Bonds part deux

So it's happened. Like Tilam, I wish I felt more elation and excitement, but the cloud of speculation hangs over this event like a morning fog in Scotland. My opinion of this event, frankly, vascilates between high and low.

However, I need to say this: I was looking at some of the highlights in Bonds' career, and some of his older home runs, and frankly, even when he was "smaller", he still had a sweet swing and could still smack the ball a ways. It leads me to think that while they provided him with more bulk and power, ultimately they didn't improve his ability to hit the baseball, and maybe didn't have as much impact to his home run totals as we might think...maybe. Making a home run LONGER is still starting with a home run - making warning track shots homers is becoming a smaller effect in my mind.

Let's look at a couple of figures of note:
- since age 35, Bonds has hit 311 home runs, over 40% of his career total (41% actually). At a time when most power hitters experience a drop off in totals, that is significant. Okay, point taken...
- HOWEVER, and I think this is also noteworthy, over that time frame he's hit only 66 more home runs than Aaron did. Look at it this way: Aaron retired in 1976, he turned 35 in 1969 - so that's 7 years. Bonds is 43, so that's 8 years since age 35. So, in 1 more year of playing after age 35, Bonds hit 66 more home runs (66 HR's over 8 years?). That's an average of 8 more HR's per year, which really isn't significant in my opinion, frankly.- aside from the single season record year of 73 (okay, that IS an aberration), he's never hit more than 49. Could THAT be the steroid effect? Maybe. Look at 1993, he his 46 HR's as a "skinny Bonds". 1996 & 1997 he hit 42 & 40, respectively, as a "skinny Bonds".

Somehow, I might be convincing myself that aside from the monumentous 73 he hit in 2001, the HR's he hit in 2000/2002/2003/2004, all in the 40's, might not be as much of an exception as some people might think.

Steroids or not, ya still gotta hit a moving baseball, still IMO the hardest achievement in sports.

Bud Selig is an asshole for once AGAIN, introducing the steroid allegations into his congratulatory press release. Leave it to Mitchell to handle that, Butt, stop being a dick.