would have continued to deteriorate, like most players do by their mid 30s (without PEDs). We don't know, and I'm not willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. So, no, he's not among the "best players of any generation", unless you're willing to let him, and only him, use PEDs.
Bonds had a WAR over 6.8 in each of the three seasons prior to 1999
And in 1999 had a 4.2 bWAR in only 102 games. Yeah, he was really deteriorating.
unless you're willing to let him, and only him, use PEDs.
There were a ton of other players also using PEDs, and Bonds still had years where he was more than 150% better than his steroid using peers (against steroid using pitchers). So by the time he was 34 he was already one of the top 20 players of all time, and then on a level playing field against many other steroid users he was still far and away better than everyone. I'd say that qualifies for "best players of any generation".
Man, I feel like Jim Edmonds will end up as one of the best players never to make the HOF
Just chilling with Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Mark Mcgwire, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Larry Walker, Edgar Martinez, Tim Raines, Curt Schilling and Mike Mussina.
~;::::::;( )"> ¯\_( )_/¯
Jason Giambi Retires:
Giambi apologized again on May 16, 2007, this time specifically for using steroids, and urged others in the sport to do the same.[34] "I was wrong for using that stuff", he told USA Today. "What we should have done a long time ago was stand up—players, ownership, everybody—and said, 'We made a mistake.'" When asked why he used steroids, Giambi responded: "Maybe one day I'll talk about it, but not now." Giambi did speak with George J. Mitchell, after being forced to do so by Bud Selig. Subsequently, in December 2007, the Mitchell Report included Giambi along with his brother Jeremy Giambi, who also admitted to using steroids during his career.[35]
The Only Conspiracy Here Is An Attempt To Hide Their Hypocrisy
While Schilling may have some semblance of a point about him being a Republican, that's not the real reason why Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, McGwire and some others are not in HOF. Its because if the BW allow themselves to elect them into the HOF it exposes them as being complicit in the PED era of baseball. These are the same writers who knew what was going on and yet still wrote of the glorious accolades of these players for many years without saying a thing about what they saw going on in the clubhouses.
These very same writers made tons of money writing about the chase for Maris in 1998 and the chase for the Babe a few years later. They knew what was going on yet remained silent. Why? Maybe because they knew these players, while doing something shady, were not technically doing anything illegal. And if they also wrote about the PEDs, they'd have to also write about MLB's guilt in turning a blind eye to what was going on. After all, MLB and its owners were raking in the money from all the Home Run fever going on.
Think about for a second. McGwire admitted to using PEDs. Palmeiro got caught. Sosa too. Yet what punishment did they receive from MLB? Fines? no. Suspensions? Nope. Not a single punishment from MLB. Even Bonds, while widely known to have been using PEDs, was never punished by MLB. And his only crime was impeding a federal investigation. Nowadays players are being punished by MLB for using. What's the difference? Didn't the Commissioner's office send out a memo in the early 90s saying that use of PEDs was not acceptable in MLB clubhouses? Yes he did. But what force and power did that memo have?
Literally NONE. Without the consent and agreement of MLBPA, likely as part of a CBA, to punish players for any behavior whatsoever, a memo from the Commissioner has no weight whatsoever. It'd be like the President of the US declaring something to be illegal without the consent of Congress. Sure, the President could have someone arrested for violating such a law. But he could never prosecute them. Simply because there is no underlying law from which a prosecutor could prosecute or a jury could convict or judge could penalize. Its not a perfect analogy, but its close enough to help you understand that a memo from the commissioner without an agreement with the MLBPA on enforcing that rule and how to punish leaves the rule in that memo impotent.
What Clemens and Bonds and others did prior to the CBA agreement in 2003 or so established an accepted rule for MLB is no more a violation of the rules of baseball than throwing a spitball was prior to 1920. Ironically, even decades after it became illegal in baseball for a pitcher to doctor a baseball, Gaylord Perry made it into the HOF, in no small part, because of his doctoring of baseballs.
Bud Selig was the deaf, dumb and blind kid when it was one of his own "allegedly" caught dirty.
He tried to care, ended up looking like a lame duck.
Last March, at the team's invitation, the Giants said Bonds would appear at spring training as a hitting instructor. Bud Selig was not amused. He was about to commence his celebratory final round as commissioner, and Bonds was an unwelcome reminder of Selig's many embarrassments.
Selig talked angrily by phone with Giants officials, according to people in Major League Baseball.
I hope Giants executives giggled into the receiver.
I hope Giants executives giggled into the receiver.
@txbtxb
Did he have that same call with the Cardinals when they brought back McGwire?
McGwire cried and apologized, bro.
Selig still maintains that a lab tech had a personal grudge against Braun. Way to try and bail out your (daughter's) team.
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