ABC News Just Said 80% Of Baseball Players Could Be

[THUNDER HANDS]

using stimulants before each and every game.

Wow.

Oh, and when Barry Bonds breaks the home run record in two years, I hope everyone in the stadium boos him and throws things at him as he crosses home plate.

Or better yet, turns their backs on him.

He should have an asterisck placed next to every home run statistic he's gotten since 1998.

[Jack_Dawson]

1. The Great American Pastime

Check out Barry's rookie year w/ Barry now.

:shrug:

[sir_captain]

10. That doesn't prove anything

Look at Mickey Mantle's rookie year

[Mojambo]

2. If you count nicotine and caffine as stimulants

That is most assuredly true.

If not, it's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard.

[THUNDER HANDS]

7. i think by stimulant

they mean testosterone or something.

[sir_captain]

9. testosterone isn't a stimulant

It's a hormone.

Caffeine, Speed and Ritalin are all stimulants.

[sir_captain]

3. It's tough

I think ABC News pulled that stat totally out of their ass. It might be true, but who the hell knows?

As for Bonds, I still don't know quite what to think... I mean, odds are certainly high that he's done steroids. On the other hand, I think until there's actual proof or he admits it, one has to give him the benefit of the doubt. I mean, the steroids sure didn't help Jeremy Giambi...

[THUNDER HANDS]

8. didn't help?

he hit 41 home runs the year he said he was on it. Did you see him last year?

He got all these sudden injuries and ailments after he stopped using.

I'd say they helped him while he was on them.

[Mojambo]

11. He was talking about JEREMY

Not Jason.

[THUNDER HANDS]

15. oh, my bad

dumb magic rat :spank:

[sir_captain]

13. Read my post again

I said *Jeremy* Giambi

[Scrooge]

4. thats wacked

all for the money. they sell their souls for the big dollar.

[frank frankly]

5. sure, if you count ephedrine. EVIL ephedrine. EVIL.

but yeah, bonds is a real jerk who is JACKED UP on steroids.

whatta jerk. he deserves no records. none.

[motely36]

6. I realize it's wrong....Please don't flame me

BUT, if 80% are doing it doesn't that sorta legitimize his record? I mean that means its a more level playing field. If only 20% were doing it then I would agree with you.

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. no

i bet the Babe wasn't on roids. Nor was Hank Aaron, the only two guys who Bonds is trailing so far.

Is it fair to them to have a juiced up idiot take their records away?

[Radical Activist]

18. The Babe was probably on crack

or something stronger than whatever Bonds might use. You could buy a lot of things over the counter that are illegal today. He is known to have not lived a very healthy lifestyle.

[motely36]

23. It's so hard to compare players from different eras

I think that Ruth, Aaron, Mays, all deserve all the accolades that they have recieved and more. But with the expansion of baseball, talent is watered down. It's easier to hit 40 HRs than it used to be. I may not like Bonds, but I do respect him. In fact, I respect him more for his walks than his HRs. That has nothing to do with steroids.

[Mojambo]

17. 80% is a pretty ridiculous number

It was sensationalistic speculation by ABC News.

[Radical Activist]

14. Does that mean they drink coffee before games?

Caffeine is a stimulant. That statement is very vague.

[crimson333]

36. Denny Mcclain(sp?)

last pitcher to win 30 games said he drank a case of pepsi's before every game and coffee for the caffiene

[Forkboy]

16. Forget the asterisk

Put a syringe there instead :evilgrin:

[pinniped]

19. Fat chance that will happen, Bonds will break the all-time HR record in...

San Francisco.

Edit: I will be there and will post pics for my fellow DUers.

[demosincebirth]

20. They should not allow records to stand if they even suspect steriod use

Bonds for sure has taken them. Check a picture of him 11yrs ago with one today and the answer is obvious.

[sir_captain]

25. Dude, that's some totalitarian shit

We live in a country (that in theory anyway...sigh) believes in the concept of burden of proof. Personally, I'm pretty sure that Bonds has been using, but I'm going to give him the benefit of doubt til proven otherwise.

[pinniped]

26. Haven't you seen the people on John Basedow's commercials?

n/t

[ContraBass Black]

38. Quite the opposite.

We can call out acusations at anyone. That shouldn't cause them to be stripped of their accomplishments.

[Radical Activist]

21. Can't help but notice

that Bonds get accused of this stuff and a big deal is made out of it. Sosa was also accused of cheating. You don't hear about McGuire's drug use as much. I kind of get the impression that if someone who isn't white nears the big homerun records that some kind of excuse has to be made as to why it isn't legitimate or that they got some kind of special help somehow.

[sir_captain]

22. I think this is a fair point

McGwire was taking Andro, which is essentially a steroid, and even if Bonds, Sosa, et al, were taking steroids, it was actually not any more against the rules as what McGwire did--ie, until this past season, it *wasn't* against the rules.

[Mojambo]

24. McGwire has very much been accused of this stuff

I don't think race enters into this discussion at all.

McGwire was just "lucky" enough to retire before it became the issue dujour.

(BTW - All three guys who have been "outed" so far are white.)

[sir_captain]

27. That's not true exactly

he was open about what he took, and it was a bit of a topic of discussion, but there was certainly never any talk of putting an asterisk on his record.

Andro was banned precisely because of McGwire, however.

[Mojambo]

31. He certainly hasn't been given a free ride on this stuff n/t

[sir_captain]

33. True

though I think Bonds has gotten a lot more shit, and he hasn't actually been proven of doing anything wrong yet. But yeah, you're not wrong.

[demosincebirth]

34. McGuire is out of baseball. His name has never come in any of this Balco

investigation. Anyone who watched McGuire in the eighties and seen him with the Cardinals. Two different bodies. Just working out didn't do all that.

[sir_captain]

35. Of course not

McGwire *admitted* taking the at the time legal supplements of Creatine and Andro.

[L84TEA]

28. hmm...I wonder how many children use stimulants to

sit in class... ???

[frank frankly]

30. i have to snort 10 lines of ritalin before i can get out of bed!

but its okay because the TV said so!

[L84TEA]

42. LMao...I choose to stick to

Adderall ... ritalin burns the nose.

kidding of course...

[RagingInMiami]

29. Maybe if they hand out stimulants to the fans

They won't be having such attendance problems.

[sir_captain]

32. What attendance problems?

I mean in Montreal, sure? But compare MLB attendace numbers to the glory years and you'll be shocked. When the Yankees were winning 8 world series in a row in the 50s, they barely drew anyone. Now they drew nearly 4,000,000.

[RagingInMiami]

37. Some teams are an exception

But attendance has been lagging around the league

[sir_captain]

39. No it hasn't

I was able to find stats through 2001, at least:

MLB 1982 2,107 44,587,874 21,162
MLB 1983 2,109 45,540,338 21,593
MLB 1984 2,105 44,742,863 21,256
MLB 1985 2,103 46,824,379 22,266
MLB 1986 2,103 47,506,203 22,590
MLB 1987 2,105 52,011,506 24,709
MLB 1988 2,100 52,998,904 25,238
MLB 1989 2,106 55,173,096 26,198

MLB 1990 2,105 54,823,768 26,045
MLB 1991 2,104 56,813,760 27,003
MLB 1992 2,106 55,870,466 26,529
MLB 1993 2,269 70,257,938 30,964
MLB 1994 1,600 50,010,016 31,256
MLB 1995 2,017 50,469,236 25,022
MLB 1996 2,267 60,097,381 26,510
MLB 1997 2,266 63,168,689 27,877
MLB 1998 2,430 70,601,147 29,054
MLB 1999 2,428 70,139,380 28,888

MLB 2000 2,429 71,358,907 29,378
MLB 2001 2,429 72,581,101 29,881

[RagingInMiami]

40. well, I guess i've been reading the wrong news reports

[sir_captain]

41. yeah, i guess so